News

LOOKING BACK ON: LONG ISLAND CITY IN 1980

March 4, 2016 by editor 2 Comments

Given the void of local news, now is a good opportunity to get out the time machine and take a look back at the recent past of LIC. In lieu of a time machine, we’re going to use another contraption called Google. It has unearthed a gem of an article from New York Magazine written back in August of 1980, titled “The Next Neighborhood: Long Island City.”

It didn’t quite work according to plan, and the timing was off by over 20 years, but the two constants throughout all the fits and starts and hopes and dreams, were [Read more…] about LOOKING BACK ON: LONG ISLAND CITY IN 1980

PIZZA HUT COMING TO VERNON BOULEVARD

February 11, 2016 by editor 8 Comments

The moment we’ve all been dreading has arrived, fast food is coming to Vernon Boulevard ((though in some ways it’s already here given Dunkin Donuts and Bareburger)). We’ve heard from a good source that [Read more…] about PIZZA HUT COMING TO VERNON BOULEVARD

GANTRY PARK FLOODS AND 80-STORY TOWER IN COURT SQUARE?

February 9, 2016 by editor 3 Comments

The tide is high, or is it 2036 already?

The East River came over the edge at Gantry Park yesterday morning, creating a small pool on the promenade just north of the final pier, as pictured above. Newsworthy? [Read more…] about GANTRY PARK FLOODS AND 80-STORY TOWER IN COURT SQUARE?

SNOWMESS?

January 21, 2016 by editor Leave a Comment

Will it, won’t it, snow that is. That’s the big story here in LIC at this moment. Will we, won’t we, get a new school? That’s a big story here in LIC for the long term, but two educators from other parts are looking to possibly change that, or at least accelerate it. [Read more…] about SNOWMESS?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes IN LIC

January 19, 2016 by editor 3 Comments

Time may change me But I can't trace time — Time may change me, But I can’t trace time

Even Vernon Boulevard can’t fight the state of impermanence. A recent walk by the storefront of Delta Force Army & Navy revealed it’s formerly stuffed-to-the-gills/can’t-walk-in/probable-fire-hazard completely cleared out. This is not the first time this store seemingly vacated, having gone through a similar cleansing three years ago, only to magically reappear unmolested ((If you want to see something really magical, check out Google’s Street View of Delta Force Army & Navy. Clicking through shows the store fully open/stocked, but move the cursor a little one way or the other and you’ll see the windows ‘soap-washed’ as they were three years ago. This happens a lot in Street View. Gosh, for esoteric LIC stuff like this I really should charge for a premium membership to LICtalk)). Yet in assessing the situation, I and others can’t help but wonder how one forgoes (or pays) a minimum of $120,000 a year, at a conservative $10k a month, for so long? We’re talking a million dollars given the street-level inactivity of the retailer over the last 8 years!

At the other end of the spectrum, [Read more…] about Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes IN LIC