ALL about me. Well sorta. All about Long Island City. Yeah, definitely. That’s an article in The New York Groove titled “LIC Talk on Long Island City’s journey from the ‘Wild West’ to a retirement paradise.”
I’ll leave it to you to read all the details (see link below), though it is interesting regarding certain parallels today. Though I have been out of the elementary school circle for several years, one issue that I was recently brought up to speed on is the lack of capacity in our local schools. At the end of the summer, a resident shared with me how her child was 90-something on the wait-list at PS78Q and somewhere in the mid-double digits at PS384Q, and instead was given a spot at an incubator school that will be housed north of the bridge for the next two years prior to moving into a new facility in Court Square. Not to be, next stop St. Stan’s. Anyway, there is a meeting sponsored by City Councilwoman Julie Won on September 29 to discuss districting these three elementary schools. Plus ça change.
Pivoting from schools to real estate, a not infrequent pairing here at LICtalk, comes the story of a massive new development planned for 45-03 Vernon Boulevard. Formerly the home of the New York Blood Center, this massive plot will hold 495 units. In case you were wondering, 495 can be evenly divided by 99, which is the maximum number of units to both receive a NYC tax abatement and not have to meet certain minimum wage criteria. So it will actually be five “separate” buildings. Of greater interest, this development continues the trend we predicted two months ago of Vernon Boulevard converting from retail to residential. Confirming that trend, is the announcement this week that the Paragon Paint Building has launched sales of its 182 condo’s. Sounds like we might need yet another elementary school. While you’re at it, why not throw in a High School, a specialized one at that.
So, we’ve discussed schools and real estate, but it wouldn’t be a prototypical LICtalk post without some restaurant news, would it? Sweet Chick LIC has closed. Opened in 2018, this place was really hot for about a year (think first-ever lines to get in!), cooled a bit (think pandemic), then I guess a lot. Vernon B has never been kind to restaurants, hopefully a few more residents changes that calculus.
Jacob Schwimmer bringing 500 units to Long Island City
Long Island City’s first new waterfront condo in a decade launches sales, from $765K
Sweet Chick LIC – see pic from back in its heyday
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