
The Heart Line at Hunters Point Station, Long Island City

Hunters Point South as it is today, Long Island City. — photo credit
“The City Council approved the Hunters Point South project today, which will turn a 30-acre waterfront site in Long Island City, Queens into a neighborhood filled with affordable housing, by a vote of 45 to 0. Hunters Point South will be the largest affordable housing development in the city since Starrett City opened in 1974. The project will include »

Marathon runners make their way down Vernon Blvd this past weekend, LIC
Holy Linkage! Well, we’re playing a bit of catch up, and as usual lots of activity in Long Island City.
The Queensbridge Theatre Cafe is progressing in its development in the little village of Ravenswood, just north of the Queensboro Bridge. Gothamist interviewed one of the owners about the dying nightscene in the LES and the consequent decision to open a venue in LIC, which is currently scheduled to pop in February 09.

Painted building on Jackson Ave, next to Dutch Kills bar entrance, LIC
To kick off the linkage, there’s tons of press about the shooting that occurred this week on 21st St near 41st Ave in Long Island City.

Cakes and tarts at Manducatis Rustica, 46-35 Vernon Blvd, LIC (718) 937-1312
For the Long Island City residents who hunger for a local bakery, you might want to stop by Manducatis Rustica and check out the handmade desserts. Someone else has. Oh yeah, and don’t forget about the handmade gelato. There have been rumblings »

New Development Long Island City/Astoria, near Vernon Blvd
Some quick LIC linkage coming at you right now »

Parade for Santo Amato, Vernon/Jackson, Long Island City
Fallout from the financial crisis keeps raining down on NYC. Now it’s news that the credit crunch is not just impacting buyers, but developers who depend on bank financing to get their developments completed. Obviously this is relevant to Long Island City, where predictions of a major slowdown in development thanks to the root problem of the financial crisis, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, have been sounded out now for months. Though in a sense, where LIC is concerned, this is all relative information. There are still a ton of development projects going forward, as evidenced by the constant sound of hammering and drilling, aka the signature song of LIC.

View from the Gantry condos, Hunters Point, Long Island City
The Long Island City linkage this week is a bit slight in volume, but heavy in content. First up is everyone’s favorite affordable housing development plan, Hunters Point South, which won approval from the City Council’s Planning Commission last week along with Willets Point (another controversial Queens development plan). “The Council has about two months to act, and typically takes much of that time for negotiations with the administration.”
With US lawmakers in the throes of deciding how to solve our pesky little financial crisis, Queens is wondering »

Traffic Congestion on Vernon Blvd, Hunters Point, LIC
Those pesky noxious fumes in LIC strike again, this time near the toxic remediation of the Sunnyside Railyards by the MTA for the East Side Access Project. Twice this week, more than 100 people were evacuated from nearby buildings “after occupants complained of a toxic odor.”

LIC Greenmarket, Saturdays 8am-4pm, 48th Ave & Vernon Blvd, LIC
LIC linkage galore! First up is an audio/photo slideshow about the rising disappearance of light industrial real estate, and the impact it’s having on the city as well as the businesses themselves. LIC is one of the main neighborhoods profiled »

Deitch Studios, Hunters Point waterfront, Long Island City
LIC continues to manifest in commercial media, this time serving as the backdrop for a Rhapsody MP3 player commercial. Not to mention Ugly Betty, which is getting a lot of attention since Miz Lohan has been gracing us with her uh, presence. Though LIC, as we all know, has made many cameo appearances on screen including Munich, The Darjeeling Limited, Third Watch, Gossip Girl, and Grand Theft Auto.

Dark skies over Court Square? April 2008, Long Island City
Interesting article this morning about the downsides of working in Court Square which included: lack of basic stores like pharmacies, grocery, dry cleaning etc, for errands during the day; the challenging commute from Jersey; the industrial ‘ghetto’-like vibe; few options for lunch. Upsides were: commuting from Brooklyn via the G train, quiet & low-key. Some felt that LIC offers a nice relief from congestion, others felt that Queens is beneath them. On this blog, we’ve heard a lot from the LIC resident point of view, but not so much from the working population.

Hunters Point waterfront, Long Island City
liQcity went kayaking with the LIC Boathouse last night, and if anyone in LIC is looking for nature, you might as well be looking for your nose. It’s right there.

Ivy covered building on Vernon Blvd, Long Island City
It’s been a while since we’ve hooked up some LIC linkage… this morning we have a little petroleum smell with your coffee. Aah, but that’s old news. What’s new news is the pile driving that started somewhere around Vernon/Jackson yesterday morning. We’ve been getting reports that Arris Lofters are losing lots of sleep thanks to Rockrose’s pile driving on the infamous site of the Building That Should Have Been Landmarked. Well, there are lots of those sites in LIC, and Queens in general. But we digress.


