Skateboarding Is Not A Crime . . . Or If It Is, It Has Been Decriminalized

On the list of red light-districted activities in city parks — dog runs, for one — now add skate parks:

Work on a $1.25 million skateboard park that a local Councilman has been trying to have built in Astoria Park for years is finally scheduled to get underway soon.

“This project will give kids a place to skate that is far away from the busy sidewalks and parks where they sometimes inconvenience other people, especially seniors,” said Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who provided most of the funding.

. . .

Currently, skateboarders use Athens Square Park at 30th Ave. and 30th St., among other areas.

“I have been working to bring this project to Astoria for a long time. It is fulfilling to see something go from an idea to a completion during my term as a Council member,” Vallone said. “Before, all we had here was trucks and equipment. Now, we will have a great park for kids to come and have fun.”

Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski said the new park will offer the obstacles skateboarders crave while at the same time limiting the city’s liability.

“What we are creating in Astoria Park replicates in many ways a lot of the municipal street furniture that kids skate on already. But this gives them a destination location where they can meet in a safe, secure environment,” Lewandowski said.

The new skate plaza “will have ramps that have a maximum height of three feet, which for the city meets our criteria for limiting liabilities,” she added. “Anything over three feet requires that Parks have supervision and that it be gated and closed when we don’t have park staff on duty.”

Contractors are scheduled to break ground on the project in early May and expect to finish in nine months, Vallone said.

Located under the bridge and near Shore Blvd., the skate park site, he said, is situated far enough away so as not to disturb Astoria residents.

Hmm . . . can a city-sponsored graffiti park be far behind? Mr. Ecko?

In The Face Of Gentrification, Some Prefer To Keep The Neighborhood Desolate And Uncompetitive

The complaints about Water Taxi Beach, the Hipster Guantanamo temporary-ish waterfront attraction that was established a couple of summers ago in a desolate corner of Long Island City, seem to be coming from the restaurant across the street. You don’t say:

Despite the official and popular support it has gained, at the request of the owner of Water Taxi Beach, a special meeting was held in early March to air and answer charges that the ferry terminal and summer resort on the shore of the East River in Long Island City is a public nuisance. The charges, dealing mainly with drunken and disorderly behavior, are so strong they threaten the continued life of Water Taxi Beach during the summer months.

. . .

. . . detractors said, when the sun goes down on summer weekends, trouble begins, particularly toward and into the early morning. An alleged source of disruption is P.S. 1, the Museum for Contemporary Art, which holds weekend events in its yard on Jackson Avenue. When they are concluded, according to this version of events, many of the celebrants go looking for further alcoholic consumption down at Water Taxi Beach and other places in Hunters Point. WTB gets the main share of attention because it can handle hundreds of persons at a time.

The complaints came mainly from workers at the Waterfront Crabhouse, at 51st Avenue and 2nd Street. They said that many persons, several of them barely qualified to drink legally, come up from the beach and into the restaurant to use the restrooms or to continue drinking. If refused service or told the restrooms are for patrons only, they often become obstreperous and present a problem for Crabhouse security personnel, the restaurant’s workers, mainly women, told the meeting. One of them said she has endured incidents where young drinkers have come toward the restaurant “in droves” and yelled insults she described as “extremely vile” at her. She related being on a smoke break one night when one inebriated man tried to relieve himself in her ashtray.

. . .

[Water Taxi Beach owner Tom] Fox had a few things to say, both in his defense and about changing the situation. He admitted it was bad, though not as dire as his critics believed it was. He said he would move up last call on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m. and have the place closed and dark by 3 a.m.

Location Scout: Water Taxi Beach.

Rockaway The Brave

Good thing there are a lot of cops in this city:

Nate Banton — New York City’s only bagpipe maker — opened his business in a Neponsit bungalow four months ago. The 30-year-old craftsman specializes in two types of bagpipes: border pipes and small pipes.

“I’m interested in making hand-crafted pipes with an attention to detail,” said Banton, who grew up in Maine. “It’s a good business to be in. I make a product that people can make art with.”

Banton, who apprenticed for three years under noted pipe maker Seth Gallagher in upstate Cold Spring, N.Y., said he had a hard time breaking into the industry.

. . .

Banton uses dozens of handmade tools and relies on his 1940s South Bend lathe, a hardsaw and a drill press for the bulkwork.

A set will take roughly three weeks to complete. Banton now has a three-month waiting list for his pipes.

“I think he’s well on his way to be successful,” said Brian Bigley, 23, who shares the workspace with Banton and is working on his own design for a uilleann pipe — a traditional Irish bagpipe. “The Celtic music industry is doing really well.”

Rain Man Storms The Beach

Picking up trash is one thing. Obsessively counting each item is quite another:

Most people don’t look forward to walking barefoot along a Queens beach because they know that hidden in the warm sand are various discarded items, like straws and stirrers that poke their soles or shards of glass that cut their toes.

They probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that during the 2007 New York Beach Cleanup, 1,018 volunteers collected 21,000 pounds of debris from 24 Queens beaches.

As part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup, people set out to their local beaches to pick up and sort through trash, documenting along the way each item they found.

“It’s mainly a consciousness raising effort,” said Barbara Toborg of Broad Channel, a member of the American Littoral Society’s Northeast Chapter. “If you just stuff garbage in a bag, you’re not really paying too much attention, but categorizing specific items leaves an impression, especially on kids, who are great at that kind of thing.”

. . .

The Queens volunteers noted their most unusual findings, which included a fire hydrant cover, tires, sewer pipes, car axle and bowling pins. The more common findings, although less exciting to document, reminded volunteers how important it is to respect the environment, Toborg said. One group found dead fish and crabs entangled in plastic bags — something Toborg often sees during local beach cleanups.

“A lot of people you see just throw things down on the street without any regard. They don’t even realize what they’re doing,” she said. But this changes if they see the consequences of their actions, like a bird trapped in a six-pack ring holder, or a sea mammal entwined with a fishing line.

Making up the majority of debris in Queens’ beaches were household items: volunteers collected nearly 4,000 paper or plastic bags, more than 4,700 food wrappers and containers, and about 5,500 caps and lids. Topping the list at 8,677 were beverage cans and bottles, plastic and glass.

Meanwhile, a purpose appears to rise to the top:

Across the entire state, volunteers collected 56,756 beverage containers, two-thirds of which are not included in the state’s bottle deposit law. To reduce the number of discarded bottles and cans, Toborg and the Northeast Chapter are advocating for legislation that would expand the five-cent deposit to containers that hold non-carbonated beverages.

The “Bigger Better Bottle Bill” has been stalled in the state Senate, Toborg said, but the annual beach cleanup is helping to spread awareness and garner support for the legislation. Earlier this week, the Northeast Chapter was joined by local surfers and other supporters in Albany, where they rallied for the bill.

Ah, the beverage company lobby. I hate those guys.

Advantage: Queens

Brooklyn gets greyer (“The war between childless bar-goers and the so-called stroller Mafia has ended at one restaurant: the eatery is offering on-site babysitters to watch children in a separate room while their parents — and everyone else — dine and drink in peace”), while Queens gets funnier:

The Astoria Comedy Club is set to open Friday at Mezzo Mezzo restaurant on Ditmars Blvd. — the only venue in the borough for regular comic relief.

The 75-seat club, located in a performance space on the second floor of the eatery, will be open four days a week for now and feature comedians from across the country.

“About 10 years ago, all the comics moved to Astoria because it’s cheap,” said Matt Taylor, the club’s host. “There’s more talent here per square foot than anywhere, period.”