FALL WEEKEND IN LIC: BOOZY CUPCAKES, BLOCK PARTY, AND THOM YORKE!

What a troika, can it get any better?  Well maybe if I happen to spot Blake Lively on the street.  Only in LIC folks, only in LIC.  Every one is back from summer vacation, fall is in full swing, the Giants and Jets are on TV, and our little town is catching up to Chicago in the Second City department, leaving Brooklyn in the dust!  Yet with the passing of summer comes another tradition in Long Island City, the semi-annual migration of families from LIC to the suburbs.  The reasons for leaving our not-so-longer-so-little nirvana for the ‘burbs are various: the need for more space, schools, rising rents and the desire to buy a home, key parties, etc.  Thus I was saddened to hear that one of the people to leave the neighborhood this summer was Eric Palatnik.  Several years ago, when the Queens West playing field was still a free-for-all, Eric had the foresight and the initiative to apply and block out some time on it for youth sports.  Then, with a big assist from his wife Leslie, he organized the Long Island City Kids Sports(LICKS): a grass-roots organization of LIC families who came together to provide a fun weekly introduction to sports for our kids.  Basically, it meant a lot of cajoling, collecting, and corralling parents, kids, coaches, and money to put together a great program, and really one that was very much needed(and desired) by parents for their kids.  Alas, in departing, Eric was unable to find anyone interested in channeling their inner Lombardi, Rozelle, or Stern, and take the reins, thus LICKS is no more.  Which is really a shame, as Long Island City potentially has the dynamics and logistics to be a major youth sports mecca.  Ok, maybe that is too strong a word, but by dynamics I am referring to the concentration of young children living here and the tighter sense of community than Manhattan, and even say Park Slope, provide.  Logistically, we are in very close proximity to the Queens West playing field, the big real grass field in Gantry Park, the basketball courts on 48th Avenue, and the field and courts at Murray Playground.  Proximity is of the utmost importance for kids to spontaneously play sports, which is the best way to learn and excel in them.  Furthermore, sometime in 2013, we will have two brand new gymnasiums in the elementary and high schools being completed.  These two gyms should definitely be co-opted by the community for additional youth group(and adult as well) play in the off hours, when not being used for regulation school sports.  The latter of which are increasingly fewer and fewer in these days of budget tightening, thus increasing the need for augmented activities.  Fortunately, in the interim, a new program has partially filled the void, as the privately run Super Soccer Stars has come to LIC and their programs begin this Saturday.

So here is my agenda for your LIC weekend:

Saturday: take the kids to soccer, and if you don’t have kids scout it out for the next Pele or Mia so you can say “I knew her back in the ‘hood when…”  -> fill the kids and yourself with boozy cupcakes -> attend Art Block Party and create your own Picasso -> rave for six hours at PS1 peaking with Thom Yorke’s DJ set -> collapse ->

Sunday: wake up at noon, order in, watch NFL all day with Manhattan skyline in background

Yeah right, who am I kidding, I should be so lucky, “hey Blake…”

Ethiopian Food And Boozy Cupcakes Coming To LIC Pop-Up Market – what a combo, can I supersize that?

LIC’s Sculpture City Throwing Huge Art Block Party Saturday  – make your own Picasso!

 Yorke DJ’ing at MoMA PS1’s Warm-up This Saturday – might he play “Disco Inferno?”

Warm-Up Mixes – i’ll miss these, fortunately I bootlegged all the Warm-ups to tide me thru the winter, though my downstairs neighbor may not like it

Super Soccer Stars LIC Fall 2012 Schedule and Sign-up – your kid’s ticket to fame, just don’t forget to have them thank LICtalk in their 2034 World Cup MVP acceptance speech

Luxury LIC Waterfront High Rise Nears Completion – the one where you and little Ronaldo can live in and train next door

LIC Airline Snubs Marshall – Marshall?  How about a press pass for LICtalk?

Queens Station Allegedly Beats Drunk To Death For Vandalizing Cash Machine

City Council Releases Draft District Lines – LIC has got to be close to having it’s own US Congressman, right?

Adore Her In A Fedora – leaving my apartment