Slumlords may be on notice currently, but the same goes for illegal tenants. The NY Times has a feature today about landlords hiring private investigators to root out and uncover illegal subletters ( deja vu !). Investigators say that their business has picked up in the past year as landlords and building owners hope to root out rent-stabilized tenants not living in the apartments and then eventually charge more money to a market rate tenant. Private investigators from the firm J.T. Mullen—owner Joseph Mullen and vice president Shane Williams—invited the Times on a stakeout of an anonymous building—which had a “parade of slovenly dressed 20-something’s”—and the pair shared some anecdotes. “[Mullen] investigated a Baxter Street building where all of the residents had the same Social Security number. Mr. Williams chimed in about a building where the illegal tenant listed his apartment under the name O. B. Juan KNobi.” Also, “At some buildings, the superintendent can be talked into wedging a match into a locked apartment door to see how many days or weeks it takes to fall out” and it’s good when a super takes out the trash early because it gives them a chance to look at discarded bills. Apparently “slovenly dressed 20-something’s” may not shred their bills.
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Private Eyes Discover Illegal Tenant O. B. Juan KNobi
Last we heard from former Giants wide receiver and anti-leg activist Plaxico Burress, he vowed he would make a comeback in the NFL once he got out of jail. But today he learned that that day wouldn’t be arriving anytime in the immediate future. Burress was denied work release for the second time since his two-year prison stint began. Burress had requested a “temporary release” so he could begin playing this season. The state Department of Correctional Services said it was denied because, “the serious and negative impact illegal guns have on the community coupled with dangerous nature of the weapon discharging in a public place renders him unsuitable for work release participation.”
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Plaxico Not Getting Out Of Jail Anytime Soon
LES parrot! Photo via GammaBlog’s flickr Is someone snatching up the feral parrots of Brooklyn? According to YourNabe , a pair of parrot-poachers are lurking around the borough’s Dust Bowl (8th Avenue and 65th Street) at night. (This happened back in 2006 as well.) One of the locals who caught the duo in action reports back saying, “I saw two guys putting together poles that were 20-to-30-feet high, holding a net between them that was about five feet wide. When they saw me, they stopped doing what they were doing. It looked like they were snatching parrots to keep as pets or to sell.” The Parks Department’s Phil Abramson says, “It is against Parks rules and regulations to remove any animal from a park.” However, the site notes that parrot poaching may not exactly be illegal; they report, “According to local parrot aficionado Steve Baldwin, state law does not protect the birds, which are therefore subject to trapping and extermination.” Meanwhile, a flock of Wild Quaker parrots recently took to new nests in Manhattan, but they were almost immediately vandalized by a group of young men (who may have also physically harmed the parrots during the destruction). SIGH.
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Parrot Poachers Picking Off Brooklyn Birds
Photograph by Jim Kiernan A new Quinnipiac poll taken of New York State residents finds that 54% believe “that because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero,” (40% disagreed/7% were undecided). However, 53% also think “that because of the sensitivities of 9/11 relatives, Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero” (39% disagreed/8% undecided) and 71% say “that because of the opposition of Ground Zero relatives, the Muslim group should voluntarily build the mosque somewhere else.” Other details: 71% of New Yorkers say Attorney General Andrew Cuomo should investigate the financing of the mosque and 65% of Democrats agree with that.The poll’s director Maurice Carroll says, “The heated, sometimes angry, debate over the proposal to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has New York State voters twisted in knots, with some of them taking contradictory positions depending on how the question is asked.” Additionally, 54% of NYers thinks Islam is a peaceful religion. Breaking down the stats: 54% of Republican New Yorkers don’t think freedom of religion gives Muslims the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero; 63% of NYC voters say the mosque’s developers should choose another site whereas 76% of upstate and 76% of suburban voters say it should choose another site; and 62% of NYC voters say Islam is peaceful, vs. 49% of upstaters and 51% of suburbanites.
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Poll: 71% Of NYers Says Mosque Should Voluntarily Move
Via the New York Times If you were thinking of moving just because you can’t pay that bagel tax with your unemployment check, don’t go so fast. Because according to the New York Times , it’s even worse out there. They report, “The typical New Yorker is less likely to be unemployed or facing foreclosure or bankruptcy than the average American.” Marcia Van Wagner, the city’s assistant comptroller for budget said, “We have been feeling on more solid footing the last six months. If there’s no major shock, I think we’re going to have a slow, relatively steady recovery.” But while the city has been adding jobs for the past six months , we’re not in the clear yet. David R. Jones, the chief executive of the Community Service Society of New York says “in some neighborhoods of New York things are not going well,” and notes that there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. The restaurant world serves as a microcosm for the gap; Steven Kamali, restaurant sale broker, says, “The 25 most-coveted restaurants in New York are doing an incredible amount of business. On the other side of the argument, what we’re finding is the local neighborhood restaurants are taking the brunt of the pain.” So does this mean we’re thanking the tourists or blaming them?
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New York’s Recession Isn’t As Bad As Everyone Else’s!
TRIBECA— The granite-and-glass 101 Warren Street , of Whole Foods and school civil war fame, has sold out! Edward J. Minskoff Equities and Corcoran Sunshine made the announcement today, four years after the 35-story, 227-unit development launched sales. The $650 million sellout is “by far the largest and most successful condominium offering in the history of downtown Manhattan ,” the press release modestly notes. Also the building has an indoor forest. [CurbedWire Inbox] FIDI— What’s the latest at rental turned condo turned debacle 25 Broad Street ? A tipster writes: “I don’t know if you got any news about 25 Broad st (the condo conversion from Kent Swing that went bankrupt in 2008) but I have seen them doing some work in the building for the last 2 or 3 weeks. They have also removed the poster ads from Kent Swig (they were still there as of a month ago!!). Something’s cooking there. Has the lender repossessed the building? Is it going back rental?” We’re coming up dry, so take it away, FiDi experts. [CurbedWire Inbox]
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CurbedWire: Big Tribeca Building Sold Out; Signs of Life at 25 Broad
Darius McCollum, NYC’s #1 mass transit enthusiast , was arrested today for stealing a bus. McCollum, 45, was spotted driving the coach northbound on a ramp of the Van Wyck Expressway at 8:50 a.m. and was arrested without incident, police said . Interestingly, according to the Times , he stole a Trailways bus from NJ instead of one from NYC Transit. He was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. This was McCollum’s 27th arrest; his last one came in October 2008 , for impersonating a federal employee. McCollum is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, and has spent more than a third of his life in jail for victimless transit-related offenses. His most famous theft was taking an E train six stops to World Trade Center when he was 15. Recently, the MTA warned employees that McCollum was spotted near bus depots in the Bronx. NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said , “This posture has been instrumental in raising awareness among our employees and has helped prevent him from gaining access to our facilities and equipment. We applaud the NYPD’s recent arrest, and hope he is punished to the fullest extent of the law and kept far away from anything with wheels.”
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#1 Subway Superfan Darius McCollum Arrested For Stealing Bus
[Have a street seat, via Curbed Photo Pool/deana rae ] · Checking in on the legacy of NYC’s former development czar [City Limits] · Tips for finding a bedbug-free apartment [BrickU] · Soho’s latest new hotel: a Courtyard by Marriott [HC] · Queens community wins years-long fight against sexy billboard [Queens Crap] · Thirteen units have officially closed at Harlem’s Parc Standard [HB] · West End Avenue headed for historic district status [Archpaper] · One of the triggers for rent payment at the West Side Rail Yards has been hit [NYO] · Soho’s 55 Mercer Street now up for a quick sale to investors [Crain's]
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Linkage: Soho Gets Another New Hotel; Closings at Harlem’s Parc Standard
“Pretty clear this was fake – unless Tiger’s tax accountant is the dumbest person alive. Golf and tennis pros don’t pick to live in Florida just for the weather – it’s has no state income tax. Pretty hard to hide those gigantic prize checks from a NY tax collector.”—anon [Tiger Woods Moves to Downtown Manhattan Mystery Building]
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Roger Clemens isn’t having a particularly good day, although he doesn’t seem to realize it: he pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of lying under oath to Congress about using human growth hormone, and was quickly eviscerated by the local papers. The Daily News calls him out for blissfully driving straight from the courthouse to the golf links. And the Post went one further, mocking Clemens’ appetite, affable demeanor at the courthouse (“Clemens talked all through lunch, reducing his legal team to gales of laughter a dozen times”), and inability to face reality, in lieu of “voluminous” scientific evidence against him.
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Clemens Jolly, Despite Mounting Evidence