News

Yesterday I was stopped by Erdem, the fruit and vegetable peddler on 49th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard.  He was scared and wanted me to write a story about his situation.  As many of you know, one morning last week he was arrested, hauled off to jail, and his fruit stand was basically left idled and exposed with a handwritten sign saying “Closed Until Further Notice.”  After spending almost 30 hours in the Queens County Jail, without food, drink, or sleep, he went before a judge who very quickly dismissed him and all the outstanding tickets that led to his arrest.  According to Erdem, the tickets were all from 2009 and came in a quick flurry during a period of harassment, possibly by an angered merchant(hint: Dunkin Donuts didn’t come to Vernon until 2011).  Infractions included items such as being too close to the crosswalk, and not having his licenses properly displayed.

Fast forward to last week, when after four years of no infractions, which would have disallowed his ability to get aforementioned licenses(renewed in January 2012), Erdem gets taken in.  Ever since, he’s been on eggshells, as he doesn’t know if his arrest was due to the law or is something personal, though he surmises the latter.  Due to the arbitrariness of his arrest, the unknown duration of another potential jail stint, be it one day, two days, or a week, and the constant fear of losing his livelihood, he is extremely stressed.

Furthermore, he’s frankly embarrassed by his arrest.  When you stand in a very visible spot and conduct business with hundreds of people each week, you become part of the fabric of the community.  Likewise, the Hunters Point community is very, very important to him, and he feels a very personal attachment.

I don’t know what to do to help Erdem, other than write his story.  If anyone else has advice or could lend a hand, please reach out to him, he’d be extremely grateful.

The Editor

Queens Borough President Gives Thumbs Up to Expanded 5Pointz Development – the towers will now be 41 and 47 stories

Developers Add More Affordable Housing Units to 5Ppointz Plan for Approval – how that helps you, I do not know

LIC Residents Want Safer Streets – Dutch Kills locals demonstrate for more traffic safety

Breweries Not Too Big for Their Barrels – the NYT discusses the proliferation of nanobreweries in NY, and mentions both our local ones, Rockaway and Big Alice

NYT Interview With Founder of aptsandlofts – the local real estate broker handling a 200 unit rental building near the water

Local Knicks Star Wears Number of former LIC High School Star – Queensbridge boy makes good

Well I never kept a dollar past sunset,
It always burned a hole in my pants.
Never made a school mama happy,
Never blew a second chance, oh no

Between the oppressive heat, the inability to escape it anywhere in LIC via shade cover, the lack of fireworks, and no G train, there might seem to be a pall being cast over Long Island City.  Worst of all, our local news is pretty much a rehash this week.  But let’s face it, all those TF Cornerstone apartments aren’t flying out the door for no reason.  That reason might very well be captured in the cover article in this past Sunday’s New York Times real estate section entitled “Homeownership, the Key to Happiness?”  Basically, it can be summed up by the Beatles refrain “Money Can’t Buy You Love.” or you may choose a direct quote from the article itself:

“The reality of maintenance and repairs, and being ‘house rich but cash poor,’ can negate much of the perceived happiness people may have had about homeownership,”

So then, what does make people happy when it comes to where they live?  That too can best be summed up with a direct quote from the article:

Moving farther inland would have meant a larger place for less money, but a much longer commute. “I can spend my time biking rather than driving to work,” she said. “That changes the way I use my time.”

By now you might be thinking “Wait a minute, didn’t I already read an insightful story that came to the same conclusion several months ago?”  Yes readers you did, right here at LICtalk.

Whichever article you did read first, just keep in mind the moral of the story: Be wary of more space in the ‘burbs, it may not be worth the trade-off.

Homeownership, the Key to Happiness? – channeling LICtalk

Affordable Housing in LIC?  Many Residents Say Not at All – griping about rents, LIC’s national pastime …for which there is no All-Star game

MoMA PS1 Gets Expansion Funding – what do I need to do to secure $3 mil for more space?  Ok, how about 10 bucks a month for bike storage?

More Afternoon Service for Da G Train? – “These recommendations will allow the G to keep pace with skyrocketing growth in Brooklyn and Queens”

Doe Fund Will Start Cleaning Streets In Hunters Point – 3 mil for MoMA PS1, and now JVB secures 65K for street cleaning

A Councilman Wants Koch’s Name Removed from the Queensborough Bridge – there’s a reason this story is last …yawn

I’ll be traveling on business this week to consult with all the major financial powers: London/Zurich/Hong Kong/Tokyo/Sydney.  Not wanting to leave you empty-handed, I have taken a page from the wily authors guide to fill the void.  Sometimes a non-fiction writer, in need of a little cash and not wanting to do any heavy lifting, cobbles together a bunch of his best articles and convinces a publisher to make them into a book.  Only the cream of the crop can really get away with this maneuver.  Michael Lewis, for example, did just this with his latest.  It’s kind of like how rock bands used to put out a “Live” album of previous releases back in the days of records and CD’s, to milk the catalog during stretches of creativity-block or rehab.  In this spirit, I have regurgitated five of my past articles, linked the word “seminal” to them, and decided to give them to you gratis.  In candidness, this was not an altruistic decision, but according to my agent, more of a marketing ploy.  I was a little skeptical at first, but he referred to it as the Dianetics strategy, and we all know how that worked out for L. Ron Hubbard.  So go back and read these pieces, or better yet, read every single piece I’ve ever published, even if you already have.  These gems are like great works of art, you find new meanings in each reading.  Ciao!

Hey Palo Alto, Better Watch Your Back – in which I talked about LIC becoming a technology mecca.

Dwindling – in which I discussed the lack of condo supply being built and why.  Come summer of 2013 we see the consequences.

Olympics 2012, What If… – in which I talk about the ramifications of NYC not being selected for the 2012 Olympics, and what it meant for Hunters Point

LIC, We Have A Problem – if you have a toddler born between 2009 and 2013, this is a must read. If not, can you please give me my life back?

Bad Yes, But Most Of Us Got Lucky – a soon after the fact assessment of Sandy’s effect on LIC