News

Hey, did you notice the terrific mural installed last week around the Hunters Point Library site?  Well inside of 72 hours, some schmuck came along with a box cutter and dissected it.  Earlier today I received this in an email from a concerned and outraged resident:

Many of you may already know this by now, but in walking along Center Boulevard this morning, I noticed that the newly installed scrim was sliced with (probably) some sort of knife on almost half of the surfaces!  I was heart-broken and I’m furious, as this scrim was providing not only an nice, aesthetic coverage of the work sight, but also a sign of progress for our library – some excitement that soon it will be built.  I spoke to 2 workers who were tending to it on my way back to my building and they said it happened over the weekend.  The workers said the scrim cost $6,000 to create and produce and that they won’t be repairing it – it will stay that way the duration until the library is complete.

The resident sent the same email to the LIC powers-that-be and received the following response:

Dear –,

My name is Jen Manley, I am the VP of Government and Community Affairs at the Queens Library.  Both Assembly Member Nolan and CM Van Bramer’s office relayed your concerns this morning to me. I cannot express how upsetting this is to the library. We are so very excited about this new library in your community and you are absolutely right that the new fence wrap was a small but important signal of progress.  It was also very beautifully designed by our partners at the City Department of Design and Construction and very generously supported through the financial contribution of the Queens West Development Corporation.  As you learned- this sort of wrapping is actually very expensive to have produced and the Queens West Development Corporation stepped up to make sure it could be completed to enhance the community. It is so discouraging that it has been destroyed. I spoke to both DDC and to QWCD today and everyone is equally upset. Funding is short but they are going to try to repair the several panels that were damaged and we will see what else can be done if needed.  Diane Balleck from Assembly Member Nolan’s office already brought this to the 108^th precinct (thank you Diane) and they advised that as soon as a complaint is initiated at the precinct they can then work with your building and your neighbors buildings to secure footage and identify whomever did this terrible thing. I spoke to QWDC and they will file a complaint with PD tomorrow. If we can nail whomever did this the whole community would be grateful.   Please feel free to share this update with your neighbors as well.

Thank you so much for sharing your concerns – let’s stay in touch.

Jennifer Manley, Vice President, Government & Community Affairs, Queens Library

Here, let me repeat the most important part:

If we can nail whomever did this the whole community would be grateful.

Agreed.  So if you anyone saw anything, please contact the police with the info.

After bombarding you with LIC news on Friday, we once again encounter the occasional lull in local news.  What does one do at a time like this if they are straddled with a curious mind?  Stray from your comfort zone.  Fortunately we live in a neighborhood located in curious mind central: Queens!  Now had you asked me a decade or so ago, I would have condescendingly replied something along the lines of how “I don’t do bridges and tunnels.”  Yet that antiquated view went out in the last century, as Williamsburg eclipsed the West Village for hip nightlife(now only to also be on the verge of passe).  Which brings us back to Queens, the next Prague, Paris in the 20’s, Phuket, or Phnom Penh.  Well maybe that’s a bit much, as we don’t quite have the architecture of the first two, or a concentrated, bustling nightlife, nor any signs of a counterculture.  But what we do have is an unparalleled diversity, genuineness, and lack of pretension.  Those qualities are extremely hard to find in a no-stone-unturned 21st century planet.  So if I’ve enticed you enough to leave the confines of an increasingly gentrified Long Island City, then let me also pass on what I think is the best guidebook to all the aforementioned qualities, as it encompasses them itself: QueensNYC.com.  I love reading all its posts, as I know the sights and sounds are all reachable and attainable. Unlike say, reading an article in the New York Times Travel section about taking a 41-mile hike in remote Piaui, or one on a debaucherous, over-the-top bachelor party weekend in Tallinn.  In addition to introducing you to all these great, new, frequently undiscovered places in Queens, they have terrific photographs.  In fact some of them are so enticing, the only advice I can give you is to not read it before mealtime.  So am I jealous of all the wonderful stories QueensNYC puts out?  Sometimes, but I like to think my musings and utterances stand up on their own.  I mean didn’t Hemingway read Steinbeck?

Hey folks, we always try to keep you apprised of all the disparate programs going on in LIC; here’s a great one for kids, and it is still open for registration:

Musical Theatre with AudraRox Inc.

STARTING APRIL 9TH at the New York Irish Center!

10 weeks for $300

***Our 3-5 year old drop-off class has become a big hit!!
Audra’s Musical Theater Class is back by popular demand! If your older child loves music & drama they will enjoy the theatrical element to this class. This is a class was created specifically for our older students, building on Audra’s extensive theater background and successful experience teaching Aardvarks. Through song we will activate our imaginations & re-inact some of our most beloved childhood stories! From The Gingerbread Man to The Wizard of Oz – we are going to act them out with SONG! The result is a creative and dynamic drama class where kids will develop their writing, performing and collaboration skills- resulting in a final performance. Plus, it’s fun way for your older kids to stay connected to making music with AudraRox.

QueensNYC – lots of wonderful places to go, and the best thing is you can still sleep in LIC after visiting them

An Urban Adventure in LIC – video

Building a Better Tech School – all about Cornell Technion, coming to Roosevelt Island.  You can live in LIC and send your kid to the MIT of NYC, and he can sleep at home and have all his meals cooked and laundry taken care of, another great reason to live here!

According to a recent expose in the New York News, Long Island City has evolved into a major hub of promiscuity.  An unusual occurrence of circumstances has led to this leadership role.   First off is the proliferation of hotels that have sprouted recently.  Their reasonable hourly rates, combined with the laissez-faire attitude adopted when on vacation, and mixed with the new slogan adopted by the LIC Chamber of Merchandising(LICCM) “What happens in Queens stays in Queens” is really giving New Canaan a run for it’s money as the key party capital.  In addition to the new slogan, it’s not unusual to hear Manhattanites utter that sex in the outer boros doesn’t really count anyway.  Throw in a thriving artist community(think Picasso, De Kooning, Pollock) and philandery has become LIC’s biggest export …and import.   Finally, the locals have joined in too, as the short commutes have left plenty of time for illicit rendezvous.  Mary M., a 30-something attorney and local mother of two toddlers states “Despite working long days and weekends at a major law firm in order to make partner, I simply find I have an extra 20-30 minutes every day of unallocated time.”  At the other end of the spectrum is Tyler S., a neo-nerd currently working for the start-up zilch.com, who takes a different tack on why this phenomenon has occurred locally “It’s long overdue that Queens one-ups Brooklyn in something hip.”  He goes on to share the new craze amongst his generation(or did he say genre?): virtual orgies.  Which when boiled down didn’t sound the least bit new to this long ago teenager.  Tyler’s predilection notwithstanding, LIC’s reputation as the new swinging capital of the world is not expected to go away anytime soon.  Local politician Mike Van Nolan has just received $600,000 from the City Council for an illuminated sign advertising our newfound moniker, which will be placed on the waterfront for the whole world to know. Keep that in mind next time you think you recognize an attractive twosome at Shady Park “Hey honey, isn’t that the couple from Bushwick that we…”

McDonald’s Coming to Vernon Boulevard – they’ve been fast-tracked, expect Big Macs by Arbor Day

Obama to Stay in LIC for the Next UN Meeting – Clinton will too, that’s Bill not Hillary, he booked a suite for a month

MTA Says 7-Train Repairs Not Needed Again Until 2019 – April Fools!

Joe Parker of 44th Drive Inflicted with Toenail Fungus – doctor says he’s only got 20-30 years left

Abby Bichon Plays with Her Food – patterns made by 3-year old have her mother convinced she’s destined for Harvard

Who says 30+ year olds can’t attend Spring Break?  Well you should know by now that LICtalk breaks all the rules.  Thus I’m heading to Daytona this week ..or is it Cancun, or maybe Panama City?  I don’t know, just one of those locations in Girls Gone Wild that I never got to attend when I was a little more age appropriate.  These days though I’m better prepared for a vacation such as this, with an expense account and press pass hanging around my neck. Tres cool!  Of course I’m also lugging an extra 30 pounds and need to wear a hat all day due to my thinning hair, but as they say in South Padre Island “No Problem Mon.”  Alas, it also means I will be unable to update you all on the local comings and goings for a week, but nothing really happens in this town without me, right?  Well before I go I’ll comment on two items.  First, according to the Hunters Point South February update, the overall HPS park construction is 62% complete.  Uhh ok. so when does that mean the park will be open?  Secondly, as was made mention several times in the comments section of our December 5th post Dogs and Beer: numerous dog owners have not been picking up after their dogs.  Apparently this is also a problem in the adjacent towns in Queens.  So much so that Jimmy Van Bramer is kicking off a campaign in Sunnyside, and a vigilante in Astoria has taken matters into his own hands with a clever solution.  Whatever the answer is, I expect it all to be cleared up when I return next week.  Oh, and while we’re clearing the decks, let’s get all these snowstorms and cold weather outta here too!

JVB Kicks Off Curb Your Dog Campaign – replete w/ his ever present pack of little truants

Astoria Resident Pooh-Poohs Dog Doo With His Street Art – Charles Bronson would be proud

Queens Hotel Boom Brings NYC Tourists Across The River – wow, two stories in one week extolling LIC as a vacation hub.  Watch out Disney World!

Five Animal Burger Tasting at Alewife – moo, snort, quack, baa, and a little more moo.  But no woof …yet