SUPER MOON AND STARS AND PLANETS IN LIC

IN addition to all the other great things about living in LIC, include the ability to actually see the stars, planets, and moon.  Unlike Manhattan, there is considerably less ambient light in our immediate vicinity, which allows incandescent bodies in the sky to stand out.

Of course that advantage won’t matter much if you can’t see the sky in the first place.  Fortunately here in LIC the towers are not packed tightly in a grid, which combined with the river on the west side and low-rise zoning in the east, provide unobstructed views for many of those living in towers, as most here do.

Yet even if one doesn’t have a view of the heavens from their apartment, that lack of grid-packing/zoning restrictions combined with Gantry/Hunters Point Parks gives everyone an opportunity to view the night sky just by walking around.

Thanks to the clarity here, several planets are frequently visible to the naked eye.  Most notably Venus periodically shines brightly in the West over Manhattan early in the evening.

Tonight’s celestial entertainment is the Supermoon, which according to the NYT is:

“The biggest and brightest full moon in nearly 70 years. (This particular supermoon experience is extra rare: It’s the closest full moon since 1948.)

Look for the moon when it floats above the horizon around 5:14pm.”

SuperMoon, SuperLIC.

//GET Involved Parts I & II – The Queens Library- Friends of Hunters Point is having a meeting this Tuesday, November 15 @ 7pm in the Irish Center.  Topic number one: update on Hunters Point Library.  Next the Court Square Civic Association holds it’s monthly meeting this Thursday at 7pm in the dome at MoMA PS1, and the topic du jour is: transportation!

//NON-Trump Rant – so, slipped in among the big national drama in the past week, Governor Cuomo cut a deal to renew the 421-a tax abatement program for developers.  Anyone who owns a condo in LIC1 is quite familiar with this term as it is the reason their monthly apartment maintenance is extremely low, due to the virtual elimination of real estate taxes for a decade (followed by a phased-in return over the ensuing 5 years.

This program expired in January for any new buildings that had yet to start the construction process.  The new deal the Governor struck calls for a 100% tax abatement for 35 years, in return for the developers using union labor at a rate of $60 an hour in Manhattan and $45 outside of it, and some slightly reduced income levels on affordable housing units.

What this means is that the city is quietly giving up an extra 20 years revenue way out in the future to developers and landlords, to guarantee the high pay of a very small group of workers (many of whom are most likely not residents of the five boros) and a few baubles.

Needless to say, the overwhelming majority of those not cut in on the benefits will have to make up that revenue gap.

Short term selectively good, long term very bad.  Seems like Cuomo has out-Trumped Trump when it comes to cutting poor deals and fooling the voters.

Behold, the Supermoon – “Miss it, and you’ll have to wait 18 years for another supermoon this close.”

Cuomo Strikes Deal to Revive 421-A – “Details of the new deal were hashed out by state officials; members of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the industry’s powerful lobbying arm; and union officials.”

The Inkan Draws Diverse Crowd – though this is a new offshoot of the Peruvian restaurant outside of LIC, gives history of our location too

HBO Doc Traces War Photog’s Horrific Story – Tony Vaccaro’s story is now running on HBO.  Or you can visit him at Manducati’s Rustica and get it first hand

Pink ‘Gumby’ Finally Welcomed Home in Queens – now live on Jackson Avenue

Bringing LIC’s Vibrant Art Scene Into the Open – more on Gallery Nights and LIC Arts Open Fall Ball Fundraiser

LIC Artists Talent on Display in ‘Matted’ Exhibit – on Vernon Boulevard thru November 30

1. as almost all condo buildings here have been constructed in the 21st century [↩]