Plaxall is the corporate name for a group of family members who own a big chunk of the non-residential properties in Hunters Point. Though there is a small operating business(plastics), the bulk of the value of the family’s holdings is in real estate. Thus they have taken a very active, but low-key role in the community. Nothing nefarious here, not even a hint of a scandal, most of it has been centered around garnering visibility for the neighborhood. A recent tangible example is their co-sponsoring the LIC Flea on a parking lot that they own.
For almost two generations the owners have seemed content to lay low with their million square feet of holdings, but now they reveal their intent to finally develop a very small piece on 5th Street into residential. Might it be a harbinger of things to come? My guess is probably not. Things move slow when a dozen or so family members need to come to a consensus. It is usually the next generation that starts agitating for change. So for the time being, the residents of Hunters Point have some pretty good stewards over large chunks of the territory.
As for Court Square, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” seems to be the theme song. If you want to be kept up to date on every groundbreaking and subsequent building progress, check out: LICCourtSquare.com.
And finally, between Hunters Point and Court Square, we get one journalists very long analysis of the current state of LIC, and why the chasm between the two will keep us in stasis. Some of it is typical of a writer who doesn’t actually live here, but some of it is on the money. Hey, not every reporter can spend five years trekking through rice paddies in ‘Nam to get the feel of the place, yet I’ll leave you with a wonderful passage from it nonetheless:
Long Island City just does its thing. Which is not dissimilar to Queens itself. Unlike Brooklyn—burnisher of cult status that it is—Queens seems untroubled by its outerboroughness, too vast and diverse to bother with trying to sculpt its many ethnicities, classes, age group, affinities and uses into some kind of cohesive brand. It may lack a vibe, but when you think about it, vibe is often just a way of saying that a neighborhood is dominated by one particular group or lifestyle or purpose, pre-determined in some way or another, which can feel as exclusionary to some as it does enticing to others. Like Long Island City, it is not one thing but many, and isn’t that what New York, at its best, is all about anyway?
Family Reinvests in LIC – the Rockefellers of Hunters Point
Proposed Plaxall Building at 49-09 5th Street – 5 stories, 14 units
The Court Square Blog – for hardcore Court Square buffs. Nothing wrong w/ hardcore though.
LIC Has Been on the Cusp For 30 Years – for hardcore LIC followers only.
5Pointz Artists Get a Gallery Show – how genteel. For hardcore graffiti groupies only
Q & A with Gantry Park Architect – for hardcore Gantry Park trekkies only
Jamestown Fills LIC’s Falchi Building with Diverse Tenants – for hardcore commercial real estate fans only
Anonymous says
January 15, 2014 at 7:41 pmAnyone know if the beer barge is still happening? And what’s going to happen where the tech incubator was supposed to be?
Paul says
January 16, 2014 at 9:15 amI highly doubt the beer barge will come to fruition as it looks like it needs a lot of work, and kind of duplicates what is already at the LIC flea. The owner sort of implies that in the article.
Patricia Beattie says
January 15, 2014 at 11:17 pmI’d rather have the Plaxall family who have history and understand #Astoria | #LongIslandCity culture and are supportive of the community develop here than many others, corporations, who don’t give a hoot about what makes this community so great!
Spare me says
January 17, 2014 at 12:49 pmYeah, right. What the hell have the Plaxalls ever done for Astoria or LIC except fatten their wallets?
Anonymous says
January 18, 2014 at 5:01 pmThe Plaxall family has been one of the biggest impediments to the development of LIC. They sit on their ugly warehouse properties with very little effort to develop them into something attractive or where people can live.