City & State New York 021819 by City & State

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February 18 2019

WDF INC. is extremely proud of our dedicated Safety Team. Their extraordinary safety efforts have been cited by the BTEA and our public Agency clients such as the NYC Department of Environmental Protection. These awards, as well as others given out within the private sector, are accepted with great pride by members of our organization. We all know that construction, especially in a city like New York, is a risky job with many high hazard activities taking place throughout the day. Accidents can and will happen by the very nature of the work we do. No company can guarantee that there wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be accidents, both minor and major, on the sites that they work on. What WDF INC. can promise is that we will do our very best to inspire, educate and train our dedicated Union workers so that we may all go home healthy and happy to our loved ones every day. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to a Safe and Successful 2019 for all of the hardworking men and women in our Industry!

Sean Grubert, Safety Director

WDF INC. SAFETY TEAM

EDITOR’S NOTE IN LATE 2017, a number of incoming New York City Council members gathered to hear from their more seasoned colleagues who were vying to lead the legislative body. One obscure concept that came up was member deference – the tradition of letting a local council member decide whether a project in his or her district can move forward. The members “know their communities” and would “do what’s in the best interest not only of their districts but of the city,” argued Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, echoing the other council speaker candidates. “So I believe very strongly in member deference and would not sit here and deign to say that I know what’s better for these districts than the members who just got elected in them.” The concept is no longer so obscure, and neither is Van Bramer. Looking back at the steps leading up to Amazon’s scrapping of its planned headquarters in Queens, one pivotal decision was cutting the local councilman – Van Bramer – out of the land use process entirely. Ultimately, Amazon’s effort to outmaneuver Van Bramer and other local elected officials backfired – although it’s an open question whether those politicians do know what’s best for the district, or the city as a whole.

TRANSP PORTATION ISSUE JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

CONTENTS

AMAZON … 6

Progressives won the battle, but did Amazon win the war?

CONGESTION PRICING … 10 Will a Democratic-controlled Albany make it happen?

WHO CONTROLS THE MTA? … 14 It’s exactly who you think it is. BUSES … 20

How to get more New Yorkers to actually use them.

NEW METRO-NORTH STATIONS … 26

All the ways the Bronx plan could derail.

WINNERS & LOSERS … 34 Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

The

February 18, 2019

Latest HEARING VICTIMS IN ALBANY For the first time since 1992, the state Legislature held a hearing on sexual harassment. Recent high-profile sexual harassment allegations in New York had spurred calls for reform, and former state legislative staffers who said they experienced or reported misconduct in the state Capitol had formed a Sexual Harassment Working Group, which was credited with building support for a hearing. They gave emotional testimony about their treatment and argued for change in a hearing that lasted over 10 hours.

AMAZON BREAKS UP WITH NYC On the heels of reports that Amazon was reconsidering its deal to build a new headquarters in New York City, the company made the stunning announcement that it was pulling out of the deal completely. Amazon said in a blog post that it made the decision because of opposition from state and local lawmakers despite polls showing a majority of New Yorkers supported the deal. At the heart of the opposition was the $3 billion in incentives that the city and state offered Amazon to locate in Queens, and a lack of input and transparency about the negotiations. With the deal dead, New York will miss out on at least 25,000 jobs, along with an estimated $27.5 billion in tax revenue.

The New York City Council has dissolved Councilman Rubén Díaz Sr.’s committee as punishment after he said in a Spanish language interview that the City Council is “controlled by the homosexual community.” The statement led some to call for his resignation, while others asked him to apologize. He refused to do either. The City Council then voted to dissolve the Committee on For-Hire Vehicles, which had been created for Díaz, eliminating his chairmanship.

Back & Forth You campaigned heavily on universal rent control. Do you think its components will pass this session? It’s hard to say. I really am impressed by the very vocal and consistent public support for it. And I’ve even been surprised by – when I introduced the bill (to ensures evictions only occur with good cause), I anticipated, I think, more backlash, whether it be from some of my colleagues or from the press. I was pleasantly surprised to see a vocal demonstration of support for it.

A Q&A with state Sen.

Julia Salazar The

What was it like getting a major bill passed so early in your tenure? Has there been a lot of support for you and other freshman senators? I’ve been really pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the support for us in the conference. I came in and continue to have this sort of attitude

Kicker

“I am the victim here.” — New York City Councilman RUBÉN DÍAZ SR., on the backlash to his comment that the council is “controlled by the homosexual community,” via The New York Times Get the kicker every morning in CITY & STATE’S FIRST READ email. Sign up at cityandstateny.com.

of humility, recognizing that if it were technically possible to be the most junior member of the conference, I would be the most junior member of the conference. So coming in with humility and a little bit of self-awareness about that, I found that the conference has been really supportive. You’ve had a busy first month. What’s next on the agenda for you? I think that after the budget, I’m definitely still going to be primarily focused on rent laws because there’s a really reasonable fear that the governor, perhaps other members of the Legislature, will want to push it (to) June, until the very end of session. Which is not great, because as we’ve seen in the past, the last time rent laws were up for renewal, they actually expired and there were a couple weeks of basically crisis for a lot of tenants who weren’t protected.

SUNDRY PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK; EMIL COHEN/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; STATE SENATE; ALEX PURIFOY; CELESTE SLOMAN

The

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

OF GRAVEYARD GRANDIOSE

THE

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

A LOOK BACK AT THE BIG PROJECTS THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT HERE.

DREAMS

AMAZON’S HQ2 isn’t the first major New York City development project to hit a dead end, and it likely won’t be the last. Here are some of the biggest projects that have been scuttled over the years – and how they compare to the Amazon’s surprise pullout.

PERKINS EASTMAN/S9 ARCHITECTS; PAUL RUDOLPH/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS; EDDTORO/SHUTTERSTOCK; KPF

LOWER MANHATTAN EXPRESSWAY YEARS: 1946-1969 CHAMPION: Robert Moses, multi-titled New York planning power broker WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE: A 10-lane highway could have ripped through SoHo, Little Italy and the Lower East Side, letting drivers cross Manhattan from the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg or Manhattan bridges without ever touching the surface streets. HOW IT DIED: The project, known as LOMEX, sparked opposition from advocates including Jane Jacobs, who chaired the Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway Committee. The city’s Board of Estimate blocked the proposal in 1962, revived the plan in 1964, and abandoned it entirely in 1969.

NEW YORK WHEEL YEARS: 2012-2018 CHAMPION: New York City Councilwoman Debi Rose, Staten Island Community Board 1 WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE: The project would have created a massive Ferris wheel on Staten Island offering views of Manhattan, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It had been sold on the promise of becoming one of New York City’s biggest new tourist attractions that would bring new economic development to Staten Island’s North Shore. HOW IT DIED: The plan languished for years thanks to multiple lawsuits and everincreasing prices, estimated to be around $1 billion when it was totally scrapped in 2018 after construction stalled in 2017. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the plan economically unviable and refused to give the developers tax-exempt bonds to help finance the project.

KINGSBRIDGE ARMORY YEARS: 2008-present CHAMPION: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE: The 2008 plan by Related Cos. would have turned the vast structure into a shopping mall with a department store, movie theater and restaurants. HOW IT DIED: Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. teamed up with local activists to block the plan, which the New York City Council killed in 2009. Since then, a plan to convert the armory instead into an ice skating complex has been inching along.

WEST SIDE STADIUM YEAR: 2005 CHAMPION: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg WHAT IT WOULD HAVE DONE: A $2 billion proposed stadium on the West Side of Manhattan was the centerpiece of New York City’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics, and would have been the new home of the New York Jets. HOW IT DIED: The mayor battled the New York City Council over who controlled taxpayer funds. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver blocked the project through the Public Authorities Control Board, which rejected it a month before the city lost its 2012 Olympics bid. Now, the Hudson Yards megaproject is being built on the site.

THE CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

New York lost HQ2. What will Amazonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest foes lose?

LAST

LAUG by A N N I E

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

GH MCDONOUGH

STATE SENATE; WILLIAM ALATRISTE/NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL; LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK

MAZON’S OPPONENTS may have won the battle, but they could lose the war. Amazon dropped a bombshell on Thursday when the company announced it will not bring half of its second headquarters to Long Island City, Queens. While some of HQ2’s strongest opponents are hailing the about-face as a victory of progressive grassroots organizing, the politicians who led the fight could pay a price. Although Queens lawmakers like New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and state. Sen. Michael Gianaris weren’t alone in their opposition to Amazon, they were arguably the most public and vocal, along with progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens. Van Bramer and Ocasio-Cortez celebrated the news that they said marked a win against corporate welfare and anti-union behavior, while Gianaris struck a slightly more moderate tone, saying that Amazon missed an opportunity. “Today’s behavior by Amazon shows why they would have been a bad partner for New York in any event,” he said in a statement. “Rather than seriously engage with the community they proposed to profoundly change, Amazon continued its effort to shakedown governments to get its way.” But the celebration might not last long, especially if the public was in favor of Amazon coming to Queens, as recent polls suggested. A Siena College poll released on Feb. 12 said 56 percent of voters statewide were in favor of the Amazon deal, while even larger shares of minorities backed the plan. Amazon was projected to bring at least 25,000 jobs to Queens and generate an estimated $27.5 billion in tax revenue over 25 years, according to the head of Empire State Development, the state’s economic development arm. In the company’s announcement, Amazon said that it will continue to grow its existing (largely fulfillment center-based) workforce of more than 5,000 people across New York City. Losing out on those benefits could cause political repercussions for HQ2’s strongest opponents in the long run, some experts say. “With things like this, there’s often a kind of counterintuitive thing,” Democratic political strategist Bruce Gyory said. “Sometimes the winner of the battle can become the political loser, and vice versa.” While Ocasio-Cortez may be more removed from the situation, Van Bramer and Gianaris could face challenges in the next election based on fallout from the

loss of Amazon. Van Bramer, who will reach the term limit in the New York City Council in 2021, has said that he will run for Queens borough president, while Gianaris is free to run for re-election in the state Senate. “I think unless something replaces Amazon really quickly, I think that a lot of people will be upset about the loss of the jobs,” said political consultant George Arzt, who served as press secretary to New York City Mayor Ed Koch. “I think there will be a negative pull against the main opposition players. They can face strong opponents the next time out.” Since Amazon announced in November that it would split its second headquarters between Long Island City, Queens, and Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia, some of New York’s progressive politicians expressed disapproval ranging from dismay to outrage. At first, they were upset about the nearly $3 billion in tax incentives and government subsidies that New York had offered Amazon – as well as the fact that neither the City Council nor the state Legislature would have approval over the deal. As time went on, more information was revealed at City Council hearings about the online retail giant’s questionable labor practices, resistance to unionization and skimpy efforts at community outreach. Van Bramer, who is a member of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus, and Gianaris, who has scored progressive Brownie points over his opposition to Amazon, may not only be the only ones to suffer if public opinion turns against them for losing HQ2. Queens has seen something of a progressive awakening in the past year – most notably with the election of political newcomer Ocasio-Cortez over former Rep. Joseph Crowley. With opponents of Amazon identifying so strongly with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, this could spell trouble for the movement. “I think it could be perceived as a loss for the pure progressive wing of the Democratic Party,” Gyory said. “I think it would be seen as the pure progressive wing of the Democratic Party had isolated itself from both public opinion and from how you generate economic growth.” In a way, it would be a fitting postscript to the Amazon saga, which started with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio negotiating the deal in secret and expecting to be hailed as heroes when it was revealed, only to face backlash from parts of their Democratic base. In the years ahead, public opinion on whether New York made a mistake in driving away Amazon could depend in part on what the company contributes to Crystal City. Gyory thinks that if the country does face a recession in the next year, Crystal City’s Amazon headquarters could either be a beacon of hope in a tough

CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

economy or a pit. “Down in Virginia, if (the Amazon headquarters) is seen as becoming basically a magnet for high-tech jobs that really helps sustain Virginia in the middle of a recession, there are folks here who – to quote the old Lucille Ball show – are going to have lots of ’splaining to do,” Gyory said. The whirlwind of reactions to Amazon’s canceled plans – news that surprised most supporters of the deal – varied slightly in who was stuck with the blame. While de Blasio sucked up to his liberal base by blaming Amazon for not being tough enough to succeed in New York City, Cuomo pointed to lawmakers as the culprits. “A small group (of) politicians put their own narrow political interests above their community – which poll after poll showed overwhelmingly supported bringing Amazon to Long Island City – the state’s economic future and the best interests of the people of this state,” Cuomo said in a statement. Amazon’s swift departure – before it had really even landed in Queens – seemed surprising because there was so little negotiation (publicly, at least) between the com-

“If (Amazon) really helps sustain Virginia in the middle of a recession, there are folks here who – to quote the old Lucille Ball show – are going to have lots of ’splaining to do.” – BR UC E GYORY, P OLI TICA L C ONSU LTA N T pany, local lawmakers, and de Blasio and Cuomo. A more accurate takeaway may be that the loss of HQ2 was not the failure of one or a few, but the failure of many. “The blame really has to go toward all sides here,” Arzt said. “The governor and the

mayor didn’t do outreach to community leaders before their press conference. (Amazon CEO Jeff) Bezos could’ve given a little bit more. Instead of the opponents being so harshly against Amazon, they could have sat down and worked something out.”

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MARIANNA IANOVSKA/SHUTTERSTOCK

The sequel to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, above, will be heading to Virginia – and only Virginia – after the Long Island City plan was scrapped.

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THE GRIDLOCK OVER CONGESTION PRICING Lawmakers say it’s the only way to save the MTA. But will it get done in time?

by Z A C H W I L L I A M S

VER SINCE DEMOCRATS in New York won big victories in the 2018 elections, there has been hope that 2019 would be the year when congestion pricing would finally pass in the state Legislature. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature for the first time in decades. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken up the cause with increasing urgency. “Let the Legislature cast their vote on the real choice,” he told business leaders this month. “Congestion pricing or 30 percent fare and toll increases.” And, perhaps most importantly, poor service in the New York City subway system has brought more attention to the deteriorating finances of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. By charging drivers to enter the central business district of Manhattan, the beleaguered transit agency would secure a significant chunk of the estimated $40 billion or so it needs to fund the fixes laid

February 18, 2019

out in the MTA’s Fast Forward plan to bring the system back into a state of good repair. A new budget shortfall adds $2.3 billion worth of pressure to efforts to increase the state’s funding options – and Cuomo has doubled down on his argument that the only practical alternative to congestion pricing are fare hikes and declining service. But it’s not at all clear that the governor has the support he needs to pass congestion pricing. With an April 1 budget deadline approaching, a number of lawmakers are not on board. The Assembly Democrats remain evenly split on congestion pricing, several Assembly members told City & State. State Sen. Leroy Comrie, a Queens lawmaker who chairs the state Senate committee that oversees the MTA, is another obstacle at this point, while some suburban Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns. Despite these issues, the

EDI CHEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

February 18, 2019

Cuomo administration remains confident that a deal can be struck by April. “The information is out there,” state Budget Director Robert Mujica said on Feb. 13. “We’re meeting with legislators. We definitely have enough time to get this done before April 1.” State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie have not committed to the governor’s plan and some lawmakers say they want to hear more from their constituents, activists and each other before they get behind the proposal, including through upcoming state legislative hearings on the issue. While some outer-borough and suburban lawmakers acknowledge that it may be the most realistic option to raise much of the money needed for the MTA, they are not convinced the current proposal is the right one. More detail is needed, they say, on what congestion pricing would

City & State New York

look like in practice and on Cuomo’s call to make it contingent on restructuring the governance of the MTA – presumably to give himself more power over a notoriously unwieldy agency that he recently mocked. Complicating the equation are lawmakers who also want more funding for busing in the outer boroughs or improvements to public transit outside of New York City in exchange for their support, as well as exemptions for poor people and others who might have trouble paying a toll. Comrie said that the real debate has not started yet. “I don’t think the March 30 deadline is really necessary for this discussion,” he said. “It’s going to take time for the mechanics, the infrastructure, the details to be fleshed out. … We have an obligation to get it right.” But these barriers have not shaken supporters of congestion pricing who are pushing to secure its passage through a

mix of lobbying, negotiations and warnings of what would happen if congestion pricing is not adopted. “We risk a failed economy,” said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, who supports congestion pricing and chairs a committee that oversees the MTA. “Because we rely on our subways, on our buses, and our commuter rail to get to Manhattan, which is the hub of where the financial industry and where all major industry is right now for us, and that fuels the entire state government.” The governor’s 30-day budget amendments proposed that a six-person board of experts would have significant leeway in implementing congestion pricing by Dec. 31, 2020. This includes determining toll amounts and a “variable-pricing structure” that would ensure at least $15 billion can be raised through bonds for capital projects. For-hire vehicles would not have to pay such tolls because they are already

CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

LEROY COMRIE CHAIRMAN, STATE SENATE COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS

WHAT ISSUES DO YOU HAVE WITH GOV. ANDREW CUOMO’S CONGESTION PRICING PROPOSAL? There need to be guarantees about alternatives and needed transit improvements for the entire city before we agree to turn on the spigot called congestion pricing. Our concerns are what specific transit improvements are going be delivered to the outer boroughs. That needs to be put into writing and be ironclad so that people can at least go back to their constituencies and say we’re getting X, Y and Z. Then we will agree to allow more revenue to the MTA. DOES CONGESTION PRICING NEED TO PASS IN THE BUDGET? The infrastructure is going to take time to roll out, so I don’t think we’re necessarily tied to the fiscal budget deadline on this thing. We have to do this right. We have to make sure that there is participation and input from everyone that wants to make a positive impact on this effort. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON REFORMING THE GOVERNANCE OF THE MTA? There are still a lot of questions about the MTA’s workforce itself. People are being paid thousands of dollars in positions that no one can identify. We are not talking about people that are making overtime because they are mechanics or they are train operators. We are talking about administrative employees pushing paper or giving orders. There are a lot of MTA issues that have to be discussed before we can be confident with anything we have to do moving forward.

subject to a separate congestion charge. Emergency vehicles would also be exempted, and drivers who pay tolls to take bridges and tunnels would be credited on their congestion charge. In contrast to congestion pricing schemes in other cities like London and Stockholm, New York lawmakers are aiming to raise money for the MTA more than to address environmental concerns. The most popular plan to achieve that goal is the 2018 Fix NYC advisory panel report that was commissioned by Cuomo. The report recommended that cars entering Manhattan would have to pay $11.52 – commercial trucks would pay $25.34 – during normal business hours, with lower prices at night and on the weekends. The report also included proposals to reduce congestion, such as improving transit in the outer boroughs and suburbs, increasing traffic enforcement in the congestion zone and cracking down on parking placard abuse. Previous efforts in 2017, 2015, 2008 and 2006 all aimed to raise money and decrease congestion, but differed in the exceptions they would make to pricing schedules and who pays tolls. “What the governor put out in his budget was a very strong starting point for a very complex conversation,” said state

Sen. Tim Kennedy, a Western New York Democrat who chairs the Transportation Committee. However, he added that “the concept of congestion pricing depends on what legislator or individual you speak to.” Determining who pays relative to everyone else is one source of contention. Advocates laid out their red lines in a Jan. 30 budget hearing in Albany. The AAA came out against the latest proposal in part because it would not include reduced tolls for people who live in areas lacking sufficient public transportation. Disability rights advocates raised similar concerns. “A congestion pricing scheme must exempt drivers who have accessible parking placards,” said Ericka Jones, a systems advocate with the Center for Disability Rights, in her budget testimony. Adopting elements of Fix NYC or the Move NY plan could resolve complaints that Cuomo’s congestion pricing proposal lacks details, some lawmakers say. “I think it’s up to the Legislature right now to set up the parameters on, for example, a cap on the toll,” Paulin said. “I don’t know that we want or need the governor to put it forth anymore.” What the governor must do, lawmakers say, is elaborate on how he wants to change the MTA’s governance. The

EARTHSCAPE IMAGEGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK; STATE SENATE; ASSEMBLY

WILL CONGESTION PRICING BE IN THE BUDGET?

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

AMY PAULIN CHAIRWOMAN, ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON CORPORATIONS, AUTHORITIES AND COMMISSIONS

HOW CONGESTION PRICING LOOKS FROM THE SUBURBS

six-person panel proposed in his budget amendments would have authority over reorganizing the MTA, as well as its capital and operating budgets. Who would appoint members of that board will be a matter of negotiation between Cuomo and the Legislature, according to a spokesman for the governor. Currently, the governor picks six of the 23 MTA board members – not all of whom are voting members – with the rest being appointed by the New York City mayor, county executives in areas served by the MTA’s commuter rail systems, and others. Leaders of the state Senate and Assembly, the New York City mayor and the governor also have the power to review and veto the agency’s capital plans. Like congestion pricing, the idea of making the MTA more transparent and accountable has broad appeal in theory – but lawmakers want to see everything in writing before they sign on. It remains to be seen whether Cuomo and lawmakers will reach a deal by the budget deadline, but lawmakers agree that something must be done to ensure new revenue streams for the MTA’s 20202024 capital program before it is released this fall. With Cuomo unwilling to support a millionaires tax, and lawmakers

mindful of how a previous tax on commuters backfired, the most likely way that lawmakers can secure funding to save the New York City subways remains congestion pricing. “People might not like it, but it’s what is on the table,” Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal told supporters of congestion pricing at a Feb. 11 rally outside the Assembly chamber in the state Capitol. Then turning as if to address critics who say congestion pricing would exact too high a price on some people, Rosenthal added: “It’s not all about you, the individual. It’s about saving the system.” Yet other events in recent days are sowing doubts about the likelihood of passing congestion pricing. With issues like recreational marijuana legalization, local government funding and school aid dividing the Legislature and the governor – and dividing Democratic lawmakers among themselves – it’s possible that congestion pricing could fall by the wayside during the political give-and-take in upcoming weeks. “God, a lot happens in Albany every time you go up,” said Long Island Assemblywoman Judy Griffin, who said she has yet to decide on the congestion pricing proposal. “So you never know, but it seems like an awful lot to accomplish.”

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WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE GOVERNOR’S CALL TO MAKE CONGESTION PRICING CONTINGENT ON REFORMS AT THE MTA? I think the MTA has already begun to shake itself up. Many of new appointments in the last year are quality appointments. (MTA President) Patrick Foye is doing an excellent job, and he has an excellent team. We are beginning to see a lot of improvements, so I think we are on the path so the shakeup won’t be sudden on April 1. DOES IT MATTER IF CONGESTION PRICING PASSES BY THE STATE BUDGET DEADLINE? If we are going to pass congestion pricing, we need to make it part of this budget so that we have a shot of using that revenue through the 2020-2024 capital plan. MANY LAWMAKERS WANT MORE FUNDING FOR TRANSIT IN THEIR DISTRICTS AS PART OF A DEAL. WHAT ABOUT YOU? For Metro-North, where I come from, we have the Park Avenue Viaduct and we have the train shed. Both are falling apart. Without capital improvements, we will not be able to get people from Westchester who live there to the city to work. So that has to be a major part of the capital plan going forward. We have needs too. People don’t see the deterioration. We feel it. We feel the short trains. We feel the less-than-on-time trains as well.

CityAndStateNY.com

CUOMO

February 18, 2019

HOW

CONDUCTED the MTA No matter what he says, the governor was always in the driver’s seat.

HE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY is set to be blown up, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo is the one reaching for the detonator. On Friday, the governor released his executive budget’s 30-day amendments, which include a proposal for a panel of transit experts to have the power to restructure the authority. But if the governor wants authority to control the MTA, he doesn’t need to create another appointed body. The person with all the power has always been Cuomo. When the governor announced in early January that he had an alternate plan to repair the L train tunnel under the East River that would avoid a 15-month shutdown of the subway line between Brooklyn and Manhattan, it took the public – as well as several MTA board members – by surprise. Cuomo and a team of engineering experts from New York universities recommended the new plan that, employing new technology and techniques, will limit tunnel work to nights and weekends and only close one of the tunnel’s two tubes at a time. While some criticized the new plan because of safety concerns, current MTA board members came around to support it, as did New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. But to get the plan off the ground, experts say it was the governor’s relationship with MTA management,

including acting Chairman Fernando Ferrer, that made the difference. Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director at the straphanger advocacy group Riders Alliance, said the governor’s power to appoint the board chair – the person who sits at the top of the MTA’s organizational chart – gives him direct influence over the authority. “Something like this will certainly get signoff at that level,” Pearlstein said. “Freddy Ferrer, he is somebody who certainly works for the governor and implements his vision at the MTA.” The board chair also acts as the authority’s chief executive. In that role, Ferrer is responsible for the executive and administrative functions at the MTA, according to its governance guidelines. Benjamin Kabak, founder of the transit blog Second Avenue Sagas, said the chain of command at the MTA is not totally clear but he agreed it’s likely that the governor would have discussed the new plan with Ferrer or other MTA officials. “For something like this, I think he would go to the management side because they’re the ones who would decide to implement it,” Kabak said. During a recent appearance by the governor on WNYC’s “The Brian Leh-

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

by A N N I E M C D O N O U G H

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

CityAndStateNY.com

Gov. Andrew Cuomo toured the L train’s Canarsie Tunnel before unilaterally deciding to cancel the line’s long-scheduled shutdown.

“The governor believes it is dysfunctional and must be reorganized, and his formula is simple: If he is given the authority, he will take it.” – C UOMO SP OK ESM A N PAT R IC K M U NC I E

February 18, 2019

rer Show,” Lehrer questioned whether Cuomo really controlled the MTA. “I don’t, I control quote-unquote to the extent anyone controls a person who is appointed, six out of 17,” he told Lehrer, referring to the six board members that he appoints. Cuomo also denied having influence over the acting chairman, who he appointed. “I think if you were talking to Fernando Ferrer he would say, ‘I’m not a puppet,’” Cuomo said. “The acting chairman and other MTA officials support and are moving forward with this plan for a simple reason – it is the best one for New Yorkers who use the L train,” MTA spokesman Shams Tarek wrote in an email. Since former MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota resigned in November, Ferrer has served as acting chairman. While interested parties have been waiting months for Cuomo to appoint Lhota’s permanent successor, The New York Times reported Friday that the governor would wait until after the state budget is approved – it has an April 1 deadline – to name a new chairman. In the rollout of this new plan, some have criticized the MTA’s decision to move ahead without giving the board a chance to vote on it, but the events of

the past month have shed light on the limits of the MTA board’s powers. While the board had the right to vote on the original contract to rebuild the L train tunnel nearly two years ago, the MTA doesn’t require board approval for the new change in plans as long as the cost of the contract is not increased. At a Jan. 15 emergency board meeting, members of the community and the board posed questions and raised concerns to experts at WSP, the contractor that will oversee the project, including whether the amount of silica dust kicked up by the construction would be hazardous to riders and whether this new plan would have the same longevity as the original plan. The meeting allowed the MTA board to air their grievances, but the board didn’t get a chance to vote on the new plan. That’s not an oversight or a case of the board being cut out of the process – it’s how the process is supposed to work. Still, it didn’t lessen the shock some board members felt in learning that the MTA would be moving forward with the governor’s proposed plan. “To be told that it did not need to come back to the board was certainly surprising,” said Veronica Vanterpool, one of de Blasio’s appointees to the MTA board. “I understand the reasons

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

DARREN MCGEE/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

February 18, 2019

they’ve given for why. I don’t agree with them, but they’re not breaking any rules by not providing it to the board.” Kabak said: “It’s a clear indication of how the governor exerts his control over the MTA when he feels that it suits him.” A Cuomo spokesman said that mismanagement at the MTA led to the governor’s decision to take the reins on the L train shutdown. “The MTA has had a management problem since it was created because no one is in charge and the MTA is accountable to no one,” Cuomo spokesman Patrick Muncie wrote in an email. “The governor believes it is dysfunctional and must be reorganized, and his formula is simple: If he is given the authority, he will take it. The governor has stepped into major projects that no one else wanted to touch.” Who exactly will appoint the six members to the expert panel tasked with restructuring the MTA will be a matter of negotiation between the governor, state Senate and Assembly, a Cuomo spokesman said Friday. Mitchell Pally, an MTA board member representing Suffolk County, complained that the board wasn’t given advance notice of the new plan but said that shouldn’t stand in the way of the new plan being put into effect. “One would have hoped, clearly, that all of this would have occurred at some date prior to when it happened, but now that it has happened, I think the goal at the moment is to fix the tunnel in the most efficient and safe manner possible so that we can make sure that it operates appropriately for the hundreds of thousands of people who use it every day as quickly as possible,” Pally said. Ferrer has promised that an independent consultant will be hired to review the plan and report directly to the board. “The MTA is moving full steam ahead with the new alternative design for the L train project that prevents a total shutdown of the line for 275,000 customers a day,” Tarek, the MTA spokesman, wrote in an email. “We previously announced that as the project progresses, an independent consultant would report directly to the board on issues related to the overall construction, operation and safety, and the selection of that consultant is underway.” It’s not yet clear who that consultant will be, but Ferrer promised that the board would be apprised of all developments. “They are going to be participating not only in the selection of that but with all of us hearing from that individual, evaluating information and making choices,” he said at the January board meeting. Vanterpool said she is pleased with this

City & State New York

move, especially the fact that in creating a short list of possible consultants, the MTA has tried to include those who have not had previous contracts with the agency to encourage some measure of independence – the fear being that any engineering company contracted with the MTA would go along with management’s plan to preserve their relationship. “I was glad to know that they have included at least two, so far, that meet that criteria,” Vanterpool said, acknowledging that the list of companies without any connection to the MTA is a short one. “That, for me, satisfies another big concern that I had.” But at a Jan. 24 board meeting to vote on a fare increase, there was still some pushback on the new L train plan, despite the issue not being on the agenda. “Board approval is the proper way to proceed,” board member Andrew Saul said. “I don’t see how we can make a change without the board.” Both Kabak and Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, raised the possibility that board members who are against the new L train plan are thinking about the possible consequences of mounting a challenge to the governor’s plan, and whether it would invite repercussions. Gelinas said that given the changes that the new L train tunnel repair plan entails, it should qualify as a major service change

and fall under the board’s purview. “Practically speaking, the board can’t exercise its right in this case, unless it really wanted to challenge the management and indirectly challenge the governor, since the management is appointed by the governor,” Gelinas said. “Their ability to exercise their right is hampered by other considerations. If you’re a board member and you’re representing a county, is that county worried that the governor would take away funding for that county?” Board members Vanterpool and Pally refuted this idea, pointing to the heated exchanges that the board has had at recent meetings. “People on the board are pretty independent and are not lacking in the expression necessary to make their points,” said Pally, the board member from Suffolk County. “I would be surprised if people felt that repercussions would ensue if they raised certain issues.” While the Jan. 24 board meeting was intended to focus on proposed fare hikes, Ferrer had to address the Canarsie Tunnel-sized elephant in the room. Ferrer didn’t relent to calls for a longer review process or a board vote before moving ahead with the new L train tunnel repair plan. “I’m not going to delay this project one day if I don’t have to,” he said, still promising board members that “nothing will be done in the dark of night.”

■

Experts say Cuomo’s relationship with acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer, right, solidifies the governor’s power over the authority.

CityAndStateNY.com

HAS SUBWAY PERFORMANCE ACTUALLY IMPROVED? In the short term, sure. Longer term, not really.

by A N N I E M C D O N O U G H

February 18, 2019

N THE FALL OF 2018, New York City Transit said that it was turning a corner on subway performance – and in a way, it’s not wrong. At the end of 2018, subways were on a streak of four straight months of reduced delays, with the share of trains that arrive on time hitting a four-year high in December. But if anyone who has lived in New York for more than a few years has trouble believing that upward trend, it might be because when we take a longer view of history (really as recently as 2012), it’s clear that on many metrics, subway performance is still below where it was six or seven years ago. We threw together this graph to provide context for just how much subway service is improving – and how ridership has fluctuated at the same time. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides comprehensive data on performance metrics for the subways. One of those metrics gets to the heart of what many daily subway riders experience: late trains. The MTA uses on-time performance to measure the share of trains that arrive early, on time or no more than five minutes late. Monthly ridership figures represent the number of passengers from whom the MTA receives a fare or fare reimbursement. At the beginning of 2012, weekday on-time performance was 85.5 percent, and six years later in January 2018 it hit a low of 58.1 percent. The most recent figure showed that on-time performance rose to 72.6 percent in December 2018.

Fast facts

MAJOR DISRUPTIONS

JANUARY 2015

105

JANUARY 2018

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

Subway on-time performance

Total monthly ridership

Terminal on-time performance (weekdays)

More trains are on time again, but it ainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like it used to be.

ON-TIME PERFORMANCE, DECEMBER 2018

WEEKDAY DELAYS

MEAN DISTANCE (IN MILES) BETWEEN FAILURES*

WORST

NOVEMBER 2012

DECEMBER 2012

42.9% 22,240 BEST

JANUARY 2018

90%

76,287

174,687 DECEMBER 2018

121,116

* How many miles a subway car travels before a repair needs to be made. (The MTA has actually made progress hereÂ â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in 1982, the average subway car traveled only 7,145Â miles before requiring repairs.)

CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

GETTING on the BACK BU COMMENTARY

Buses could solve NYC’s congestion problem. The trick is getting New Yorkers to actually use them.

WITH ALL OF THE EXCITEMENT and focus on autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing companies like Uber, Lyft and Via, this year is poised to be the year of the bus in New York City. Since Jan. 1, Mayor Bill de Blasio committed to increasing bus speeds by 25 percent, Council Speaker Corey Johnson began surveying bus passengers to find out how to improve service and Transport Workers Union Local 100, one of the unions that represents bus operators in New York, launched a campaign to bring separated bus lanes to Flatbush Avenue – one of Brooklyn’s main arteries. De Blasio, Johnson and TWU are responding to a crisis in the city’s public bus system. Between 2012 and 2017, annual ridership on buses declined by more than 60 million rides. As travel speeds have slowed, the bus system has grown less reliable, which is why multiple buses pull up to a bus stop bunched together rather than spaced apart as the schedule promises. By addressing the problems that plague the bus system, elected officials can help New York’s most vulnerable populations. Bus riders, on average, have lower incomes than subway riders, and New Yorkers as a whole. Bus riders are also more often minorities and/or foreign-born.

Buses have moved into the spotlight because transportation policy in New York is out of sync with what is happening on the streets – and beneath them. Traffic congestion is growing, the subways are breaking down and shedding passengers, all while the work rehabilitating streets and bridges is draining capital budgets. The rise of new options, such as ride-hailing apps, short-term bicycle rentals and e-bikes, are straining existing planning and policy paradigms. Growing bus ridership would remove riders from overcrowded subways and cars from gridlocked streets. To get New Yorkers back on the buses, it needs to become a mode of transportation that New Yorkers can rely on rather than a mode of last resort. Fortunately, New York City isn’t the first city that’s needed to recast its bus system. Barcelona, Spain, Bogotá, Columbia, and Seoul, South Korea, have increased bus ridership by freeing buses from congestion, limiting how often they stop, increasing the number of buses along key routes and redrawing bus routes to match changing demographics and land use patterns. If the New York City Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority implement similar strategies, it could make New Yorkers actually want to take the bus.

To get buses out of car traffic, which slows them down and makes wait times unpredictable, more bus routes need dedicated lanes. The first thing the city transportation department should do to transform bus service is redesign streets to include two-way separated bus lanes in the median along key corridors. One might think that the existing bus lanes that are painted red would be enough to keep buses free of traffic; however, these lanes are more often at a standstill than neighboring travel lanes. Part of the problem is that when bus lanes run next to the curb, it invites conflicts with delivery trucks, taxis,

LEONARD ZHUKOVSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK

by E R I C G O L D W Y N

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

US double-parked cars and turning vehicles. Ideally, key corridors would be redesigned to put buses in the median to keep them free from these conflicts. The next key to speeding up the bus network is getting the MTA to consolidate the number of bus stops along each route. When Alon Levy and I proposed a redesigned bus network in Brooklyn, we found that of the 1,500 bus stops we

more time traveling and less time pulling up to the curb, waiting for passengers to pay and exit, and re-entering the flow of traffic. Boarding through all doors and giving buses priority at red lights would also be important upgrades. Another key plank in getting New Yorkers back on the bus – without increasing its operating costs – is to eliminate routes

Unlike a lot of the city’s problems, bus upgrades are within the city’s purview. examined, the average distance between stops was 720 feet. Cities in Asia and Europe typically space bus stops every 1,300 feet to 1,800 feet. By increasing the distance between stops, buses spend

CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

with inefficient jaunts through areas with low ridership and reallocate that service to routes with greater demand. Frequent, reliable bus service is critical to rebuilding ridership. In Barcelona, buses came every 12 minutes, on average, before its redesign. Now the average time between buses is five to eight minutes. When buses come more frequently, people can access much more of the network by transferring between buses without worrying when the connecting bus will arrive. Bus lanes in Seoul, Finally, it’s critical to redraw South Korea, bus routes to match changing run along the median, avoiding demographics: Bus routes in conflicts with taxis, Brooklyn haven’t received a comdelivery trucks, prehensive overview since at least double-parked 1978. By examining old trolley cars and turning maps, it’s obvious that many bus vehicles. routes are holdovers from nearly 100 years ago. As neighborhoods in eastern Brooklyn, such as East New York and Canarsie, have seen land converted to housing, the buses haven’t kept up with these changes. The reason to support quality bus service is obvious: It takes advantage of the existing road network and, as a result, is cheaper and easier to improve quickly than the subway system. The drawback of the bus, from the perspective of its detrac-

If New York can fix the subway, how much time will your constituents save? TODAY: Ana budgets 45 minutes per trip to take the E between between Jackson Heights, Queens, and the Village every day. This includes a 10-minute buffer so she’s not late if the train is delayed. Jackson Heights– Roosevelt Avenue Station

A FT E R FAST FORWA R D IN 10 YE A RS :

13 MIN SAVED per trip

26 MIN SAVED

West 4 Street–Washington Square Station

110 HRS SAVED per year

The MTA’s “Fast Forward” plan will modernize subway signals to get New Yorkers around faster and more reliably. But it won’t happen unless Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and other Albany lawmakers fund the plan.

JOSHUA DAVENPORT/SHUTTERSTOCK

per day

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

tors, is that improvements require taking travel lanes from cars or taking parking spaces that are either free, notoriously underpriced or hoarded by drivers with dubious parking placards. Based on efforts to introduce Select Bus Service – the joint program between the MTA and New York City Department of Transportation to improve bus performance by having passengers pay before boarding the bus and giving priority to buses on the city’s streets – in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, we know that there’s opposition to change. Local business owners and elected officials worry that the loss of parking or travel lanes will increase congestion or make it difficult for people to access shops. This concern, however, overlooks the obvious fact that the busiest bus routes in New York carry more than 40,000 New Yorkers a day. Elected officials need to find the language and messaging to convince their constituents

designs implemented by the city transportation department, for example, help buses operated by the MTA run more efficiently, which means fewer hours of overtime and more money for other transit needs. Improving bus service also works as a carrot to entice outer-borough residents to support congestion pricing, the proposal to get cars off Manhattan’s streets by charging drivers to enter the heart of Manhattan. Mustering the votes for congestion pricing will depend on winning the support of outer-borough elected officials and voters, who may balk at paying to drive into Manhattan until improvements to the mass transit system demonstrate that it is a reliable alternative. Fixing the bus network is a good, cheap first step to rebuild New Yorkers’ faith in the city and state’s ability to deliver high-quality mass transit.

Sacrificing a few dozen parking spaces will enable more New Yorkers to access schools, jobs, subways, medical appointments, and retail and cultural amenities. that sacrificing a few dozen parking spaces along a handful of routes will enable more New Yorkers to access schools, jobs, subways, medical appointments and New York’s retail and cultural amenities. Fixing the bus system requires vision and political courage, but – unlike a lot of the city’s problems – many of these upgrades are within the city’s purview. The city and the MTA will need to coordinate their efforts and work together, but it’s not a function of getting the state to fund a multibillion-dollar capital plan, as it is with the subways. Street re-

■

Eric Goldwyn is a research scholar at New York University’s Marron Institute.

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TIM KENNEDY CHAIRMAN, STATE SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

THE WESTERN NEW YORK PERSPECTIVE HOW DOES THE ISSUE OF CONGESTION PRICING LOOK AS A LAWMAKER FROM WESTERN NEW YORK? As the chair of the Trans‑ portation Committee, I have been working very closely with the chair of the Commit‑ tee on Corporations, Author‑ ities and Commissions, state Sen. Leroy Comrie. We have been tasked to work through the MTA issues, which are many, and find a viable solution. Part of that is in dealing with not only funding the MTA, which appears to be on a financial cliff within

February 18, 2019

the next couple of years, but also making sure that whatever solution we come up with results in a system that is working for the riders, that relieves congestion on the streets of Manhattan. We also have to make system‑ wide investments to ensure the trains are running on time, they’re dependable, they’re efficient, they’re clean, and they’re crime‑free. We have to cut the fat from the administration of the MTA first before we look upon anyone else to share in the financial obligations. The MTA needs to demonstrate a message to the ridership that they are taking this finan‑ cial crisis seriously. The way you begin to restore trust in the MTA is by cursing the bureaucracy that the people have come to despise. WHAT COMES AFTER THE GOVERNOR’S BUDGET AMENDMENTS? We are going to be holding

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because the entire city of New York, state of New York and, potentially, national and international economy could be negatively impacted.

a series of hearings in New York City, on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley to talk about the MTA, the LIRR and the Metro‑North. We’re going to be listening to the public. We’re going to be listening to the advocates. We’re going to be working aggressively to address this crisis, which isn’t just a crisis for those that use the MTA. On a very personal level, it hits home with them each and every day that the MTA is work‑ ing as a broken system. It’s also a crisis of our economy

DO YOU THINK CONGESTION PRICING SHOULD BE CONSIDERED BY ITSELF, OR SHOULD IT BE CONTINGENT ON WESTERN NEW YORK AND UPSTATE GETTING THEIR SHARE OF TRANSPORTATION FUNDING? We are going to continue to fight for fairness and equi‑ ty across this state when it comes to transportation dollars. The MTA and the solutions that will drive the MTA to resolving this crisis are going to be driven by the people, the ridership, the rep‑ resentatives of the commu‑ nities within the 13 counties that depend upon the MTA and the systems within it. These are issues that can be dealt with separately – but effectively at the same time.

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STATE SENATE; MTA

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION; MEMBER, METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BOARD

FASTER BUSES, SAFER CYCLING AND THE L TRAIN SWITCHEROO THE MAYOR’S PRELIMINARY BUDGET DEVOTED AN EXTRA $2.7 MILLION TO SPEEDING UP BUSES. THAT’S A VERY SMALL EXPENSE, RELATIVELY. Well, it’s on top of a lot of existing funds we have. I’m happy to say there’s pretty big bang for the buck in what the city invests in bus lanes. Stepped up enforcement is tremendously important. Designing dedicated bus lanes and improved bus

infrastructure – we can do it at a relatively low cost. Some of our (Select Bus Service) projects, we’ve done at $3 (million), $4 (million), $5 million. There is the challenging work of working with local communities and merchants and community boards to work out the design details of the routes, but it’s a very cost-effective project. A MAN RIDING HIS BIKE WAS HIT BY A CAR AND KILLED NEAR TIMES SQUARE ON FEB. 4. THE

We move New York

NYPD RESPONDED BY SETTING UP AT A CORNER AND TICKETING BICYCLISTS, INCLUDING, ALLEGEDLY, FOR NOT WEARING A HELMET, WHICH ISN’T ACTUALLY A LAW. DOES THE NYPD COORDINATE THAT RESPONSE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION? ARE YOU HAPPY TO SEE THAT RESPONSE? The NYPD in the end sets their own enforcement targets. We work on stuff together. The best thing I want in terms of enforcement and education is that we’re being as strategic as possible. I sympathize with the frustration. I don’t think the way this one went down has proven particularly popular. But I will make a positive note. Two years ago, we had 24 cyclist fatalities. Last year we had 10. And I’m not saying that we always get it right, or that NYPD always gets it right. But if you look at the big

picture, both agencies have done a lot of great work to make this city safe for cycling. AT AN MTA BOARD MEETING LAST MONTH YOU SEEMED BOTHERED THAT THE DECISION TO CHANGE THE L TRAIN SHUTDOWN PLAN WAS MADE WITHOUT BOARD INPUT. IS THAT STILL THE SITUATION? I think since that board meeting – and by the way, I was just asking the question: “Does the board have a role?” Honestly it sounds like the only formal role is if the contract amount goes up, then the board gets to vote. That said, the MTA leadership has committed to briefing the board more regularly and to engaging in the services of an outside consultant to analyze the plan. There has been a considerable effort to do a better job of consulting with the board, but it doesn’t sound like we’re likely to have a formal voting role.

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February 18, 2019

BX X-ING by D AV I D C R U Z

CONTINGENT OF LAWMAKERS across the Bronx and Westchester County hailed an agreement among the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak and Empire State Development that will lead to the construction of four new Metro-North stations in the transit-starved east Bronx. But commuters will have to wait years for the new stations to open – and even then, there are doubts about how many riders will be able to afford a ride on the line and concerns that the project could be plagued by delays. The agreement already has been two decades in the making. Officials from all levels of government, beset by the lack of progress at the final stage of talks, mount-

ed an unrelenting pressure campaign for the two rail agencies to hammer out a deal. Now a memorandum of understanding has cleared the way for the project to begin, which includes a $35 million contract for HNTB Corp., an architecture and engineering firm, to define the design of each station. (As Gothamist reported last month, the firm isn’t starting from scratch: Stations along this route still exist and were last active in 1931.) The project was dubbed Penn Station Access because the tracks, which are used for Amtrak trains along the Northeast Corridor, would take Metro-North trains to Penn Station instead of their usual endpoint at Grand Central Terminal. The stations, to be built in the neighborhoods of Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester

and Hunts Point along Amtrak’s existing tracks, are aimed at reducing travel times for commuters in the east Bronx and portions of some communities near the Long Island Sound in Westchester County. It will also ease an already-cramped rail system, in which Metro-North’s New Haven Line and subway trains often only have standing room during the morning and evening rush hour. More broadly, the announcement aligns with the increased need for alternative transportation, as a growing population has prompted worries that the New York City region’s current infrastructure can’t handle the demand. Elected officials have created new services, such as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s citywide ferry system, and new transit hubs, such as

PATRICK CASHIN/MTA

Four long-awaited Bronx Metro-North stations are reportedly full steam ahead. But there are plenty of ways the project could derail.

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

“If Amtrak trains get priority, they’ll be able to kick the Metro-North trains out of their slots. That means the Metro-North trains get delayed.” – SA N DY JOH NST O N, BOST ON-A R E A TR A NSP ORTATION PL A N N ER

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pursuit of a renovated Moynihan Train Hall and an expanded LaGuardia Airport, which will include the construction of an AirTrain. The Bronx’s new Metro-North stations, when built, could do more than just give people far from the nearest subway station access to rail transit. The commuter rail stations may serve as anchors for economic development, new housing and job growth, according to a 2014 report by the New York City Department of City Planning. Westchester County residents would enjoy the convenience of a one-seat trip to Manhattan’s West Side. Sound Shore towns in Westchester could also see a boost in property values. But before Metro-North trains roll through the east Bronx, major questions

ranging from logistics to frequency of service to affordability loom for the estimated $1.3 billion project. (Just over half of that amount has been earmarked in the MTA’s 2015-19 capital budget. The MTA said it’s committed to earmarking the rest of the funds in its 2020-2024 capital budget.) On the surface, it might seem easy for the MTA to build stations and run Metro-North trains on existing lines, but the MTA’s complicated relationship with Amtrak can create impediments. “The project is straightforward from a construction standpoint, but it can be complicated from an operational standpoint because you have different services that are using the same facility,” said Chris Jones, chief planner for the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit transportation research group. Jones said

the project is “good and needed,” but the frequency of service will greatly depend on the outcome of a feasibility study determining how often Amtrak and Metro-North trains can run on the line. “There’s certainly enough room on that line to run both services,” Jones said. The question is whether service will be frequent enough for commuters. Penn Station Access also isn’t imminent for reasons that have nothing to do with Amtrak. Metro-North trains won’t be able to run along Amtrak’s line until another colossal project, East Side Access – in the throes of delays and described recently by de Blasio as “the poster child of inefficiency” – is completed. East Side Access, now expected to cost at least $11.1 billion, up from its original $4.3 billion construction budget, would divert Long Island Rail Road trains to its own eight-slot terminal currently being built underneath Grand Central Terminal. East Side Access – estimated to be finished by 2022, 13 years behind schedule – would free up spaces that the LIRR currently uses at Penn Station for Metro-North trains. Beyond Grand Central, work on the tracks is happening at the Harold Interlocking at Sunnyside Yard, a complicated cluster of largely Amtrak-owned rails. Amtrak has been criticized for failing to adequately provide the LIRR with help on reconfiguring the tracks to speed up the project or simply not helping at all. With the Metro-North project hinging on the completion of an LIRR terminal at Grand

CityAndStateNY.com

Central, Metro-North will remain at the mercy of Amtrak. Despite the MTA’s long trail of delays and generally slow-moving, uneconomical construction practices, an authority spokesman insisted to City & State that East Side Access will meet its 2022 deadline. On top of East Side Access, rail systems that use Penn Station are launching other projects that could cause a chain reaction of potential disruptions, including Amtrak’s expansion of service along the Northeast Corridor via the Gateway rail tunnel project, expanded double-tracked LIRR service on the Ronkonkoma Branch, and expanded service to the new hockey arena at Belmont Park, pending the outcome of an environmental study. Perhaps the biggest question mark will be the impending closure of two of the four tubes that make up the rail tunnel under the East River due to damage from Superstorm Sandy. The lone passageway to Penn Station from Long Island, which LIRR trains use and new Metro-North trains

February 18, 2019

would pass through, could cause service disruptions for riders. Larry Penner, a retired employee who spent 31 years at the Federal Transit Administration, said the major tunnel repair project and other side projects will increase rail congestion and make service unsustainable. “You really can’t safely even think about Metro-North service coming into Penn Station until Amtrak initiates their major overhaul of the East River tunnels,” Penner said. “Based on past experience, it would take a considerable number of years.” The MTA has been unclear regarding how many slots it is guaranteed to receive at Penn Station, opening up the possibility that there could just be a handful of slots that ultimately become available. Even if the Penn Station Access feasibility study produces a positive result, sharing tracks with Amtrak could be a challenge, according to Sandy Johnston, a transportation planner for the Boston area who writes an independent blog on transit issues across the country. “They’ve got trains coming

from Boston and Washington, D.C., and those trains can be delayed at any point along the route,” Johnston said. “And on a particular set of tracks you have what the railroad calls a slot. Each train has an assigned time limit where they’re supposed to be on a particular set of tracks and if a train misses its slot, as the Amtrak trains sometimes do, then it might end up taking a slot from a different train. And if the rule is that Amtrak trains get priority, they’ll be able to kick the Metro-North trains out of their slots. That means the Metro-North trains get delayed.” A spokesman for Amtrak did not respond to requests for comment over how the study’s findings may affect service. But ridership surveys typically determine future train service, and with areas like Co-op City, home to the world’s largest cooperative housing complex, where the average commute is 50 minutes, Metro-North will likely see a lot of demand. But just because a train station exists doesn’t necessarily mean it will be used, particularly for low-income residents in the Bronx. For Penn Station Access to be a success, according to New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Metro-North’s ticket costs will need to be reduced. In an October report, Stringer said a Metro-North ride would be very costly for a borough where nearly one-third of residents live below the poverty line. A current one-way off-peak Metro-North ride from a Bronx station roughly an equal distance from midtown Manhattan as the new ones will be, like Fordham, is $6.75 to Grand Central. That’s $4 more than the current one-way subway fare. At rush hour, Metro-North tickets to and from the same area run $9.25. Getting on Metro-North from the new stations could pose a major financial burden for residents, particularly in Hunts Point, a low-income neighborhood slated to receive a station. Half the residents there qualify for discounted subway rides through the city’s Fair Fares program, suggesting that a Metro-North ride, with its hefty ticket prices, would be out of the question. Stringer recommended that the MTA offer reduced Metro-North fares for all commuter rail trips inside the city limits. “New York City’s transit system is in crisis. While commuter rail tracks carve through the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, working New Yorkers are stuck behind an unacceptable paywall, forced to pay an exorbitant amount or spend extra hours stuck on overcrowded subways and buses,” Stringer said in his report. “New Yorkers shouldn’t be held hostage by the MTA to get home to their families, and they shouldn’t have to spend extra hours crammed on the subway and bus to make ends meet.”

SOURCE: MTA

February 18, 2019

City & State New York

The Regional Plan Association has also advocated for reduced fares, arguing that commuter rail is an underutilized resource for Bronx riders. “There should be some premium over a subway ride just because it’s better service and you want to make sure you’re balancing ridership, but something less than what it is now would make sense,” Jones said. Subsidizing Metro-North fares to Manhattan would require action from the state-controlled MTA. The MTA’s chairman at the time of the report’s release, Joseph Lhota, said a recommendation to offer a discount without identifying how to pay for it is “fiscally irresponsible.” The agency currently offers discounted rides for LIRR customers traveling between Brooklyn and Queens as part of a pricing study to see whether reduced fares attract riders to board LIRR over subways and buses. The MTA has long insisted that Penn Station Access would greatly benefit Bronxites who reverse commute to the suburbs, more so than those traveling to Manhattan. This

dents who work in the northern suburbs. “The growth of the reverse commute market from the Bronx is a real Metro-North success story, linking Bronx residents with employment opportunities throughout the region, not just the Central Business District,” Donovan wrote in an email to City & State. The push for cheaper tickets will fall largely on Cuomo, who controls the MTA and was able to finally get Penn Station Access in the capital budget. He has three years until his current term expires, just after East Side Access is supposed to launch, giving him time to make the case for cheaper Metro-North fares on the new line. On the federal side, legislators like U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who stepped into the Amtrak-MTA fray toward the end of the negotiations, implied that the threat of cutting Amtrak’s funds is there, though he wouldn’t “cut New Yorkers’ nose to spite their face.” The engagement of these politicians would line up with a city planning report that concluded a rail line could come to fruition through a “commitment of political will.”

One-third of Bronx residents live below the poverty line. At rush hour, Metro-North tickets to and from the area run $9.25. is helped by the substantially cheaper price of a Metro-North ticket to the suburbs from the Bronx. For instance, the cost of a monthly Metro-North ticket from Fordham heading north to North White Plains is $77.75, compared to a monthly Metro-North ticket from Fordham to Grand Central Terminal, which is $208. Aaron Donovan, an MTA spokesman, explained the huge discrepancy in prices by saying the agency has lowered prices where there is excess capacity. Since commuter trains were running back to the suburbs at rush hour with empty seats, they lowered the price to attract New York City resi-

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

February 18, 2019

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS U.S. BANK TRUST, N.A. AS TRUSTEE FOR LSF8 MASTER PARTICIPATION TRUST, Plaintiff against JOSEPH FIORE AKA JOSEPH FRANCIS FIORE, et al Defendant(s).

February 18, 2019 For more info. 212-268-0442 Ext.2039

legalnotices@cityandstateny.com A. REBECCA KELLY LAW PLLC filed Articles of Organization with the Department of State of NY on 5/18/2018. Office Location: County of New York. The Secretary of State of NY (“SSNY”) has been designated as agent of the PLLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any such process served to: The LLC, 64 W. 15th St., Apt. 6W, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice of formation of Franks Tribe LLC Arts. of Org. filed with the Sect’y of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/24/2018. Office location, County of New York. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 155 Wooster St., Apt. 7F, New York, NY 10012. Purpose: any lawful act. Notice is hereby given that a license, number 1314591 for an “On Premises Liquor License” has been applied for by the undersigned to serve Liquor at retail in the restaurant under the Alcohol Beverage Control Law at Eisenberg’s S.S. LLC d/b/a Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop NYC, located at 174-176 5th Ave, South Store, New York, NY 10010

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Notice of Formation of MasterPlan Studio, LLC filed with SSNY on 12/17/18. Office: NY Co. SSNY des. agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 1009 Park Ave, NYC 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. DB Printing & Promotional Products LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 9/26/2018. Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: LLC: United States Corporation Agents, inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful purpose Notice of Formation of AB telecommunication Specialists, LLC filed with SSNY on August 17th, 2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 316 East 83rd Street, 3B New York NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Song Family LLC Arts of Org filed with NY Sec of State (SSNY) on 8/24/18. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 482 Greenwich St., NY, NY 10013. General Purposes.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on November 26, 2018. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 31st day of January, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the building and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. Said premises known as 1389 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11214. (Block: 6468, Lot: 49). Approximate amount of lien $ 386,141.96 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 500657-17. Charlene Brown, Esq., Referee. Stern & Eisenberg, PC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff Woodbridge Corporate Plaza 485 B Route 1 South – Suite 330 Iselin, NJ 08830 (732) 582-6344 *For sale information, please visit www.auction.com or call 800-2802832* Notice of Formation of The Perez Agency, LLC filed with SSNY on December 6, 2018. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 23 Mackellar Ct., Peekskill, NY 10566. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

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Notice of Formation of W7W Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Arts. of O r g . filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/17/18. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP, Att: Perry Cohen, 1350 Broadway, NY, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful activities. Notice of formation of Klarbach Capital LLC. Articles of organization filed with the Secretary of State of N.Y. (SSNY)on 1/2/2019. Office location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at1430 BROADWAY STE 1615, New York, NY10018. Purpose: Any lawful activity. LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS MTGLQ Investors, LP, Plaintiff AGAINST Oliver Barrett; et al., Defendant(s) Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly dated November 28, 2018 I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201 on February 21, 2019 at 2:30PM, premises known as 1740 East 54th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11234. All that certain plot piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of NY, Block 8493 Lot 71. Approximate amount of judgment $685,206.78 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index# 500455/2016. Jack Segal, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: December 14, 2018 59942

The Loft Party, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed w SSNY 1/14/19. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: M.P. Moore, 335 Carroll St, 1D, Brooklyn, NY 11231. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Notice of Qualification of Setauket Energy Storage, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/20/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. NOTICE OF FORMATION of 50 WEST 14B HOLDINGS LLC Articles of Org. filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/3/2018. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. Original address of process was 50 West Street, Apartment 14B, NY, NY 10006 as amended by Cert. of Amendment filed with SSNY on 12/31/2018. SSNY shall mail process to: 280 Stonewall Lane, Fairfield, CT 06824. Purpose: Any lawful activity. The LLC is to be managed by one or more managers. APP FOR AUTH for SHAKE SHACK NEW YORK LLC App for Auth filed with SSNY 9/3/15 LLC. Registered in Delaware on 5/12/15 Off. Loc.: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served & shall mail process to: c/o Shake Shack Enterprises LLC, 24 Union Square East, 5th Fl., New York, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

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Notice of Qualification of Nassau County Energy Storage, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 12/20/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes. LADY STARDUST, L.L.C. Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/03/2019. Office loc: Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Katherine Blumm, 45 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn NY 11201. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Blue Lagoon Hospitality, LLC filed with SSNY on August 30, 2018. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 328 E 51st Street, NY, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of Nova Styles, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/14/18. Office Location: New York County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to the LLC: 229 E. 85th Street #165, NY, NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful purpose. MARISCOS CHELSEA, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/26/2015. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Watchale LLC, 63 Bank St. Apt 1B, NY, NY 10014. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

Notice of Qualification of BOOKSMART PROPERTIES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/28/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Connecticut (CT) on 11/15/13. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Village Suds, 627 Mamaroneck Ave, Mamaroneck, NY 10543. CT addr. of LLC: Booksmart Properties LLC, 3 Happy Hill Rd., Stamford, CT 06903. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of CT, 30 Trinity Street, P.O. Box 150470, Hartford, CT 06115-0470. Purpose: Any lawful activity. VIBE SUPPLY, LLC, Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/03/2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: VIBE SUPPLY, LLC Attn: Mickel Dussuaud., 5 Clinton PL 2A New Rochelle NY 10801. Purpose: Any Lawful purpose. Notice of Qualification of Rakuten Commerce LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/21/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/03/1998. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 800 Concar Dr., Ste. 175, San Mateo, CA 94402. Address to be maintained in DE: 3500 South DuPont Hwy., Dover, DE 19901. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, Division of Corporations; John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities. E Conn’s Magic Mirror Photo Booth, LLC, filed with SSNY 01/09/2019. Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Registered Agent: Naomi Halevi., 10 California Rd., Mount Vernon, NY 10552. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of WHITE UNICORN LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/10/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 104 E. 10th St., NY, NY 10003. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of Sugar Maple Solar, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/18. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/30/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 Eighth Ave., 13th Fl., NY, NY 10011. Address to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, Div. of Corporations, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities. Global S Contracting LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 10/03/2017. Office loc: Richmond County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, New York, 11228. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Qualification of 1 PARK ROW HOLDINGS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. Princ. office of LLC: 666 Fifth Ave., 20th Fl., NY, NY 10103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315787 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 662 9TH AVE NEW YORK, NY 10036. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. BOYYTHAI CORP. A D TUDOR LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/11/18. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Agulnick & Gogel, LLC, 1129 Northern Boulevard, Suite 404, Manhasset, NY 11030. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Notice of Formation of Method and Practice LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 1/16/19. Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Solomon Blum Heymann LLP, 40 Wall St., 35th Fl., NY, NY 10005, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Formation of Caitlin Carr LLC filed with SSNY on January 7, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 368 Eastern Pkwy, 5C, Brooklyn, NY 11225. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice of Formation of MARINA VISTA PRESERVATION CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/18/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 60 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10023. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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Notice of Formation of Civic Builders Sub-CDE 17, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/10/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Civic Builders, Inc., 180 Varick St., Ste. 1414, NY, NY 10014. Purpose: any lawful activities. NOTICE OF QUAL. of 1601 Bronxdale Property Owner LLC. Auth. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 01/17/19. Off. Loc: NY Co. LLC org. in DE 10/17/18. SSNY desig. as agent of LLC upon whom proc. against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of proc. to 111 Eighth Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE off. Addr.: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert of Form. on file: SSDE, Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity. DIGA UNSCRIPTED LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/17/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 130 West 42nd St., Ste. 950, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315830 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 139 DUANE ST NEW YORK, NY 10013. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. FISH REPUBLIC LLC. Notice of Formation of EGG COLLECTIVE II, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: EGG COLLECTIVE II, LLC, 360 Lexington Ave, Ste. 1502, NY, NY 10017. Purpose: any lawful activities.

MICHALFAM HOLDINGS, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 01/25/19. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, c/o Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold, LLP, 200 Madison Avenue, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10016. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. NOTICE OF FORMATION OF PRIME WIN MANAGEMENT, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/06/2018. Office location: NEW YORK County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process may be serviced and shall mail copy of process against LLC to: 400 5TH AVENUE. APT.#39F, NEW YORK, NY 10018. Principal business address: 400 5TH AVENUEM APT.#39F, NEW YORK, NY 10018. Purpose: any lawful act. Fragrance Pub LLC Arts. of Org. filed w/ SSNY on 7/31/18 Off. in Kings Co. SSNY desig. as agt. of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Accumera LLC, 911 Central Ave, #101, Albany, NY 12206. The reg. agt. is Accumera LLC at same address. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Copley Coffee Kitchen, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/17/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Copley Coffee Holdings, LLC, 150 Newport Ave., Ste. 3, Quincy, MA 02171. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o TRAC - The Registered Agent Company, 800 N. State St., Ste. 402, Dover, DE 19901. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

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Notice of Qualification of 1 PARK ROW DEVELOPMENT, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/23/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/10/19. Princ. office of LLC: 666 Fifth Ave., 20th Fl., NY, NY 10103. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qual. of 222 EAST BROADWAY INVESTORS, LLC, Authority filed with the SSNY on 01/23/2019. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/2018. SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O the LLC, 147 W. 35th St., Ste 1207 , NY, NY 10011. Address required to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste 101 Dover DE 19904. Cert of Formation filed with DE Div. of Corps, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of DIGIDAY MEDIA LLC. Authority filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 11/14/2018. Office location: New York. LLC formed in Connecticut on 2/8/2011. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: One Liberty Plaza, 9th Floor, NY, NY 10006. Principal office of LLC is One Liberty Plaza, 9th Floor, NY, NY 10006. Arts of Org filed with CT Sec of State, 30 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106. Purpose: Any lawful activity. The LLC is to be managed by one or more managers. Notice of Formation of Sharpe Home Designs, LLC filed with SSNY on January 20, 2017. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: United States Corporation Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316032 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 380A MARCUS GARVEY BLVD BROOKLYN, NY 11221. KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. HUNGRY TIGER INC. Notice of Formation of Sublime Videos LLC filed with SSNY on January 8, 2019. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 201 W 108th St #67, NY, NY 10025. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. Notice is hereby given that a license, number 1316065 for beer and wine has been applied for by the undersigned to sell beer and wine at retail in a restaurant under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law at 33 Carmine Street, New York, NY 10014 for on-premises consumption.

App. for Auth. (LLC) Dear Annabelle LLC. App. for Auth. filed w/ the Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 1/17/19. LLC formed in DE on 4/27/18. Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o The LLC, 998 5th Ave., NY, NY 10028, registered agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: All lawful purposes. Notice of Formation of Limited Liability Company (LLC). Name: 10101 Foster Ave Realty LLC, Articles of Organization filed with New York’s Secretary of State (NYSS) on 3/13/18. Office Location: c/o 203 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222. NYSS designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. NYSS shall mail copy of process of LLC, to: J. James Carriero, Esq., 108-54 Ditmars Blvd., North Beach, NY 11369. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LPH ONE LLC

Notice of Qualification of MedAsset Recovery, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/18/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/13/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 1370 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY 10019. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o Harvard Business Services, Inc., 16192 Coastal Hwy., Lewes, DE 19958. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities. Notice of Formation of Hairvine Salon LLC filed with SSNY on January 25, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 480 Main St, Armonk, NY, 10504. Purpose: any lawful act or activity. LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

940 Dumont Ave, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 02/01/2018. Office loc: Kings County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 940 Dumont Ave, LLC C/O Rosa, 153 Cooper Street MB#1, Brooklyn, NY 11207. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316081 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT THE HECKSCHER BALLFIELDS IN CENTRAL PARK NEW YORK, NY 10023. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. PANDA BUBBLE TEA CP LLC. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316108 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 309 KNICKERBOCKER AVE BROOKLYN, NY 11237. KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. PARKSIDE BAR 278 LLC.

February 18, 2019

SUPREME COURT – COUNTY OF KINGS

Notice of Sale

PNC BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION Plaintiff against SIGISMONDO RENDA, ESQ. AS GUARDIAN AD LITEM MILITARY ATTORNEY ON BEHALF OF DAVID JARUSHEWSKY, if living, and if dead, the respective heirs at law, next of kin, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, devisees, legatees, assignors, lienors, creditors and successors in interest and generally all persons having or claiming under, by or through said defendant who may be deceased, by purchase, inheritance, lien or otherwise of any right, title or interest in and to the premises described in the complaint herein, and their respective husbands, wives or widow, if any, and each and every person not specifically named who may be entitled to or claim to have any right, title or interest in the property described in the verified complaint; all of whom and whose names and places of residence unknown, and cannot after diligent inquiry be ascertained by the Plaintiff, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on November 28, 2018. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on the 14th day of March, 2019 at 2:30 p.m. premises described as follows: All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York. Said premises known as 996 Decatur Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11207. (Section: 11, Block: 3432, Lot: 22). Approximate amount of lien $1,054,190.83 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.

SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff, vs. IBEKLIS OLEA, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Index No. 502602-14. Jack Segal, Esq., Referee. McCabe, Weisberg & Conway, LLC Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 145 Huguenot Street – Suite 210 New Rochelle, New York 10801 (914) 636-8900 Notice of Qualification of FORESIDE CONSULTING SERVICES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/29/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/20/10. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity. Notice of Qualification of BRIGHT GARVIES POINT LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/01/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/01/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

NOTICE OF FORMATION of 200 Eleventh 6N Owner LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/2/14. Off. Loc.: NY County. SSNY has been desig. as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy to is: c/o Corporation Service Company, 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543 . Purpose: Any lawful act Notice of Formation of Sevier RE Group LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/14/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Brinster & Bergman LLP, 100 Merrick Rd., Ste. 320E, Rockville Centre, NY 11570. Purpose: any lawful activities.

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NOTICE OF QUALIFICATION of Rosa E., LLC amended to White Spark, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/13/05. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware on 7/28/05. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and mailed to: 465 W 23rd St, #11B, NY, NY 10011. R/A CSC, 80 State St, Albany, NY 12207. Cert. of LLC filed with Secy. Of State of DE loc: 401 Federal St., #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Pursuant to an Order Confirming Referee’s Report and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on January 17, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on March 21, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 339 Wyona Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 3758 and Lot 13. Approximate amount of judgment is $930,919.86 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 508809/2014. Aaron D. Maslow, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff Cash will not be accepted.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1315781 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 23-14 DITMARS BLVD. ASTORIA, NY 11105 QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. 23 14 DITMARS REST INC AMPLE PROPERTIES, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 02/08/2019. Office loc: WESTCHESTER County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Ample Properties, LLC, 941 McLean Avenue, Suite 264, Yonkers, NY 10704. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1316189 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 181 ORCHARD ST NEW YORK, NY 10002. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. PUB 138 INC.

Notice of Qualification of Strategic Partners Fund Solutions Associates VIII (Lux) S.a r.l. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 02/07/19. “L.L.C.” will be added to the name for use in this state. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Luxembourg on 03/29/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. Luxembourg addr. of LLC: 11-13, boulevard de la Fiore, L-1528, Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Cert. of Form. filed with Registre de Commerce et des Societes, 14. Rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Purpose: Any lawful activity. PUBLIC NOTICE New York City Dept. of Consumer Affairs Notice of Public Hearing Notice is hereby given, pursuant to law, that the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs will hold a public hearing on WEDNESDAY, February 20, 2019 2 P.M. at 42 Broadway, 5th floor, on a petition for independent FRANK MAC’S PLACE to ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN, AND OPERATE an unenclosed sidewalk cafe at 425 AMSTERDAM AVE IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN FOR A TERM OF TWO YEARS. REQUEST FOR COPIES OF THE REVOCABLE CONSENT AGREEMENT MAY BE ADDRESSED TO: DEPT. OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, 42 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10004 ATTN: FOIL OFFICER RMV Universal Solutions LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/30/2019. Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Rakell M. Vazquez-Murray, Owner, 2 Ronalds Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. Notice of Formation of Brasil Alta Cultura LLC filed with SSNY 10/11/17. Office: Richmond Co. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 110 Logan Ave, Staten Island, NY 10301. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

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PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF RICHMOND SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS AND NOTICE Index No. 130747/13 Date Filed: 1/22/2019 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Plaintiff,

-againstEllen Schuster a/k/a Ellen M. Schuster; Thomas Fagan; Jessica Fagan; Any unknown heirs, devisees, distributees, or succesors in interest of the late Helen Fagan a/k/a Helem M. Fagan, if they be living or, if they be dead, their spouses, heirs, devisees, distributees and successors in interest of the late Helen Fagan a/k/a Helen M. Fagan, if they be living or, if they be dead, their spouses, heirs, devisees, distributees and successors in interest, all of whom and whose names and places of residence are unknown to the Plaintiff; The United States of America acting through the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; City of New York Environmental Control Board; City of New York Parking Violations Bureau; City of New York Transit Adjudication Bureau; State of New York, Defendants. PROPERTY ADDRESS: 167 Wolverine Street, Staten Island, NY 10306 TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or a notice of appearance on the attorneys for the Plaintiff within thirty (30) days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the date of service. The United States of America, if designated as a defendant in this action, may appear within sixty (60) days of service hereof. In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: The foregoing Summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an Order of the Hon. Desmond Green, a Justice of the Supreme Court, Richmond County, entered Jan. 9, 2019 and filed with the complaint and other papers in the Richmond County Clerk’s Office. NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above captioned action is to foreclose a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage to secure $675,000.00 and interest, recorded in the Richmond County Office of the City Register on August 31, 2009, in Land Document Number: 306466 covering premises known as 167 Wolverine Street, Staten Island, NY 10306 a/k/a Block 4419, Lot 69. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage described above. Plaintiff designates Richmond County as the place of trail. Venue is based upon the County in which the mortgaged premises is situated.

Notice of Qualification of LibreMax Opportunistic Value Fund, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/02/19. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Cayman Islands (C.I.) on 11/30/18. Princ. office of LP: 600 Lexington Ave., 7th Fl., NY, NY 10022. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. C.I. addr. of LP: Maples Corporate Services Limited, PO Box 309, Ugland House, Grand Cayman, C.I. KY1-1104. Cert. of LP filed with General Registry, Ground Fl., Government Administration Bldg., 133 Elgin Ave, George Town, Grand Cayman, C.I. KY19000. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

RMV Universal Solutions LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 01/30/2019. Office loc: Westchester County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Rakell M. Vazquez-Murray, Owner, 2 Ronalds Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to collocate antennas (tip heights 133’ and 159’) on the building at 1249 Park Avenue, New York, NY (20190205). Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-809-1202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS SUMMONS AND COMPLAINT BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE MORTGAGE COMPANY WHO FILED THIS FORECLOSURE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT, A DEFAULT JUDGMENT MAY BE ENTERED AND YOU CAN LOSE YOUR HOME. SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY OR GO TO THE COURT WHERE YOUR CASE IS PENDING FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON HOW TO ANSWER THE SUMMONS AND PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY. SENDING A PAYMENT TO YOUR MORTGAGE COMPANY WILL NOT STOP THIS FORECLOSURE ACTION. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR TIIE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT. Dated: March 28, 2017 Steven M. Palmer, Esq. Associate Attorney SHAPIRO, DICARO & BARAK, LLC Attorneys for Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (585) 247-9000 Fax: (585) 247-7380 Our File No. 12-020442

Notice of Qualification of 165 East 66th Street (NY) Garage Owner, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/30/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/29/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Paracorp Incorporated, 2804 Gateway Oaks Dr. #100, Sacramento, CA 95833. Address to be maintained in DE: 2140 S. DuPont Hwy., Camden, DE 19934. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. #4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of Flight Center Holdings LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/8/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1503 LBJ Freeway, Ste. 300, Dallas, TX 75234. LLC formed in DE on 8/2/17. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of AdaptiveHR, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/7/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 800 Hingham St., Ste. 20253, Rockland, MA 02370. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Adaptive Payroll, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 2/7/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 800 Hingham St., Ste. 2025-3, Rockland, MA 02370. LLC formed in DE on 12/12/18. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

UNCLAIMED FUNDS! Insurance companies We can publish unclaimed funds for you quickly, easily and efficiently. WANT MORE INFO? EMAIL: LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

CityAndStateNY.com

February 18, 2019

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi dpirozzi@cityandstateny.com, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Jenny Hochberg

Who was up and who was down last week

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Director Derek Evers devers@cityandstateny.com, Digital Content Coordinator Michael Filippi, Social Media Editor/Content Producer Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

ANDREW CUOMO & BILL DE BLASIO And so ends Pax Democratica. This isn’t what either the governor or the mayor wanted – but when you purposefully cut out lawmakers from a process in which you dangle billions of dollars in incentives to a huge and hugely profitable company that’s owned by the wealthiest man on Earth, you’ve got to expect some kind of backlash. If there’s any silver lining, it’s that most voters were on their side on the Amazon deal.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

NITA LOWEY

RUBÉN DÍAZ SR.

Her border security bill just averted another federal shutdown. No biggie.

“I’m the victim,” the councilman cried ... like everyone who’s ever said hateful things.

SCOTT RECHLER

RON KIM

FELIX MATOS RODRIGUEZ

NORMAN SEABROOK

SEXUAL HARASSMENT WORKING GROUP

ALAN SIMON

There’s never been a better time for the RXR boss to ditch the MTA board. CUNY’s long-awaited chancellor comes all the way from ... CUNY’s Queens College.

The work of these 7 women led to the first harassment hearing in Albany in decades.

His “No Amazon” public advocate ballot line isn’t gonna help him much now.

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Event Sponsorship Strategist Danielle Koza dkoza@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillanGrace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Junior Sales Executive Caitlin Dorman, Junior Sales Executive Shakirah Gittens, Junior Sales Associate Chris Hogan EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Director of Events Research & Development Bryan Terry, Marketing Coordinator Meg McCabe

Vol. 8 Issue 6 February 18, 2019

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

February 18 2019

Cover illustration Alex Law

He’d better hope all his prison guard compadres treat him well in the slammer. The crass Spring Valley mayor had better keep his day job, after being disbarred.

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email. Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2019, City & State NY, LLC

STATE SENATE; A KATZ, RBLFMR/SHUTTERSTOCK; OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

MICHAEL GIANARIS & JIMMY VAN BRAMER These two Davids from Queens stared down the corporate Goliath and won, hitting Amazon with a barrage of pebbles between the eyes. “Excessive subsidies” – HIT. Will raise housing prices – HIT. “Won’t unionize” – KILLSHOT. Lord knows state Sen. Michael Gianaris and New York City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer now have to answer to the majority of New Yorkers who wanted Amazon. But the deal’s opponents are hailing the pair as conquering heroes.

OUR PICK

WINNERS

Judging from the flurry of tweets, press releases and statements issued on Thursday, either New York City is going down in flames or it has just achieved its greatest victory. Even if the rhetoric on both sides is a little exaggerated, Amazon’s abrupt decision to cancel its HQ2 plan certainly made some Winners & Losers last week.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Copy Editor Eric Holmberg, Staff Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny.com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@ cityandstateny.com

SUMMIT 03 . 21 . 19

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ENCOUNTER 226 W 44TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10036 City & State’s Diversity Summit will offer industry executives, public sector leaders and academics a full-day conference dedicated to fostering business partnerships between the state and local government, prime contractors and MWBEs. PANEL TOPICS: THE FUTURE OF MWBES IN NEW YORK FUNDING AND RESOURCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS BECOMING A PART OF NEW YORK’S BIGGEST MWBE PROJECTS DIVERSITY IN GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, TECH AND HEALTH CARE FEATURED SPEAKERS: Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chairwoman, House Small Business Committee State Sen. James Sanders, Chairman, MWBE Task Force Lourdes Zapata, Chief Diversity Officer, Office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Jonnel Doris, NYC Mayor’s Office of Minority and Women Owned Businesses Gregg Bishop, Commissioner, NYC Dept. of Small Business Services

RSVP at CityAndStateNY.com/Events For more information on programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lissa Blake at lblake@cityandstateny.com

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:

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