Gasoline Prices....

The cost of gasoline has shot up 17 cents in the last week and, as of this morning, Sunday, February 27th, the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the New York City area is $3.619! 

Today marks the fourth day in a row that gas prices have risen and the 6 cents rise this past Friday marks the largest one day increase since 2008.

The jump in pump prices follows a surge in prices for crude oil, the main ingredient in gasoline. Oil prices spiked 9% last week, a week that included a high of $103 a barrel -- the highest since October 2008.


Gas prices are expected to continue rising over the next few days, since gas prices typically lag trends in the oil market. It has been estimtade that for every $1 increase in the price of crude oil, retail gas prices typically rise 2.5 cents a gallon.

Although Winter typicaly brings lower gas prices because of reduced demand, this February will be the most expensive on record for gas prices and with Spring/Summer fast approaching, can $4 a gallon gasoline prices be far behind?

NWS Issues "High Wind Warning" for Our Area!

 The National Weather Service has just issued a High Wind Warning for NYC from 3PM-11PM today.

 Sustained winds of 20-30 MPH and gusts up to 60 MPH have been forecasted.

The strongest winds are expected late this afternoon and early this evening.

Winds could bring down trees and power lines.

Con Ed customers should report loss of power to 1-800-75-ConEd or http://www.coned.com/

Tidal Flooding Project Update

This is to inform you that the date for the West 12th Road Tidal Flooding Project meeting, originally scheduled to take place in the Borough President’s Conference Room on February 16th at 10:30 AM, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 8, 2011, at 3:00 P.M.


The Borough Presidents Office  has stated that "this meeting is for the Borough President’s Task Force Members only.  A larger meeting with the Community will take place at a later date."

Information regarding this pending meeting will be posted here on the evening of March 8th.

FINALLY....!

We are heading for a warmup this weekend and temperatures in our area could actually hit 50 degrees!

Although there is still the possibility of more cold snaps heading our way with snow still exists, it looks like any further periods of extended beow normal cold like we have been experiencing is not on the menu for the rest of the winter.

Keep your fingers crossed...Spring is only five weeks away!

Tidal Flooding Project - Update

We will be meeting with representatives from the RBA Group and the city's Department of Design and Construction on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 10:30 am at Queens Borough Hall in the Borough President's Conference Rom.

The purpose of this meeting is to provide us with an update of the tidal flood mitigation project here in Broad Channel.

Minutes of this meeting will be posted here later that same day.

Ya Gotta Love the DE.P.!

I was stopped the other day by a neighbor who asked me if it was true that the Department of Sanitation was prohibited from "dumping plowed snow into Jamaiaca Bay?"

Yes, it is true!

“The department no longer dumps snow into any body of water surrounding New York City,” Matthew LiPani, a spokesman for the Sanitation Department, the city’s snow removal agency, said by e-mail. “This practice, which would require an emergency permit from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, has been eliminated with the use of snow melters, which can melt one ton of snow per minute, while filtering out any debris and discharging the melt water into the city’s wastewater treatment system.”

Why?


In a word, pollution. Those piles of pure white stuff really aren’t. All the other debris collected by the plows and backhoes would join the snow in the Bay. 

When is the last time you have seen one of these "snow melters" on any of our side streets?

Of course none of the above makes any sense when you have the Sanitation Department dump ten foot mounds of snow at the bay end of our blocks here in Broad Channel which simply remain there creating huge lakes of ponded runoff until they are washed away or melt into...you guessed it... Jamaica Bay! 

Additionally, consider the fact that all of the debris collected by the routine tidal flooding on our Broad Channel street is ultimately washed out with the receding tide into the bay!

Ya gotta love the D.E.P.'s logic regarding snow removal here in Broad Channel!

Seal Watching Cruises Out of Rockaway!

I have been seeing the above advertisement for American Princess Seal Watching Tours in the past several editions of the WAVE and, quite frankly, was surprised as I had never heard of any such service being offered in our area before.

As I started to look into this, I came across a recent article in the New York Daily News which provided the background on this new service......

Whales return to New York City: Massive mammals appearing again in seas near city; draws sightseers

BY BARBARA ROSS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, January 30th 2011, 9:06 AM

Whales, dolphins and seals have made a triumphant return to the waters just outside New York Harbor - and the comeback has even sparked whale and seal-watching tours.


Tom Paladino, captain of two ferry boats from the Rockaways, says pods of aquatic mammals off the city's coast have "increased tenfold."

"We used to see 10 whales a year - now we see 100," he said. "We saw dolphins almost on a daily basis between June and September."

There are so many more seals in New York Harbor that earlier this month he started weekend tours on his ferry, American Princess.

[Read the entire NY Daily News article by clicking here]

New York's "Strongest" to the Rescue!

The Sanitation Department arrived on the scene at approximately 12:20 pm and.....

...at 1:20 pm, the cut out was completed and the bathtub that was West 12th Road  drained out almost immediately!
Thanks guys!

"Ice Dam" Flooding on West 12th Road

There is a 13 foot mound of snow located at the bay end of West 12th Road in Broad Channel. 

The snow was deposited there by sanitation workers who plowed our street after the recent snow storms.

From what I have been able to ascertain, the D.E.P. has precluded sanitation from the past practice of dumping this plowed snow into Jamaica Bay for environmental reasons.  I guess D.E.P.'s logic is that whatever pollutants may be present in this snow pile will somehow disappear by the time it is washed away by rain or melts in the spring, at which time it will all...wait for it....drain into Jamaica Bay!

Consequently, the snow has now packed down and frozen over forming an "ice dam" which precludes run off from the street from draining out into the bay. 

The run off, consisting of melting snow, ice and rain, is now backing up West 12th Road and as of 10:15 a.m. this morning, extends a quarter of the way up the block and is still rising!

This extensive amount of ponded run off will almost certainly freeze solid later tonight when the local temperature rapidly drops back in to the mid 20's!

We fully understand and appreciate the difficulties faced by our terrific sanitation workers in addressing the extensive amount of snowfall we have recently experienced but, nevertheless, if snow is to be dumped at the bay end of West 12th Road, a cut out should be provided to alow for sufficient run off to prevent this type of dangerous sitation from happening.

We have called and reported this condition to the City's "311" service [Service Request # 185190305] and they have referred this matter to the City's D.E.P.

We have also contacted several other city officials in an effort to expedite corrective action in this regard.

Additionally, we have contacted NY1 and other media sources to apprise them of this situation.

We'll keep you updated....

Winter Storm Watch (Revised)

The Winter Storm Watch originally issued by the NWS yesterday has been revised as follows:

ACCUMULATIONS...2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATION...AND UP TO 3 TENTHS OF AN INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION BY LATE WEDNESDAY. HIGHER AMOUNTS AWAY FROM OCEAN FACING COASTAL AREAS.

TIMING...LIGHT SNOW TRANSITIONING TO

A WINTRY MIX OF SLEET...SNOW AND FREEZING RAIN TUESDAY

MORNING. THIS WINTRY MIX CONTINUES FOR MUCH OF THE DAY TUESDAY

BEFORE BECOMING INTERMITTENT TUESDAY EVENING. THEN A HEAVY MIX

OF SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN DEVELOPS LATE TUESDAY

NIGHT... BEFORE GRADUALLY CHANGING TO RAIN LATER WEDNESDAY

MORNING. THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY ON THE EXACT TIMING

OF CHANGEOVER WEDNESDAY MORNING...WHICH WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON

ICING AMOUNTS.