Oy. As if things weren’t bad enough. (They’re not actually.) The news broke yesterday (thanks Eater) -the Amish Market is delayed until at least May.

Where is our @&*%(#&%@# grocery store?? I understand that Hunters Point is making the jump straight to high-end, but we are also simple, humble humans who are willing to shop at a Gristedes or a Food Emporium. Or better yet, an unbranded mom & pop with a savvy buyer. That’s all we need. Some organic options. Decent produce. A butcher who’ll do the dirty work. A cookie aisle.

Is there anyone awake out there? Why are so many people missing this amazing business opportunity? There are industrial spaces available in Hunters Point that are perfect for a grocery store. I mean it’s not like I have to drink my coffee black every morning or anything…people have lived in this hood for decades without a grocery store. But it’s become a nice shtick to chronically lament about the lack of grocery store, so I’m sticking with it. Maybe if I got off my keister, I might open a grocery store myself. Aah, no. I’d lose my shtick and my keister would miss my office chair too much. I think I’ll go buy a condo in DoBro instead.

I’ve been reading the Streeteasy message boards about LIC. Interesting stuff. One thread was a throwdown between LIC and Downtown Brooklyn (newly dubbed as DoBro). DoBro won on the amenities, since LIC’s $/sqft for luxury condos seems to be in about the same range. YES. DoBro should win on the amenities, but is that all a neighborhood comes down to? LIC never was, will be, or wants to be Downtown Brooklyn. LIC’s an industrial neighborhood that’s been heavily rezoned and is beginning to introduce the largest influx of residents in its history. DoBro, while it was and is a major commercial district, was not primarily an industrial hub and has a totally different aesthetic. It also has the Fulton Mall.

Bottom-line. If you don’t like an industrial aesthetic, don’t move to LIC. Even though, as some message board posters stated, the look of the new condos conjures up visions of Hoboken or Houston (?), the existing and surrounding aesthetic is primarily INDUSTRIAL. These were factories, people. Big, gigantic, fuel dumping factories. (Is there residual toxic pollution? YES. But that’s for another post.)

LIC’s amenities are lacking if you consider the $/sqft on a lot of the new luxury condos. Most of the marketing seems to be aimed at the convenience of Manhattan commuting, which is wise since it’s LIC’s strong point as a marketable neighborhood for new development. But amenities will always show up if the people do. Look at any neighborhood where there was a major influx of residents into a primarily industrial neighborhood. SoHo. Tribeca. Are there amenities there? I’ll let you answer that for yourself.