Real estate development in Long Island City still has some mojo.

The Solarium looks nice though.

I hope they do not tear down the old zipper factory. What a great old building. Solid as a rock.

On 46th Rd there is a potentially historic row of wooden houses. The realtor who bought one claimed to be doing an interior alteration and extension in back. Instead he totally demolished the building and has stuck a 4 story piece of modern stupidity in its place. Despite violation upon violation the City has looked the other way.

Thank you to those who have noted this total lack of aesthetics and good sense by the city and the owner on 46th Rd.
Yes, be sorry for the poor people who live next door, because it is daily outrage. And yes there is a Queensmark plaque from the Queens Historical society on one of the houses. It was awarded to all 3 shingled homes some years ago. And as far as leaving one wall standing-
Forget it they left nothing standing. It should be a total violation. The city will do anything to collect a few more bucks worth of taxes.

how far is this place from dutch kills? i need a drink!

#9–yes, back in the Nineteenth Century, even up until WWI, but then, it sort of fell down…and Architecture 101 shifted from the context of community to one of finance (read globalism). Have a Nice Day.

The upside of this economy is that people can’t afford to do this sh*t anymore. Thank goodness.

Historical? The crappy timber-framed and poorly-sided buildings on that 46th rd. block are nothing to write home about. Old, yes. Historical, no. Not everything old is worth saving. It blows my mind that someone posting about “aesthetic judgment” would argue that there’s any value to those old row homes that were the poorly-built-and-hastily-thrown-up-by-developers buildings of their time.

On top of that, this new building is one house down from Casa Vizcaya, so contextually-speaking it’s not really out of place, is it?

Oh please #17, you can’t be serious.

Like another poster pointed out, the ‘developers’ who built those row houses years ago were the ‘developers’ of our time. They threw those up in no time flat and didn’t want, or expect them, to last this long. It’s a miracle they have, but no one will miss them once they’re all gone.

You’re looking at the past through rose-colored glasses. Be in the here and now. live in the present moment.

Wow, you guys at the end here must not be actually looking at that thing on 46rd. I’m in one of the new buildings, so I haven’t been in LIC all that long, but I can I look out on that thing and it is beyone hidous and obtrusive. And it looks like they are even going up another floor. The workmen by the way, slack off all the time so I can only assume it is built like crap, aside from the aesthetics. I agree, the row houses have lasted for a long long time, not to mention they are charming. They are most certainly better built that this crap.

I’m not in a waterfront high rise so no irony there, but I have watched the construction on this and personally find it appalling. You’re entitled to your opinion.

Those vinyl-sided rowhouses are ugly. The nice brick ones with cornices are nice, but the old, plain, vinyl or otherwise houses are just dumpy. I’m glad whenever they are knocked down for a nice, new building – it improves the area.

I think many of these row houses were done quickly and economically for working class people back in the days. They are not an architectural marvel and people have grown accustomed to seeing them and perceive them as charming. They have also lasted because their owners have maintained them and not because it was built to last an eternity.

What I am trying to say is that what people call today ugly might be considered beautiful, charming or full of character in 100 years. This is because as humans we have trouble letting go of what is familiar. I do agree that some of the new buildings are hideous and no amount of time will make them look better but there are a few buildings of steel and glass that will cherished in 100 years from now.

#27 I think the Powerhouse is a large building that many people thought had charater, including myself, and that is in no way small or relates to the human scale. Lets bet $100 that I am right and your wrong. I just hope that liqcity.com, you and me are around in 2109 so that I could collect. :)

#29 you are hung up on the word “Charm” and that is not the only thing that makes a building significant. The Chrysler Building or the Empire State building are not considered “Charming” but they are architecturally significant to NYC. Many people argued that the Twin Towers were architecturally significant. I for one thought that they were bland and did not have any architectural character and I worked there during 9/11.

I also remember saying in my original post that not all buildings will be beloved and a good example would be the awful brick boxes with Fedder sleeves on Jackson Ave. I also referenced the Powerhouse before it was converted.

Kudos to the people who have managed to maintain and preserve those small cottage type homes. I have admired those houses ever since I first saw them 16 years ago when I migrated to LIC from Manhattan. I grew up in a small town in PA where we were able to build for the new century without destroying our past history. Those houses have as much right to remain as do the town houses and brownstones in the “Block Beautiful”. Those small houses aren’t by any stretch of the imagination an “architect’s dream house”, but they are a “core” part of the history of Hunters Point.

I think there are some who will simply never understand why preservation plays an important role. They view the continuity of community as a crappy concept. For them every square inch is ripe for the taking and they must have their monolithic boxes that squeezes as much rental income as possible. That is the goal above and beyond anything else.

There is no better example than 46th Road of how the Zoning has failed and how the DOB is asleep at the wheel. The idea that a hideous building like Vizcaya now becomes the standard for contextual development only makes sense to a moron. The neighborhood is looking more like cold war East Berlin every day.

whats the deal with the building between the solarium and 5SL. Who owns that and what is going on with it??? Anyone?