CUNY cop killed in shootout with NYPD

 NY Post

 Two Queens cops were shot Tuesday by a CUNY peace officer — who had his guns taken away in a previous domestic dispute, only to have them returned to him weeks ago, police said.

One of the officers was left bleeding heavily from a wound to his right upper thigh, while the other was shot in both hands — both suffering “very serious injuries,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a press conference.

The pair were wounded during an exchange of gunfire that erupted as soon as 41-year-old suspect Rondell Goppy walked through the door of his Springfield Gardens home with his gun blazing amid a domestic dispute around 12:45 p.m., Shea said.

Minutes earlier, the officers — identified by law-enforcement sources as Christopher Wells and Joseph Murphy — had escorted Goppy’s 41-year-old wife back to the troubled couple’s apartment at 145-86 179th St.

The wife was getting her things so she could stay somewhere else after a violent incident between the pair in the morning over alleged infidelity, police said.

“The wife walked into the 105th Precinct this morning. She said her husband choked her,’’ a law-enforcement source told The Post. “The domestic-violence officers went back with her to the house to get some stuff.”

It appears that Goppy wasn’t still in the home at the time. The cops and woman were then inside for about 6 minutes when “almost instantly, [Goppy] walks in through the front door and starts shooting at our two officers,” Shea said.

Goppy blasted away in “a combat stance” before he was shot multiple times and killed — and his wife ended up notifying police that two of their own were struck by bullets when she called 911 to report the gunfire, sources said.

Governor Cuomo ejects students from CUNY and SUNY dorm rooms to be triaged for COVD-19 patients

NY Post

Students who reside at CUNY and SUNY colleges have been kicked out of their dorms as Gov. Andrew Cuomo and health authorities eye the campuses as sites for make-shift emergency medical centers to help treat a wave of coronavirus patients, officials said.

“New York State is sending its CUNY and SUNY students out into pandemic through dorm closures,” fumed Petra Gregory, a student government representative at the College of Staten Island.

Dorm students at CUNY’s Hunter and City College campuses were also ordered to vacate as were resident-students at several SUNY campuses — including Stony Brook, which the Army Corps. of 
 Engineers has chosen as one of Long Island’s emergency medical sites.

Stony Brook already has a hospital on campus and already serves as a Suffolk County COVID-19 drive-thru testing center.

Gregory said dorms residents at CUNY’s Staten Island campus were abruptly told that they were getting the boot Monday night when a resident assistant knocked on their doors.

“I am currently being unfairly evicted out of my dorms, and I have a mother who is immunocompromised and a 6-month-old baby sister. My family is unable to pick me up, and I have to travel with my support animal and pack for him on this short notice as well,” one of the college’s resident-students, Jasmine Shaikh, said.

A CSI official sent an email to students on Tuesday confirming the state ordered the students booted to make room.

“Governor Cuomo has asked private and public universities across New York State to be ready for the possibility that dormitories might need to be converted into temporary emergency medical centers,” said Jennifer Borrero, CSI’s vice president of student affairs.

Wonder if there has been any discussion about triaging empty condos that haven't been sold or that are being used as pie-e-terre's in all those luxury towers and empty "affordable" apartments in mixed use buildings that the state and city gave tax breaks to.

REBNY involved in CUNY chancellor search

"Why on earth would the President of REBNY be on the search committee for the next CUNY Chancellor? Their tentacles are everywhere...

These are the members of the Chancellor Search Committee and their affiliations:

William C. Thompson Jr., Chairperson, CUNY Board of Trustees
Barry F. Schwartz, Vice Chairperson, CUNY Board of Trustees
Henry T. Berger, Trustee, CUNY Board of Trustees
Fernando Ferrer, Trustee, CUNY Board of Trustees
Una S. T-Clarke, Trustee, CUNY Board of Trustees
Kevin D. Kim, Trustee, CUNY Board of Trustees
Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Trustee, CUNY Board of Trustees
Karol V. Mason, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Dr. David Gómez, President, Hostos Community College
John Aderounmu, Chairperson, University Student Senate
Huiling Cai, Student, LaGuardia Community College
Katherine M. Conway, Chair, University Faculty Senate
Ruth E. Stark, Distinguished Professor, City College
John Banks, President, Real Estate Board of New York"

- anonymous

CUNY mural saved by...Joe Lhota?

FYI... The mosaic mural at City Tech has been saved! The college hired a firm to take the mural down in sections and crate it. Actually Joe Lhota, who is a CUNY trustee, and others, spoke on behalf of saving it at one of the board meetings.

Since 1% of the new building cost must be set aside for art, they're hoping it will be re-installed somewhere in the new building. They're still working on the details. But even if that doesn't work out, at least it wasn't destroyed.

CUNY to destroy mural by famous black artist

From the Daily News:

A sprawling mosaic that has long been a symbol of City Tech in downtown Brooklyn will be destroyed when the Klitgord Auditorium gets torn down sometime this summer.

The massive mural, built on the Jay St. theater in 1962 by famed African-American sculptor Nathaniel Choate, will make way for a $400 million educational complex expected to open in 2016.

School officials said only part of the mural — the school crests flanking the main artwork, but not the six figurines celebrating sports, recreation, health, competition, drama and music — could be salvaged.

“This is a loss of history and contact with the founders of this institution,” said English teacher Mary Nilles, one of several teachers who spoke against destroying the artwork.
Construction on the 400,000-square-foot college building will start as soon as the aging auditorium - including Choate’s 33 foot by 17 foot mosaic - is razed.

Choate’s work is on display at several other locations including Harvard University and the National Academy of Design in New York.


If CUNY doesn't appreciate Mr. Choate's artwork, can't they at least donate it to an institution that will? Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Historical Society, etc.?

It's embarrassing to be a CUNY alumnus these days. Sheesh.

Sad school stats

From the NY Post:

Nearly 80 percent of city public high-school graduates who enrolled in a City University of New York community college last year had to relearn the basics of reading, writing or math — the highest percentage in years.

A stunning 79.3 percent of city public-school grads who went to CUNY’s six two-year colleges arrived without having mastered the basics, up from 71.4 percent in 2007.

The ballooning numbers come despite the state having raised the requirements to graduate from high school in each of the past five years.

In 2012, this meant that roughly 10,700 students who earned high- school diplomas and enrolled at two-year CUNY schools weren’t prepared for college-level work — most of them because of math.

Those students were then forced to shell out money for non- credit-bearing courses — for as much as $1,000 a pop, they said — before they could start making their way toward a college degree.

Swindled in LIC

From The Real Deal:

A would-be real estate developer stands accused of convincing the owners of a Long Island City taxi lot to invest millions in a development he never built, instead allegedly lavishing the funds on his personal expenses. The developer, Brent Carrier, was previously the president of Vernon Realty, a Long Island City-based development company, according to the site for Carrier’s current business, Laguna Beach-Calif.-based Laguna Pacific Development.

Carrier first approached Richard Wissak and Jerry Nazari, who own a garage down the street from the land they hoped to develop, in 2011, saying he had a tip on “the deal of the century,” according to a complaint they filed in July in New York State Supreme Court in Queens County.

Carrier relentlessly pursued the pair of prospective investors, saying he could take their capital and his supposed expertise in real estate development to redevelop the site, the lawsuit claims. Carrier allegedly said the group could buy the lot, at 45-40 Vernon Boulevard, at a steep discount, as the widow who owned the site wanted to be done with it.

Carrier claimed to have plans and relationships already in place to facilitate building a facility for the City University of New York on the site, the complaint says. He told the pair he had considerable experience dealing with sites like this one, a former paint factory in need of environmental remediation, the lawsuit alleges.

The website for Laguna Pacific states that Carrier’s “largest project [while] at Vernon Realty was the River East development in Long Island City, which Vernon Realty purchased for $24 million in 2004 and was placed under contract to sell for $183 million in 2006.”

A “Vernon Realty Holdings” bought the parcel at 44-02 Vernon Boulevard — where the River East condominiums were once slated to rise, according to published reports — for $26.1 million in 2003, city records show. Subsequent transfers of the property, the last of which was in 2009, show trades for $0 to an identically named limited liability company.
Alas, no development was built at the Vernon Boulevard site. Department of Buildings records show no permits, issued or in process, for construction at the address.

CUNY wants to enter hotel business

From Crains:

The City University of New York has retained Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to help the school determine if it should proceed with a plan to build a hotel in Long Island City, Queens in order to expand its hospitality program.

The school said the assessment should be completed some time this fall. In January, CUNY began looking for a consultant to help the school evaluate a 91,000-square-foot lot it owns at 28-02 Skillman Ave. for potential hotel use. The property is part of CUNY's LaGuardia Community College campus. Cushman & Wakefield is working with a number of other CUNY colleges that offer hospitality and tourism programs, including New York City College of Technology and Kingsborough Community College, to evaluate the development project.

The lot under evaluation is bounded by Skillman Avenue to the north, 29th Street to the east, 47th Avenue to the south and 28th Street to the west. It has been owned by CUNY since LaGuardia Community College was founded in 1971 and is ripe for development. The property is currently zoned for up to a 600,000-square-foot development, but the school said it does not plan to build to the maximum size. If built, the hotel will be linked to a new hospitality program at LaGuardia.

Legionnaire's disease at LaGuardia CC

From NBC:

Two employees at LaGuardia Community College in Queens have contracted Legionnaires' disease as a result of legionella bacteria in the hot water system, health officials say.

The legionella exists in Building C at the school in Long Island City. Staff members learned in a school email Wednesday that two employees there have contracted Legionnaires in the past year.

The plan is to clean and chlorinate the hot water system, while the building remains open for business. CUNY says hospitals and other buildings have done that many times.

Everyone wants to get into the act

From Crains:

The City University of New York is planning to build a hotel in Long Island City, Queens, to enhance its schools' hospitality programs.

CUNY is looking for a hospitality consultant to evaluate a 91,000-square-foot lot it owns at 28-02 Skillman Ave. which is part of its LaGuardia Community College campus, for potential hotel use. The selected consultant will help CUNY analyze the feasibility of a hotel project in light of the current commercial real estate market, review zoning of the site and explore financing options for such a project. The consultant would also ultimately assist CUNY with preparing a request for proposal seeking a developer/hotel operator to partner with and build the project.

“We realized we have a number of programs in the hospitality area and when we explored expanding these programs, one good element is to have your own hotel where students can train,” said Iris Weinshall, CUNY vice chairman responsible for facilities and real estate planning and development. “We hope to hear back from folks, soon, and are very excited about moving forward with this project.”

The parcel of land, bounded by Skillman Avenue to the north, 29th Street to the east, 47th Avenue to the south and 28th Street to the west, is zoned for up to a 600,000-square-foot development. That means there would be no need for the school to go through the lengthy city approval process to obtain a zoning change on the site, according to Ms. Weinshall, who added that CUNY does not plan to build a hotel that large.

CUNY pulls out of brownfield site, developer now wants undergraduate dorm

From the Times Ledger:

Representatives from a real estate investment firm went to Community Board 2 last Thursday hoping to amend their already approved city Board of Standards and Appeals resolution and build a residential tower before a planned dormitory for CUNY students. But they ended up having CB 2 reject their resolution entirely.

“I feel that there’s a significant difference between 300 to 400 undergraduates in our community and 300 to 400 graduate students and faculty in our community,” said John Bradley, an area resident.

CB 2’s recommendation last Thursday involved two buildings to be built at 511 47th Ave. in Long Island City. O’Connor Capital Partners, a Manhattan real estate investment firm, originally planned to construct a 12-story residential building and a six-story dormitory for graduate students and faculty, said Joe Conley, chairman of CB 2. The plan was recommended for approval by CB 2 and approved by the BSA in 2008. Yet the City University of New York, which was a partner in the plan to build the dormitory, ended up pulling out of the project.

“It was very distressing that [CUNY] didn’t even have the decency to call and say, ‘Sorry, we changed our mind,’” Conley said.

Harold Goldman, attorney with GoldmanHarris LLC, spoke for O’Connor Capital Partners and said the firm is still planning to build, but has opened up the option of using the dormitory for undergraduates, or possibly another use entirely. In addition, O’Connor wanted to start construction the high-rise residential building first, which would be sold at market price, and went to CB 2 to get permission to change the resolution for that purpose.

This did not meet the approval of CB 2, although it objected to the plan primarily because of the possibility the dormitories might be for undergraduates. Lisa Deller, chairwoman of the Land Use Committee for CB 2, said the dormitories were originally approved back in 2008 with a deed restriction saying the residences should only be for graduate students and faculty.

“What does it do to the community?” Deller asked. “What does it do to the one- and two-family houses on that street?”

Open enrollment still a joke

From the Daily News:

Nearly three-quarters of city high school students entering City University community colleges failed placement exams in reading, math and writing this year.

About 74% of first-time freshmen who graduated from city schools and are attending CUNY's community colleges needed remedial classes this year after exams deemed them unprepared for college-level work.

That's up slightly from 2009, when 71% of incoming city students needed the catch-up classes.

Education Department officials could not explain the uptick but noted that there has been improvement since 2002, when 82% of first-time freshmen at the community colleges weren't ready for college-level work.

Would you let your kid live in a dorm like this?

From the Village Voice:

The city is suing a cracked building that markets itself as a dorm for City College students.

City College students should be wary. The 21-unit walk-up, which is adjacent to the school's Harlem campus, has 118 housing code violations, including hazardous leaks from the roof, mice, lead paint violations, and there's no janitor (And the building's owners disobeyed the city's orders to hire one.)

511 West 135th Street, City College says, is not an official dorm (The school only has one official dorm, at 401 West 130th Street, called The Towers at the City College of New York.) The company that owns the building on 135th Street calls itself City College Dorms, LLC.

According to court documents, when the city tried to enter the building to remove mold and make other repairs last spring, the building manager, William Molina, wouldn't let them in. The city sued, and the case is making its way through housing court.

Brownfield dorm site seems dormant

When you wander down 47th Avenue in LIC, you come across this scene. First off, you know there is some governmental interest at stake if Claire Shulman's favorite architect is involved.

A scaffold that expired more than a year ago? Nice. So that's why there was no activity on the site in the middle of the day on a Monday.

Holding true to half-assed Queens preservation/adaptive reuse efforts, we have one wall of the original building still standing.

Brownfields are the perfect venue for CUNY dorms.

And who were the Toch Brothers? Well, they still exist, but just not here anymore. They mixed some really toxic stuff at this location. If you want the whole history, visit this link.

Break open those piggy banks, kids!

From WNYC:

New York Senate Democrats are trying again to come up with a way to let State University of New York (SUNY) and City University of New York (CUNY) campuses charge more for tuition without getting legislative approval. The Democrats' latest proposal would allow the SUNY campuses at Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and Stony Brook to raise tuition by as much as 7 percent, with lower rate increases at the other SUNY and CUNY campuses.

The colleges support the proposed tuition hike as it would make them less dependent on Albany. But many Assembly Democrats oppose the increase.

Manhattan Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, who is on the Assembly's Higher Education Committee, says even a pilot program raising tuition is dangerous because college could become too expensive.

Public university proud to enroll illegals

From the NY Times:

Eduardo J. Martí, Queensborough’s president, calls it “an academic Ellis Island,” a place that is open to all, where immigration status means nothing.

“We make a point not to ask about it, and we are proud of it,” said Dr. Martí, who came to New York City from Cuba alone in 1960, at age 18.

He estimated that 1,000 illegal immigrants are probably enrolled at Queensborough at any given time.

York College has major flooding issue

From the Queens Chronicle:

York College has been plagued with a flooding problem that administrators fear may shut down a large portion of the campus, if a permanent solution is not found.

The college has been working with the City University of New York and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection to come up with a plan — one that school officials proposed at a Community Board 12 meeting on Wednesday. Attendees, however, were skeptical about the plan, fearing that it would increase flooding problems at nearby residential homes and spur rodent infestation.

In 2004, during an unrelated project to install new boilers in the Academic Core Building, the college discovered that water was pouring into the sub-basement.

The 75,000-square foot building is the principal administrative and academic facility on the campus and it provides power for itself along with two adjacent buildings — the Health and Physical Education Building and the Performing Arts Center. The three buildings are also designated as Office of Emergency Management shelter locations for the South Jamaica community.

“The electrical conduits that bring energy from Con Edison to the building are under the slab and therefore the college runs the risk of losing its electrical supply at any moment,” Ronald Thomas, dean of administrative affairs at York explained. “If that happens, three of the buildings, which conduct 70 percent of all activity on campus would be lost, until we could make repairs.”

The other problem is that employees who are responsible for performing maintenance on the engineering plant in the sub-basement must walk through two or three feet of water to conduct their business in an environment that is electrically charged. Also, persistent water can lead to mold exposure.

Channels along with sumps and pumps currently carry the water to a combined sewer, for which York has a temporary DEP discharge permit. However, the agency has told the college that it will not renew the permit and has asked that officials find a permanent solution, compelling York “to move forward rather aggressively,” Thomas said.

York College has a deep basement — 30 feet below the street level, which is typical of large structures. The average residential basement is eight to 10 feet below ground. Over a million gallons of water must be pumped out of York’s sub-basement daily in order to keep it dry and support the regular operation of the campus.

CUNY courts illegal aliens

From the Daily News:

Arizona may be cracking down on illegal immigrants, but one New York college is inviting them in.

New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn has launched a free pilot program that aims to get Mexican restaurant workers to go back to school, even if they're undocumented.

Students end up with a City Tech certificate that's also recognized in Mexico. CUNY officials said the program, funded by a $100,000 grant from the Mexican government, is likely the first of its kind in the country.

Though many city agencies, such as public schools and hospitals, are required to provide services for immigrants regardless of status, the CUNY program goes further and actively courts even illegal immigrants.

Officials from CUNY, long a launching pad for immigrant strivers, said it isn't their business to ask students their legal status.

Why not? You get funded by taxpayer dollars yet are promoting a program that will help illegals get better paying jobs off the books? This makes sense because...?

Future of Atlas Park up in the air

From the Daily News:

The Shops at Atlas Park will unleash a new weapon during its summertime battle for survival.

The foreclosed Glendale mall - which is expected to be sold at auction next month - has hired a prominent agent to lure tenants ahead of a crucial shopping season for the open-air complex.

The entry of CB Richard Ellis, one of the world's largest commercial real estate firms, ends a 14-month management by Michael Mattone of the Mattone Group, whose contract recently expired.

Next in the Atlas Park saga: a highly anticipated sale - as early as June - that could determine the long-term success of the Cooper Ave. center.

It's also possible that a pact might be struck before the auction date, as teams and players often do prior to drafts in sports leagues.

"It's kind of like the draft," said Paul Millus, the court-appointed lawyer who controls the mall during foreclosure. "Sometimes you have a deal before you start."

Millus said several people have "expressed some measure of interest" in purchasing the mall, though he would not name them.

Community leaders have long figured the mall's founders, the family of former Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger, would bid on the mall they conceived.

A group of Israeli investors is also in the running, with hopes to shape the mall in the mold of the Tanger Outlets on Long Island, said City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village).

Crowley herself wants the City University of New York to offer classes at Atlas Park - a spot she thinks would be convenient for students in southern and western Queens.

Crowley said she will raise the possibility with university bigwigs after the city passes its budget this summer. CUNY officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Whether CUNY would even be welcome at Atlas Park depends on the philosophy of the mall's next owner.

Dorm for Dutch Kills?

From the Queens Gazette:

Officials at the Dutch Kills Civic Association this week said they need answers to a number of questions regarding plans for a proposed 19-story building located at 30-30 Northern Blvd. before the community can approve of the plans.

Building owner North 30 Associates LLC is seeking a variance from the city Board of Standards and Appeals to permit use of the proposed site as a dormitory for city college students, along with as-of-right convenience retail and mini storage facilities.

In a request for the variance, attorneys Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel said the proposed building would be 19 stories in height with an accessory parking garage for 100 vehicles.

In a Statement of Facts outlining plans for the building, the attorneys cite a 2003 study into the housing needs of college students in New York City that estimated a demand for more than 5,000 beds in Queens for students from four CUNY institutions: Baruch College, Hunter College, CUNY Graduate Center and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

After studying the financial feasibility of two alternative development plans, i.e. a new, 16-story office building or a new, 26-story mixed office/hotel building, the owner decided to proceed with the proposal for student dormitories and retail use at the site, the attorneys state.

Dutch Kills Civic Association president Gerald Walsh and Executive Director George Stamatiades, both members of Community Board 1, said questions remain regarding future use of the proposed building.

Walsh and Stamatiades said their members need some sort of guarantee from the building owner that the site will not be “flipped” for future use as a homeless shelter or similar facility.

In a joint statement Walsh and Stamatiades said the Dutch Kills community would welcome students in the proposed dormitory setting with a written guarantee by the building owner that the building will continue to serve as a student dormitory.

“We are greatly concerned that approval of a variance for dormitory use of this building could lead to the future establishment of a homeless shelter at the site,” Walsh said.

“We need answers to a number of questions and a guarantee by the building owner that the site will remain a student dormitory before our community can sign off on this request for a variance.”

Do they really think grad students will want to live next to a train? Does the owner have a contract with CUNY? Would CUNY students living next to a subway own cars? How would you enforce this ban on homeless shelters if the property is sold?

Doesn't this all sound extremely shady?