Getting in the spirit
The Star Chamber of Long Island City has passed down through their disciples that the LIC Halloween Parade on Vernon Boulevard will occur on Sunday, October 28 this year. You know the drill: kids wear costumes and get candy from the local merchants. In addition, Continue reading
Mister Softee – the final vestige of summer
What’s up in LIC? School, Continue reading
The sacred Carnival grounds
RIDES, games, food and entertainment, the tradition continues as the 10th Annual PS78Q Spring Fair comes to Center Boulevard this Saturday from 11am – 3pm. No need to schlep your 6-year old 100-200 miles to Great Adventure or Hershey Park, all these things are brought to you, plus you get to support a good cause: your kid’s welfare (via the PS78Q PTA). We’ll throw in the carnies for free. Continue reading
The new hangout after dropping the kids off
When a problem comes along
You must whip it
Before the cream sits out too long
You must whip it
When something’s going wrong
You must whip it
DON’T let anyone tell you that incubation is bad/dirty/will make your child go blind. It’s not and is perfectly natural and normal. Now that we have that out of the way, we are happy to report that next year every child in LIC will be able to incubate in LIC. That’s because after much brainstorming and jawboning by an ardent group of local advocates, the DOE has decided to convert the large Pre-K center at 27-35 Jackson Avenue in Court Square into a new K-2 location called 30Q384 to incubate the brand new elementary school coming to 54th Avenue in Hunters Point. Therefore the lucky parents of the class of 2032 will have two local options as to where to send their kids for elementary school as opposed to all previous classes who were relegated to a sole choice.. That’s a 100% increase, and as every teacher knows 100 is perfect. In addition, it now gives parents in Court Square (of which there will soon be many more – see below) a much closer option than PS78Q. Finally, we hear that the trailer pre-school on 49th Avenue, which was slated for closure, will now remain open.
//RENT War Breaks Out in LIC – that should have been the title of a story below in the WSJ, as it relates to how Continue reading
The battle for increased school capacity has been waged by parents for several years now, many of whom won’t be the beneficiaries of the new schools. Though most ultimately were unscathed by the controversy, inasmuch as their child eventually received a seat in PS78, the uncertainty was unsettling, and may have motivated others to move out or not move to LIC in the first place. Also, in the question-mark that is truncation, it was a factor in prompting some recent middle school parents to opt for the new middle school instead of sticking it out at 78.
In viewing the current situation, I can’t help but think that for every action there is at first a delayed response, and then inevitably an overreaction. Since it’s been primarily parents along the waterfront who have been demanding schools now, that is where the schools have been going. Yet any chess player can see that the next big need is closer to Court Square. The powers that be completely screwed up in not insisting a school be placed in the base of 5Pointz. In addition to being extremely well-situated to accommodate children from all parts of LIC, it would have been available in time for the school year beginning in 2018. Instead the community received baubles in return for granting the developers a zoning variance allowing them to build an additional 28 stories.
The words above were written here in LICtalk almost two years ago. They are especially prescient given the specifics surrounding the current battle for seating capacity/location in local elementary schools. Continue reading
No toll, but where are we heading?
It’s deja vu all over again when it comes to schools in Hunters Point. Over half-a-decade ago, which in LIC-years is two generations, LICtalk wrote about similar capacity crises, and then again in 2015 (aka one-generation past). The calculations back then turned out to be not as drastic, partly because the powers-that-be instituted some fairly obvious solutions – but not before riling up the parent base. It all (sorta) worked out in the end, and will probably do likewise this time – but not before riling up the next generation of parents. Nevertheless when the furor dies down, maybe we should take some advice from the latter article and funnel the energy into what’s next and not-too-far-away: high school. A very wise local mother has wondered why NYC hasn’t expanded capacity of it’s elite-8 (Stuyvesant/Bronx Sci etc.) despite tremendous growth in the student population over the years? Furthermore, having noticed LIC’s growth and desire-to-be-on-the-cutting-edge, or the cusp of it anyway, she asks might there be a chance to locate one here? Technion High anyone?
//DON’T be fooled, were congestion pricing to be enacted you very well could pay to cross the Queensboro Bridge were you to use it both there and back no matter which direction you head upon arriving in Manhattan. That is because Continue reading
Halloween finale – no work and all play …and lots of candy
So let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself
NOW we shift from the festivity of Halloween to the drama and solemnity of Election Day. Of course there isn’t really any drama as by and large the relevant races are a foregone conclusion. Out of the spotlight but of possibly greater consequence is the once-in-every-twenty-years vote over whether to hold a Constitutional Convention in New York State, on which I have no opinion. Yet if one were to allow their imaginations and machinations to run wild…
Actually there is a vote on an item, or line-item as it were, that will have ahem …dire? consequences for a select segment of the Long Island City population Continue reading
Poke is out, haircuts at Ledo are in
WE have heard from a pretty good source that Top Chef Season 7 runner-up Ed Cotton will be opening a restaurant in the former Masso space on Vernon Boulevard. Cotton has worked under numerous famous chefs such as Daniel Boulud, Laurent Tourondel, and David Burke. More importantly, Continue reading
TF Cornerstone, the developer of Hunters Point South Phase 2, is now going to include a 600-seat elementary school in their project. According to Continue reading
Eggstravaganza 2015
Christmas isn’t all about gifts, and Easter isn’t all about eggs. There’s chocolate bunnies too, and those cute yellow chick marshmallows that taste like styrofoam and take centuries to decompose – Little Peeps! As for Good Friday, it wasn’t really a very ‘good’ day for the main participant involved. Yet in aggregate, both holidays, or holy days actually, add up to a three-day weekend. For those not taking the G-5 down to Bermuda, these two holidays bookend a huge event on the Spring social calendar here in Long Island City: the annual Trinity Grace Church Easter Egg Hunt in Gantry Park.
This is the seventh year of the hunt, and though we have written previously about the juvenile frenzy – in adults – that the hunt evinces, I’m going to bring you up to date on the latest scientific data: Continue reading