“KNOCK DOWN THE PROJECTS AND BRING IN THE CRANES”

3 1/2 years ago LICtalk proposed razing Queensbridge.  Not because it was a blight on Long Island City – its presence has minimal impact, but instead as a pragmatic solution to the endemic problems of, well …the projects.  It took awhile, but now others are making similar arguments, most notably in a sober and succinct Crain’s editorial this week, and tangentially in an article/editorial in The Daily News yesterday.  And since the arguments are similar, we decided to borrow Crain’s headline for our own today, but theirs might as well read “Raze Queensbridge.”  Make your own comparisons.

//JUST when we thought it was dead, the Mayor looks set to resurrect the BQX Streetcar according to StreetsBlog NYC.  Unsurprisingly they have now incorporated building a bridge from Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint to Vernon Boulevard.  On the concept’s original announcement 2 1/2 years ago, we said it was no-go without a new bridge, and thus the initial price tag was waaay underpriced:

“$25 billion sounds more plausible than $2.5 billion.  In visualizing solely the LIC segment, I can quickly think of a major roadblock: the Pulaski Bridge.  A new bike lane was just put in place, which eliminated a car lane.  Now you want to remove two more of the remaining four car lanes?  I think it’s logistically undoable and thus a streetcar would require a new bridge at a cost …well in excess of $2.5 billion.”

Now if I could only be so accurate about which horse is going to win the seventh at Belmont…

Knock Down the Projects and Bring in the Cranes – aka Raze…

NYCHA Units Doomed Without Drastic Measures – “A “significant share” of New York City Housing Authority units “will no longer be cost-effective to repair” within a decade unless the agency does major upgrades to its buildings, according to a report from the nonprofit Citizens Budget Commission.”

Gunshot Victim Outside LIC Public Housing Complex Dies on Sunday – the Ravenswood Houses are technically in LIC, not Astoria.  Whatever, raze’m

Bridge Added to de Blasio’s Streetcar Fantasy – watch the budget melt

Massa’s Pizza & Bar Coming to Queensboro Plaza – from a descendant of Grimaldi himself!

Final NYC Ferry Route of 2018 Connecting LIC & LES Is Implemented This Week – here come the B&T’ers from Manhattan