Tuesday, July 17, 2007

AMNY visits Queens McMansion

When John Hsu broke ground on his dream home in his suburban Queens neighborhood last December, he didn't anticipate the backlash that has since come from neighbors.

'McMansions' pit neighbors vs. dream homes

Long-time residents of the historic Broadway-Flushing neighborhood have accused Hsu of building twice the size allowed by zoning, and suspect he may intend to break a law banning multifamily housing.


Update, 7/19/07, Queens Chronicle:

Community Unhappy With New Construction

Photo from AMNY

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

A man's home may indeed be his castle but......
this one looks likes it will contain a dungeon, underground command bunker and perhaps sub level parking for a Bradley military vehichle !

Does Mr. Hsu (who, we believe, is in the construction business) have an "in" with the (long time corrupt) DOB, for them to approve this Mc Monster ?

And how quickly (and typically) Mr. Hsu pulls the "race card" from the deck and accuses neighbors of anti Asian prejudice to create a smokescreen in a feeble attempt to over up what might be a questionable zoning violation on his part with regard to FAR (floor area ratio) compliance of this emerging eye sore !

Neighbors' protesting this ugly low class looking structure has absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Hsu's unwaranted and inflamatory racist allegations !

This is, and has always been, a community that welcomes ethnic variety and has a long standing reputation of racial harmony !

This is strictly an issue of an out of context "home" being built and, perhaps, attemped zone busting which applies to anyone trying to circumvent the existing NYC building codes!

Anonymous said...

If this is the same "Hsu", the guy is a Wellington wanna-be! Look what he’s done for the neighborhood:
The Parsons Condominium

And in Manhattan:
Veracity Development
Veracity REM

Anonymous said...

Isn't this the site of a former home owned by George Frangoulis who worked for then Mayor Giulliani ?

What a piece of Queens crap he turned out to be !

Anonymous said...

The first "anonymous" poster said it well, with Mr. Hsu pullin' out the race card and all.

How long before Councilman Liu joins in? Oh, he must be in turmoil right now. His number one goal in life is to inject "why are you against the Asian community?" in his fights. Yet, if he does that, he'll piss off a whole lot of other people, too.

Oh, the strain, the strain.....

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Mr. Frangoulis - he was already a piece of "Queens Crap" back in the mid 90s when he worked for the DOB, at which time he "aided and abetted" all of the illegal building taking place in parts of Queens. He was an integral part of the corrupt DOB, and everyone knew it.

Anonymous said...

Does George Frangoulis consult for Tommy Huang? http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2007/06/time-to-huang-him.html

Anonymous said...

I am getting bored with the race card being used already!!!

Anonymous said...

Hsu's house isn't even built yet. I think its a little premature to judge him. He may build a beautiful house, especially b/c he will be living there.

What is the proof that this will be a multifamily house other than gossip?? If he is a wealthy builder, why would he need the extra income -- it makes no sense.

I don't like the race card being dealt either, but I think it was the hand many Asian people are dealt in Flushing. There is still an Archie Bunker mentality among many people in Queens. Just read some of the enrtries on this blog.

Also, his house is in Avella's district. He will probably be powerless to stop it b/c he's screwing around in Maspeth.

Anonymous said...

George was hired by Huang to smooth over the problems at the 223rd Street fiasco of Tommy's. Soon after, they parted ways for some reason. George probably figured Tommy was going down and jumped ship.

Anonymous said...

Does this construction have the required 20-foot total side yards required in R1-2?

Anonymous said...

"Hsu's house isn't even built yet"......

Just because he's going to live in it doesn't mean he hasn't got taste up his ass when it comes to architecture (as evidenced so far both here and in his other multi family eyesores) !

Look at all the ugly Mc Monsters that were built by some wealthy "builders" in Malba that they themselves live in !

And we're damn tired of hearing about the "bad hand" that the Asians have been dealt in Flushing !

P.S. The Archie Bunker analogy doesn't work here..... considering the high educational and socioenomic level of the residents who live in this upscale neighborhood !

You are the one that's jumping to conclusions and are, perhaps, a narrow minded REVERSE BIGOT yourself !!!

Anonymous said...

“I don't like the race card being dealt either, but I think it was the hand many Asian people are dealt in Flushing.”

Are you kidding? What a crock! The race card seems to be played more and more by the Asiatic population of Flushing. It’s a way of dodging the real issues at hand. Such as not adhering to the requirements and laws of the DOB and Zoning and building what you may. I don’t think the neighbors really care about the mans ethnicity as much as what he is building. The fact that he has chosen to make race an issue should raise a flag. He might be doing more than he is permitted to do. I am sure the homeowners association is already looking into that.

Anonymous said...

If Mr. Hsu dares to call or infer that I'm an anti Asian bigot to my face (loud enough for my voice recorder to pick up) he'll be quickly facing a slander lawsuit !

Anonymous said...

FINE, I'll be the archie bunker here.. having grown up in flushing(for 30 yrs)thank GOD ,I got out 7 years ago. I witnessed first hand how ORIENTALS turned a nice middle class RACIALLY DIVERSE town into an ORIENTAL GHETTO !!!
they have NO clue about laws or quality of life.
edith , where's my dinner !!!
shutup meat head !!!

Anonymous said...

We're being force fed to accept the "quality of life" standards of the 3rd world !

And if we dare to speak up honestly and object..... we're immediately branded "ANTI-something" by the REAL BIGOTS (real estate speculators) who take their money and run ....leaving a once thriving ethnically diverse neighborhood in ruins !

Now....
you can put that in your Opium pipe and smoke it !!!

Anonymous said...

A friend of mine who used to work in RE and for the City told me about this owner. Mr. Hsu is in the construction business with his brothers (George is one of them), Metal Stone Construction and Pane Stone Construction (134-38 35th Ave or 35-06 Farrington Street) are just two of the entities they operate under.

Hsu is only one variation of his name. Su and Xu are others. Supposedly he also renovated another house on the same block at 33-15 161 Street.

Anonymous said...

Thanks "Connie".....
Farrington Street......that's very close to Tommy Huang's old haunts !

T.H's old attorney Lung Fong Chen lives on the South side of 33rd Ave. between 165th & 166th Streets in Broadway/Flushing !

H-m-m-m....close and cozy....eh ? !!!

Anonymous said...

I was told Mr. Hsu paid $900,000.00 for the property and demolished the existing house to build this. I am not in the business, but I think that's a high price for "land".

Anonymous said...

It is a high price for land "Connie".....but if you're going to try to sneak in , perhaps, a " business" in that 2nd story cellar (way below and out of sight), than it will no doubt pay for itself !

My, my, my, how the Chinese just love their subterranean retreats !

Anonymous said...

A business? In that neighborhood?Well I wouldn't be surprised if he tried. I know he would NOT succeed in business with the homeowners association watching.

I was thinking maybe he paid too much for the land because he has some laundry to do......

What is that sub-level trend? I see it all over the place. Commercial buildings on Northern Boulevard in Little Neck now have two entrances. One on the street level and one at the basement level. I've also seen some on Austin Street. I wonder if there is a sub-basement as well. Doesn't matter to me, I'd never go into a below ground establishment --- fire traps.

Anonymous said...

BFHA will, no doubt, kick his ass, Connie, if he tries to horn in an illegal business here !

They got an illegally operating beauty parlor kicked out of a home on the N/E corner of Crocheron Ave. & 166th Street !

The house was subsequently sold by the owner about 3 years after !