Dogs welcome: dog run near Tennisport, Hunters Point, Long Island City

We recently received an email from a liQcity reader regarding the ban of dogs from Long Island City’s Gantry Park, and the “nascent effort to organize an LIC dog association, DOG LIC (Dog Owners Group, LIC).” Some highlights:

“It seems that dog owners in LIC (usually an easy-going pet doting bunch) are seething over NY State Parks & Recreation’s [decision to ban] dogs from the ‘old’ piers altogether. Of course dogs aren’t permitted in the shiny new showpiece multi-million dollar section of the park – which was built without any dog facility whatsoever – despite of course dog owners being a very significant percentage of the tax paying population and a large, sociable and visible part of LIC’s fast growing community. However we’re not asking for much! Just throw us a bone! A large/small segregated dog run and access to pathways. We’ll keep off the beautiful new lawns (though how about an old one?).

We’re all aware that NY State Parks & Recreation policy bans dogs altogether from all it’s park and dogs have been largely tolerated up until recently – well last Thursday (July 8th) to be precise when the diktat came down from 125th St. However it seems that this is a prelude to an impending outright ban of dogs from all sections of the Gantry State Park.

If there’s one thing that really set this all off, it’s the usual culprits »

The new 6-acre expansion of Gantry Park, Long Island City –photo

The 6-acre waterfront Gantry Park extension opened this morning with a public ribbon cutting, hosted by the Parks Dept and local government. Not to mention Rockrose and Queenswest Corp who were also in the mix, and contributed greatly to the execution of the new park space. Just in time for a Long Island City Fourth of July without fireworks. And who cares? The park is amazing. For those sticking around, it should be a very peaceful weekend, and what better way to spend it than swinging on a hammock at the East River? »

Chocolate Factory Theater’s 4th Annual Taste of LIC, Gantry Park, LIC

Yesterday’s dreary forecast of ongoing thunderstorms and pouring rain did not impact the big tent event at Gantry Plaza State Park for the Chocolate Factory Theater‘s 4th annual fundraiser and Long Island City celebration, the Taste of LIC, which was jam-packed with more than 800 patrons and attendees.

Most of Hunters Point restaurants, bars, and cafés were on hand »

Start with a brownfield, add two parts human labor and one part sod, and… Insta-Park! The expansion of Gantry Park into the East Coast compound (and around the astroturf ‘park’) has made some serious progress – just in time for Spring to finally show up »

Parade for Santo Amato, Vernon/Jackson, Long Island City

Fallout from the financial crisis keeps raining down on NYC. Now it’s news that the credit crunch is not just impacting buyers, but developers who depend on bank financing to get their developments completed. Obviously this is relevant to Long Island City, where predictions of a major slowdown in development thanks to the root problem of the financial crisis, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, have been sounded out now for months. Though in a sense, where LIC is concerned, this is all relative information. There are still a ton of development projects going forward, as evidenced by the constant sound of hammering and drilling, aka the signature song of LIC.

In other news »

ZIKRAYAT, a Long Island City based Arabic Music & Dance Ensemble

The ‘Live at the Gantries’ summer performance series brought to us by the QCA continues tonight at Gantry Park with an Arabic Music and Dance Ensemble, ZIKRAYAT »