Brent O'Leary to speak out against proposed changes at Queens Civic Congress rally outside NYC Building Dept, 280 Bdway, Fri, July 10

Long Island City, NY   Brent O'Leary, candidate for New York City Council, has signed on to Queens Civic Congress letter and will be speaking at the rally at the Department of Buildings tomorrow at noon on Friday, July 10th. "This is an outrageous attempt to take away a neighborhood's voice in its own development. It is difficult enough to challenge building and zoning violations and damage caused by developers now, this will give the developers free reign to alter our communities without our involvement. I will be fighting these proposed changes stenuously." said candidate Brent. Sent: Fri, Jul 3, 2009 4:37 pm Subject: Queens Civic Congress rally outside NYC Building Dept, 280 Bdway, Fri, July 10, noon; other updates Dear members and friends, Queens Civic Congress executive committee (EC), at our June 15 meeting, discussed the need to respond to the City Hall policy that restricts out ability to make complaints about illegal and unsafe buildings and construction activity. I appointed a committee to recommend a plan of action. The EC approved that plan, which calls for a statement and news conference/ rally outside the NYC Department of Buildings on Friday, July 10 at 12 noon. Please make every effort to attend and mobilize your members as well. We invite our civic and community par tner in every borough to participate and pass on the word. If you know your civic will attend please let us know. If you wish to make a statement, please contact me ASAP. Our statement is posted on our website and is linked below: 2009-07-10 Stop the DOB Scam and City Hall slam v. the public on (illegal) building, zoning and construction com plaints. It was issued yesterday as a letter to the editor and shared with all media outlets. Feel free to pass this message on. A flyer will be available this weekend on our we bsite (Meetings and Media sections). Of course bring your posters and your banners. If you are working Friday and your office is nearby, it is lunch hour so please stop by. The EC is meeting Monday eve in my office to finalize o ur plans; please pass on any suggestions and of course your RSVPs, which will help us in this endeavor. Even though you know your civic and community colleagues get this email, please make sure to talk it up as people may go off the air this long weekend. Thank you for your support. Happy 4th! - Corey -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2009-07-01 St. Saviour's Reconstruction Funded for 2010 (with comment b y Queens Civic Congress) 2009-06-23 Support Ahles house landmark designation (Letter to Landmarks Preservation Commission) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The entire DOB statement: July 6, 2009 To the editor, Queens Civic Congress and the 110 civic associations it represents covering every community throughout the borough strongly opposes City Hall's latest scam to remove from the public its right to challenge, at any time, and t o demand an official examination, inspection and resolution by the Buildings Department with respect to established zoning regulations and Building Code requirements. Queens Civic Congress objects to new procedures make filing a challenge more onerous than the current 311 complaint and remove any possibility of filing an anonymous challenge. These outrag eous procedures represent nothing more than a continuation of the arrogance that this administration shows to the ability of the public to influence development in our neighborhoods. Now that the Mayor and most of his agency heads are about to kick back and enjoy the fruits of extending term limits without asking the voters, the public should prepare for the latest slamming from City Hall. Starting, Monday, July 13, th e Department of Buildings (DOB) will post plans for pending work permits on its website so that the public can identify problems with planned projects and file complaints in a timely fashion. Sounds good? Read on. Members of the public, few with any architectural or planning expertise, face a new requirement< /A> to hunt around the DOB’s website to identify pending projects and file a complaint. All this must be done within all of 45 days. If DOB’s finding fails to adequately address a complaint, recourse involves an appeals process that culminates with the City's Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA); appeals to the BSA likely require members of the public and civic associations to incur legal expense they do not face under the p rior rules. This new process flies in the face of reality and basically drafts the public to act as more than eyes and ears to report possible violations and illegal conditions. The new rules unrealistically and most inappropriately requires the general public to essentially act as building plan examiners and building code inspectors. In truth, members of the public rarely become aware of projects until they see shovels in the ground and construction underway; this occurs long after a permit DOB issues its permit approvals and the 45-day opportunity to complain has elapsed. The new process for posting plans on line continue to omit zoning calculations and analyses from the plans on DOB’s website;=2 0this short-circuits any effective use of the new complaint process. Absent zoning analysis, the public remains unable to determine if, in fact, a project conforms with zoning or building regulations and an objection unwarranted. The new process also abrogates the critical role of community boards as our local watchdogs. The underfunded, under-resourced boards, made up of volunteers and dependent on small staffs, currently lack the expertise to monitor development in their areas and act in time to meet the DOB’s 45-day window. City Hall also continues to deprive our community boards of the financial resources to engage such experts. As a result – and maybe City Hall wants this unacceptable outcome, inappropriate development rises beneath the public’s radar. This change clearly puts concerned community members, community boards and others concerned without the crucial ability to represent their communities. Look at how the rule works. It confers on developers and contractors 45-day statute of limitations after which the Buildings Department will issue a work permit and leave the developer home free. The likelihood of successful complaints surviving DOB's appeals process: just about nil; just ask any citizen who has spent time with the DOB or the Board of Standards and Appeals. Leaders of the more than 110 civic organizations that make up the Queens Civic Congress tell us they will not be able to catch plans from property owners before DOB certifies projects and contractors begin their work. Civic leaders express concern at how they and their communities will cope with DOB’s notorious practice of allowing applicants to self-certify plans for proj ects as legal and conforming with all city regulations. The rule, if left standing, immunizes corrupt practices and limits the public’s right to address illegal conduct whenever and wherever found. It violates our fundamental rights as citizens. Maybe City Hall wanted this all along. Maybe they seek to disguise an overdevelopment tool as they continue to scheme how to remake sound communities, play cute with zonings and text changes Queens Civic Congress and others advocate, and allow many essential landmarking opportunities to fall prey to inappropriate and unnec essary development. Queens Civic Congress urges concerned community members and others – included our electeds (and would-be electeds) – who share our concerns to join us outside to DOB at 280 Broadway, Friday July 10, 2009 at 12:00 noon. Sincerely, Corey B. Bearak, Esq. President HIDDEN