There’s Movement On The 50th Ave & Vernon Empty Lot

ANYONE who’s walked to the Vernon/Jackson subway station during work hours this week could not have missed the renewed construction on the empty lot on 50th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard. In addition to a new fence, there was briefly a freshly printed permit and rendering with an expected completion date of Fall 2025. Will this come to pass? Who knows?!? Why was it delayed all these years and suddenly sprung to life? Ahh, if these walls could talk, but I don’t think it had anything to do with political prodding. Will Hunters Point get a new Starbucks, other national chain, or a ‘homegrown’ purveyor? Yah Mon, I already told you I do not know. But progress…

//VERY sad news befell Long Island City this week, though most are probably unaware unless you live in the Citylights building. Michael Hayden, a former employee in the building’s gym for many years who continued personal training many residents there, was struck by a subway train last week and lost an arm and a leg. In addition to working at Citylights, he was a genial presence in both the building and LIC. He faces a long road to recovery, and in 21st Century America the people that you know are a large part of your social safety net. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help on this end and any support whatsoever is sure to be a boost both economically and psychologically to Michael. Please let him know that he’s an important part of the LIC community.

//WE don’t need a solstice to tell us that it is summer in LIC. Instead it’s the unfurling of the ‘Live at The Gantries’ banner on the waterfront that so declareth. This year’s musical line-up looks really, really good. Live music is better, and in this Swiftian world that we simply just inhabit, free music is even better. Sayeth the King of the Double-Entendre.

Support Michael Hayden’s Road to Recovery

Live at The Gantries – 2024 line-up