A thousand reasons to love Long Island City. Tips: Editor@LICtalk.com
Well I’m Southbound, Lord I’m comin’ home to you.
Well I’m Southbound, baby, Lord I’m comin’ home to you.
I got that old lonesome feelin’ that’s sometimes called the blues.
Is South Beach the South? Who knows? Who Cares? It’s really cold and I’m outta here. But before I go, there’s a little tidying up I need to do. [Read more…] about LIC CLEAN-UP, LIBRARY-GATE, THEN SOUTHBOUND
We bring you a guest editorial, on a request that we made and briefly commented on late last year:
Almost 4 years ago this spring I got a letter from the DOT saying they assessed a need for a crosswalk at Center Boulevard and 47th Road and work would be starting soon. Shame on my filing system, but now I cannot find the letter and they have changed their tune to say there is not a need, whereas in my mind it has escalated from definite to desperate. I guess I trusted the DOT and trusted that the crosswalk work would actually be done, and threw out the letter. Silly me. The DOT letter to me was in response to a 311 call and online post I did back then.
A car doing highway speeds, whizzed by my 3 year old daughter and I crossing Center Boulevard at the point I mention above. Back then the boulevard only extended as far north as The View. Cars only had 1 block to ramp up speed. Now there are many more buildings on this street, and it extends down to the basin. So there is not only a much higher volume of cars, but also a longer strip for them to accelerate. [Read more…] about CENTER BOULEVARD CROSSWALK: TODAY NOT TOMORROW!
Not much to say about that headline, except it is a sad but not completely unexpected outcome. Kind of makes the 7-train protests trivial.
Nevertheless, we said we’d show you the apologetic letter received by the powers-that-be from the MTA. It contains the whole list of fixes to be done over the year. You can read it below and judge for yourself the merits and rationale for the weekend closings. [Read more…] about AVONTE OQUENDO REMAINS MAY HAVE BEEN FOUND IN WATER
In an 8-page memo, the MTA announced its 7-Train weekend closures to the powers that be. While these closures are a regular annual event in LIC, mostly occurring in the winter, the 2014 edition will be spread more evenly throughout the year. Ironically, the lengthy memo is both very descriptive about all the specific work that needs to be done, and profusely apologetic. The MTA is expected to officially announce the closures later in the week. If not, we’ll be sure to print the full memo. [Read more…] about 7-TRAIN TO BE CLOSED IN LIC FOR 18 WEEKENDS
Plaxall is the corporate name for a group of family members who own a big chunk of the non-residential properties in Hunters Point. Though there is a small operating business(plastics), the bulk of the value of the family’s holdings is in real estate. Thus they have taken a very active, but low-key role in the community. Nothing nefarious here, not even a hint of a scandal, most of it has been centered around garnering visibility for the neighborhood. A recent tangible example is their co-sponsoring the LIC Flea on a parking lot that they own.
For almost two generations the owners have seemed content to lay low with their million square feet of holdings, but now they reveal their intent to finally develop a very small piece on 5th Street into residential. Might it be a harbinger of things to come? My guess is probably not. Things move slow when a dozen or so family members need to come to a consensus. It is usually the next generation that starts agitating for change. So for the time being, the residents of Hunters Point have some pretty good stewards over large chunks of the territory.
As for Court Square, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” seems to be the theme song. If you want to be kept up to date on every groundbreaking and subsequent building progress, check out: LICCourtSquare.com.
And finally, between Hunters Point and Court Square, we get one journalists very long analysis of the current state of LIC, and why the chasm between the two will keep us in stasis. Some of it is typical of a writer who doesn’t actually live here, but some of it is on the money. Hey, not every reporter can spend five years trekking through rice paddies in ‘Nam to get the feel of the place, yet I’ll leave you with a wonderful passage from it nonetheless:
Long Island City just does its thing. Which is not dissimilar to Queens itself. Unlike Brooklyn—burnisher of cult status that it is—Queens seems untroubled by its outerboroughness, too vast and diverse to bother with trying to sculpt its many ethnicities, classes, age group, affinities and uses into some kind of cohesive brand. It may lack a vibe, but when you think about it, vibe is often just a way of saying that a neighborhood is dominated by one particular group or lifestyle or purpose, pre-determined in some way or another, which can feel as exclusionary to some as it does enticing to others. Like Long Island City, it is not one thing but many, and isn’t that what New York, at its best, is all about anyway?
Family Reinvests in LIC – the Rockefellers of Hunters Point
Proposed Plaxall Building at 49-09 5th Street – 5 stories, 14 units
The Court Square Blog – for hardcore Court Square buffs. Nothing wrong w/ hardcore though.
LIC Has Been on the Cusp For 30 Years – for hardcore LIC followers only.
5Pointz Artists Get a Gallery Show – how genteel. For hardcore graffiti groupies only
Q & A with Gantry Park Architect – for hardcore Gantry Park trekkies only
Jamestown Fills LIC’s Falchi Building with Diverse Tenants – for hardcore commercial real estate fans only