NO this is not an April Fool’s Day joke, the playing courts, both basketball and tennis/pickleball courts will be closed for a year long renovation by the NYS Parks Department. Not really sure why, these courts were just renovated a decade ago, but signs were posted today and that is that.
In Opening/Closing news, immersive arcade ‘Retro Recess’ will be opening in the Metropolitan Building at 44-01 11th St. around the corner from the Focal Point Beer Garden. From the press release “Created by longtime LIC resident and internationally recognized vintage arcade collector Bill Kloos, Retro Recess is designed as a welcoming, multi-generational space where nostalgia, play, and community come together.”
Also now open around the corner from the beer garden: Sma Sha, featuring grass fed smash burgers and tallow-cooked chicken and fries. Beer, burgers, and pinball, Happy Days are here again… in LIC.
For every one that opens, one must close, or something of that matter. Anyway, Sami’s Afghan Kebab House on Vernon Boulevard has closed. Also Key Food on 21st St. in Court Square – gone.
What isn’t closed is Jora. A broken pipe has temporarily shut it down for some small renovations, but should be up and running shortly.
Openings, closings, how about an expansion? Modern Spaces, the Long Island City-based brokerage led by Eric Benaim, has quietly crossed state lines and set up shop in Miami per a recent article. Most interestingly according to the article: “Benaim has not been shy about putting money into the neighborhood. In 2024, he paid $23.5 million for three retail and office buildings along North Miami Avenue and Northwest 24th Street, a transaction reported by Commercial Observer. The year before, he picked up a Wynwood lot at 25 Northwest 23rd Street for about $1.35 million, according to Traded.”
$25 mil in Miami alone? Man, I knew Modern Spaces was doing well, but $25 mil well? Well not exactly as much as I’d like to tell you about the decamillionaire next door. A closer read indicates it’s part of a partnership he formed to purchase real estate. Ahh RE, it always comes back to that here in LIC.
Immersive Arcade Retro Recess Inks 10K-SF Lease in Long Island City – pinball wizard
https://hoodline.com/2026/02/big-apple-broker-muscles-into-wynwood-as-miami-real-estate-heats-up
Sma Sha on 12th Street – tallow baby, tallow
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