Politics

5POINTZ TAKEN TO THE EXTREME

October 10, 2013 by editor 5 Comments

Extra large buildings, but how will it benefit YOU?

GROUCHO (to woman seated next to him at an elegant dinner party): Would you sleep with me for ten million dollars?

WOMAN (giggles and responds): Oh, Groucho, of course I would.

GROUCHO; How about doing it for ten bucks?

WOMAN (indignant): What do you think I am???

GROUCHO: That’s already been established. Now we’re just haggling about the price.

For the umpteenth time, the 5Pointz residential development plan received another layer of approval from the powers-that-be to increase the size of the project, and this one seems to be the absolute final one necessary. Most of the noisy press has focused on the two most colorful groups. The pro-development camp who consistently asserted that the developers, the Wolkoffs, were legally entitled to build on the lot; and the artists camp, who felt the current building was a treasure. As far as I’m concerned, both camps are right.

My focus today is not on the “Tear it down/Don’t tear it down” circus, but rather the special permit that allowed the Wolkoffs to increase the size of the two buildings from roughly 30 stories each, to 41 and 47 stories. Basically what happens in applying for the permit, is that the developer has to pay for a lengthy 3rd-party feasibility study that lists all the negatives of allowing him said special increase. There’s a whole litany of negative effects for a community that usually include standard items like increased auto traffic in the area, increased pedestrian traffic, lack of parking, strain on public transportation, etc. Then comes the aesthetics bucket list such as the effect on the skyline and the big new shadows across the neighborhood. As a local example of the last item, one effect cited in the 5Pointz study in allowing the buildings to be 40+ stories, was that now they would create shadows on Murray Park at certain times of the year. The net-net of all this is that there are negatives that a whole community must shoulder, so a developer can increase the size of his building.

On the other hand, there’s a huge cost advantage for a developer in building as big and high as he can, in order to amortize the fixed costs he’d incur whether the building were one story or a hundred, plus a lot of other savings such as supplies(example: if you’re buying 1000 bathtubs instead of 700, you get a better price per tub) In recognition of this trade-off between “Increased Community Negatives” and “Greatly Increased Bottom Line”, the city and it’s various politicos swarm over this potential honeypot to play a game of squeeze-the-developer.

As expected, that’s exactly what transpired on the 5Pointz deal. After all the negotiating, the city was able to extract some low-cost artists studios, the allowance of some graffiti on certain portions of the building, and most significantly, 210 of the new apartments will be “Affordable Housing.”

Huzzahs all around on this settlement, right? Not so fast.

What the agreement really distills down to, is that 210 lucky souls will get subsidized housing, and the rest of the community will have to endure the negative effects of the increased building size. Maybe those effects are really bad, or maybe they are fairly meaningless, but the net equation is 210 people benefit greatly, and the rest of the neighborhood of 20,000+ takes a little hit in their quality of life.

Now, let’s take the 5Pointz example to the extreme. What if the proposed increase were to 60, or 80, or 100 stories? Would you feel the increased negatives then? Of course, and you’d probably make a huge ruckus over what was being inflicted. Instead you just get a little screwing, maybe ten bucks worth, and thus don’t make a fuss. Now that’s the art of the deal!

Council Approves Housing Plan for 5Pointz – huzzahs all around, except from the artists. Sorry if I made you a little unsettled too.

Founders of 5Pointz File Lawsuit to Block Demolition – probably too little too late

Market Reports Out for Queens/LIC Rentals, Sales – “The LIC rental market has a growing inventory with steady pricing. New developments are renting at an average of 20 units a week per building.” Old news to LICtalk readers, we told you this a month ago.

Manhattan Rents Decline for the First Time in Two Years – Old news, yawn.

These Donors Will Take Anything but Manhattan – a story about the Rubins, who make big arts donations solely to the outer boroughs, including $300K to Socrates Sculpture Park last week. Too bad the Wolkoffs don’t take a page from their book.

The Death of the Suburbs – Sam Zell calling a trend we spotted in April. I didn’t know he too was a reader of LICtalk: ‘The demand for the suburban lifestyle had been driven mainly by safety and schools, he said. “If you wanted to see the end of suburbia, all you’d need to do is make the school systems in the cities triple-A and why would anybody live in the suburbs,” Zell said.’

Aereo Pushes Back Android App – local biz we made mention of earlier in the week. Will they be the next Comcast?

Family of Missing Autistic 14-Year Old, Preparing to Sue the City

Cafe To Open in Hunters Point South Park – surprise, it won’t be Starbucks

WEINER ROLLS ON IN LONG ISLAND CITY

August 5, 2013 by editor 2 Comments

Hey, isn't that Ti Hua Chang? — ‘Hey, isn’t that Ti-Hua Chang?’

The world famous LIC waterfront once again served as the backdrop for a politician making noise. This time it was celebrity candidate Anthony Weiner, who based on the number of reporters attending today’s fracas, one would think had already been anointed mayor. Acting very much the role of the politician, his delivery was erudite and smooth, and it is amazing how easy it seemed for him to act as if there was no 1000-pound gorilla in the …park. As for what he said, well we don’t really report on those kind of things at LICtalk, unless of course it actually contains some substance. What we did find of interest, was that he did not take the 7-train to get here. If he had, he probably wouldn’t have been 20 minutes late for his own press conference. Now that dear readers, is a matter of questionable judgment.

Talking about rolls, or maybe roles, did you know that the origin of the word came from the rolled up piece of paper each actor and actress received before a play back in the 16th century? Well you would know this fact if you had attended Shakespeare Queens in Gantry Park this past Saturday night. Didn’t catch it? Well it was not really well advertised. Even your entertainment hub, LICtalk, never listed it. Fear not, because they are coming back to the same location to perform The Tempest, this Saturday night, August 10, at 7:30. Now personally, I’m a pretty low-brow entertainment consumer, think Three Stooges. Yet the excellent and well-acted performance of Love’s Labor’s Lost this past Saturday night, contained enough ribaldry that even Anthony Weiner would have enjoyed it!

Finally, drifting back to LIC’s #1 topic, real estate, I couldn’t help but notice the final paragraph in an article in the Sunday Real Estate section of yesterday’s New York Times, about a group of rental buildings going up on the Manhattan side, directly across from Hunters Point South:

“We really wanted an iconic design,” Mr. Stern said. “This is a large-scale site, one of the largest residential developments to hit Midtown East in a very long time, so it is important not to miss the mark and to push the envelope.”

Doesn’t Long Island City deserve a similar iconic design? Yes it does, but that is very hard to justify when the buildings being built are to be 100% affordable housing. So instead of getting cutting edge architecture, the residents of LIC are relegated to looking at mediocrity, whilst the inhabitants of such get spectacular views, uber-amenities, and extremely well-situated housing, at a bargain price.

Anthony Weiner didn’t even go near that topic today, but at least we still get the bard.

High Rises to Replace an East River Eyesore – “This could be a harbinger of things to come in terms of getting more innovative design along the East River.” -but not on the eastern side!

Events Occurring at Gantry State Park in August – not only do we get Shakespeare, but every Thursday night we’re going to get “Movies in the Park” starting at 8pm. It’s all family-friendly footage, so Anthony probably won’t be there.

Hip to Hip Theatre Company – gives all the details about this wonderful group of local Shakespeareans

Gayle Baron, LIC Partnership Director, to Retire

New Restaurant, Queens and Paupers, Coming to Queens Plaza – looks like upscale pub grub and booze

PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT PART II: ELECTION DAY COMETH

November 5, 2012 by editor 9 Comments

Obama/Romney, Romney/Obama – the most important election of our lifetime? Fact is they’re all the same – bought and paid for with the same money. Ours is a country of the SuperPAC, by the SuperPAC, and for the SuperPAC. The “people” are merely election-day pawns, pulling a Democratic or Republican lever that will deliver the same results every four years …I’ll tell you what isn’t new. Our two-party system continues to play ping pong with the American people, and the electorate is that white little ball going back and forth over the net. This side’s better – no, that one looks best. Elephants/Donkeys, Donkeys/Elephants.

-Bill Gross’ November Investment Outlook, Gross is the manager of the $270 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, currently the largest mutual fund in existence.

The New York Times endorsed Barack Obama for President in 2012 and the New York Post has endorsed Mitt Romney, what else is new? Well, much to everyone’s surprise, Mayor Bloomberg made a last minute endorsement of Obama as well, but not before adding the major caveat “like so many other independents, I have found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing,” As for myself, I am through with my analysis and recommendation and as always at LICtalk, am ready to deliver the solution to the problem. Before I give it though, one thing that you should NOT take away from my unwillingness to endorse Obama or Romney is that you shouldn’t vote. Instead, it is your decision to make the effort to go to the voting booth that I am looking to maximize, because unlike the Mayor, I believe there are options to O and R that are not “disappointing”. Granted, these choices have absolutely no chance of winning in 2012, but a decision to choose one may help to change the future. With this in mind let me give you three other thoughts to ponder, the first is pretty much a given: President Obama is going to win New York State by a wide margin. The second is more conjecture: disenchantment with the two choices and the political system in general will lead to the lowest turnout ever. Instead of taking the time to vote for a third-party candidate, people just do not vote. The third is an actual statistic from the last election: less than 1.5% of the popular vote in 2008 was cast for a non-Democrat or Republican candidate. Thus, were one to decide to go to the election booth and not vote for O or R, the effect of their vote would be greatly magnified coming off such an incredibly low base. Can you imagine if numerous districts in LIC were to double or triple that small percentage? Might that be picked up by political pundits as a statistical anomaly and pored over as the start of a new trend? I do not know, but here is what I think: there is absolutely no reason to go into the voting booth and not just go for it, try something different. May the revolution start here, in Long Island City.

LICTALK’S 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT

October 26, 2012 by editor 5 Comments

Normally, I associate the word “die-hard” in politics with someones parents. Thus I am always amazed that so many people in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and yes, even in their 50’s, are still so strongly ingrained as to side with one of the two major parties or the other. No matter what the issue, they look to their parties’ spin, and take that side. These days, when it comes to the actual candidates, I think voting decisions are based more on hatred of the opposing candidate than an affinity for ones own. Basically, Democrats think the country will be ruined if Romney gets elected, and Republicans think the country will be ruined if we have four more years of Obama. Well guess what? It is the first time both parties have been right since Roosevelt(you pik’em, Franklin or Teddy)! Our nation is composed of Obama-haters and Romney-despisers. Personally, if Obama wins re-election, I cannot help but imagine how disappointed I will be the next morning. On the other hand, if Romney wins, I cannot help but to think the same thing. Currently, all I can ponder as we head into election day is “Is there not a better choice than these two to represent us?” By us of course, I am speaking for the people of Long Island City, and with us in mind, here’s a little pop quiz for you readers:

Q: If 47% of the population are moochers, and Romney pays a 14% federal tax rate, where does the money come from to pay the former?

A: Who do? You do. The 52.9% (100% – 47% – .1% = 52.9%)

OK, maybe my single-question exam is a little simplistic, as other news outlets have parsed to death and ripped apart both the 47% as not really being a valid number, and the 14% as having not violated any tax laws. Yet my arguments for using this one question is that it embodies the economy/taxes/deficit problem, in other words our pocketbooks. In so doing, the editorial staff here at LICtalk has honed in on what we believe is the #1 question facing the citizens of LIC: which candidate represents the 52.9% of people like us?

Let’s take the 47/14 quandary and put a local spin on it. Implicit in the 47% number is the hatred of redistribution of wealth. Normally this is associated with taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Yet we have come a long, long way from the New Deal of FDR, devised in response to the depression of the 1930’s, and the Great Society of LBJ, created to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. In fact, right here in LIC we have the perfect example of how (too?) far we have gone: Hunters Point South. HPS will include up to 5,000 units of housing, 60% of which will be affordable to middle income families(now altered to 100%). Affordable units are targeted to households with incomes between $55,000 and $158,000, the poor need not apply. OK, we have now established $158,000 as a level where people still receive subsidies(please don’t tell me about how the numbers are different in NYC, and I won’t tell you about total compensation including pensions, pension stuffing, health care for life, and retiring with the previous three in one’s fifties). Now let us turn to the people who pay the subsidies of those earning $100K+. The top 14% federal tax rate is paid not by those in the top 1%, where a lot of people in NYC are situated, but by the top one-tenth of 1%. Therefore, if the tax rate on the top one-tenth is 14%, and that of the total top 1% is 28%, then the actual tax rate for the lower 9/10ths of the 1% must be very high to get a blended average of 28%, and this skew probably extends down to other top deciles as well. Funny, but this is exactly where I suspect the majority of people in LIC fall. I mean, let’s face it, if one made $13 million a year, you’d probably be living in an apartment overlooking Central Park, not the East River(looking west anyway). Now as far as I am concerned, complaining about what Romney paid in taxes is spilt milk. On the other hand he had the chance to state “Yes, my taxes may be legal, but they are not necessarily fair” on a national stage …and didn’t utter a peep. Therefore, the worry persists that he will let stand our current system, and in light of whom has supported him with millions, accelerate it in a continued opaque manner. Thus, no matter which candidate gets elected, you know who will take the brunt of the hit going forward as we try to reduce our deficits? That’s right, the 52.9%.

Obviously there are many, many other issues to which I have given absolutely zero consideration. Yet in my mind the inattention to the 52.9% typifies the missing link and lack of a suitable, pragmatic alternative on these other issues. Has the choice really come down to ‘Who will I feel less queasy about on the morning of November 7th?’ Call me idealistic, but I believe the people of Long Island City and the United States merit superior candidates than Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Therefore, in 2012 LICtalk endorses no one for President. We deserve better and so do our children.