New Dev Casa Vizcaya causing damage to neighbor’s property? You don’t say.

I completely agree with you. There’s clearly a pell mell, careless aspect to the development in Hunter’s Point these days with no obvious coordinated planning of all these big projects at any level of government. I think the Community Board –someone — needs to get their finger out and get more actively involved to protect public safety and the quality of life for residents in the area.

I live near a building in construction and have definitely noticed more cracks in my apartment. The constant jackhammering and endless banging really takes a toll. On the humans too. The developers should ABSOLUTELY be banned from working on the weekends at all. That’s just inhumane. Especially to the people in THIS neighborhood who have to put up with so much of it all at once.

this is a problem of developer inexperience and the lack of safeguards NYC has against issuing permits to novices.

It’s true #6, the development is not inherently evil. but the general attitude of developers is to be concerned more about the bottom line than the community. so it requires everyone to get in there and make sure we keep the balance. the townhouses and the people living in them are just as important as the new condos changing the face of LIC.

Has anyone ever walked by this place? I was telling myself one day, “Why would a developer wanna build here with all these townhouses (if you can call them that) next to them. It looks so out of place.” I guess the developer figured it out and has had massive price drops in the recent weeks compared to other developments.

A few points. Diane implicated the administration for its inability to protect the existing neighborhood in the face of large scale development. We are not against development. The idea that market forces alone should dictate what gets built is not true. It’s not all about money. Quality of life means something and protecting ourself from physical harm and financial loss means something too. I don’t see anything in the Constitution Preamble that overtly promotes or protects corporate profit – especially at the expense of the small owner. To me it’s about a fair chance for us to survive and have our life and our home restored.

The statement that the developer is committed to doing the right thing has unfortunately not proven itself thus far to be true. We have been going through this for two years. We have been patient and cooperative and have even helped the developer establish local connections and relationships. We have maintained cordial relations with the developer and prior contractor. DOB initiated its action on its own several weeks ago and demanded paperwork that as of a week ago had not been provided. DOB threatened then to stop work in two days back then. We still maintained our patience and our naive belief that the developer would begin to do the right thing. But admittedly we are happy that DOB finally is forcing them to do something.

Despite what one of the partners now states in the News article, we have now been threatened with a law suit. We have been told that we caused the damage. We have been told that we started a war.

So I have to respectfully disagree with the comments of #10.

Last question. Are we the only ones willing to be non-anonymous here?

#12 I agree that having government involved can have ramifications. So why do we have it?

I’ve lived on 46th Rd for 17 years and lived in LIC for 20. It’s hard not to be upset with what is happening to my neighborhood. But after 4 years of living among construction it certainly doesn’t seem to be letting up. What infuriates me is the lack of caring to the history of the area. Old buildings are being torn down left and right. Buildings that housed middle class families, artists and the elderly. Are any of these replacement “luxury condos” being built with that faction of the community in mind? And then when upstanding folks who are homewners that care about LIC are basically dumped on by these developers then something just has to be done. I’ve walked by a beautifully restored home everyday of the year to watch the cracks on the facade get larger and larger. I know what kind of ground Casa Vazcaya is sitting on and its not exactly sound. Why was a building with a underground basement allowed to be built there? This is what causes damage to historical homes. The lack of caring and concern for a neighborhood it has invaded.
Janet

I really don’t like the tone of most of this entreprecapitalispeculativeloper doubletalk. Few contributors to this “conversation” seem to address the issue and some of these diatribes defending the developers’ rights to build where and how they like, just like our arrogant government’s occupation of Iraq, are floating and bloating with other stuff and seem to think Kenny and Diane should just accept this bullshit ‘cos it’s the way things go now. GOBBLEDEEGOOK ! What the heck are you talking about…developers are not ” incentivized” to respect adjacent properties, #16 ,and what corporate manual did you dig up that ridiculous jargon from?? Have you been hibernating under a rock, or have you got an ounce of intelligence or awareness of what’s been happening to America’s infrastructure in the last decade or more??? Did you hear the news of the Minneapolis bridge collapse, or were you floating in a pool at Club Med ??? Perhaps when a crane collapses on your assets you’ll wake up to the Unlimited Stupidity & Arrogance of this country’s sports mentality of winning at all costs and start thinking “outside the box” in which #11 is trapped with their “profit driven” philosophy. Having studied to be an architect and knowing many, I find it incredulous that Radusky exempts himself from anything to do with construction ( as quoted in the News) .That’s like a chef delivering the flame to the table.What nonsense!! Architects, along with the engineers, have been trusted with the supervision of the safe and reliable construction of their designs for thousands of years!!And how can a construction manager with one month’s experience of this job deny the impact of two years ‘building on a high water table on Kenny and Dianes’ home next door? Who are these people? They’re invaders…like this country, and until they are cut down to size, ( yes, requiring local government, one reason we have it ) then there will be more wall collapses, explosions, cracks and sinkings, just like we read and hear about most of the time.

#17 you are all over the place, and not necessarily disagreeing with the comments you are also attacking.

Not sure I understand #20.

Not sure I understand #23

who are you people? jeesus. this is a serious topic. wake up!

#27 makes perfect sense to me.

#28 makes no sense at all.

#30 – How would you describe LIC 15-20 years ago? And please refrain from using foul language.

#30-This is how I would describe it. Safe, affordable, and QUIET.
Janet

It was not a “dump”. It was a quiet little neighborhood much the way the “Old New York” was. We even had a grocery store! It is not safer. What about the stabbing on Vernon Blvd. last summer? And the horrible beating in the parking lot of Taxi Beach. There are neighborhoods in NYC that are quiet, in that they aren’t pummeled with the noise of construction all day long. I am not trying to live in the past, I would love for LIC to be the best area in NYC. For me it always has been. There just needs to be more restrictions to keep things from moving so fast.

Janet

I have been a friend of Diane’s since we were kids in High School. Both she and Kenny are two of the most reasonable, accommodating and intelligent people you’ll ever have the pleasure to meet. They care deeply about others and have always been active in their community. I know they have put a tremendous amount of backbreaking work and love into their home over the past 20 years.

I’m not familiar with your local government, but where I live – Meridian Township, Michigan – we have very strict zoning laws. We also have regular township meetings attended by citizens who speak out and their voices are heard. Expanding our Walmart to a Super Walmart was recently rejected following public outcry at a meeting.

There is a lot to complain about with regard to government; however, we need to remember that we are the people, we elect these officials, we can run for office, and our voices are heard when we join together and speak rationally (and loudly, if necessary).

And #16, with regard to being a good neighbor, the incentive is that you’ve done the right thing and can sleep at night with a clear conscience.

Finally, I agree with Kenny – what’s up with all you anonymous people?

Linda

No. 37, Linda, nice comments. What’s most distressing to me after reading many of the posts on liqcity is that “reasonable, accommodating, and intelligent” are increasingly rare qualities not held in especially high regard by many people in NYC these days. The city, and LIC in particular, is just not the same place anymore.

LIC is definitely not the same anymore. the virus has arrived. we lived so peacefully for so long. ok, so we were light on restaurants – do you have any idea how much awesome food and shit there is in every single neighboring hood? and other places easily accessible by that 7 train – it goes the other way too you know.

Does anyone here remember the wonderful, hard-working husband and wife team that had the muffin shop on Vernon down the block from DHL (which is no longer there as well) when the overpass was still there? They had a painting of the train overpass with a winged angel landing on the street hanging in the shop that was the perfect touch.

I used to live down the block in the 1980′s towards the river almost towards the corner (next to a one story artist loft which is not there now) and have fond memories of the neighborhood, my neighbors and the general sense of old New York history here, but I’ve been living in Astoria for the last 18 years and have not been connected here until recently we decided to bike ride to the old neighborhood and may I say, am very, very sad this has happened here on such an enormous, uncaring scale. I don’t really care to go into my true feelings since I am very upset this has happened and I don’t wish to upset anyone here since there seems to be enough of that but I was just wondering if they are still in business. They made the WORLD”S BEST MUFFINS and they opened early in the morning so people could have them warm for breakfast. The best was the orange muffins.

I will say though, to remove the overpass trestle over the old train tracks was a huge mistake. It seems the main defining landmark of the neighborhood was needlessly removed from it’s rightful place. It could have been preserved and the grassy park still could have been placed over the tracks as it has.

I’m very sorry this is happening to my old neighborhood (and to your new one).

Steve