Jan 19, 2009 | 8:44 PM
Category:
News
The confusing
letter the city's Department of Finance sent out certainly could make one
think they don't have a shot of beating a ticket. (See the other
side of the letter.)
Here's the city's full position on the letter…
"Between September and November of 2008 the Finance Adjudications team piloted
a program that gave 7,000 people who were very likely to be found guilty, based
on the defense they wrote in their hearing request, a second chance to pay a reduced
fine. In some cases, their requests contained an admission of guilt and a request
for a reduction. We ended the program because it was labor-intensive and not efficient,
but we believe as public servants it's our obligation to find new ways to serve
the public better and efficiently and we will continue to do that."
The most troublesome part of the letter was that one could get the impression
that a judge had already looked at the person's defense and either made a decision
or decided the defense probably would not work. A reasonable person might be inclined
to pay the reduced fine, thinking they do not have a shot.
If you were confused by the letter you can write to:
Chief Administrative Law Judge
NYC Dept. of Finance
66 John St., 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10038
I'd love to hear your opinion about this story!
John
>>LETTER,
PART 1
>>LETTER,
PART 2
Dec 15, 2008 | 3:02 PM
Category:
News
Since March 2007, City Councilman Anthony Como has racked up 14 Department
of Buildings violations and owes $8,850 in fines, according to the DOB. He
accused Fox 5 of making a big "hoopla" out of nothing.
What do you think?
Here is a LINK to the DOB violations
on his house.
The fine totals change depending on how much has been paid and what has been
adjudicated, so some of what you see may not be up to date. The 14 active ECB
violations have still not been corrected, according to the city.
Dec 8, 2008 | 3:06 PM
Category:
News
There are three stories in one here:
1. A seemingly outrageous amount of overtime paid out. Money that the DEP
justifies as the most cost-efficient way to run the hazmat unit and have the
city covered around the clock.
2. The FBI nosing into a report of suspicious activity on a computer within
the hazmat unit. Something that was knocked down but now investigators are
curious about other things within the unit and at DEP.
3. An ongoing disrespect for the city take-home car policy with hundreds of
employees using city cars on the taxpayers' dime without the proper written
permission or reason for most of the cars.
As always, I want to hear from you, especially those who work inside the DEP
who have been very open on my two previous blogs about the agency.
John
Nov 20, 2008 | 8:22 PM
Category:
News
Here are some tips the experts recommend to help detect heating oil
cheating:
1) Be aware that the problem of cheating/theft of heating oil exists.
2) Try to be there when the truck delivers.
3) Make sure the truck has an official Consumer Affairs seal on it.
4) Make sure the truck guy puts a blank receipt in the meter in front of
you.
5) Make sure the meter starts at zero.
6) Measure your home tank with the "stick" method you will see in THIS VIDEO.
Here are some important and helpful links:
>>SIPPIN
ENERGY OIL TANK CHART
>>US ENERGY GROUP OIL GAUGES
>>PETRO-METER
OIL GAUGES
>>HOME HEATING OIL RESOURCES
>>NEW
YORK CITY'S CRACKDOWN (PDF)
>>FILING A COMPLAINT IN NEW YORK CITY
>>OIL TANK MEASUREMENT DEMONSTRATION
(VIDEO)
Feedback appreciated.
John
Nov 17, 2008 | 7:46 PM
Category:
News
Do you think MTA CEO Elliot Sander needs police protection
and needs to be driven around in an unmarked police car by an MTA police detective?
You
pay for it though fares and taxes, so I'd love to hear your opinion.
Plus check out the salaries and perks given to other MTA
big-wigs HERE.
It's worth looking at.
John
Nov 13, 2008 | 1:35 PM
Category:
Traffic
Jimmy Justice believes he is on
a noble mission to expose hypocrisy among our public officials. Others think his
antics are over the line. Now's your chance to speak up. Traffic agents aren't
allowed to talk to the media so here's you chance to fight back
anonymously.
I will try to stay out of it
unless we need a referee.
John
Nov 11, 2008 | 2:37 PM
Category:
News
Usually shady operations don't advertise or put signs up. But this illegal tourist hotel does not try to hide. More absurd than their "No New Yorkers Allowed" policy, is the fact that they city does not have enough power to shut down a place that has serious fire code violations, building code violations and is operating a tourist hotel in violation of their certificate of occupancy.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.
John
Nov 6, 2008 | 9:28 PM
Category:
News
If you sell more than five cars in a calendar year in New York, you need to get
a dealer's license.
These curbside dealers disguise themselves as legitimate individual car owners
innocently trying to sell a car.
Based on the above, here's a trick I've developed to detect shady "curbside
dealers" on Craig's list, other online services or the old fashioned classifieds.
It will save you lots of time and aggravation:
1. Find a car you like.
2. Get the contact's phone number.
3. Run that phone number in the "search" section of Craig's list or
other on line services. (Note: with the old-fashioned classifieds you'll have to
do a visual search.)
4. If the number comes up multiple times with multiple cars you either have:
---An illegal curbside dealer who you have to meet at some strange side of the
road location.
---A legitimate dealership that is advertising multiple times.
5. Ask for their dealer's license number and if they have a permanent location
for their dealership.
6. Check the dealership info with DMV and the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Oct 30, 2008 | 9:11 PM
Category:
News
The frustrating part about this scam is that I've done at least 5 stories
about fake bank check scams and people keep falling for them. Below you will
find links to some excellent advice about these scams. But here's my two cents:
1. Any business deal that involves a wire transfer of money to someone you
don't know and trust is extremely dangerous. If people just stop wiring money
this scam would stop.
2. If you think you wouldn't fall for this, one consumer group estimated
that billions of dollars have been lost in this scam.
3. The thing you absolutely need to know is that bank checks should all be
considered to be fake for at least two weeks. Then triple check with your bank
that the check has cleared.
Useful links:
>>FAKECHECKS.ORG
>>FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION
>>FEDERAL
TRADE COMMISSION
Oct 28, 2008 | 9:45 PM
Category:
News
Desperate times call for desperate measures. That's why some people are
apparently making their cars "disappear" with hopes that they can
collect insurance money.
Here are some tidbits that were not in the story:
1. There are organized rings that will make you car "disappear"
for you!
2. The video of the fires you saw was from the Nassau County Fire Marshal's
Office. Along with the International Association of Arson Investigators, they
intentionally set all kinds of cars on fire using all sorts of devious tricks. The
investigators in training are not present for the "burning" but come
the next day and have to solve the puzzle of how the cars were torched. They
are pretty good at it.
3. When I worked in Miami, the city would drain the canals from time to time
to clean them out. In some places, crews would find dozens of cars that were
dumped for insurance reasons. Ah, Miami such a lovely town!
I'd love to here your two cents!
John
Oct 14, 2008 | 8:01 PM
Category:
News
In New York, public parkland is considered sacred and cannot be given up
without the act of the state Legislature. That's the bottom line in
this story.
How people didn't know their yards were much bigger than they were supposed
to be and how the city never detected this problem remains a mystery.
My guess is that a lot of people kind of knew that their yards were actually
encroaching on parkland but hoped nobody would ever take action.
Oh well.
John
Oct 6, 2008 | 9:59 PM
Category:
News
This was one of the stranger stories we've done in a while but here are the elements
of the three-ring circus in this Queens neighborhood:
1. City: Has fined building more than $160,000 for all kinds of violations. Can't
do much more then fine the guy. Inspector seems wound up like a top.
2. Guy with building: Claims the city's lack of help has caused the disgraceful
appearance of his building. Says because of all the fines he can't get a loan to
fix the place up and can't even sell it because of all the fines attached to the
property.
3. Neighbor: Owns buildings on each side of the eyesore. She's mad at the guy
with the building and the city for not taking any action.
Given the above, do you have any ideas? And what's your opinion of the visit
by the inspector?
John
Oct 2, 2008 | 1:22 PM
Category:
News
Forget about running for mayor. I bet if Bloomberg ran for president right now… with a few weeks to go, he would win.
The country is split on Obama and McCain. Bloomberg could slide in their and give everyone a choice they would feel more comfortable with given the financial crisis.
I’m dead serious about this… I’m not being my usual sarcastic self.
Thoughts?
Sep 30, 2008 | 9:37 PM
Category:
News
New York City seems to have extremely strict and sound rules when it comes
to allowing city workers to take home cars on a full time-basis.
Read the CITY POLICY.
To summarize, you are not supposed to take a city car home on a full-time
basis unless:
1. You are required to report on a daily basis from your home to a job in
the field.
2. You respond to emergencies frequently on an average of once a week.
3. Mandatory paperwork is required for authorization.
The city's Department of Environmental Protection seems to have forgotten
about all of the above.
If you know of any city employee in any agency that seems to be violating
the above strict guidelines, please CONTACT FOX 5 ONLINE or call 877-TELL-FOX5.
Read my PREVIOUS BLOG on this story.
Watch PART 1 of my story.
Sep 23, 2008 | 8:44 PM
Category:
News
OK, I'm old enough to remember that anyone could become a Dick Tracy secret
detective. For those of you much younger than me, Dick Tracy was a cartoon detective
who tracked down evil characters like "Prune Face" (a guy with a
shriveled up face) and "Itchy Brother" (a guy who scratched himself a
lot).
If you sent your money to the right place you could get a Dick Tracy secret detective badge.
I wonder: Would the ticket writers issue a ticket to someone with a Dick
Tracy placard in the window?
I'd love to hear about the stuff you see out there.
John