Feb. 3, 2019 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
LOCAL
CL ASSIFIEDS
PA GE 19
BY BILL PARRY
The second round of the City
Hall battle between proponents
and detractors of the Amazon
HQ2 plan in Long Island City saw
the neighborhood’s City Council
voice, city officials and retail representatives
clash over how and
why the deal was done.
City Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer and state Sen. Michael
Gianaris took to the steps of City
Hall Jan. 30 with community organizations,
labor leaders and
Queens residents to rally against
the state and city’s deal to bring
Amazon’s HQ2 campus to Long
Island City for a package of incentives
and tax abatements worth
nearly $3 billion.
Afterwards, Van Bramer
took his seat on the Council’s Finance
Committee for the second
Amazon oversight hearing on
the deal “to examine whether the
city is getting a good bang for its
buck,” according to City Councilman
Daniel Dromm, the chair of
the committee.
“At a time when we should
all be concerned with income
inequality, we are confronted
by a deal that literally takes billions
in hard earned tax dollars
paid by janitors, teaches and bus
drivers only to give it to a man
worth $160 billion,” Van Bramer
said of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos.
“And yet we often hear there isn’t
enough money for mass transit,
schools, libraries and parks.
This Amazon debacle must be an
inflection point in our society.
Where we reign in corporate welfare
and the billionaire class and
give more power to the people who
have the least in our world.”
Once again, it was up to James
Patchett, the president and CEO
of the city’s Economic Development
Corporation, to defend the
city’s role in the deal.
“For New Yorkers, the exponential
return on investment —
putting in zero discretionary benefits
and getting over $13.5 billion
in return — will have a profound
EARLY NEW YEAR FUN IN FLUSHING
The New York Golden Eagle Senior Arts Group performs at the Flushing BID third annual Lunar New Year
celebration. See story on Page 5. Photo by Carlotta Mohamed
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
A Queens Village man was arrested
10 days after he allegedly
attacked a Lyft driver that was
stopped in traffic in Manhattan,
authorities said.
Emilio Carpenay, 25, turned
himself in to police custody on
Jan. 28 and was charged with assault
and criminal mischief.
According to police, at 1:20
p.m. on Jan. 18, Carpenay used
a bicycle lock to smash the front
windshield and rear window of
the 23-year-old male victim’s car,
which was stopped in traffic in
the vicinity of East 40th Street
and Fifth Avenue.
When the victim stepped out
of his car to avoid the shattered
glass from the windshield, authorities
said Carpenay allegedly
proceeded to hit the victim in the
head and back with the bike lock.
After the victim managed to
get away, police said Carpenay
climbed onto the Lyft driver’s
car, screamed aloud and stomped
over the vehicle’s roof and hood.
He then jumped off the car and
Robber beats man with
bolt cutters in Ozone Pk.
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Cops were looking for a duo who they say violently
attacked a man in Ozone Park with hardware
and took off with his car.
According to police, at 6:25 p.m. on Jan. 16, a 43-
year-old man was walking in the vicinity of 92nd
Maspeth bridge fi x inches closer
VAo Cl.N 8G.8G NPou.PNuob.b 5li l5ication cation Vol. 7 No. 4 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT TIMESLEDGER.COM
BY MARK HALLUM
The Grand Street Bridge
on the Maspeth/Brooklyn
border could be getting a
contractor for a rebuild
that’s been 16 years in
the making.
Community Board 5
District Manager Gary
Giordano said the advisory
board received an email
notification on Jan. 22 that
followed up to a request for
proposals (RFP) put out in
June looking for bids.
“It’s a very, very important
project that we shall
not give up on,” Giordano
said. “It is an example of
how cooperative one can
be that people can stop
and let another vehicle go
by. I wish other drivers on
other roads and bridges
Two trucks cross Newtown Creek via were as considerate these
the Grand Street Bridge.
Photo by Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
Queens man
bashed Lyft
driver: NYPD
More fi reworks over Amazon plan
Pols, biz leaders and retail giant clash over LIC vision at City Hall
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/TIMESLEDGER.COM