A new Jackson Avenue for Long Island City – Beautification starts in May 2008

Landscaped median, not “medium.”

that court sq is the sweet spot in lic, surrounded by all means of trasport, yet tranquil and beautiful. i like what i see, but with all things government, i’ll believe it when i see it.

#2 it means that more condos are coming.

yeah. this doesn’t look so appealing.

This looks pretty to me! And safe. I guess that’s a girls perspective.

how far down jackson is this supposed to extend – does anyone know?

Haters, (you know who you are) You must be kidding me! You realize that there is piles of trash currently scattered all the way down Jackson Avenue… it is a complete unmaintained disaster right now, and it has so much potential to be the cultural center of this thriving neighborhood. I usually get a kick out of you, bashing anything that threatens to “Yuppify” your way of life, but this is too much. I literally got caught in a storm of trash blowing in the wind the other day standing on the corner of Jackson and 46th… Hey, maybe you like that kind of thing, maybe the jokes about you hippies not showering are true… Adding a streetscape to the area will be great for all of us.

As a Court Square resident who plans to stay here for the duration, I’m quite happy to see this finally happening. I’d love to see the median become a gallery for the display of street sculpture (mind you, not the kind displayed in the artist’s rendering, which looks inspired by mid-80′s corporatist, brushed steel movement).

I’m wondering what the proposed configuration is. Does this mean that the sidewalks become smaller or that we lose in street parking or that the number of lanes are reduced. Unless the planned median is only 1 foot wide, the space has got to come from somewhere. Where are further detailed plans available? Anyone?

The more trees they can plant, the happier I will be. I don’t care about sculptures, put your money into trees and grass.

this looks like a huge improvement. since moving to court sq a few months ago, one thing i noticed was the abundance of litter, it needs to be cleaned up. i’ve contacted eric giova (sp?) about this, things have improved then you get these am ny and metro news people leaving papers unsecured and the winds blows them verywhere. since i’ve yelled at them recently, they seem to be more considerate. i’m very happy for these plans. the future for all lic is bright.

It looks great. I just wonder if it will actually be done in my life time.

As fast as development is happening is also as slow as the municipality is in LIC. I will be shocked if they make headway this summer.

to #13……Wahhhhh! Noise and construction! Wah!!!! You people are amazing! This strip is an eyesore and here is a plan to truly beautify it which will bring better retail, which will encourage more people to want to live in LIC which will increase property values! You’d rather it stay as it is??

If you want peace and quiet get out of the city!

Increasing property values only helps the landlords… the rest of us it helps push out.

This is a heinous rendering. I don’t want a Jackson Ave mall, I don’t want “better” retail, and I want to stop encouraging people to move here. I am rapidly being priced out of my neighborhood, and I’m annoyed.

Additionally, I think everyone wants the neighborhood to be clean, wants services, etc., but don’t we want this neighborhood to retain some of its character? This picture reminds me of New Roc City in New Rochelle. Yuck.

Ooops!
In the earlier post that’s: “…certain the garbage on Jackson Avenue wasn’t put there…” not “was put there.” My error.
-R

#29. You speak only for you very bitter self. I wasn’t aware that LIC belongs to you. I have been living in this neighborhood since the times when they were selling crack under the 7th train stop on 45th road and hookers worked the 44th drive all day. I certainly welcome the change. Jackson certainly meant to be a large comercial street and I find this rendering pretty cool.

I am very happy to see new condos, restaurants, child care, shops and other amenities. I’d like to see more not less. I am sorry that you are priced out from LIC but I fail to see why we should stop neighborhood’s progress just because you won’t be able to afford living here. Like #32 said if you want to stay here – get a better job!

Now, what character should we be retainging. Crack houses? Polluting factories? Or, pehaps wise guys’s social clubs? Should we also retain bars near Queens plaza where people were shot every other day or shit that is still floating in East river? Give me a break!

You sound like the guys who protest Blend getting a liquor license! Pathetic!

#34 – Honestly, tell me your not a liberal/progressive–maybe you list even a tad more to the port than that . The line “evolve to meet the needs of all residents?” could have come out of the Stalinist playbook, afterall. Look, what you perceive as a helter-skelter planning process, or worse yet, no planning process at all is anything but. The changes you’re seeing in LIC have been in the “planning process”–to the extent that large-scale projects can be planned and processed in a democratic, free-market environment–since the early 1970s. (You could look it up: See New York magazine’s cover story about LIC, “Urban Paradise Lost”, circa 1980.) And that, by the way, is the same process that resulted in Battery Park City, the “new” Times Square and the WTC. (By the way, the LIC planning problem is larger and much more complex than any of those projects. The Hunter’s Point South development alone is a third the size of Battery Park City.

What’s more, I notice you didn’t respond to my gibe at LIC residents who complain about garbage and litter but won’t get off their keesters to clean it up. Hmmm, a convenient and self-serving oversight, no doubt.

And finally, as for your final graf about the last eight years, will you please get it out of your head that George Bush is to blame for every thing you perceive to be wrong with the world. Enough already.
-Formerly #30

More Trees in LIC Please.

I remember seeing ridiculous drawings like this when the first Citicorp building went up in the 80′s.

Maybe in another 30 years, hey?

Yeah, RIGHT!