SCHOOL started last week and it’s always interesting here in LIC to see who has remained and who has departed over the summer. This year’s decampment is especially noteworthy given the pandemic and how it may have altered attitudes, as well as the lengthy gap since school was attended regularly.
Pandemic notwithstanding, the decision to stay or go has always been one that parents in LIC have wrestled with, and the rationale for leaving was neatly summed up in a NYT article three weeks ago. In it, a couple who exited LIC for a town in Westchester five years ago wanted:
“to give their children an environment similar to the ones they’d had growing up in suburbia. And they were determined to leave New York City before Jordan started middle school.”
As it turns out, the ‘she’ in this couple was the former President of the PTA at PS78Q. And as it turns out, her predecessor at the PTA vacated the spot upon moving to Westchester, as did her co-successors who left for parts unknown that were not Long Island City. What that implies I do not know, but it is the local angle to the story for anyone who may have read it and not realized or missed it completely.
Either way, I’m still of the opinion that you get the best of both worlds here in LIC. Even more so now given the inflated prices people are paying for homes in suburbia, which are still elevated after peaking six months ago.
//THE New York Times ran another story in their real estate section several weeks ago relevant to Long Island City. This one talked about the resurgence of new development in the city and some of the difficulties developers were having assembling lots. The lengthy article focused on one parcel in particular located in Court Square, where developers are looking to build a 52-story residential tower. That parcel is owned by a man named Joe Nastasi, who has lived on the top floor of it’s nondescript three story commercial building since the 1970’s.
As it turns out, Joe is an amazing American success story, and the writer of the real estate focused article wisely delves deeply into this subplot. I highly recommend you read it and am not spoiling it in any way by sharing that the tower is moving forward but Joe and his featureless building are staying put. Only in LIC folks, only in LIC!
//NOT staying put but still moving forward are the family that owned Corazon de Mexico. As we first reported back in January, the restaurant was a victim of the pandemic and an unyielding landlord. Today comes a profile on their lawyer, who specializes in Queens-based restaurants getting squeezed. Meanwhile the storefront has been vacant in the ensuing eight months despite a large “For Rent” sign in the window. Good luck with that!
Rye Brook, NY: A Low-Profile Village With Good Schools – they have a brook, we have a park overlooking a river overlooking the greatest city in the world
New Development Returns, Along With New Holdouts – and the amazing story of Joe Nastasi
New Yorker Of The Week: Jonathan Forgash – Corazon de Mexico lives on in our hearts
Weill Cornell/NY Presbyterian Opens New Medical Practice in LIC – we’ve hit the big time LIC
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