“A private, members-only park in Queens has been getting a lot of public assistance lately.

Sunnyside Gardens Park, a 3-acre oasis created in 1926, has steadily received more taxpayer-funded grants under the watch of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and local Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, records show.

Friends of Sunnyside Gardens Park, the all-volunteer nonprofit that funds the park, is set to receive $47,600 worth of council member items in fiscal year 2012.

That’s on top of $25,000 it got this year and $20,000 in 2010….”

Joseph Crowley

On Friday, the NY Post had an “exclusive” claiming that Rep. Joseph Crowley, who represents Sunnyside and Woodside (and is also the Queens Democratic party boss), spends most of his time in D.C. to the point that his wife and children live in Arlington, Virginia: “The Crowleys live in an expansive home in the leafy Washington suburb of Arlington, Va., where his three kids attend the community’s nationally renowned public schools — shunning New York City’s educational system, property records show.”

However on Sunday night, in response to the NY Post story, Crowley said his primary residence is NOT in a Washington, D.C., suburb but in Woodside.

Speaking at a forum on global nonviolence on Sunday, Crowley, who is required by federal law to live in his home district when running for election, said he lives in Queens and always has.

“I live in Queens, I live in Woodside,” said Crowley, according to the news outlet WNYC. “I have lived in Queens for my entire life, actually, so I can’t plan to move to back to where I already live.”

NY1: click on photo

A bill before the City Council aims to improve the look of empty storefronts and businesses by curbing the number of ads posted on their windows.

New York 1

Councilman James Van Bramer is trying to limit the number of ads for retail or commercial space for rent to no more than one on each side of a vacant building.

“It’s a real quality of life concern for my constituents,” said Van Bramer. “This kind of over-signage is unnecessary. It’s cluttered and part of the littering of the landscape of our neighborhoods and our cities.”

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Councilman Van Bramer

The firehouses are remaining open, teachers still have their jobs and most Sunnyside & Woodside residents will receive the same level of city services that they did before the New York City budget was passed on Wednesday.

Furthermore, there are some additional benefits for the neighborhood. The city is pumping $600,000 into the renovation of Thomas P. Noonan Playground; $125,000 has been allocated toward a teen reading room at the Woodside Library; and Friends of Sunnyside Gardens Park are going to split $50,000 with the friends of Queensbridge Park.

The fear that there would be teacher layoffs at PS 150 and IS 125 were alleviated by the budget, when the city council reached an agreement with Mayor Michael Bloomberg on June 24. Additionally, with passing of the budget this week, the cherished PS 150 after-school program, which was in risk of closing, will be in operation for the 2011/12 school year.

Meanwhile, the 20 fire companies that were on the chopping block will remain open, including Blissville’s Ladder 128, which services Sunnyside. Furthermore, the Queens Library system, which was likely to see a $25 million cut in funding, had $23 million restored. About 400 Queens Library jobs that were in jeopardy were saved—and the hours at the Sunnyside branch will not change, according to a spokeswoman from Queens Library.

“Our district did very well,” said Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer. “I’m very proud to deliver results and resources such as saving Ladder 128, ensuring the PS 150 afterschool program continues, and saving thousands of jobs.”

Van Bramer expressed excitement about the renovation of Thomas P. Noonan Playground. He said that he initially planned to repair the rainbow sprinkler system and choppy ground around it—but it has morphed into a larger project where he is now in discussions about a redesign.

The councilman also said the graffiti program, where residents can call his hot-line at 718-383-9655 ext. 3 and get graffiti promptly cleaned, will continue; additionally, there is funding for the Skillman Ave. holiday lights at the end of 2011.

Thomas P Noonan Playground (Photo: Forgotten NY)

Van Bramer celebrates the restoration of after-school funds at PS 150

When Jimmy Van Bramer took office one year ago, he pledged that he would combat graffiti, create additional green space and address parking problems for local residents. Most of all, he said he would be accessible.

 Van Bramer has largely met his goals.

In 2010, Van Bramer launched a $30,000 anti-graffiti hotline that provides residents with a call-in number, allowing them to report graffiti and request a free cleanup. He secured funds for the revamp of Lou Lodati Park (located at Skillman Ave. and 43^rdStreet) and the so-called Woodside Triangle, a site that will be converted into a park at the junction of 34th Avenue and 59th and 60th streets.

Meanwhile, while parking problems still persist, he has introduced a bill in the city council to end 12-hour meter rules that have led to non-residents parking in the neighborhood and taking the subway to work.

“I believe council member Jimmy Van Bramer has followed through on his campaign promises,” said Brent O’Leary, who ran against Van Bramer in the 2009 Democratic primary.  Sunnyside Republican John K. Wilson said he would “give him a passing grade” and respected Van Bramer’s “work ethic.”

“I feel terrific about the work my staff and I have done,” Van Bramer said, in a recent interview. “We pledged to be accessible and accountable and transparent.”

“We helped over 1,500 people [in 2010],” he said, citing council statistics. “These are all the people who have called us, or written in — or even those I have bumped into in the supermarket and drycleaner.” A significant portion of those cases, he said, involved housing, transportation and sanitation issues.

Van Bramer held eight town hall meetings in 2010, he said, where residents were able to meet him and discuss their concerns with his office and city agencies.

“Jimmy’s very responsive and available when you need him,” said Ira Greenberg, president of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce. Several sources held the same view.

Van Bramer is also quick to use the media to get results. His face became a fixture on New York 1 and Fox 5 News last year, whether it was bringing attention to the service cuts on the No. 7 train, the lack of city services following the Christmas snow storm, or the fight to restore city funds for Queens libraries.

In many cases, this media attention helped bring results. For example, Van Bramer said that the MTA no longer has plans to implement weekend cuts on the No. 7 train in 2011, the first time in years.

Looking ahead

This year, Van Bramer is kicking off his first town hall meeting with a small-business focus, where a number of city agencies will be on hand discuss small-business concerns. “We need to bring the community together and discuss how our local businesses can thrive.”

Greenberg welcomed the idea saying it is an opportunity for local businesses to discuss legislation, such as sick pay, as well as access to loans. “This is very good to hear.”

Van Bramer said the graffiti hotline will continue to operate in 2011 and that his office took more than 200 calls and cleaned several hundred sites in 2010. He said his office is working with the police to combat graffiti by reporting each tag and its location.

The design plans for the rehabilitation of Lou Lodati Park should be ready by early spring and construction is expected to begin in 2012, Van Bramer said. The $1.4 million rehabilitation will include a dog run and will see the park resurfaced with well-marked sports fields. There will be trees and some green space.

Van Bramer’s plan to purchase the Woodside Triangle, which is owned by Vinny Oppedisano, is being slowed down as negotiations between Oppedisano and the city continue to reach an impasse. Van Bramer, who secured $350,000 to purchase the property in order to convert it into a park, claims that the owner is seeking significantly more than what it is appraised at.  He said that his office has had some preliminary discussions about getting the property via eminent domain and it is something he will continue to look into.

The proposed primary school, which is to be located at 45-46 42^nd Street, is on track to be built, he said. The Department of Education, in November, suggested that it might be ready by September 2014.

The one nagging issue that has been difficult to fix is parking.

Van Bramer said he wants to reduce the number of hours motorists can park under the No. 7 train from 12 hours to 4 hours. This way, it would free up parking for residents and shoppers. Currently, many commuters from Eastern Queens and Long Island park there for the day and ride the No. 7 train into Manhattan. He said he has introduced legislation to end 12 hour meters.

Van Bramer’s efforts helped restore $61m in funding that saved many Queens libraries from closing. It ensured that the hours at the Sunnyside branch remained the same (still open on Saturdays) and that 14 libraries in Queens did not close.  He also was the prime sponsor of a new law requiring schools to distribute library card applications to all students.

Van Bramer said one of his biggest accomplishments was restoring $296,000 of funds for the PS 150 (43^rd Ave. and 41^st) after-school program. That program’s very existence was in doubt when the city announced last year that it would cut its funding.

But Wilson, the Republican, wasn’t so impressed by Van Bramer’s legislative and spending efforts. “I wish Van Bramer would resist the temptation to throw more money, and more legislation, at problems,” he said.

O’Leary, meanwhile, said Van Bramer has brought “much needed funds to the neighborhood for after school programs, senior services and cultural institutions,” adding “I feel we have been well represented at city hall through his efforts.”

Van Bramer participates in an anti-graffiti effort with a Sunnyside group

click on photo for NY1 report

Press Release

On Tuesday, February 15th, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer joined local residents to address concerns about pipeline safety and call for action against negligence that undermines the security of New Yorkers. In the past month alone, there have been three tragic and sometimes deadly pipeline explosions nationwide in Philadelphia, Hanoverton and most recently in Allentown.

These incidents have raised concerns on a local level about the thousands of miles of combustible pipelines that transport oil, natural gas and hazardous liquids beneath the streets and homes of New York City.

For the rest of the press release, please click here

NOTE: a pipeline that transports petroleum to local airports goes through the corner of Skillman and 43rd Street, where the photo is taken.

Councilman Van Bramer, who represents Woodside, Sunnyside, Long Island City, Astoria, and Maspeth in Queens, said in a statement: “I have lived my entire life in Queens, seen many storms, but have never seen so long a period go by where we just haven’t seen snow plows clearing the streets. More than 24 hours after the first snowflakes fell, there are still major roadways in my district that have yet to be plowed. Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City is just one example of a poor response to this storm by this administration. The hardworking people of my district and the entire City deserve better service.”

Councilman Greenfield, who represents the Bensonhurst, Boro Park and Midwood sections of Brooklyn, was shocked at the conditions as he walked the streets of his district this afternoon. “I’ve lived here my entire life,” said Greenfield, “and I’ve never seen the streets this way after a major snowstorm. Here in the outer-boroughs we are used to being the step-children of Manhattan and waiting for available plows, but there are major streets in my district that haven’t see a plow at all. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen such a wholesale failure of government to provide basic services.”

The Council Members attribute the extremely hazardous conditions to Mayor Bloomberg’s personnel reductions at the Department of Sanitation, which left the Department short 400 sanitation workers.

“I am outraged at the lack of response in the neighborhoods which I represent,” said Councilman Levin, who represents Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg. “It is unacceptable that, a full day after the storm, major avenues throughout my district have yet to see a snow plow. I commend all the DSNY, FDNY, and NYPD workers giving their all out in the snow today, and we are all grateful for their work, but they have not been given enough resources. Clearly, City Hall and the leadership at the Sanitation Department were entirely unprepared for a storm of this magnitude, and we are all paying the price for that now.”

All three Council Members expressed their gratitude to the outstanding men and women of the Sanitation Department, NYPD, NYFD and OEM, noting how they selflessly left their own families to serve their communities in extremely hazardous conditions. Unfortunately, their superiors were clearly unprepared for this storm, and left all New Yorkers in a ditch.

The Senate voted Saturday to end the 17-year ban on openly gay troops, overturning the Clinton-era policy known as “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“I was in tears about it,” says Dan Hendrick, a gay veteran who was discharged from the United States Navy over 19 years ago for being gay. At the time, he was struggling with his sexuality and expressed interest in another servicemember who he thought was gay.

“He actually went to the authorities,” he says. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule was not in effect yet, so Henrick was honorably discharged and still received military benefits. But it thrust him out of the closet to his family and friends. His military friends turned their backs on him out of fear they would be next.

“It was devastating to me personally,” he says. He was only 21 when it happened.

Henrick now lives with New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, an outspoken advocate for gay rights. He said he sees the repeal of “dont ask, don’t tell” as a step towards further equality for the gay and lesbian community.

“I hope it’s an acknowledgement that the over 13,000 gay men and lesbians who were removed from the military for being gay,” he says. “It’s an acknowledgement that their service was indeed important and worthy.”

The change won’t take immediate effect, however. The legislation says the president and his top military advisers must certify that lifting the ban won’t hurt troops’ fighting ability. After that, there’s a 60-day waiting period for the military.

The repeal means that for the first time in U.S. history, gays will be openly accepted by the military and can acknowledge their sexual orientation without fear of being discharged. Thousands of gay service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law. Before that, they had been explicitly barred from military service since World War I.

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