editor

“NO GIFTS PLEASE”

December 17, 2013 by editor 10 Comments

On January 1, 1994, China devalued its currency by 50% in a single day, and since then has experienced a manufacturing boom …in modern times there never has been free trade with China; the US has already been in a trade war for nearly two decades; and it is the only time in this nation’s history it surrendered without ever firing a shot. The United States lost six million jobs, indebted itself to China by $1.4 trillion, and received in return a host of consumer goods, many of which now reside in landfills across the country. -Paul Tudor Jones

Now that the year is about to turn, the parents of LIC will be starting a whole new round of birthdays for their kids. In return for cake, pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and meet n’ greets with Eli Manning and Beyonce; young guests (or their custodians/handmaidens) are expected to bring a gift for the birthday child. While this is a time-honored tradition, I couldn’t help but wonder, having witnessed this orgiastic display firsthand(as a journalist), if maybe it hasn’t become a bit of an anachronism in the 21st century? [Read more…] about “NO GIFTS PLEASE”

MORE DETAILS REVEALED ON NEWEST HUNTERS POINT SOUTH BUILDINGS

December 13, 2013 by editor 1 Comment

The perks keep coming for those lucky enough to win, and be able to enter, the Hunters Point South Lottery. Here, I’ll cut n’ paste a few:

In terms of the design, ODA has taken cues from NYC’s iconic architecture, like Rockefeller Center, Central Park West’s residential skyscrapers and Madison Square Park’s prewar office buildings. While at a distance, the new development fits aesthetically into the existing glass skyline, a closer look reveals unique design decisions.

The stepped forms that make up the double towers will be built of 25-foot wide townhouse-scale vertical modules that create stepped terraces. In the rendering, they are filled with greenery, a direct reference to terraced agriculture. There will also be two urban farming plateaus, rooftop yoga, viewing decks, lounges and playgrounds on the terraces.

In other news, a major NYC paper asks the question “Will LIC become ‘Silicon Valley East?'” Hmm, this is a something a not-so-major local website posited 18 months ago.

ODA Chosen to Design Largest Affordable Housing Project in New York – only the best

Renderings For HPS Development – sweet!

Silicon Valley East? Queens Group Awarded $125M to Create Tech Incubator in LIC – “Ok here’s my idea: I’m going to sell food …on the internet …in China! Gimme a billion dollars for 10%, deal?”

Giant Supermarket Opens in LIC w/ Live Lobsters and International Food – don’t get too excited, not really near any residential areas

East River Ferry Service Extended Until 2019

MANHATTAN FRUITIER – AN LIC BASED GIFT BASKET SENDER

December 11, 2013 by editor 3 Comments

Manhattan Fruitier is not just fruit. Think meats, cheeses, cakes, cookies, candy... — Manhattan Fruitier is not just fruit. Think meats, cheeses, cakes, cookies, candy…

Today we bring you another installment of “A Peek Inside the Big Warehouse Buildings of Long Island City” as we venture down to Borden Avenue to visit Manhattan Fruitier. This business, a purveyor of fresh fruit and gourmet gift baskets, was started by Jehv Gold back in 1987, and moved from Manhattan to LIC about two years ago. Their space is a big open one about half a football field in size. Most of the year it is sparsely staffed with about 15 workers, but come the holidays it explodes into action, as the number of employees quintuples in order to keep this well oiled machine running smoothly.

Now to be honest, my first thought upon receiving most gift baskets from say, Harry & David, is “Ughh, this thing looks really expensive but tastes really mediocre.” But what else would one expect from a company that was pillaged by private equity and then thrown into bankruptcy? Harry and David are long, long gone, and the company has changed hands three times since the brothers sold the business to RJR Nabisco in 1986. Despair not, because Manhattan Fruitier elevates the gift basket to a much higher level. Jehv prides himself on finding the highest quality and tastiest products out there. Ten years ago a lot of those products came from Europe, but in accordance with today’s thinking, most of it is sourced from the local food movement, as the company strives to support small-scale, hand-crafted food artisans whenever possible.

Check out the website below for details on all the great the vendors, and give the hometown business a try. Manhattan Fruitier hand delivers gifts in the NYC area, and ships nationwide. So make your clients and friends happy this year, instead of just content. While you’re at it, send a gift basket to yourself, because it’s always best to give and receive.

Manhattan Fruitier – local, fresh, and personalized

7 Trains Delayed Due to Signal Problems – and now you know why

LIC Hotel Breaks Ground – yet another hotel comes to the Queensboro Plaza area. This one will be a Crowne Plaza, 11-stories high, w/ 224 rooms. Looks like an Asian developer.

NYPD Officer, Mother of 2, Killed in Queensboro Bridge Crash

Call for Safety Review at Queensboro Bridge – JVB, Gianaris etc. say the exit ramp is unsafe

Western Queens Has It All for the Holidays – in addition to all these retail options, think also of LIC’s online presence for your presents: Manhattan Fruitier and IpodMeister

Startup Siblings Become Accidental Entrepreneurs – one of whom happens to be the co-founder of LIC’s Songza

LICtalk GETS A FACELIFT AND MORE YUMMY NEWS

December 9, 2013 by editor 3 Comments

A few nips and tucks from my hometown barber, who happens to know C++ — A few nips and tucks from my barber, whose nephew happens to know C++ …sort of.

Do you like the new LICtalk logo? It’s a bit edgier, which is the buzzword for 2014, and you know how we like to be au courant on everything. A venture capitalist told me that the logo change alone should get me halfway to a $100 million valuation for this website. I sure hope he’s right, because I just dropped one-hundred and fifty grand on branding experts, marketing consultants, and IT whizzes, plus a new toupee. The other advice the VC gave me was to make sure I never, ever generate any revenues. Revenues lead to expectations, and once expectations are in place the whole ruse comes crashing down. Well I’ll show him! I plan on making the LICtalk logo as ubiquitous as the Nike Swoosh, replete with big time branding opportunities. By 2016 it’ll be on every t-shirt and toaster on the planet. Then this little old editor will be hanging with the big fellas at swank places like Art Basel, Allen & Co.’s Sun Valley Conference, and the Boardy Barn.

For now though, my directive is to just focus on content, throw in a little sex(or was it sexiness?), occasionally add a new bell or whistle, and before you know it, LICtalk will be sandwiched between Amazon and Google. Unfortunately we’ve also had to take a few steps back in order to move forward. It seems that there have been some problems with slow downloads, commenting, lost inbound emails, outbound emails, and Twitter feeds. D’oh! Fear not, because this isn’t like the federal government trying to fix the healthcare exchange website. By year-end all should be smooth sailing, so we can kill it for you again in 2014. By then I’ll be able to get back to what I’m really best at: chugging cold beer in my tank top.

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51st Street Bakery and Cafe is Now Open – and they have sandwiches!

Queens Paideia School is having an Open House for their Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday, December 18th. For questions, and to attend the December 18 open house, please email info@queenspaideiaschool.org. Would you like a 6:1 student to teacher ratio? Then this is the place for you. Check it out.

This Thursday night at Testaccio, if you book a table between 7pm and 9pm you get 20% off. And if you tell Chris Bozak that LICtalk sent you, he’ll buy you a drink at the bar too. “20% off? In that case I’ll take two orders of coniglio, salut!”

First Look at 51st Street Bakery & Cafe – here’s mine: yummy!

Cheap Eats of the Day: Arepas Cafe – technically in LIC, and also looks yummy!

Eating Along the M-Line: 36th St. stop in LIC – off the beaten path, but yummy!

At A Whitewashed Queens Warehouse, An Unlikely Apostle of Graffiti – 5Pointz is dead, long live 5Pointz!

TF CORNERSTONE TO BUILD PHASE TWO OF HUNTERS POINT SOUTH

December 5, 2013 by editor 7 Comments

Soon to be overheard "Look at all those suckers paying retail." — Soon to be overheard from here “Look at all those suckers paying retail.”

TF Cornerstone is winner number two in the Hunters Point South lottery. They have been tapped to build two towers containing 1200 apartments, two-thirds of which will be off-limits to anyone making over $141,000 a year, or under $111,000. In addition to unparallelled views, according to Crain’s the towers “will also feature a host of other amenities including, rooftop gardens, decks, and a children’s playroom. At the base, preliminary plans for about 20,000 square feet of commercial space call for prekindergarten, a medical facility, a rock climbing gym as well as new restaurants.” What??? No swimming pools, jacuzzi’s, golf simulators, or squash courts? How do you expect to fill these buildings without essentials such as these. Oh right, they’re affordable housing, which means they are exactly like all the other new buildings in Long Island City, except the monthly rent is significantly less.

Well then, I’m sure these buildings will have wine cellars, because by my estimates($1,000+ a month for a 2-bdrm) you could pick up a case of Silver Oak 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon every month. Of course, if you were in say a studio(do they even bother with those in affordable housing or would it be considered an indignity?) or one-bedroom, you’d probably have to settle for your Silver Oak to come from the slightly inferior Alexander Valley …of course. Fortunately half of the affordable units will be two- and three-bedrooms, so if you play your cards right you can simultaneously move up to both a larger apartment, and a higher grade of wine.

I should probably just assume that affordable housing in the 21st century in NYC has an attached parking garage. It doesn’t even need to be mentioned in the press release, right? Because not everyone is a oenophile, so instead of wine the rent discount could be applied to a 2014 Mercedes GL Class SUV(family of four) no-money-down lease. Or maybe you’d prefer expensive wine and a Mercedes Benz, in which case you’d have to settle for an E-class, or maybe deign to ride a pre-owned Benz and get a half a case, or…

Anyway, the permutations are endless, and if I didn’t have to work such long hours, I’d be happy to list them all for you. And while I don’t expect to be drinking Silver Oak anytime soon, at least I can still buy a cheap pint here in the neighborhood.

Developer Tapped for 1200 Apartments in LIC – so what, if any, risk does a developer take on apartments that are guaranteed to be fully occupied on Day 1 at the maximum allowable rent?

LIC Lights Up for the Holidays – oh c’mon, this story is not about bong’s and such

LIC Community Boathouse Founder Sued for Trademark Infringement – nothing funny about that

‘Pirate Pete’ Has Big Laughs for Kids and Parents – a vegetarian lion…

Warehouse Sold on 28th Street for $17 million – lotsa selling, and buying, in the neighborhood

Tech-Driven Companies Choosing LIC for Start-Ups – “It’s a lot cheaper. It’s probably a third to a half as expensive to open up a shop here than it is in Manhattan,”

Patrons Can Open Champagne With A Saber at New LIC Wine Bar – cheers!

Food Box Opens in LIC Building – There are currently four vendors participating in The Food Box and Jamestown is looking for a fifth