The demise of the ambitious RKO Keith's redevelopment project may be a harbinger of things to come in Flushing, with plans for the Municipal Lot 1 complex nearly dead and mounting delays threatening the city's vision for Willets Point, City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) warned in recent days.Flushing boom fades
During a speech to members of the Queens Chamber of Commerce Friday, Liu said the $500 million planned redevelopment of Municipal Lot 1 may be a lost cause and the city's expansive plans for redeveloping Willets Point may also be in jeopardy.
32 comments:
Liu's legacy will ultimately be
the vast number of press releases
generated daily by his office....
generally proclaiming
that all is well and he's on top of things.
One might say that he's managed
to position himself as our town's savior!
The stark reality of the matter proves otherwise.
All is in jeopardy !
CB#7 shall share Liu's blame
for their failure to do some sound planning
(over a 22 year period) for Flushing's future.
For the $75,000+ plus that Marilyn Bitterman
receives annually as district manager....
it seems that more should have been done.
Money is tight these days.
Investors everywhere are backing off.
A direct result of the sub-prime mortgage debacle.
Does this mean that Shulman will be resigning
from her well paying directorship position
of the Willets Point job ?
Muss is going to have a hell of a time
selling luxury condos overlooking
acres full of automobile hulks
across the Flushing River.
As for the Keith's theater......
the city should claim the property....restore the landmarked portion.....
and re-introduce it as Flushing's
MAIN ATTRACTION
(as a performing arts/convention center..perhaps).
Without an attraction....there's NO DESTINATION
worth traveling to (for either business or pleasure).
The USTA tennis matches
(h-m-m-m... and maybe the METS...depending on how well they're playing at the time)
are the only part time attractions that are capable of drawing crowds to this dump of an area!
Even at that, as soon as the games are over.....
nothing convinces visitors
to cross over to the east bank of the river.
It took 25 years of flushing....
by all of the various groups from CB#7,
Downtown Flushing Development Corporation, Flushing Chamber of Commerce, etc......
to see it finally go down the toilet !
CB#7 is brain-dead.
They're creatively bankrupt !
They've been too busy for years
conspiring on behalf of several large
property owners in the area.....
to keep Flushing "Lilly White"
and middle class.
They failed to manipulate the Asians
(which was, I suppose, their original intent)
that were introduced to keep
the local African American population
from achieving any prominence in Flushing.
Presently.....the town is nothing less than
an over developed, overpriced cesspool !
Good luck with the mounting real estate vacancies
soon to follow!
Using the Keith's theater in its prominent location....
could just be the catalyst that saves the whole area
from financial oblivion.
It's not too late for some bold thinking.....
creatively reusing or rebuilding it
as Flushing's main attraction.
If the theater had been opened as a live performance
conference venue in the1980s....
Flushing wouldn't be the crap pile that it is today!
Wadda ya think Ms. Herce ?
You had a part in burying the future of this fine theater!
Development on the scale proposed for Flushing takes years. The regeneration of Times Square was cooked up in the 80s and didn't come to fruition until the late 90s. That the Municipal Lot project and Willets Point are not in construction yet says nothing about whether they will ultimately succeed or not. My money is still on both happening.
What kind of "live performance" venue are you talking about? Music and theater shows? That would go under in 6 months. It would not get enough people travelling there to generate enough business. You need to develop something that could financially sustain itself.
Speaking of Marilyn and Myra.... I understand the two had a falling out and are not speaking to one another. Something to do with Marilybn and NYHQ taking over the Kissena Corridor for parking. Myra lives not far from NYHQ and the corridor. NIMBY, eh Myra?
Well everybody in my income bracket
that has money in the stock market
or in real estate projects is pulling out
and reinvesting in fixed income financial products....anonymous #5
(or is it Evan & the Parkside gang)
awaiting the upcoming recession.
You can keep your money "on both happening"
and take the fall with the rest of the dopey investors!
Projects like Flushing take long....yeah.
NYC Real estate markets are begining to decline......
waiting to slide further.
But nobody seems to want to talk about it....
lest it scare away any investors !
But they're not stupid....they figured it out....
and they're pulling out of Flushing!
Come up with a better fairy tale explanation
"anonymous #5"
We're talking about creating an ATTRACTION.....
poster #6.
Overcrowded filthy stinking streets aren't
bringing in the people!
A combination live performance/venue
conference and convention center
was just one suggestion......there are others.
What have you got in mind ?
You're the one who bashed the idea.....
it's now up to you to come up with something better.
Or are you just talk and no walk !
You're the one who bashed the idea.....
it's now up to you to come up with something better.
Or are you just talk and no walk !
-----------
hey mister developer man/politician what ever, we pay taxes to support all those professionasl on the city payroll at planning.
Lets see what they can do.
One small Tac nuke delivered right in front of the keiths should solve the problem - take out the over crowding, the maze of streets impossible to drive through, and make a parking lot big enough that if you put in an attraction, people might actually come down there
I asked you what YOU might suggest "basher".
Don't try to pass the buck to city planning etc.
Or are you just empty headed and out of ideas ?
You TALK a good game....NOW DELIVER !
No....wait.....maybe you're just plain lazy!
Despite all the hype.....
you can't make a mountain out of a mole hill.
And you can't turn around Flushing
from what it's become.....an overbuilt dung heap!
Once a low class Chinatown.....
always a low class Chinatown!
Maybe they'll elect Myra Herce
the mayoress of of this "bustling" new Chinatown !
I'm for renaming Flushing Huang Kong.
Tommy's the one (with the help Manes & Shulman etc.)
that started it all !
I would think a mid-upscale retail shopping area, perhaps with a movie theater or restaurant, along with low to mid-rise residential, would work well. Something along the lines of Atlas Park (but on a smaller scale) combined with luxury condos. No one is going to be attracted to travel to Flushing to see theater or music shows in this location. It's not Times Square.
Also, I'm not the one who made the city planner comment.
It might be possible that all these projects are on hold until the city steals enough property to get Wellington (Willets) Point started. Parkside represented the developers of Muni #1 and Evan is the spokesperson for the Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC. Claire (the Queen of the backroom deals) Shulman might be up to her usual tricks.
I want to know where they will put the whore houses?
Queens pols spent taxpayer money on ads, group says
10/15/2007
A city watchdog group released a report last week which found that seven members of the Queens delegation were among the top 10 City Council members who used the most taxpayer dollars on political advertisements during election years.
The Citizens Union, a nonpartisan public advocate group that promotes political reform in the five boroughs, released a study which accused members of the City Council of using government money on advertisements in election years. The City Charter prohibits elected officials from spending taxpayer money on ads during years in which they are running for re-election.
The report found that individual Council members spent a total of $782,491 in government money on advertisements between July 2002 and June 2006. The Queens Council members listed in the top 10 were James Gennaro (D-Fresh Meadows) in third place, Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) in fourth, Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) in fifth, David Weprin (D-Hollis) in sixth, Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) in seventh, Dennis Gallagher (R-Middle Village) in eighth and Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) in ninth.
Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) was the only member of the Queens delegation to have spent no money on ads, the report found.
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18919635&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=542415&rfi=6
Oh but they're supposed to be attracted to
the borough's greatest performance venue boondoggle
run by Jeffrey Rosenstock.....
Theater In The Dark....oops I meant park !
Nobody specifically said anything about
"theater or music shows" exclusively
anonymous idiot.
Run your comments past your brain first
the next time you decide to open your mouth!
That was just part of an inducement
package for a mixed retail/residential/commercial project.
Now the rest of you folks.....
please don't bite my head off.....
but how about an upscale gambling casino
with a large portion of the profits
going back into the community ?
There are so many illegal Chinese gambling
operations already in existence here......
might as well have it in the open
and collect taxes !
That would certainly pay for itself.
My, my, my.....a "tac nuke" in front of the Keith's !
Do we have a terrorist in our midsts.....
or a developer (aren't they one of the same) ?
Considering the state the world is in
with the proliferation of nukes.....
I consider this comment to be totally off color
and realistically off the subject....
even in jest !
I mean.....there's kill..... then there's overkill !
Youv'e expressed your anger and disgust beautifully......now could we get on with the discussion please .
P.S.
Would the poster reconsider using an RPG....
no radioactive fallout with these.
Now I'm the one who's counter joking !
The Daily News asked Johnny Liu some questions. Check it out
10 questions for Councilman John Liu
The woman behind Johnny in the photo is no other than Myra Herce - red hair, painted face and RED lips.
"2. What is the greatest issue facing your district?
To greatly expand mass transit. The Second Ave. T train subway line covering 60th to 100th Sts. (in Manhattan) is being built; the 7 train line extension is in the works. We'll also try to extend the express bus service."
IS HE AN ASSHOLE OR WHAT?
"I just got elected into public office somehow." Oh yeah right!!!! It took several hundred thousand $$$$ to The Parkside Group for two campaigns until he finally "got elected". The smear campaign against Julia Harrison in 1997 didn't work. (He should have asked for a refund on that one.)
Do you think Myra Herce
is on the payroll of the Chinese government?
That would explain her penchant
for the bright red color....
of both her hair & lipstick !
By Jimminy.....ha, ha, ha, ......
could she really be a red commie!
My God....Herce looks like a painted Geisha
in that photo....standing next to Liu!
One more face lift and her skin will pop
just like a "Ball Park" frank!
She's always looking for a buck......
and will sell her services to anyone........
currently the Flushing Chamber!
I wonder how much money Liu pays Parkside
to ghost write all those press releases
that are supposedly generated by his office ?
Maybe they give him a cut rate by-the-pound fee !
H-m-m-m.....
Could it all be a part of a money laundering scam ?
A profuse stream of $$$$$$$
always seems to be flowing through Parkside!
I wonder if The Parkside Group is one the Council's payroll for PR services. Seems to me Johnny Liu always has his mug in the paper. Usually outside his district.
Easy enough to find out "last poster".
Isn't the city's budget public record ?
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