From Crains:
Plans for a 20,000-square-foot library in Long Island City, Queens, along the East River, are moving ahead in a timely fashion, despite a possible lawsuit involving who should pay for the clean-up of the site.
The state’s Queens West Development Corp. said it plans to sue Honeywell International to pay for the $5 million to $10 million clean-up of toxic waste on the three-quarter acre plot at Center Boulevard between 48th Avenue and 47th Drive. The state claims that a Honeywell predecessor firm used the site to make and store roofing materials, and says it will sue because yearlong negotiations with the company have broken down »
Queens Plaza in the beginning stages of a complete makeover, Long Island City.
LIC links
Queens Plaza renovations a boon for bicyclists [Streetsblog]
LIC’s old school fireboxes crumbling [Newtown Pentacle]
LIC’s Dutch Kills’ residents gather to discuss future of their hood [Your Nabe]
More noise in LIC [Queenscrap]
Roundup of the QCA local artist grants [Queens Tribune]
Weekend Event Update
- Ten10 Studios is still hosting the opening party of its fifth exhibition of the summer, “Excerpts” by Daniel Acker, continuing though tonight (Saturday) from 6-10:10pm. The studio is open to the street, and right next to the Yoga Room at Vernon Blvd. liQcity rates 5 stars for great vibe. Check out photos from their space. 1010 47th Rd, LIC, 646.271.5353
Ten10 Studios host opening party tonight for ‘Excerpts’, Long Island City
Thursday 7/22
Ten10 Studios hosts the opening of its fifth exhibition of the summer, “Excerpts” by Daniel Acker, tonight from 6-10:10pm. The show will highlight Acker’s personal photographs made locally and abroad during the past decade. 1010 47th Rd, LIC, 646.271.5353
Court Square Wine & Spirits hosts FREE wine tasting events every Thursday & Friday of the week from 4:30-7:00pm. 2420 Jackson Ave, LIC, 718.707.9911
Welcome to the Local Project, Gallery & Studio in 5pointz building, LIC
Long Island City has for a long time now been known for hosting NYC’s largest artist colony outside of Manhattan (where is it now, Chelsea?). We haven’t heard much about LIC’s artist community in a while, since the Crane Street Studios closed due to a tragic accident, and a beloved local artist was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, but finally it’s some good news! The government would like to give you guys some money to make art in LIC. Ok local artists, pay attention »
Long Island City’s Gantry Park part of ‘Play Me I’m Yours NYC’ exhibit. –photo
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Profile of the latest exhibit at Sculpture Center [Art Info]
CSA options for Long Island City [LICNYC]
The story of LIC’s Fresh Direct [MinyAnville]
LIC’s M.Wells Diner now serving lunch [Foodista]
Humans and dogs co-existing in NYC [Queens Chronicle]
LIC’s cupcake factories fare well with NYC sweet touths [NBC NY]
Spotlight on LIC charity ‘Hour Children’ [Latinalista]
Girl power in LIC [NY Daily]
Luckily, there are many pest management headquarters in LIC [Gothamist]
Long Island City Community Boathouse 2010, Anable Basin, LIC waterfront
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Queens Drinks & LIC Community Boathouse waterfront party tonight [LICCB]
LIC’s Brooklyn Grange Farm joins forces with Astoria’s Vesta [Foodista]
Gossip girl cast strolling around LIC [Celebrity Gossip]
MIA fights the power at PS1 MoMA [Art Info]
LIC’s Flux Factory offers ‘adventure as performance art’ [Ode Magazine]
Queens through the ages [New Yorker]
Richard Meier’s museum in LIC [Wallpaper]
Checking out LIC’s Cuban grill joint Madera [Queens Courier]
Stuff happening in LIC’s Queensbridge Park [Local 718]
Lots of love for LIC’s new M. Wells Diner [Village Voice]
LIC expanding its coverage as a local commuter hub [Queens Gazette]
Truth in the race to represent Western Queens & UES [Queens Gazette]
VIDEO: Exploring LIC’s Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm [Village Voice]
The Quiet City: exploring NYC’s industrial underbelly [Urban Omnibus]
Real estate sales in Queens see a huge jump in volume [Real Deal]
Hunters Point Greenmarket, Long Island City –photo:Jesse Winter
Wednesday 7/14
The LIC Greenmarket happens every Wednesday now, starting July 7, from 8am-7pm (!). 48th Ave & Vernon Blvd, Hunters Point, LIC
Socrates Sculpture Park’s Outdoor International Film Series 2010 runs Wednesday evenings in July & August. Pre-screening performances begin at 7pm, films begin at sunset. Food provided by local international restaurants. Free admission. 32-01 Vernon Blvd, LIC
Breakfast at the M. Wells Diner. Long Island City — photo:Jesse Winter
Ok Long Island City, you’re going to love this place. There’s been many a request by liQcity commenters for more independently operated specialty restaurants, hold the fusion please. Well, it’s fusion, but not anything anyone in LIC could have even known to ask for. Quebecois food is here! How do you say woohoo! in French-Canadian? »
Long Island City’s classic architectural mish-mosh.
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LIC waterfront proposal by Green Shores [Queens Gazette]
Queens Plaza improvements outlined at LICBID annual meeting [Queens Gazette]
Live storytelling in LIC [Queens Courier]
Apples, Bannas & Pears, Oh My…??? Hilariousness in LIC. [Find Jobs in NY]
JetBlue keeping LIC cool [Your Nabe]
The City won’t fix LIC’s broken seawall [Your Nabe]
LIC Solar Energy company greening NYC [CE Center]
LIC residents protest 9-story hotel [The Real Deal]
Kids Day at Noguchi Museum in LIC [A Child Grows]
Review of Socrates Sculpture Park’s outdoor movie night (Wed through Aug) [Capital NY]
Brooklyn Grange redefines local farming in LIC [Well&Good NYC]
Love for Sage General Store in LIC [Coffee Beaners]
LIC’s Con Ed taking unfair heat [Crains NY]
Updated menu for LIC’s Breadbox Cafe [Taste as You Go]
Checking out LIC’s Communitea [Coffee Beaners]
Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, Long Island City –photo:Jesse Winter
Standard Motors has a farm, EE-I-EE-I-O… Long Island City celebrated the success of its first rooftop farm this week, with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by local press & politicians. The farmers, Brooklyn Grange, jumped through many hoops to sow their rooftop farm and are starting to see the fruits of their labor. Luckily, so are we.
The one-acre farm on the roof of the Standard Motors building on Northern Blvd is impressive to say the least. Growing speciality vegetables, the farm is already selling to prominent restaurants in the city, as well as their own market in the SM lobby, and can barely keep up with their abundant bounty. So far they’re growing: kale, spinach, rainbow swiss chard, basil, thai basil, mint, cilantro, mustard mix, green salad mix, mizuna, merlot lettuce heads, crispino lettuce heads, bok choy, komatsuna, Italian dandelion and coming soon, cucumbers and puntarelle.
Hang in there Big Allis. Ravenswood, Long Island City
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LIC’s Con Ed bracing for power demands during heat wave [NYT]
Lots of love for M.Wells diner, opened yesterday (bfast only) [ChrisAbraham]
Harnessing the power of rye in LIC [Village Voice]
A slice of LIC’s industrial side [Newtown Pentacle]
Plays happening at Cranky’s Cafe [Unity Stage]
Discovering LIC’s Gantry Park [MNYCP]
PS1 WarmUp 2010 coverage [Metromix]
PS1 MoMA Summer WarmUp 2010, Long Island City — photo: Jesse Winter
It was a HOT Independence Day weekend, probably one of the hottest in a while. And Long Island City, with its mostly low-to-the-ground industrial landscape really just bakes in the inferno. (El infierno is more like it.) Well our favorite, world-reknowned contemporary art museum PS1 MoMA gave us a brief respite from the heat, with an adult version of a sprinkler set in this weekend’s kick-off to the very popular summer WarmUp music festival, featuring the latest courtyard installation ‘Pole Dance‘. liQcity’s newest roving photographer and blogger Jesse Winter was there to capture the vibe, some great photos, and a video »
Socrates Sculpture Park’s Outdoor International Film festival, Long Island City
Tuesday 7/6
- Live at the Gantries, LIC’s only outdoor summer music festival sponsored by the QCA, continues on Tuesday, July 6th with Jia-Yi He, “A world-class harmonica virtuoso”. 7pm at the Gantry State Park, LIC waterfront. 50th Ave & the East River
Wednesday 7/7
The LIC Greenmarket happens every Wednesday now, starting July 7, from 8am-7pm (!). 48th Ave & Vernon Blvd, Hunters Point, LIC
Socrates Sculpture Park’s Outdoor International Film Series 2010 begins Wed, July 7th. The 12th Annual Festival of International Film, Music, Dance and Food Celebrating the Cultural Diversity of Queens runs Wednesday evenings in July & August. Pre-screening performances begin at 7pm, films begin at sunset. Food provided by local international restaurants. Free admission. 32-01 Vernon Blvd, LIC
The Laughing Budda is tripping out! 5pointz detail, Long Island City -photo
Actually, we’re tripping out a bit also, at how much LIC news there is this morning. You might want a cup of coffee on hand… this could take a while.
PHOTOS: Miss Heather prowls around 5pointz [NY Sh*tty]
LIC High School targeted for a make-over [Your Nabe]
LIC’s Irish Center involved in 50-year Irish Jubilee celebration [Irish Central]
LIC/Astoria bid adieu to the W train [Your Nabe]
Queens irate over MTA service cuts [Your Nabe]
Little Closets has a slew of LIC kids’ shirts in stock [LC blog]
Holy Sh*t! The Queensbridge Park seawall falling apart [Queens Chronicle]
LIC’s ERDA helping local residents with job searches [Your Nabe]
Hunters Point South photos and philosophical musings [Newtown Pentacle]
LIC’s ‘Tower Town’: more photos and musings [Newtown Pentacle]
NYC celebrity real estate gossip including LIC’s Arris Lofts [NY Post]
Say Cheese in LIC: Cheesemongers gather and eat… cheese [Queens Chronicle]
Killer Little Paintings exhibit in an unnamed LIC gallery [NY Arts Mag]
Roads in NYC must not get paved often, because it’s serious news [Your Nabe]
A synagogue turf dispute in LIC? [Queens Chronicle]
Murderer commits suicide on LIC subway tracks [Your Nabe]
Outdoor international film festival kicks off next week in LIC [Your Nabe]
Happy Independence Day LIC! Since there’s no fireworks this year, chances are some local restaurants will be closed this weekend (everyone needs a break) so if you’re sticking around, be aware of that. We’ll be back to blogging on Tues morning. Cheerio.
Filming is hard work. Vernon Blvd & 47th Rd, Long Island City. –Jesse Winter
If you’ve ever driven, biked, skateboarded, or walked down Vernon Blvd in LIC, chances are you’ve run into a few potholes… well no more! At least not on the blocks between 47th & 48th Aves. Hallejulah and praise a non-denominational deity: Vernon Blvd has been REPAVED.
Apparently we’re not the only ones excited, because NY1 has created a rather lengthy editorial video documenting the entire process, complete with community and politico commentary. Not to mention highly detailed information about how many tons of asphalt used and the number of DOT workers etc… seems they really want to be clear that they’re working hard for Long Island City.
New ball-field at Murray Park, 11th St & 45th Rd/Ave, Long Island City
With all the hoopla surrounding the opening of LIC’s new fancy waterfront playground, we forgot all about the City’s renovation of Murray Park, which we noticed a long time ago. It’s a city project, so for a long time there wasn’t really any work going on, and consequently we stopped paying attention.
Lo and behold, imagine our surprise when walking by and seeing a giant patch of shiny green in the LIC upland landscape, in the form of a new ball-field. There’s not that much green around in Long Island City save for the Gantry, so it really catches your attention. Attached to the ‘field’, is a less-fancy playground than our skylined, waterfront version, but indeed nothing to scoff at »
Summertime at Long Island City’s Gantry State Park.
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A peek at the amazing looking M. Wells Diner (Quebeco-American) opening next week in LIC [NYT]
LIC’s Firehouse #116 is officially OFF the chopping block [Queens Gazette]
Some unfortunate public illiteracy in LIC [Queenscrap]
LIC jazz drummer merges music with activism [Your Nabe]
Latest photos of Newtown Creek & LIC [Newtown Pentacle]
LIC rock wall gets $200K federal grant [Your Nabe]
Leaders disagree where to store LIC millstones [Your Nabe]
Father program begins in LIC [Your Nabe]
Photos and highlights from last weekend’s cheese event in LIC [Eater]
The scaffolding around LIC Citylights building is finally coming down. Woah.
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LIC High School on City’s list of lowest acheivement [Cityroom NYT]
LIC’s Film Biz Recycling now open on Sundays [Film Biz]
Cheese, Glorious Cheese in LIC [Daily News]
LIC’s Gantry Park the backdrop for all sorts of stuff [Actors Connect]
Love for an old school firebox on LIC’s Vernon Blvd [Newtown Pentacle]
LIC’s Con Ed’s green roof leading a business trend [Earth Portal]
‘Greater New York’ exhibit at PS1 MoMA [ArtObject]
Coverage of PS1’s latest summer courtyard installation ‘Pole Dance’ [WSJ]
PS1 MoMa WarmUp 2010 Schedule and DJ line-up announced [Brooklyn Vegan]
The new subway routes impacting Long Island City, courtesy of MTA
It’s alphabet soup for us this morning, as our favorite transportation authority (yes, that’s you MTA) has cut and pasted a few letter trains, effective yesterday. The V train is out, replaced by the M train (though not entirely) and the G train now ends at the ‘new Court Square terminal’ in LIC. Which is not finished yet? Oh, and the W train’s gone too, though that doesn’t really effect LIC too much, save for a few local stops in LIC/Astoria. Which the N still covers…
The V train turning into the M train however, does have an impact »
Artist Goowon Kang exhibits at the Space Womb this week in Long Island City
Monday 6/28
- Slow Food NYC is hosting ‘The Queens Slur‘ at Dutch Kills Bar from 7-9pm. “Dutch Kills will have a drink special for all Slur attendees. As an extra treat, we will also have hors d’œuvre celebrating all things bacon (Baby B.L.T.’s and Bacon & Gruyere Tarts… Yum!) provided by Sage General Store, the near-by restaurant and catering company that works with local farmers and suppliers.” 27-24 Jackson Ave, LIC
Tuesday 6/29
- Live at the Gantries, LIC’s only outdoor summer music festival sponsored by the QCA, continues on Tuesday, June 29th with Pass Kontrol, “A Fierce Set of Sweaty, Summer, New York City Rock n’ Roll”. 7pm at the Gantry State Park, LIC waterfront. 50th Ave & the East River
All Long Island City gets this 4th of July is the bright lights of TV production.
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No July 4th fireworks for LIC again this year [Queens Gazette]
Review of LIC’s Secret Theatre’s ‘Ortonesque’ [Queens Courier]
LIC Pearson St. construction site is still a dump [Queenscrap]
LIC ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ piano exhibit coverage [Queens Gazette]
City sanitation desperately seeking garage space in LIC [Queens Gazette]
The stragglers of the LIC condo market starting sales [Curbed]
LIC senior center closing on June 30th [Queens Courier]
No. 7 train ranked third cleanest by Straphangers [Your Nabe]
This weekend, Long Island City’s Ethereal Boutique is holding the second installation of their open air market, ‘Fashion Al Fresco’, featuring independent designers selling handmade fashion in Ethereal’s lovely backyard patio. Selling one-of-a-kind pieces will include »
New Bistro for Long Island City? 49th Ave & Vernon Blvd
NEW New LIC Local Biz
RUMOR: Buzzing about the Arris Lofts is the rumor of a full-service gym coming to the gigantic ground floor retail space. No pool folks, but an open community gym should still hit the spot. 27-28 Thomson Ave, LIC
A funky sandwich/panini deli is opening up on Vernon Blvd @ 44th Drive, in the former site of the slated cigar lounge (Halo) which never came to fruition, and across the street from the Board of Ed building.. We say funky, because it’s got a stylie interior for a deli. Though it’s more than just a deli, there’s supposedly bubble tea as well. Should pop sometime in the late summer, early fall. The name and interior photos are currently under wraps, pun intended.
RUMOR: Looks like the folks behind Café Henri are hooking up a new spot on 49th Ave. There’s been a new, bright yellow awning marked ‘BISTRO’ outside their extra-kitchen space on 49th Ave for while now, right at Vernon. Near where the fruit guy stands, who’s back btw!
The Blue Sky Diner on the corner of 49th Ave and 21st St is also transforming into a new place, called M. Wells Diner, which will be featuring Quebeco-American cuisine, and is slated to open at some point this summer. It’s a new fusion combination for LIC, at least.
Long Island City Tuesday morning linkage
“Ze plane, Ze plane!” Dutch Kills, Long Island City
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Photos of LIC’s pianos at Gantry Park in ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ exhibit [Curbed]
Durst daughter assumes control of NY Water Taxi, including LIC [Crains]
Crapping on the latest article about LIC [Queenscrap]
Maloney being challenged by Reshma Saujani to rep western Queens [Politics Daily]
Arris Loft’s architect Kondylis facing civil fraud [Real Deal]
City to provide grants for brownfield clean-ups. Um, hello LIC. [RealDeal]
NYC library activists hold a ‘read-in’ in Brooklyn [Guardian]
Powerhouse Art Salon this Thursday afternoon [Facebook Event]
Manducatis Rustica’s Godfather Dinner back on tonight [Facebook Event]
Tickle those ivories, Long Island City. ‘Play Me, I’m Yours’ NYC 2010. –photo
Well it’s not good news about LIC’s senior center, nor is it any word on potential closing of local firehouses, but Mayor Bloomberg has dropped an outdoor interactive art exhibit on us instead. Fair enough.
“Play Me, I’m Yours, by British artist Luke Jerram who has been touring the project globally since 2008, involves leaving pianos all over NYC public spaces so people can just sit down and play them. Long Island City’s Gantry Park is the site of one of the pianos, and also the site of the obligatory press conference held for our politicians to ceremoniously commence the event, which starts today and coincides with performances from Make Music New York, which will only be held today »
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