A frozen East River was how we kicked off 2015 in LIC, only to end it with a balmy December finish. The unusual weather was a direct contrast to a fairly quiet, or at least well telegraphed, news year locally. Now I wish I could recap it all in a brilliantly quippy manner like the annual “Greetings, Friends!” poem in the New Yorker, and I really wish I could tell you that I won’t be able to do that because I don’t have the time to do so, but the reality is I just don’t have the skill set. So in more prosaic words, here are the highlights:
School, No! April brought about the inevitable yearly LIC tradition of wait-listed children for PS78Q’s kindergarten class, followed by the new tradition of the DOE’s announcement a week later that they’re adding additional classes (a bit sadistic no?). This year’s twist is that they’ve exhausted this maneuver and may need to sacrifice PS78’s middle school in order to do so. By November they were supposed to let the community know for sure if they would build additional capacity …ahem.
Fireworks, Yay! Their return to western Queens after seven years was the highlight of the summer.
90,000, 900! Hunters Point South opens for business, 90,000 applied a year ago and 900 lottery winners started moving in this summer.
Dog, Bites! Everything that Long Island City stands for, was absent in this horrible and ugly incident. The actions of the local dog owner were repugnant, and the lack of action and silence by the police and local politicians reprehensible.
Library, Rising! We end 2015 with the very visible appearance of our long awaited library finally rising from the fallow field of fiction, and non-.
In addition to the above, we had a coyote, rising rents along the waterfront, the arrival of Maiella and Murasaki, and the closing of old standbys the Crab House and the Kitchen Door.
It was a year of frustration, frustration, frustration, and joy, joy, joy, not to mention an occasional hoax which fooled some despite being delivered right on schedule. Gosh, in summary, the year’s news in LIC really reads like that of a small town’s, and yet in the shadow of the biggest city in the United States.
Tishman Speyer Receives $640 million Loan for New Tower – 1,789 units ready to start in 2016, that’s the story for next year
Manhattan, Brooklyn Renters Finally Have Something to Cheer – WE SAID IT FIRST, but “Before, we didn’t have Long Island City with all these incredible buildings, and now there are more options,” she said. “That’s definitely affecting the rentals in Manhattan.”
New LIC Condos Inspired by Area’s Industrial Past – The Dutch in Ct Square, 86 units on 9 flrs
LIC Streets Need to Catch Up w/ a Growing Neighborhood – $8 million in capital funds can be put to use redesigning the neighborhood’s streets
Mobilizing Voters Living in Queensbridge – the NYT explains how turnout got boosted among the poor
Leave a Reply