Sunday, July 15, 2007

Building up Broadway

Jumpin' jiminy! This megacrap on Broadway in Astoria is just too much.
Too high, stacked in a bizarre way, and who wants a balcony over Broadway?
Actually, who would want to live right on Broadway, a commercial strip that can get very loud?
We'll see who moves into 40-13 Broadway!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ugh, the nightmare continues. I think the windows in the middle are the worst part. They are incredibly odd. It must be great having a view of your neighbors living room.

Anonymous said...

Like all Astoria construction, this building has taken years to go up and sticks out like an eyesore for blocks.

Can't wait for all that cutesy grill work to start to rust. The cheap cladding will fade and chip and dirty to a nice color in a few years.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to ASS-toria where the Delis /CB#1 style of over development is always welcome !

Everybody's happy....everyone makes a buck out of it !

We'd love to peruse the Vallones' list of recent bank deposits !!!

Crawford said...

Apparently, the Queens Crapper mod and posters aren't exactly well-traveled, as multifamily housing throughout the world tends to be on major commerical thoroughfares.
Gee, how can Paris manage to actually have housing above retail above housing?! Amazing but true...

Of course, if the same housing were built OFF of commercial streets, the same NIMBYs on this blog would complain and ask why isn't the housing being built away from existing residences? You can't win with a NIMBY.

Also, why do the NIMBYs here care about the noise, crowds, etc. for the new residents? They aren't the one buying in these new buildings. Apparently their fellow Queens residents like the new development, which explains the demand.

Thankfully, the NIMBY resistance is declining. The new generation in Queens supports development. I am in my twenties, and people in my age group support the growth 100%. The NIMBY opposition on community boards appears to be from the grumpy, over-50 set that should probably move to the suburbs, because it seems that they hate big cities like NYC.

They have a right to their opinion, but their influence is lessening.

Anonymous said...

Too bad, and what a disappointment....."crawford" must be one of those few rare Greeks with bad taste in architecture !

Ah....for the architect of today to fully appreciate and understand how to build.....inspired by the divine sense of balance and the golden proportions of the Parthenon...... pouring from his soul !

Pericles would puke if he ever saw Broadway !

None of these cheaply built new monstrosities will ever be depicted on a take out blue and white coffee cup !

Anonymous said...

"Crawford" your not in your 20s....I'll bet you my new Armani suit on that !

A 20 year old novice doesn't usually get the assignment from a real estate PR firm ("Parkside Group"maybe ???) to pimp over development....I've worked at one and I know better ! ("Don't try to shit a shitter") !

P.S......very few "people in your age group" (20s ???) can even afford to buy into these kind of new "luxury"developments....not on what your bosses probably pay you and not even in the thriftier Astoria real estate market (unless big mamma or big pappa give you the down payment) !

You're strictly the snobbish Manhattan shoe box apartment living type !

And where did you get the info that you cooked up that "NIMBY interest is declining"....from the same pot that you cook up your crystal Meth in ? !!!

Anonymous said...

I think Crawford is right on the mark. Everyone I know in my age group (early 30s) is happy that many areas of Queens are developing and becoming a more urban living environment. We don't want any cheap, ugly buildings, but bigger good quality buildings and homes, and more upscale and diverse retail and commercial activity, are welcome.

Anonymous said...

Wow, you guys just need something to complain about. "I think the windows...are the worst part" "who wants a balcony over Broadway?" Maybe someone....ever think of that....if you dont want a balcony on Broadway, dont buy the apt. If you dont like the noise on Broadway...dont move there!!! Like it or not Crawford is right, and you know that since you didnt respond to his comment but only attacked him (and greeks) personally. Fact of the matter is....Greeks and Italians are what made Astoria a great place to live...probably why some of you moved there yourselves. This building isnt one of your standard piles of bricks that you see going up....its a little different and has some style to it. Whether you like the style or not, its still a little better than a plain brick box that you people complain about so frequently. And at least it has nice large windows to let in light. Unlike small useless windows that you people have also complained about frequently.

Anonymous said...

"CRAWFORD" = busted!! glad you called him out Anonymous, his 'character' was poorly played regardless of his horse's ass (no offense to equine americans) PROPOGANDA disguised as popular opinion.

hey CRAWFORD, if yr in your 20s now, how old were you when "City For Sale" (one of the classic Queens books) by Jack Newfield and Wayne Barrett came out?

wwib

Anonymous said...

It is funny how the anti-development complainers on this blog rarely respond to counter-arguments with logic or intelligence. They usually make baseless accusations about who the other posters work for, or spew juvenile personal insults and the occasional racial insult. Fortunately the complainers have the minority viewpoint in this borough.

Anonymous said...

"I think Crawford is right on the mark. Everyone I know in my age group (early 30s) is happy that many areas of Queens are developing and becoming a more urban living environment. We don't want any cheap, ugly buildings, but bigger good quality buildings and homes, and more upscale and diverse retail and commercial activity, are welcome."

ha ha ha ha. Eveyone I talk to are horrified at what they see when they walk into these new Queens developments, from the semi-thug that shows them around, to the particle board kitchens.

Upscale? from what el Barrio? Walk down the nightmare that was once Steinway Street - you only have two blocks left, between EL MUNDO DISCOUNT to the creepy hooka shops at the other end, its being squeezed like a piece of cheese.

Anonymous said...

"Fortunately the complainers have the minority viewpoint in this borough."

Well, yeah, with the developers controlling all access to politicians and media, they don't get many different perspectives now, do they? And a good many residents who remembered when we used to have a nice well led community have moved or died.

But you see my friend, you cannot bullshit your way past the American people. We work with folks that live in other communities or have relatives that live elsewhere, and we are shocked at how good other places look. As Queens sinks to her knees, Manhattan and Brooklyn and even the Bronx look nicer and nicer.

Now we have Queens Crap, the talk of the town. It will take a little while, but my friend, times they are a changin.'

And you bums that have run Astoria into the ground are in our crosshairs. If we don't root you out today, some jerk will try to the same thing to us in our community next week.

Oh and don't worry. Everyone in the city knows about notorious community board one - its called the community board from hell, a reputation, it seems, you boys have well earned.

Anonymous said...

"my age group (early 30s) is happy that many areas of Queens are developing and becoming a more urban living environment"

Who are you, Rip van Winkle?

Queens has been developed for decades. The problem here is overdevelopment.

Anonymous said...

Look.....there's so much money that the developers have to spend buying up all their politicians that there's so little left to retain a decent PR firm to post their opinions on this blog !


So who do they hire with the loose change that's in the bottom of the cookie jar......you guessed it ...."Crawford" !

Anonymous said...

"Greeks and Italians are what made Astoria a great place to live"

oh?!? and who is destroying the joke of the town, Old Astoria? Someone from Alpha Centuri?

Anonymous said...

Thanks "who walk in Brooklyn" for bringing to mind that best seller classic "City For Sale".

I met Jack Newfield once. (We had given him some evidence for a political corruption story that he was thinking of working on at the Daily News) .

If he was still alive he might have written a sequel......"City Sold".....bought and paid for by Crawford's bunch !

Keep up your good work and never get discouraged . Amen !

Anonymous said...

Who the hell insulted the Greeks? Not me ! In fact I praised the ancient cultures...myself being Italian (a part of Roman heritage) !

As far as those Euro pimpy looking gigolos sipping cafe' and oogling all the girlies that go by on Broadway.....well that's another matter !

Anonymous said...

"Thankfully, the NIMBY resistance is declining. The new generation in Queens supports development. I am in my twenties, and people in my age group support the growth 100%. The NIMBY opposition on community boards appears to be from the grumpy, over-50 set that should probably move to the suburbs, because it seems that they hate big cities like NYC."

Oh great, my taxes are being used to bring new people into my community who look down on me.

BTW, I am in my 30s and grew up in Astoria. I love my community, too, and hate to see what is happening to it.

I hate to see all my taxes being used to beautify the waterfront while services I need suck. Great how Con Ed found money for the waterfront development as they neglected my block.

Nice how my officials, secure that we have no choices, are comfortable enough to write me off.

Anonymous said...

Greeks (really 1/2 Turk....there hasn't been a real Greek around for about 2,500 years) are making a fortune off manipulating Astoria with their rather Byzantine real estate dealings !