LIC 5Pointz detail as shot by NYS

Since there is a world outside of Long Island City (really?), here’s another local blog to throw on your radar: New York Shitty, a blog about Greenpoint, which if anyone hadn’t noticed is LIC’s southern neighbor.

The sidewalk does not end at Jackson Ave, it keeps going over the Pulaski Bridge, into a mixed residential and industrial Brooklyn neighborhood, much like our own, but not entirely.

Greenpoint is like LIC but with a more concentrated townhouse community embedded. It’s been a great neighbor in years passed… an abundance of retail, bars, restaurants and fantastic grocery stores »

It appears this morning, a man was touring the Avalon Riverview North luxury rental building at the LIC waterfront, and unexpectedly jumped off a balcony on the 25th floor of the building. As in suicide. There are a few stories circulating about the specifics, but it does appear that a man jumped to his death today from the 25th floor of Avalon North.

UPDATE 3/7/10 »

7-train, Queensboro Plaza, LIC

In a bizarre twist of news from the MTA, apparently you can thank the snowstorm for something:

[Via CB2] “This is to advise you that all service diversions scheduled to take place on the 7 line in support of track and tunnel work in the Long Island City area on the February 27-March 1, 2010 weekend has been CANCELLED due to the snowstorm affecting the New York Metropolitan Area. Work is scheduled to resume on the March 6-8 weekend »

LIC exhaust fans from above – Photo

LIC’s recent Town Hall stirred up everyone in attendance over the 7 train shutdowns, but that wasn’t the only MTA-related issue under fire. The noise of the exhaust fans parked on 50th Ave between 2nd & 5th St – which seem to be right up there with the LIRR drone on the list of extreme LIC annoyances – is back in the spotlight »

Parking on Borden Ave, LIC

Well, well, well. It seems the neighborhood activists over at One Hunters Point condos at the corner of Borden Ave & Vernon Blvd are very busy these days making noise about problems in their immediate environment. First, a successful letter writing campaign to the MTA to decrease the drone from the nearby LIRR train engines (more successful than our politicians with the shuttle bus) and now this »

Borden Ave Bridge going towards Hunters Point, Long Island City – Photo

Ye olde Borden Ave Bridge – literally, it was built in 1908 – is the small but hugely important bridge on the industrial Borden Ave ‘highway’. It’s the best and easiest way to get to the waterfront off the LIE. Hunters Point Ave (aka 49th Ave) is the current detour, running parallel to Borden. But it heavily bottlenecks at the Hunters Point Ave exit, because of all the diverted traffic from Borden. Check out this aerial view.

Necessary repairs on the bridge have been underway for months »

Former exterior of the Titanic House on 11th St, Hunters Point, LIC

Anyone traveling down 11th St in Hunters Point would have a hard time missing the Titanic House. Started by Joe Coletti to fill the absence of a proper monument to the tragedy in NYC, his house became nothing short of a neighborhood curiosity – popping up on the internet and in the news, and of course, often stopping the unsuspecting passerby in their tracks.

The Titanic House has been a fixture in LIC for years »

Abandoned construction site, LIC

Blogger Queens Crap posted this week about a rat-infested and dangerous construction site in Long Island City, at 45-64 Pearson St across from the storage place. A disrupted local resident wrote in to report:

“The DOH finally came and gave the stalled site on Pearson St a violation, but they did not bait the area – nor did the property owners clean anything up. Rats still patrol the street. If you look at the DOB site, the deadbeat developer didn’t even go to his 5 hearings. They are all in default for $17,000. [...] Now, the illegal fence has collapsed and the DOB has been notified. The illegal fence is obstructing the sidewalk and it is now partially in the street »

Sunset over the LIRR on Borden Ave, Long Island City

Today we received an email from a local tipster who informed us that a letter was sent to the LIRR by residents at One Hunters Point, who, as we all know, have been legitimately tormented by the endless train idling. Turns out they actually received an “encouraging response from the LIRR which articulates a full set of actions to address the complaint.” Check it out »

Court Square subway transfer construction progressing, LIC

We took another walk around Court Square, but this time all the way down Jackson Ave to Queens Plaza. Construction (and impending construction) prevails again, so we decided to check in on a couple of projects going on in the area, including MTA improvements, new developments, and, of course, Queens Plaza’s multi-million dollar facelift »

LIRR and Hunters Point cityscape circa ’06, Long Island City

LIRR trains have been idling for hours on end on LIC’s Borden Ave for years, yet it was only after continued complaints from new One Hunters Point condo residents that everyone really started paying attention »

1063 Jackson Condos, Long Island City

Well well well. Apparently fancy shmancy Long Island City condos have drug busts, too.

There’s a substantiated rumor floating around that there was a raid in the 1063 Jackson Ave condos this past weekend, but this ain’t some schoolboy prank. The massive bust supposedly unearthed a very large, but officially unknown amount of marijuana, and half a million bucks in cash.

Who said it wasn’t possible to keep a business going in this economy?

Remediation at 46th Ave and the East River/Anable Basin, Long Island City

Ahh yes – winter in LIC. Add ‘the sounds and smells of toxic cleanup’ to ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ and you’ve got the picture, as two active remediation projects are going on in Queenswest along the LIC waterfront »

Construction in Murray Playground, Long Island City

Chalk up Murray Playground as another slice of Long Island City getting ripped up and renovated. The park, which stretches between 21st and 11th Streets, 45th Road and 45th Ave, is getting a new look »

Sign for the forthcoming Burger Garage, Jackson Ave, Long Island City

While the waterfront tends to get all the attention in Long Island City, Court Square (aka Courthouse Square, after the uh… Courthouse) is a serious hub of activity in the hood. Also a sub-section of Hunters Point, Court Square has more development in the hopper than one can imagine… though for sure much is on hold, as it is everywhere. In the meantime though, it’s still constant change and upheaval on good ol’ Jackson Ave.

Some of the change has the potential to be yummy »

49th Ave & Vernon, Long Island City

An online petition was recently started to make several much-needed traffic changes to 49th Avenue.

It reads as follows:

“We, the undersigned, request that Queens’ Community Board #2 (CB2), related agencies and elected officials, advocate on behalf of the residents (families, seniors and individuals), businesses and visitors in CB2′s district to the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) for »

Middle of the road. Vernon Blvd, Hunters Point, LIC

Happy Independence Day Long Island City. Most businesses in Hunters Point seem to be staying open this weekend, so it’s not likely to be the predicted ghost town. However, the loss of the fireworks this year won’t make it the July 4th weekend what it usually is around here: packed to the gills and with every parking spot in Hunters Point eliminated by NYPD. Throngs and throngs of people at the waterfront and in every bar, restaurant, & cafe in Vernon/Jackson.

Anyway… the only store closings we know for sure are Matted LIC and Rustica, who are both closed Sat – Mon; Subdivision closed on Sat. Everything else pretty much open all weekend. In fact, Ethereal Boutique is having a blowout summer sale this weekend in honor of Independence Day. Friday, July 3th – Sunday, July 5th. 20 – 50% off on most items in the store. (Open until 5pm on Sat.) 47-38 Vernon Blvd, 718.482.8884

If you are sticking around this weekend and looking for things to do »

The new 6-acre expansion of Gantry Park, Long Island City –photo

The 6-acre waterfront Gantry Park extension opened this morning with a public ribbon cutting, hosted by the Parks Dept and local government. Not to mention Rockrose and Queenswest Corp who were also in the mix, and contributed greatly to the execution of the new park space. Just in time for a Long Island City Fourth of July without fireworks. And who cares? The park is amazing. For those sticking around, it should be a very peaceful weekend, and what better way to spend it than swinging on a hammock at the East River? »

Falcon on a stoop in Long Island City, photo courtesy of Orestes Gonzalez

Courtesy of a liQcity reader, we were notified of some falcon spottings in the nabe:

“It was a good week for falcons in LIC. Two fledgling Kestrels (one male, one female) showed up on stoops on 45 Ave., resting between learning-stages of flight, cautiously accepting raw hamburger and posing for photos by polite humans, as their parents swooped and screamed from overhead. As of Saturday, it seems they’ve found their wings as they haven’t returned. But they’re clearly welcome new local residents, as we hope they will prey on local vermin…”

For the local birdwatchers, here’s a close-up of the baby falcon: »

View from Prestige Condo deck, LIC

The LICBDC is teaming up with the Mayor’s Office to offer free, energy saving white roof painting to the owners of Hunters Point residential, commercial, and industrial buildings.

“Many scientists and government agencies have found that applying a white coating to building roofs keeps them cooler in summer.. »

The spring brought a bunch of new establishments to Vernon Blvd, after the winter retail glut. An amazing bounce-back, but don’t get too excited (or upset) yet. At Wednesday’s Community Board meeting, the board’s City Services and Public Safety Committee addressed what they are considering a ‘flood’ of new liquor license applications (six) for Vernon Blvd.

CB2 is officially holding off on responding to any of the current applications, until after the public hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for July 13th. Everyone in the Hunters Point community is encouraged to attend, and all can have a chance to speak if desired. Date to be confirmed, time and Vernon Blvd location to be announced.

On top of the flood of new liquor license applications for Vernon Blvd »

Pulaski Bridge improvement project almost complete, LIC

It’s not botox or a little nip-n-tuck. Jackson Ave in Long Island City is getting a full-fledged makeover. Let’s start at our personal favorite LIC deathtrap, aka the intersection of Jackson & 11th St/Pulaski Bridge. Thanks to the DOT, it’s not as much of life-threatening experience to cross the south side of Jackson Ave since the installation of a much needed crosswalk, which seems to be timed long enough to actually traverse the crossing.

On top of that »

5th Street, Hunters Point, LIC

Spring is finally officially here in Long Island City (nowhere else, just here), and the City (as in NYC) is giving the waterfront some more green to add to the ongoing expansion of Gantry Park. 5th Street is getting tree-d along the curbside from 46th Ave to 47th Ave.

And, in honor of that, the City (NYC again) placed temporary No Parking MF 7a-6p signs on a few curbs early this morning. And then shortly thereafter, a NY traffic cop showed up and issued violations to a handful of the now illegally parked cars. And shortly thereafter that »

Start with a brownfield, add two parts human labor and one part sod, and… Insta-Park! The expansion of Gantry Park into the East Coast compound (and around the astroturf ‘park’) has made some serious progress – just in time for Spring to finally show up »

The stairwell that collapsed on Friday at 5pointz, Long Island City

“Nicole Gagne, an artist trained at Parsons The New School for Design, was leaving the art studio in Long Island City about 5:15 p.m. when the staircase suddenly gave way. Passersby and emergency workers pulled the Vermont native from the rubble.

The artist is employed by Leoworks and her art is generally sold in boutiques. Gagne has donated a portion of her profits to benefit women in India and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The preliminary investigation revealed the collapse was caused by neglect and failure to maintain the building »