Detoxing Superfund Creek; A Roving Queens Landmark; LIC gets iced
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.
First up in the latest LIC linkage: NY State Reps are calling for the EPA to declare the Newtown Creek a Superfund site so it qualifies for federal funds that could help accelerate the sluggish clean-up efforts. At the current rate, Superfund Creek should be all shiny and new by 2026.
Dutch Kills rezoning marches on with Land Use hearings held at Borough Hall.
CB2 still sorting out the bike lanes for LIC. Let’s just leave it at that.
Speaking of Borough Hall…the demolished Hackett Building at 10-63 Jackson Ave was the original seat of Queens when it first became established as an NYC Borough. Of course, that site now hosts a condo development in progress. See if you can figure out which one…
The Pepsi Sign is on the move. At least they haven’t got rid of that landmark.
Later on this morning LIC will indoctrinate the city’s first domed ice skating rink, located just east of Van Dam St near the fuzzy border with Sunnyside. Founded by an ice hockey enthusiast, the rink will offer free skating for community groups.
Lawmakers ask EPA to help with Newtown Creek clean-up [NY Times]
Dutch Kills rezoning plan reaches Land Use hearings [Queens Gazette]
Bike Lanes head agenda at CB2 meeting [Queens Gazette]
Good Skate scores new ice rink [Daily News]
LIC Pepsi sign moving next Monday, East Coast 4 on the way [Curbed]
History of Queens Borough Hall [Queens Gazette]
Bikes, bikes, bikes!
Miss Heather has a really interesting post about the stupidity of putting a bike lane in a bus lane.
There could be THREE TIMES more oil in Newtown Creek than the amount released by the Exxon Valdez. Yet, the latter is universally synonymous with environmental disaster, and not Newtown Creek. Here’s an issue Conley should focus on.
#3, he is too busy pandering to those trying to curb the number of bars and resturants to get involved with that.
Newtown Creek is not his Joe’s immediate district. And besides Eric Gioa is the one working that for the Public Advocacy position. Well I can tell you Joe was down here when we called him about the oil smell coming from TCR at the Rockrose sight or the OCA sight. (not that I agree with Joe at all, but he was here.) It was coming through the sewer into my basement. It did when they remeidated East Coast 2. Cathy Nolan made them put a tent on it. Joe and the Queens West guy Paul what’s his name, spent the entire day trying to make heads or tails of the situation. I also had someone from citi light send him the water report that was taken when all the oil smells started up again. You can’t smell Benzine, but oil is what is carrying the benzine which is cancer causing. The land should be capped….not dug up. That is what is disturbing the ground and releasing this stuff. TCR says none of this is at any harmful level. It took Cathy many months to get them to put a tent on it last time and cover the soil carted out in the trucks. You could see soil dust rising 200 feet into the air from the 59th street bridge and flying high throughout the neighborhood. Again last time TRC said it wasn’t harmful levels……and still they were forced to cover and remeidiate properly. And the word properly is still subjective to some toxic expert. Any scientist’s want to step in here?
I like that lets drill for oil here! Then the developers will make a lot of money without having to build skyscrapers!
That photo makes me wonder when the heck the city is going to fix that public pier. It’s been looking like this for a couple years now.
Also, anyone know if there is truth to the rumor that ownership of Water’s Edge changed hands? It would be nice to start fresh with someone new there.
Somewhat unrelated - recently i’ve seen a lot of people on jetskis/wave runners and was curious if anyone knew if these were rentable or if people were bringing there own? Also, is this legal? I’m not sure it would be the safest of ideas, seeing as I’m sure you can contract some STD or previously undiscovered disease from being in the water, but it sure would provide a nice view with the skyline and all…
You can’t get a STD from being in the East River. And they are bringing their own. And it’s legal.
One little note about the Gazette article “Bike Lanes head agenda at CB2 meeting”… they weren’t even on the agenda. I know because I called the day of the meeting and was told it wouldn’t be on the agenda. Nonetheless cyclist and girl scout troop leader Emilia Crotty attended and spoke, as it says, and took some questions from the community board. After the public portion, after which Emilia and our other supporters left, Al Volpe brought up the anti-Skillman bike lane resolution and it was voted on, but it wasn’t on the agenda let alone on the top of it. Otherwise that’s pretty much how it went down.