Business

Summer’s End LIC Musings on Chinese Restaurants & Starbucks

August 14, 2019 by editor 4 Comments

Intensify the work of propagation - Iglesia De Cristo Long Island City — Some friendly advice from your neighbor

Serpentine Shelly, Serpentine!

THERE you are, you and your family have diligently saved and slaved for many years to start your own restaurant instead of working 12/6 in someone else’s. You choose a location based on the apparent need and lack of existing establishments, sign an expensive lease and begin a costly and torturous build-out, only to find halfway through the process that someone else had the exact same idea three blocks away. Whether it’s Hunan or Szechuan, by the time it gets distilled for American tastes it’s practically the same.

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AMAZON IN LIC: THE OPPOSITION TO THE OPPOSITION COMETH

February 11, 2019 by editor 3 Comments

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:

While Amazon HQ2 may or may not be a good deal for NYC, there is no question it’s a great deal for LIC.

Now that Amazon has called their bluff, it’s time for the two anti-HQ2 politicians representing Long Island City to stop grandstanding and come to the table with specific asks. Preferably ones that the neighborhood is rallying for and have so far been fully ignored by Amazon de Cuomo, such as [Read more…] about AMAZON IN LIC: THE OPPOSITION TO THE OPPOSITION COMETH

OK MIKE GIANARIS, YOU OWN IT NOW

February 6, 2019 by editor 9 Comments

“BE careful what you wish for” was the advice I doled out back in November upon the initial opposition to HQ2 coming to LIC. With the appointment this week of our State Senator Mike Gianaris as one of only three voting members of a board – any of whom can veto the Amazon deal – Gianaris now owns whether this deal can be negotiated to his liking, or if Amazon walks. In doing so I hope that he is taking into consideration all of his constituents and not just pandering to that au courant segment of his political party that seems to be grabbing headlines the past few months.

It’s quite a turn in the spotlight for the Senator, who like most local officials [Read more…] about OK MIKE GIANARIS, YOU OWN IT NOW

HOW CAN THERE BE A HELIPAD WITHOUT A REC CENTER?

December 18, 2018 by editor 2 Comments

“Cut-off fortresses are no fun for anyone”

THE highlights of this weeks HQ2 news, which continues to dominate the headlines in LIC, contrasts the manner in which another mammoth corporation came to the decision to greatly expand its work force in NYC. In case you missed it, Google announced they are doubling their jobs here to 14,000 and adding more buildings in the West Village/Chelsea area to do so. That news led to a lot of ink and jawboning about the lack of subsidies needed for Google to arrive at that decision, and more bashing of the Amazon deal and Bill de Cuomo.

Justified or not, I came to my own revelation this weekend in perusing the names of the 45 members of the Amazon Community Advisory Committee [Read more…] about HOW CAN THERE BE A HELIPAD WITHOUT A REC CENTER?

HQ2 YEA/NAY, KATZ TO JVB TO O’LEARY, CHANGE A KUMON’, 80%?

December 7, 2018 by editor Leave a Comment

The only thing that is constant is change – Heraclitus circa 500 BC

POLLS can be funny, so I try not to read too much into them. Let’s take one released this week showing 60% of Queens residents favor Amazon coming here. Maybe. More likely 60% are neutral or “Don’t Know” where they stand on HQ2 in LIC. If the deal really is even-handed that’s where the majority should sit under the bell-curve of a standard distribution. But that doesn’t make headlines.

Well thought out analysis can also be buried in favor of sensationalism. The most eloquent opinion piece I have read in the morass that has been written about HQ2 in the last month, was scripted by Seth Bornstein who heads the Queens Economic Development Corp. which despite its industrialist-like moniker is largely dedicated to helping out people from modest backgrounds. Having read his monthly letters for years, I can tell you that Seth knows Queens. He also knows the history of New York City, which in a nutshell is that it’s always changing, and usually at a faster pace than the rest of the world. [Read more…] about HQ2 YEA/NAY, KATZ TO JVB TO O’LEARY, CHANGE A KUMON’, 80%?