Volunteers Embark On Earth Day Cleanups by Roger Clark - NY1.com

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Volunteers all over the city spent Friday cleaning up recreational areas to mark Earth Day.

In Queens, the Hindu community took part in a cleanup of Jamaica Bay where offerings from religious ceremonies are creating environmental concerns.

The space, part of the National Park Service's gateway recreation area, is near the North Channel Bridge in Broad Channel.

"We come here and we make our offerings to the mother, because we believe the water for us is mother. She is a deity, what we worship. But at the same time we need to keep our mother clean, too. So after making our offerings into the water we should clean up after that," said Hindu Priest Chunelall Narine.

"We do promote a healthy environment, and although it's hard for some to understand the different situation that we're in, we do respect the community and we hope to clean up for Earth Day and to promote a good environment," said Clean-Up Volunteer Kamelia Kilawan.

For the past five years, park rangers have been working with the Hindu community to educate worshipers about the dangers posed to the environment and wildlife when leaving behind ritual items, like pieces of fruit and coconut shells.

"They can disrupt food chains and delay migration, they certainly can affect the water quality of Jamaica Bay," said Kathy Krause, Gateway National Recreation Area.

"It is our responsibility and duty to protect, to do whatever we can to protect the earth and keep the earth as clean as possible," said Hindu Community Leader Bhoj Dindiyal.

Other events across the city are focusing on green businesses and green cars.

Friday marks the 41st annual Earth Day celebration.

On Earth Day, Weiner Report Shows Republican Budget Proposal Would Severely Harm New York’s Environment

Today, to commemorate the 41^st annual Earth Day, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) released a report highlighting the dangerous impact of the proposed Republican FY 2012 budget on New York City’s environment, which if implemented, would cut $54.1 million from the fund that ensures clean drinking water for the City and cut $2 million in funding from Gateway National Recreation Area, the country’s largest urban national park.

Under the 2012 Republican budget proposal, funding cuts would also be made to numerous national monuments and historic sites in the New York area, including $900,000 for operating costs at the Statue of Liberty and $120,000 in funding for Governors Island National Monument.

In addition, nearly $400,000 would be cut from projects affecting Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways. These cuts would jeopardize all of the beach replenishment that has been conducted over the past decade by delaying the long-term prevention plan against storm damage that is currently underway. They would also delay the vital marshland restoration projects that have already begun, including the replenishment of Elders Point East, for which Rep. Weiner helped secure $1.5 million. Last month, Weiner announced $500,000 to help prevent erosion at Plumb Beach, but reduced funding to the Army Corps also places the future of projects like this at risk.

The GOP budget would also have a direct impact on park staff and visitors at Gateway National Recreation. Because national parks rely heavily on personnel for their operations, these GOP cuts would mean fewer park rangers at Gateway, especially in the summer when park visitation is at its peak.

In total, over $5 million in funding would be slashed for all national parks in the City and nearly $290 million would be reduced from National Parks Service nationwide. Visitor safety would be put at risk and visitor center and campsite hours could also be reduced significantly.

The proposal put forward by Republicans would also cut $2.8 billion, or 27%, from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The draconian GOP budget proposal would slash vital funding for projects that protect our beautiful green spaces, national parks and waterways," Weiner said. “The future of our city’s natural treasures shouldn’t be subjected to the whims of Republicans in Washington who care only about appeasing the most extreme elements of their party.”

Full details of Weiner’s Report below:

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Would Harm Gateway National Park

• Funding to Gateway National Park’s would be cut by $2 million, a 13% cut from FY10 levels. (NYC IBO).
• This would mean that there would be fewer park rangers in Gateway, especially in the summer when the visitation to the park is at its peak. This puts visitor safety at risk and could mean reduced visitor center and campsite hours. Park facilities would also deteriorate because they do not have the funding or personnel needed to maintain them.

The Republican FY ’12 Budget Proposal Would Cut Funding to New York Area Monuments and Historic Sites

• Funding for the African Burial Ground National Monument would be cut by $2 million
• Funding for the Castle Clinton National Monument would be cut by $19,000
• Funding for the Federal Hall National Memorial would be cut by $115,000
• Funding for the General Grant National Memorial would be cut by $270,000
• Funding for the Governors Island National Monument would be cut by $120,000
• Funding for the Hamilton Grange National Memorial would be cut by $4,000
• Funding for the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site would be cut by $11,000

The Republican FY ’12 Budget Proposal Would Cut Funding to the Statue of Liberty

• The Statue of Liberty would lose $900,000 in funding for operating expenses, 80% of which goes to personnel.

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Would Harm Jamaica Bay and the Rockaways

• Would cut the Army Corps of Engineers funding for the bay by nearly $400,000.
• These cuts would jeopardize all of the beach replenishment that has been done over the past decade by delaying the long-term prevention plan for storm-damage that is currently underway. They would also delay the marshland restoration that has already occurred at some of the islands in the Bay.

The Republican FY ‘12 Budget Proposal Puts New Yorkers’ Health at Risk

• The Drinking Water Revolving Fund, which works to ensure that local residents receive clean and safe drinking water, would be cut by $54.1 million for NYC. (NYC OMB)
• The Clean Water Revolving Fund which works to ensures that local communities can provide clean and sanitary wastewater treatment services for their residents would be cut by $283 million for NYC. (NYC OMB)

Rep. Weiner, who has been endorsed numerous times by the New York League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, has worked tirelessly to protect the environment over the course of his career in Congress. His district is home to Gateway National Recreation Area, the nation’s largest urban national park.

From working to combat Jamaica Bay’s vanishing marshlands, to hosting the first Floyd Bennett Field Blue Ribbon Panel to create recommendations on how to best improve one of the nation's most-visited national recreation areas, guarding Brooklyn and Queens’ natural beauty has always been at the forefront of Weiner’s agenda.

He has secured over $10 million in funding to replenish Rockaway beaches. This funding has been used to prevent shoreline erosion and design a long-term storm damage prevention plan through the use of groins and jetties. He secured an additional $6 million in funding to restore Jamaica Bay marshland, including 42 acres at Elders Point East. A marshland restoration project implemented by Rep. Weiner is underway at Elders Point West, with an additional 50 acres set to be restored at Yellow Bar Island.

Weiner has also secured over $14 million funding for Gateway National Park during his years in Congress.

Tempers Flare Over Jamaica Bay Airport Expansion by Erica Sherman - Sheepshead Bay News Blog

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Members of the Jamaica Bay Task Force Group (JBTF) hosted a meeting last week to decry plans calling for the destruction of 400 acres of Jamaica Bay wetlands to clear the path for a runway expansion project at John F. Kennedy Airport.

More than 150 people, including the JBTF — a cadre of citizenry, scientists, and federal, state, regional, and local agency representatives, staunchly guarding the wildlife refuge for more than 20 years — crowded into the American Legion Hall at 209 Crossbay Boulevard in the Broad Channel section of Queens during what was, at times, a heated dialogue over the Regional Plan Association’s (RPA) report, “Upgrading to World Class – The future of the New York Regions Airports” (pages 150 to 154), which proposes eliminating a sizeable acreage of “what is not simply New York City’s ecological crown jewel but a wetlands and estuarine area of national importance,” according to a press release from NYC Park Advocates.

“One of the major shortcomings of the report was that actual users, including environmentalists and civic organizations were not consulted,” said Geoffrey Croft, the president of NYC Park Advocate, of the report, developed by a conglomerate of multi-tiered stakeholders from all levels of government and funded by the Port Authority.

Croft’s blog A Walk in the Park reports that attendees delivered impassioned pleas, and one — Daniel Mundy, Jr. vice president of Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers and president of Broad Channel Civic Association — even presented a PowerPoint presentation refuting the alleged findings of a multitude of the RPA’s “inaccurate air travel projections from prior reports beginning in 1947.”

“The nature of the proposal is outrageous,” said Mundy.

According to the release by NYC Park Advocates, the destruction of the wetlands, “whose federal wildlife refuge is ‘the size of 10 Central Parks,’” would require an act of Congress.

“I am not going to let that happen,” said Rep. Anthony Weiner, of the plan. In a letter voicing their opposition, signed by 21 groups and sent last month to Port Authority Executive Director Christopher O. Ward, they pleaded that the Port Authority “consider other available alternatives for meeting the region’s airport capacity needs.”

Read the rest of the article at the Sheepshead Bite site...Click here

JFK Expansion Options Debated by David J. Harvey - The Forum Newsgroup

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John F. Kennedy Airport is one of the nation’s busiest airports and travellers face frequent delays. As air travel around New York increases, it could get worse. A new report on air traffic capacity contains, among several options to alleviate overcrowding, the possibility of expanding JFK Airport into Jamaica Bay. Local residents and conservation groups have reacted in an uproar.

At the beginning of the year, the Regional Plan Association (RPA)—an independent urban research and advocacy group—released a report on the growth of aviation traffic in New York City.

The report’s authors predict that passenger volume in New York will grow from 104 million passengers in 2010 to 150 million passengers in the 2030s. This growth, without improvements to the current aviation infrastructure, could cost billions of dollars in lost wages and business income. The report predicts that by 2030, as many as 125,000 jobs, $6 billion in wages and $16 billion in business sales would be lost yearly due to airport congestions and delays.

Among the possible solutions for accommodating increased commuter traffic is expanding JFK into Jamaica Bay. One proposal suggests an expansion of nearly 400 acres—almost two-thirds the size of LaGuardia Airport—while another would involve no reclamation of the bay.

Click on image to enlarge

After RPA released their report, a tide of criticism rose in the community that left some residents calling the RPA tools for the Port Authority.

On April 7, at the American Legion Hall on Crossbay Boulevard in Broad Channel, Dan Mundy of the Jamaica Bay Eco Watchers hosted a presentation to counter the RPA report.

Mundy opened the presentation by arguing that the central premise of the RPA report—that New York will have a significant rise in airline traffic—is based on a growth that would bring the city’s aviation to “a crippling halt.”

Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) who flew in from Washington D.C. and was running late for a flight back to Washington, spoke briefly during Mundy’s presentation and promised he would do everything in his power to stop expansion into the bay.

“I have made it very clear that while there is ability for the Secretary [of the Interior] to make minor changes to the map, this is not minor, this is major, I’m against this, and I’m not going to let it happen,” Weiner said.

One of the biggest complaints Mundy had with the RPA report was that previous reports about air traffic growth were always overestimated.

“It’s a doomsday prediction,” he said. “We went back 55 years and looked at all these reports. What we found was that the predictions were always overstated.”

A 1969 RPA report predicted that by the year 2000 there would be at least 250 million air passengers per year in the New York area—there were actually 90 million. Mundy said that by following historical data, an increase to between 115 and 125 million air passengers by 2030 could be predicted, rather than the 150 million predicted in the RPA report.

RPA Director of Transportation Richard Barone, one of the report’s authors, defended the current report and joked that he “wasn’t even born when [the 1969] report came out.”

“[The 1969] predictions were very optimistic, it was a period of very aggressive growth in air travel,” he said, adding that the old RPA reports used a six percent growth rate.

The recent report was based on a conservative, two percent growth rate, he said.

Barone said the RPA had attended the meeting to get input and hopes to return to the area and present updates.

“Obviously in the report we state that expanding into Jamaica Bay is huge deal,” Barone said. “We’re not opposed to making changes.”

Despite Barone’s concessions, and insistence that the RPA has no other agenda than presenting their analysis to “start a conversation,” the immediate response after he finished speaking was vitriolic. “I should take that as a direct insult to my intelligence,” said John, a local resident.

Don Riepe, Director of the American Littoral Society’s Northeast Chapter, pointed out that the bay has been reclaimed for development since New York City was founded. At one time, the bay was twice its current size, spreading out as salt marshes across Brooklyn and Queens. Today, the bay’s wildlife, including migrating hawks, peregrine falcons, osprey, herons and more than 100 types of finfish, compete for less and less livable space, Riepe said.

He noted that JFK already has problems with animals trying to coexist with planes. Last year, the city euthanized thousands of geese over fears the migrating birds would cause an incident like the forced Hudson River emergency landing. JFK now has a full time biologist on staff to deal with local wildlife.

“Just because you have an urban airport doesn’t mean you won’t have wildlife,” Riepe said.

Bradford H. Sewell, Senior Project Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, explained that proposed changes would alter the flight paths, adding to noise pollution over the bay—disturbing the natural “soundscape” of the bay. He added that new flights would pass, at an elevation of 1,000 to 1,500 feet, directly over the Jamaica Bay visitor center. If the frequency of traffic doubles at the airport, flights could pass overhead every 30 seconds.

“I hope that we can double our efforts … because the impacts of this sort of expansion into Jamaica Bay would be unacceptable,” said Sewell, who has had prior experience in airport expansion battles.

In the RPA report, there are four proposals for the expansion of JFK. Three include reclaiming some of the bay. The report’s authors noted—based on NY Port Authority reports—that the area of expansion is a dead zone, depleted of oxygen as a result of dredging. Mundy, Riepe and Sewell all refute that claim.

Vinnie Calabro, a Jamaica Bay fisherman and charter boat captain, said the area the NY Port Authority considers a dead zone is teeming with wildlife, and is the site of several recent catches.

“We’ll be on the boat some days looking at the people on the tarmac reading the New York Timesand we’ll catch another one of these big fish.” said Calabro. “They don’t realize what’s going on. They’re caught up in the headlines, but there are headlines right here in the bay. We have to speak out.”

One RPA proposal that does not include expansion of JFK into the bay, which Barone said was overlooked by Sewell, would require upgrading the airport’s air traffic control with NextGen capabilities. NextGen, being implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration over the next few years, includes Global Positioning Systems and operational and procedural changes.

The biggest hurdles JFK must overcome—be aided by NextGen—is reducing flight delays and optimizing capacity, said the report.

Despite the report’s findings, no one is planning an actual airport expansion so far.

Edward Knoesel, manager of the New York Port Authority’s Environmental Services Aviation Department, said that the RPA report was commissioned by the Port Authority, stressing that the organization has a responsibility to look into their facilities and plan for the future of commerce and travel in the tri-state area.

“The RPA is a long-standing, very respected organization,” he said. “They have produced a series of options for further study. … The Port Authority is not proposing to do any fill in Jamaica Bay.”

“We’re not proposing to do any expansion at any airport,” Knoesel added. “What were doing is taking a look at what the RPA proposed and what [the community says] and see what is feasible.”

Bay Area Locals Fret Over JFK Plan by Domenick Rafter - Queens Tribune

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Residents and environmentalists living around Jamaica Bay are concerned a recent report detailing possible expansion plans for JFK Airport will severely impact the environment around one of the East Coast's largest wetlands.

Earlier this year, the Regional Plan Association released a 158-page report on the future of air travel in the New York area. Among its recommendations was to expand all three major airports, including JFK. Three of the four options the RPA outlined would require building new runways into Jamaica Bay, reclaiming as much as 400 acres of the bay.

The report sparked outrage among residents in neighborhoods around the bay, including Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Rosedale and the Rockaways. The Jamaica Bay Task Force, a group of private citizens and organizations concerned about the bay, met April 7 at the American Legion Hall in Broad Channel to discuss the potential the RPA's plan has to damage the ecological makeup of Jamaica Bay. The meeting was attended by more than 150 residents and civic leaders, including U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens), who flew back to New York from Washington D.C. during last week's budget negotiations just to make an appearance at the meeting.

"I'm against this and I'm not going to let this happen," Weiner said to the crowd, noting that any reclamation of land needed to expand JFK would require federal legislation. Most of Jamaica Bay is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, owned by the federal government and managed by the National Park Service.

Dan Mundy Sr., of the Jamaica Bay Eco Watchers, criticized RPA for both the general tone of the report and for a lack of outreach to civic leaders and groups around Jamaica Bay.

Mundy also said the plan showed RPA did not have good knowledge of the bay. A section of Grassy Bay, part of Jamaica Bay directly off the main runway of JFK, was termed "dead" by the RPA because of a lack of oxygen does not support life, but local fishermen fought the accusation, saying the location was anything but dead.

"The people in the back of the Bay, they know the Bay," he said.

Don Riepe of the American Littoral Society showed photos of birds and animals that live 150 yards or less from the airport. Some of them live and thrive along the boundaries of the airport. The bird populations, he said, could interfere with air traffic coming in and out of new runways in nesting areas.

"Birds like the snow goose can really get into trouble with aircraft," he said.

Capt. Vincent Calabro, a fisherman who fishes in Jamaica Bay, fought the labeling of Grassy Bay as "dead," showing pictures of fish he has caught within yards of JFK, including two-to-three-foot-long striped bass, flounder and fluke.

"We have to speak up for the Bay," Calabro said. "The Bay asks nothing for us."

An expansion project reclaiming land in the bay would be a "disaster," he added.

Mundy suggested that the Port Authority, which will use RPA's report to examine how to deal with future air traffic growth, should utilize airports like MacArthur on Long Island, Westchester County, and Stewart Airport in the Hudson Valley before expanding any of the existing ones, which is another option named in RPA's report.

Besides environmental concerns, some were worried about noise issues and the potential for disasters like the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 into a Rockaway neighborhood in 2001. One proposal calls for a new runway to be constructed on the west side of JFK that would send air traffic directly over Broad Channel at low altitudes, a problem that has already plagued Howard Beach, South Ozone Park, Rosedale and the Rockaways.

"Putting aside the potential environmental catastrophe, what about the quality of life issues," asked Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).

The implementation of NextGen, new air traffic control technology, will allow planes to fly closer together, meaning planes would be flying over residential neighborhoods as often as every 30 seconds.

NYC Needs Runways, But 'Ghost Airport' Quiet by Chris Hawley - msnbc.com

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Could turning Floyd Bennett Field into a commercial airport help ease congestion?

A National Park Service hangar emblazoned with the name Floyd Bennett Field glows orange at sunset March 11 at New York City's "ghost airport" in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Two airports sit less than five miles from each other, their wide-open runways tracing big Xs along the same stretch of Atlantic shoreline.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport, air traffic controllers herd a procession of airliners in what has become a chronic choke point in the nation's air transport system.

At nearby Floyd Bennett Field, things are more laid back. Recently, the one-man control tower, John Daskalakis, leaned against a pickup truck with a portable radio as an ancient C-54 cargo plane lumbered toward Runway 24 for takeoff. Cyclists and joggers hung out on the taxiway to watch.

As planners lament the lack of space for new runways in a region plagued by air delays, Floyd Bennett's wide, inviting runways sit just across Jamaica Bay within a federally protected park.

The old airfield opens a few times a year for special flights, but most of the time it sits idle — its hangars, runway and control tower intact but off-limits to air traffic.

The perfectly preserved former Navy base was once frequented by Howard Hughes and Amelia Earhart. Today, in the cavernous Hangar B, aviation buffs gather to restore old airplanes and swap stories. Some of them wonder whether turning Floyd Bennett into a commercial airport is a realistic, achievable way of easing congestion in New York.

"That would be a dream — that would really be something," said Dante Dimille, a volunteer. "This would make a great civil aviation field again."

Some experts say it's not unthinkable: a new traffic-control system being installed by the FAA could enable planes to fly into Floyd Bennett without conflicting with those headed to JFK. But others say it would be too costly to realign and lengthen its runways. And getting the airport back from the National Park Service, which now controls it, would be near impossible.

"Physically, it would work, with limitations," said Thomas Chastain, an airport planning consultant. "Practically and politically, I don't see them ever using Floyd Bennett Field again."

Too close to JFK?

Still, he said, it's a tantalizing prospect.

New York desperately needs more runway space. JFK and LaGuardia airports in New York, plus Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, together handle about 3,500 flights per day, and passenger demand is projected to increase from 104 million to 150 million by 2030.

In bad weather, the number of flights that air traffic controllers can put on each runway drops. As a result, nearly one-third of flights in New York were delayed or cancelled in 2009, according to a November report released by U.S. Department of Transportation.

The three main New York airports have nine runways between them but haven't built a new one since the early 1970s. Meanwhile, 17 other major airports have added runways just in the last decade, including Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta Hartsfield, Boston Logan and Washington Dulles.

In January, a report commissioned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the region's airports, said any expansion would be difficult. Three of the five options it recommended would require filling in parts of Jamaica Bay to build runways at JFK.

Floyd Bennett has four existing runways, the longest of them 6,000 feet. But it has space for an 8,500-foot runway, longer than any at LaGuardia.

But experts with the Regional Plan Association, which wrote the study for the Port Authority, decided that the distance between such a runway and JFK would cause airspace conflicts.

"We dropped that early on," said Jeffrey Zupan, one of the authors. "It's just too close to Kennedy."

But not everyone believes that's an obstacle.

A new satellite-based air traffic control system, known as NextGen, will soon allow airplanes to make better use of tight airspace, said Paul Freeman, head of flight testing for ITT Corp., which is building the system.

"That's not really a valid excuse anymore," said Freeman, who in his free time runs a website about defunct airports. "We're working on technology that will really free up a lot of the traditional limits of air traffic control. It definitely would allow something like a Floyd Bennett Field to be active again."

Frozen in time

Floyd Bennett wouldn't be the first New York-area airport to close and reopen. Newark airport closed in 1939 after LaGuardia was built, only to reopen in World War II. Flushing Airport in Queens closed in the 1970s, later reopened and then closed for good in 1984.

Floyd Bennett Field was built between 1928 and 1931 and quickly became the preferred launching site for record-setting flights by Hughes, Earhart, Wiley Post and other aviation pioneers. The airport sported unusual innovations, like a turntable for rotating aircraft and tunnels under the tarmac that passengers used to reach their planes.

The Navy took it over in 1941. Most of the airport closed in 1971, though the New York Police Department still uses a corner of it as its helicopter base.

Unlike other airports that have been ripped up to make way for housing developments and shopping malls, Floyd Bennett remains frozen in time.

The hangars are rusting and missing some windows but still standing. The old terminal is being restored and will reopen as a museum later this year. Runway 33 is now a road, but the others are mostly untouched. The Park Service even mows the grass between the runways, part of an effort to accommodate migrating geese.

In 2007, the Park Service opened the old runways for a fly-in of World War II fighter planes, biplanes and a modern Air Force C-130 cargo plane.

In Hangar B, Dimille and other volunteers with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Project show off their collection of old planes to school groups and aviation buffs. A hulking Boeing Stratofreighter, one of only two such airplanes still flying, looms over the other planes like a condor in a nest of sparrows.

The Stratofreighter and a former Navy C-54 cargo plane dubbed "The Spirit of Freedom" are owned by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation, which keeps them at Floyd Bennett under an agreement with the Park Service.

One March afternoon, the C-54 took off, beginning a summer of visiting airshows around the country. A dozen aviation enthusiasts turned out to take pictures of the takeoff.

Daskalakis listened on his radio as the old cargo plane rumbled to the end of the runway and called for takeoff clearance from controllers at JFK. He had filed a special flight permit with the FAA a few days before.

The huge, piston-powered engines roared. The Spirit of Freedom surged forward, past the joggers and the cyclists and the geese. Then it raised its nose skyward.

For a moment at least, Floyd Bennett Field was an airport again

JFK Expansion Plan Unsettles Residents By Jamaica Bay by Mari Fagel - NY1. com

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NY1 VIDEO: A proposal to expand John F. Kennedy International Airport into Jamaica Bay is not flying with some bay residents and environmental groups who are urging the Port Authority to look at other options.

Port Authority Not Maintaining JFK Fences: Critics by Philip Messing - NYPOST.com

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The Port Authority is under renewed fire for failing to maintain a quarter mile section of fencing adjacent to Kennedy Airport – the latest problem to bedevil the agency’s beleaguered $100 million state-of-the-art security system that is now three years beyond sechedule.

The latest flap arose when a section of fencing adjacent to the eastern edge of the airport went down during recent winter snow storms, leaving runway 4-Left, which abuts Jamaica Bay, exposed and vulnerable to potential terrorists or trespassers, critics maintain.

A Port Authority spokesman today threw a cold blanket on the hot charges, dismissing the seriousness of the alleged security breach.

"Security was never compromised and the area was secure and is secure," the spokesman insisted.

Other sources, however, claim the porous fencing is the most recent problem to have befallen a highly-touted security apparatus the agency purchased amid much fanfare from Ratheon in 2009.

The safety network — dubbed the Perimeter Intrusion Detection System , or PIDS – was supposed to provide state-of-the-art electronic fencing complete with motion sensors and closed-circuit cameras that would immediately pinpoint someone trying to get on a runway to attack a plane at JFK, La Guardia, Newark and Teterboro airports.

But the system has faced a troubling series of delays — and Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward recently admitted at a public hearing that he could not yet predict when the system would become fully operational.

Paul Nunziato, head of the police union for PA cops, said the danges posed by the faulty fence were heightened by the agency’s refusal to staff police patrols.

"The Port Authority eliminated all perimeter police patrols at JFK Airport approximately five years ago in anticipation of the installation of PIDS," said Nunziato, president of the Port Autority Police Benevolent Association.

A PAPD insider told The Post that the area of fencing that was most recently compromised went down about two months ago and was not repaired until Wednesday, in advance of a Channel 7 News report.

The source added that airport runway fencing is fragile because it is constructed of plastic mesh, rather than more sturdy metal, which can interfere with aircraft instrument landing systems and other navigational aids.souce said.

"It has to be non-metalic, which is a defiiciency and means that [PA officias] have to pay more attention to it," the source insisted.

DEP Declogs Sewers, Helps Jamaica Bay by Ivan Pereira - YourNabe.com

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The city Department of Environmental Protection started its spring cleaning a little early and said it will not only result in less flooding in Springfield Gardens but also improve the Jamaica Bay ecosystem.

The agency announced Monday that it completed its work on the 12.2 miles of sewers under Linden and Springfield boulevards, where there have been several reports of flooding due to clogged storm drains.

For its initiative, DEP crews used Vactor trucks that suck the debris and garbage out of the sewers and transport the rubbish to a waste treatment plant in Manhattan before being shipped to a landfill. DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway said southeast Queens was chosen as the first location for the removal not only because of the complaints from homeowners who had to deal with the flooded streets, but also because of the area’s proximity to Jamaica Bay, where wastewater is discharged.

“We started this effort in Jamaica because we know that localized flooding is a problem for some residents and to protect Jamaica Bay — one of the ecological gems of New York City,” he said in a statement.

The trucks removed more than 1,500 tons of debris from the sewers that were clogging 20 percent of its pipe volume, according to the city agency. Some of the trash included tires, construction materials, large rocks and a 15-foot ladder, the agency said.

In 2001, the DEP installed an 8-foot-by-17-foot storm sewer in Springfield Gardens to deal with heavy floods in the area, but on several occasions, most recently in August, the neighborhood still experienced flooding during severe rain storms due to clogged drains.

Special sonar technology and closed-circuit cameras were used to pinpoint the exact locations of the debris in southeast Queens, the agency said.

The two $450,000 trucks contain a 30-foot hose that is inserted into the sewer through a manhole cover and sucks in the debris after the pipes are flushed by a separate water jet, according to the DEP.

The agency estimates that the cleanup reduced combined sewer overflow, which contains both wastewater and storm water, that goes into Jamaica Bay by 25 percent and will help improve the water quality in the ecosystem.

The bay has lost huge portions of its saltwater marshland due to a high concentration of nitrogen in the water. Four DEP wastewater facilities have been discharging the nitrogen into the bay and the agency has been working to fix the problem through several multimillion-dollar initiatives.


The DEP commissioner said the truck would be cleaning sewers in other parts of the city in the near future.

“Optimizing our existing sewer network is a key part of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, which will save New Yorkers more than $2 billion when fully implemented, and will dramatically reduce CSOs,” Holloway said.

Runway Rumble: Environmental Activists Don't Want JFK's Airport Expansion Into Jamaica Bay to Take Off by Alex Rush - YourNabe.com

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Environmental activists say a proposal to fill in an area roughly two-and-a-half times the size of Governors Island off the coast of John F. Kennedy Airport to build new runways in protected Jamaica Bay would be damaging to sea life, hurt the local fishing industry, and have repercussions as far away as Floyd Bennett Field.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s most drastic plan to reduce bottlenecks at the airport while adding up to 70 flights an hour would install three runways on what is now the bay — a portion of the Gateway National Recreation area — and some think the plan is nuts.

“We’re organizing to fight this lame-brained idea,” said Brighton Beach resident Ida Sanoff, who chairs the marine conservation group Natural Resources Protective Association. “No one in their right mind will let 400 acres of Jamaica Bay be filled in for any reason.”

Even the organization involved with formulating the new runway plan admits to its environmental downside.

The Regional Plan Association, an independent organization that monitors transit issues in the metropolitan area, released a report on Jan. 27 saying that the extra runways would let the Queens’ airport handle millions of additional passengers, but would most likely involve the “disruption to the environment, requiring the Port Authority to regenerate and restore wetlands that have eroded or been eliminated in Jamaica Bay.” The planners also concluded that the fill could destroy marine life near Floyd Bennett Field in Mill Basin, about six miles away.

But environmentalists think things could get much worst — both naturally and financially.

“It will hurt the migratory pattern of birds and fish that breed there and could even weaken the area’s flood protection,” Sanoff said.

A local fisherman agreed.

“The runways will not only hurt our access to the fish, but they’ll take away what the fish survive on,” said Stephen Byrne, who captains chartered fishing boats in Jamaica Bay and is a spokesman for the Fishermen’s Conservation Association. “Airport expansion is important, but recreational fishing is an important industry, too.”

The Port Authority has three additional expansion proposals that are less drastic. One calls for only two additional runways and would fill in about half the amount of Jamaica Bay, and two other plans require little to no fill, but would build runways that can only be navigated by a new, yet-to-be-approved traffic system, according to Regional Plan Association spokesman Jeffery Zupan, who pointed out that approval of the expansion of the airport could take some time.


“Picking the expansion plan to implement will be a political process in which all the stakeholders have to agree, including the Port Authority, the Federal Aviation Administration — and environmental groups,” Zupan said.

Rep Weiner on Veto of Offshore Natural Gas Terminal: "I'm Glad This Proposal Seems to Be Dead Before Arrival"

Today, after last night’s cancellation of a hearing on a proposed liquid natural gas terminal off the coasts of New Jersey and Rockaway, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D – Queens and Brooklyn) announced he was pleased the project will not move forward.

“The Rockaway community has an intimate relationship with our surrounding natural environment. It’s a part of the reason we live in and love Rockaway. We take proposals that threaten our coastal habitat very, very seriously,” Weiner said. “I’m glad this proposal seems to be dead before arrival.”

Liberty Natural Gas had proposed building a liquefied natural gas terminal and a pipeline 23 miles off the coast of the Rockaway peninsula, but both Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York have veto power over the project under the federal Deepwater Port Act. Late Tuesday, Gov. Christie announced his opposition.

Ground a Proposal to Fill Parts of Bay to Grow JFK, Foes Say by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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