57 and 33 story towers coming here

The only thing that is constant is change – Heraclitus circa 500 BC

POLLS can be funny, so I try not to read too much into them.  Let’s take one released this week showing 60% of Queens residents favor Amazon coming here.  Maybe. More likely 60% are neutral or “Don’t Know” where they stand on HQ2 in LIC.  If the deal really is even-handed that’s where the majority should sit under the bell-curve of a standard distribution.  But that doesn’t make headlines.

Well thought out analysis can also be buried in favor of sensationalism.  The most eloquent opinion piece I have read in the morass that has been written about HQ2 in the last month, was scripted by Seth Bornstein who heads the Queens Economic Development Corp. which despite its industrialist-like moniker is largely dedicated to helping out people from modest backgrounds. Having read his monthly letters for years, I can tell you that Seth knows Queens.  He also knows the history of New York City, which in a nutshell is that it’s always changing, and usually at a faster pace than the rest of the world.  Continue reading →