Parks and Library

Languorous Long Island City Summer Ends With A Bang

September 5, 2020 by editor 2 Comments

WOW, what an end to the ~~week~~ summer. Two big pieces of news for Long Island City occurred within the last 24 hours, after a six-month local news cycle usurped by city, national and worldwide headlines. First, a young man was shot and killed one block from Center Boulevard in Hunters Point early yesterday evening. While this news is startling and seemingly an abrupt punctuation mark on a crazy summer both near and far, I’m not quickly tempted to extrapolate the nightly shenanigans in the park to it. One look at the picture1 of the young man lying on Borden Avenue being aided by a police officer and knowing now that he’s in his last minutes of his life is much graver than what we’ve been dealing with.2 I still believe the parks will calm down after the summer is over and that this is a one-off incident much like the occasional shootings that intrude on the Upper East Side or Tribeca. I hope.

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linked to below in NYPost story [↩]
and probably a very good but sad advertisement for gun control when combined w/ the supposed mercurial nature of the incident, especially given how close to home it is [↩]

Parks Dilemma

September 1, 2020 by editor 1 Comment

IN case you haven’t heard on social media, there’s a continued uproar over the late night shenanigans in the waterfront parks. While the fireworks have faded out, loud vehicles and music, vandalism, and large parties have not, and seemingly little has been done by authorities to stop them. In light of this a group of residents took it upon themselves to raise money for private security to patrol the two parks at night, which subsequently lead to a backlash from other citizens about access, accusations, acceptance, etc., leading to elected officials jumping in on both sides.

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NY Times Gives Rave Architectural Review to Hunters Point Library

September 19, 2019 by editor 8 Comments

THE critic has spoken and in so doing is probably just the start of what I expect to be a cavalcade of accolades for the Hunters Point Library. Now that it’s been completed, might its opening be the final piece that puts the LIC waterfront on the global stage? We already have the ~~iconic~~ instagrammable Pepsi Sign, the Gantries, and of course the in-your-face views of Manhattan. Throw in a pair of ferry stops, MoMA PS1 and the intrigue fomented by Amazon and its rejection, and the library opening and subsequent frenzy becomes the pièce de résistance for hordes of tourists.

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Pepsi’s JetBlue Sign & More on Condos & Library in Long Island City

August 20, 2019 by editor 2 Comments

I can live with this …for a month anyway

The Pepsi sign in Long Island City has spawned a corporate sidekick as JetBlue has had it’s trademarked calligraphy affixed to the structure along the waterfront. According to The Wall Street Journal the illuminated blue sign will stay there until October 1 and is part of a promotion whereby JetBlue is starting to serve Pepsi products aboard its flights.

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