Broad Channel on PIX News....

PIX News recently posted a video regarding the continual flooding of the American Park and Ballfield parking lot down by the Cross Bay Bridge here in Broad Channel.

I was unable to post the video on this site but you can view it here.

Tidal Street Flooding Alert....

Residents of West 12h Road are advised to monitor the times of high tides closely  starting tomorrow, Thursday, March 17th, 2011 through mid next week.

We are coming up on a full moon this coming Saturday and the moon also happens to be at perigee (its closest point in its orbit around the earth).

Daylight Saving Time Starts Tomorrow!

COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY ISSUED....

ALERT:  WIDESPREAD MINOR COASTAL FLOODING EXPECTED THIS EVENING...

.INFORMATION:  A MODERATE TO STRONG EAST TO SOUTHEAST FLOW ACROSS THE AREA WILL CAUSE TIDAL PILING WITH MANY LOCATIONS EXPECTED TO REACH
THEIR RESPECTIVE MINOR COASTAL FLOODING BENCHMARKS DURING TONIGHTS HIGH TIDE CYCLE.  A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 11 PM THIS EVENING TO 1 AM EST FRIDAY.

* LOCATIONS...COASTLINES OF NY HARBOR AND THE SOUTH SHORE BAYS
OF LONG ISLAND.

* TIDAL DEPARTURES...2 TO 2 1/2 FT. 

* TIMING... TONIGHT'S HIGH TIDE IN OUR BROAD CHANNEL AREA IS 11:46 PM .

* IMPACTS...WIDESPREAD MINOR COASTAL FLOODING.

Tidal Flooding Project Update

High School student Amy Mahon makes her way through the tide enroute to the "A" Train Station in Broad Channel.

The West 12th Road Block Association attended a meeting earlier this afternoon at Queens Borough Hall regarding the status of the Tidal Flooding Project as it pertains to West 12th Road as well as West 11th and 13th Roads.

Attending this meeting were:

The West 12th Road Blaock Association
Grace Arnemann
Sophia DiVirgilio

John Heaphy  

Peter J. Mahon
Scott Valentine  

The Broad Channel Civic Association

Dan Mundy Jr., President
James Harper, Vice President
Dan Mundy Sr., Trustee 

Asemblywoman Audrey Pheffer's Office
Joanne Shapiro

Congressman Anthony Weiner's Office
Angelica Katz

 Councilman Eric Ulrich's Office
Bart Haggerty

Community Board 14
Jonathan Gaska

Office of the Queens Borough Presidient
Helen Marshall, Queens Borough President
Alex Rosa
Mark Scott
Jerry Lamura
Dan Andrews
Cara Viukae (last name illegible)

N.Y.C. Department of Transportation (DOT)
Maura McCarthy
Michael Flynn
Amir Rasty

N.Y.C. Department of Design and Construction (DDC)
Hugo Leon
Maria Centeno
Ali Mallick
Jennifer Lester
Irina Braginskaya
Mikhail Ustoyev

N.Y.C. Department of Enviromental Protection
Rick Muller

The RBA Group
Joseph Menzer
Regan McKendry
Linda Reardon

The meeting opened (at 3:10 pm) with Queens Borough President, Helen Marshall, stating that everyone in the room was aware of the problems being experienced by the residents of Broad Channel regarding tidal flooding and that she was happy to announce that we are now "...on our way to a remedy!"

Maura McCarthy, DOT Commissioner for the Borough of Queens, then introduced and requested Mr. Joe Menzer of the RBA Group to present those in attendance with a description of the problems at hand and their iniitial proposed options for mitigation of same.

A summary of Mr. Menzer's presentation folows:

The initial objective of the RBA Groups actions in this matter was to develop feasible alternatives with which to mitigate the impact of coastal flooding in the affected Broad Channel areas.

The RBA Group reviewed existing data, reports and studies relaive to coastal flooding of the affected area, collected subsurface information and performed topographic surveys and assessed the cause and severity of the existing flooding problems from published tide tables, historic flood events, FEMA flood maps and local records and taing into consideration projected sea level rise over the next 20 years.

Based on the above, the RBA Group has set forth the following three recommendations:

1.  Raise the street to reduce flooding (specifc elevation as yet to be determined),

2.  Build a bulkhead at the roadway terminus (end of block),

and,

3.  Install an innovative storm water system to increase the efficiency of tide and storm water run off.

The RBA Group has provided several specific alternatives to be considered by the City and the Community in this matter which differ on the minimum recommended elevation of the streets involved and the type of drainage system to be installed on the newly eleevated roadway. 

The good news is that the minimum recommended plan of action would, hopefully, eliminate 85% of street flooding, however, flooding resulting from damaged or missing residiential bulkheads or severe weather events would still remain problematic. 

Once a decision is reached regarding the final elevation of the street and the exact type of drainage system to accompany the new road, we wil have a much clearer idea of how individual W12th Road properties might  be impacted.

The next step in this process is for the RBA Group to meet with D.O.T. to review all proposed conceptual alternatives in light of our discussions today and, once a revised plan of action can be decided upon, they will advance to a detailed project design phases.  At that time, the City and the RBA Group will be asked to present their plan to the West 12th Road Block Association Flood Task Force prior to any presentation of same to the entire Broad Channel community at a Civic Association meeting.

It was stated that complete design approvals by DOT, DEC, DEP, etc., may be obtained by January 2012 at which time the contract can be bidded out with construction to hopefully take place in the Spring/Summer of 2012.

The fact that we will have to deal with the issue of tidal street flooding for the next year, although unfortunate,
should be viewed in the context that we are finally moving towards a real and viable resolution to our long standing issue of tidal street flooding.

As always, we will keep you apprised of any additional devleopments in this regard as they take place. 

A "Bad Moon Rising" later this month?...No just an Extreme Super Moon!

Astronomers have coined the term "Super Moon" which means a new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth. In 12 days, on March 19th,  the moon will be at perigee (its closest position in its orbit to Earth). This will be the closest perigee in 18 years.

An "Extreme Super Moon" is when the moon is full or new as well as at its 100% greater mean perigee (closest) distance to earth. By this definition, this month's full moon on March 19th will all be "Extreme SuperMoons".


The largest effect will be on the tide which occurs at the full moon every month as the closer to the earth the moon orbits, so the effect on tides increases. A 5% increase in proximity makes about 20% difference in the power the moon exerts so those of us here in Jamaica Bay, especially West 12th Road, should anticipate stronger tides.

"Ruby's" Gets One Last Summer Season!

It looks like all you Mermaid Parade and Cyclones fans who do not consider a visit to Coney Island complete until you have stopped to imbibe a cold one at "Ruby's" will be able to do so for one last sumer season.

According to NY1...

"The future looks brighter for some longtime Coney Island businesses set to be kicked off the boardwalk.  NY1 has learned a deal has been reached to keep seven of the eight businesses (including "Ruby's)open for one more summer season. Sources say the new one-year lease agreements will be signed sometime today.  The businesses were facing eviction after their leases expired in November, and were battling in court to stay open before the deal was reached.  The only one of the eight that won't be back is "Shoot the Freak," which was demolished to make way for an entrance to a new amusement park.  Coney Island's traditional opening day is Palm Sunday, which falls on April 17 this year."

We are Not Alone in the Universe?

Dr. Riccardo Guerrero / Journal of Cosmology
A photograph taken through a scanning electron microscope of a CI1 meteorite is similar in size and overall structure to the giant bacterium Titanospirillum velox, an organism found here on planet Earth, a NASA scientist said.

We are not alone in the universe -- and alien life forms may have a lot more in common with life on Earth than we had previously thought.

That's the stunning conclusion one NASA scientist has come to, releasing his groundbreaking revelations in a new study in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology.

This is an interesting article and I think we will be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. 

You can read the article in its entirety here.

Gas Prices Going Through the Roof...What are our Representatives Doing About It?

According to the A.A.A., the average price in New York City for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline today, Friday, March 4th, is $3.730.

Yesterday it was $3.687.

One week ago it was $3.558.

One month ago it was $3.448.

One year ago it was $2.906.

When gas prices are rising each and every day and it looks like we are headed towards our all time high price of gas of $4.411 back in July of 2008, I am starting to get nervous, especially when more and more of my money is disappearing at the pumps!

I called the offices of our two esteemed United States Senators to ask what they were doing to stem this continual rise of the price of gasoline.  Naturally, I did not speak to either Senator personally but their respective staff person answering the call advised me that "the current problems in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, etc.,was driving the price of crude oil higher" and that we had to work harder "to decrease our dependence on foreign oil by exloring alternative, greener, energy sources."  The staffers then quickly thanked me for my call, assuring me that their respective bosses were acutely aware of the gas price situation and then hung up.

It took me only a few seconds to realize that my question had been responded to with "talking points" with no substance whatsoever.  Admittedly, I am not a Harvrad educated econmomist but I do know that while the recent unrest in the Middle East has had some marginal effect on rising prices, the most significant factor has been increased oil demand worldwide (China, India, etc.) and that long before the recent protests in the Mid-East even began, analysts were predicting $4 a gallon by this summer and $5 a gallon by 2012.

As far as "exploring alternative, greener, energy sources" is concerned, I also am aare of the fact that...

The major source of biomass production, corn-based ethanol, produces less energy per unit volume than gasoline, contributes to food price increases, costs taxpayers $4 billion to produce 2 percent of the total gasoline supply, and has dubious environmental effects.

The electric cars the government has invested our tax dollars in are prohibitively costly, do not fit the needs of the American consumer, and are range deficient.

The other sources of energy the government is subsidizing and promoting—wind and solar—not only make up a minuscule 1 percent of America’s electricity generation but are entirely irrelevant to gasoline supply in the transportation sector.

I also know that back in February, when the protests in Egypt were first unfolding, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was asked what the Administration could do to combat rising world oil prices. Chu responded: "The best way America can protect itself against these incidents is to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, in fact to diversify our supply."

I  found this statement by our Energy Secretary amusing as not only has our current administration in Washington D.C. failed to diversify our energy supply in any meaningful way; they have actually intentionally moved to cut our own domestic energy supplies.

First, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar canceled 77 leases for oil and gas drilling in Utah in his first month in office. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management, there are 800 billion barrels (a moderate estimate) of recoverable oil from oil shale in the Green River Formation, which goes through Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. This is three times greater than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Then last summer, Washington D.C. needlessly instituted not one but two outright drilling bans in the Gulf of Mexico. The Energy Information Administration estimates that the President's offshore drilling ban will cut domestic offshore oil production by 13 percent this year. That ban not only reduced the availability of domestic oil but also resulted in the loss of hundreds of jobs!

Last fall, Interior Secretary Salazar announced that the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic coast, and the Pacific coast will not be developed, effectively banning drilling in those areas for the next seven years. At least 19 billion barrels of easily recoverable oil lie off the currently restricted Pacific and Atlantic coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. 

Our government has also failed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil lie beneath a few thousand acres that can be accessed with minimal environmental impact. Those 10 billion barrels are equivalent to 16 years’ worth of imports from Saudi Arabia at the current rate.

In closing, I started out attempting to find out what our elected representatives were doing for their constituents in response to the ever increasing cost of crude oil and gasoline and came away with the following.

1.  Although they are talking about "diversifying" the sources of our oil supply, they are, in fact, intentionally, restricting same.

2.  At the same time, they are continually touting the benefits of cleaner, greener, sources of alternative energy as a means of defending their restrictive oil policy with no viable source of such alternative energy technology available at this time.

As I previously stated, I am not a professional economist but I am truly starting to believe that our current administration actually wants the price of gas up at or above the $4 a gallon range!