Tuesday, August 21, 2007

NY1's Queens: Then & Now

Ruschell Boone takes us on a journey through time:

NY1 Reports: Queens, Then & Now

My personal favorite is the Empire State Development Corporation talking about the history of the Queens waterfront...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The fortunate "people"
that Boro Prez Marshal is referring to
who will be enjoying those waterfront views
in the Queens West development will not be those living in the promised "affordable housing"
that's supposed to be included in the project.

The luxury apartments will, no doubt, be facing
the picturesque East River.

The poorer folk will get the back street
rear views......or get it in the rear......as usual!

Anonymous said...

So what should the city do? Not allow people with the means to buy a home and live where they desire so that the government can socially engineer where people own homes based on income levels? The government should control who gets to live by the water? That is not how things should work in a free country.

Anonymous said...

"...so that the government can socially engineer where people own homes based on income levels?"

What do you think the government is doing now?

Anonymous said...

"The government should control who gets to live by the water? That is not how things should work in a free country."

I agree. So why is it ok for our government to give tax breaks to developers so they can gentrify the waterfront? There are working class people there now who will be displaced because of this decision.

Anonymous said...

Most if not all of the new luxury buildings going up on LIC are on former industrial properties, not residential, or on properties sold by the owners to the developers. Renters always are subject to displacement resulting from free market changes to property and rental values. You have to own your residence to have an amount of certainty of your housing costs.

Anonymous said...

So why wasn't the manufacturing base retained there? The whole waterfront is contaminated!

Anonymous said...

The manufacturing and industrial base has been gone from LIC for some time now. Manufacturing business in LIC is gone because of technology and the global marketplace. It only makes sense to put the land to good residential use now.

Anonymous said...

Yes.....the (city) government should indeed step in
and allow some of our poorer class citizens
(selection process to be made by lottery maybe)
a chance to equally enjoy some beautiful waterfront views.....just like you privileged rich folk.

From a Chinese fortune cookie I once received:
"Six feet of earth make all men equal".

I guess some people still think that
they're entitled to more equality than others
by right of their high six figure plus earnings....
even in a democratic republic like the U.S.A.

Are you not, in fact, just an elitist,
perhaps, even a closet bigot poster #2 ?

Anonymous said...

It is interesting that some think that their being "poorer class" (your words, not mine) is something out of their control. Maybe some people make more money than others because they work harder.
Regardless, if you want the government to control who gets to live where, there are still some communist countries out there where you can move. America is based on principles of freedom, including a free market.

Anonymous said...

I own my home, which is one block away from this "beautiful area in Queens for people to live on the waterfront." It's just too much, too fast. Poor planning on the government's part.

Anonymous said...

"America is based on principles of freedom, including a free market."

Yes, but engineering the development of the waterfront via zoning changes is not part of a natural free market system.

Anonymous said...

Actually, a pro-development mayor, who very clearly explained his intentions for the waterfront when he campaigned, was elected by a majority of the people in a free democracy. The zoning regulates the types of buildings that can be built, not the types of people that are allowed to buy them.

Anonymous said...

Imagine the idiocy of assuming poor people don't work HARD for a living!

I prefer to live in the USA under strong
facist leadership!