If You Can’t Beat Them, Give Them One Of The Piers To Piss And Crap On

The State Parks Department buckles in the face of a highly organized, powerful and ruthlessly self-interested lobby:

After years of being smacked on the nose for their four-legged infractions, Long Island City dog owners are finally being allowed to sniff some fresh, park air.

Gantry Plaza State Park has long been off limits to pooches, but that will now change after area elected officials brokered a deal with state parks officials for a six-month trial run. The trial run opens up Pier 4 to K-9’s during certain morning and evening hours.

Dopey dog imagery aside, the only “breath of fresh air” has been the New York State Department of Parks, whose regional directors know that too many of the dog owners of Long Island City are boorish, selfish, disgusting canine custodians who treat the parks there as their own backyard — and not one of the nicely appointed backyards but rather one of those gross backyards with fossilized dog shit landmines every couple of feet.

But no, elected officials had to step in to “broker a deal” and “protect the interests” of people who shouldn’t be owning outdoor animals in the first place.

Many dog owners simply ignore the signs that are already there. And the State Parks Department is correct that dog owners can’t handle stopping their pets from pooping and pissing in the park. Dog owners let dogs poop and piss in all sorts of places you would hope they wouldn’t: walls, trees, bags of trash (nice to do to hard-working Sanitation employees, by the way!), your front stoop. Face it, the only reason dog owners want access to the park is to allow themselves an aesthetically pleasing backdrop during their animals’ bathroom breaks. And when you allow that, they’re going to let those beasts poop and piss there, too.

But again, our elected officials, huge pussies they are, in effect overruled the professionals in charge.

You need a pet in an urban area? Get a fucking cat! That way it can poop and piss in your house and not all over mine.

Earlier: The Silent Majority Needs To Speak Up.

Location Scout: Gantry Plaza State Park.

Holi Moly

Cops shut down the yearly Holi festival in Richmond Hill on the grounds that “you can’t have powder”:

For some 25 years, Hindus in Richmond Hill have held a parade to celebrate the ancient religious holiday Holi — the Festival of Colors. Participants traditionally throw colored powder at one another, but Sunday cops seized loads of the powder from paradegoers. “They walked around and started grabbing from anyone they saw,” said parade organizer Vishnu Mahadeo, 50, president of the Richmond Hill Economic Development Council. “They said the law said you can’t have powder.”

More detail: “Phagwah parade,” Queens Courier, March 22, 2011.

See also: “The Problem With Community Boards”.

Location Scout: Phagwah Parade.

While The Mayor Is Busy Grandstanding On A National Stage, Here At Home He Shows How He Can Flex His Muscle

I don’t want to hector you and say “here’s a disturbing story that should bother anyone who cares about how government abuses its power” but here’s a disturbing story that should bother anyone who cares about how government abuses its power:

The raid, conducted by government agencies including the NYPD and the Buildings and Housing Preservation and Development departments, began about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, when an estimated 200 law enforcement officers in more than 50 vehicles arrived at the Iron Triangle, blocking several entrances and exits and stopping anyone from coming or going for more than six hours, [Willets Point Defense Committee president Marco] Neira said. [Councilwoman Julia] Ferreras said “dozens” of officers participated.

“I tried to drive up the street [into Willets Point] and the police said, ‘This is a secured area, you can’t come in.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? I live here,'” the Iron Triangle’s only resident, Joseph Ardizzone, recounted Thursday. “I was running up and down the streets telling everyone to close up since they were coming through to ticket everyone.”

. . .

Many workers and local landlords believe the raid was directly related to the fact that the city plans to build a multibillion-dollar development project at Willets Point. The city wants to relocate existing businesses and maybe even use eminent domain to clear the land in pursuit of its development goals, which area tenants and landlords say leaves them up against a wall.

“They were harassing us. I have no intention of selling or giving anything to Economic Development [Corporation],” Ardizonne said. “I think it’s wrong. I don’t think this is a democracy anymore, I think it’s a dictatorship.”

Location Scout: Iron Triangle.

Three Plagues Down, Seven To Go

OK, rule of threes, we’re ready for our trend piece — bed bugs, stink bugs and now termites:

Termites took down a series of utility poles in Queens yesterday, cutting power to 60 Con Ed customers and smashing a car.

In a feat of steady chewing that could have taken months, the termites finally finished their meal of a utility pole in Springfield Gardens just before noon.

When that one fell, it took down five more wired to it.

We’ll Always Have Those Scavenger Hunts

If there were ever such a thing as a pro-development borough historian, I think we found him:

Pledging to connect with the public instead of library shelves, Jack Eichenbaum said he will offer scavenger hunts to help students learn the under appreciated legacy of their neighborhoods.

. . .

Eichenbaum stressed he will embrace an “educator” role rather than becoming an advocate who leads landmarking rallies to save “just every old building.”

Pressed on whether he would seek landmark status to protect historic sites, Eichenbaum replied, “I don’t see myself championing those types of causes.”

Instead, he said, he will refer preservationists who seek advice on landmarking causes to other experts or museums.