The 'bullseye building' in Dutch Kills

Here is my latest from Curbed, a development called Crescent Club that is currently under construction in Dutch Kills. I said it "looks like an abstract subliminal ad for Target stores." So far, the commenters have been hinting that they think this is a piece of Queens Crap in a crappy 'hood. I am waiting for someone to say "But it's a Karl Fischer project!" as if that would make it all right.

Yet Another New Development for LIC: Crescent Club

Development complaints skyrocket

Construction complaints dialed into the city's 311 and 911 hotlines have soared in development-obsessed Greenpoint, Williamsburg and downtown Brooklyn.

Development complaints on the rise

From a crane collapsing onto Metropolitan Ave. to falling debris, 784 emergency calls involving mishaps in Greenpoint and Williamsburg flooded 911 switchboards - a 300% jump from 2003, when a zoning overhaul was approved.

In downtown Brooklyn, the number of emergency complaints soared to 554, more than double the number tallied in 2003.

"The developers are going nuts," said Williamsburg activist Phil DePaolo. "It's a combination of a lot of development with no oversight by the Department of Buildings whatsoever."

Even the number of nonemergency complaints dialed into the city's 311 hotline skyrocketed - with 1,662 construction complaints recorded last year, up from just 487 in 2003.

Riders give 7 a 'C minus'

The 7 train was graded by its riders, and what was found was that it's overpacked and when there is a problem, no one let's you know what is going on:

Riders give the 7 a C-

In Response to a Rider Survey, More Trains on the 7 Line

Report: Riders give 7 line a grade of C-minus

SUBWAY'S 7 'C'S

But we knew that already, didn't we?

Graphic from NY Post

AM-NY visits the Rockaways

AM-NY took a stroll through the Rockaways this week. Looks like I'll have to get down there soon.

City Living: Rockaways

FNY in Hunters Point

Forgotten-NY visits a rapidly changing Queens nabe - and still finds many connections to its past.

Hunters Point: Queens on the Edge

Future of the Elmhurst Library?

The ugly rendering of the proposed new Elmhurst Library was one of my topics of discussion on Curbed today.

Elmhurst's Carnegie Library Stares Demolition In the Eye

Crappy on Racked

Racked is an offshoot of Curbed and focuses on retail. I had a fleeting moment as a guest blogger there today. While I think the adaptive reuse of this formerly decrepit factory is a big plus, traffic at the intersection is gonna be even more of a bitch than it is now. Hopefully, they'll be a way to better utilize the u-turn underneath the bridge over the railroad to lighten the burden.

Trader Joensing: TJ's Queens Moving Right Along

(One note on the post: does the word "Hurrah" sound like something I'd say?)

Stories of preservation

WHY would some people willingly spend decades — and hundreds of thousands of dollars — renovating houses they will never own? For a small but growing number of so-called resident curators living in old and cherished state-owned houses up and down the East Coast, the answers include the pleasure of bringing an abandoned landmark back to life, freedom from mortgage payments and the chance to live in the kind of home that would otherwise be out of reach.

Nothing Down, $0 a Month, Hammer Required

These are some great preservation stories that we could learn lessons from. Unfortunately, none of them are in NYC. Here, money is viewed as more important than preserving our history.

Photo from NY Times

Was Pinky's accuser harassed by the NYPD?

The woman allegedly raped by City Councilman Dennis Gallagher claimed yesterday that she was treated badly by police in the hours after the assault.

Gallagher's accuser files complaint vs. NYPD

"I felt like I was being raped twice," said the victim, a 52-year-old grandmother whose name is being withheld by the Daily News. "They were nasty to me."

She said cops may have been trying to protect Gallagher and intimidate her.

This is getting more interesting.

Unhappy with Crappy

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, I guess. Crappy was told the focus was on hotels yesterday, so I posted about the two I am the most familiar with: the one in the previous post and this one. All I did was post a tongue in cheek photo essay to show that hotels in industrial areas, surrounded on three sides by pollution and noise, do not really showcase good urban planning. Boy did they go nuts!

Maspeth Hotel Bonus: Not in Kansas Anymore!

Check out pains they went through to do research to prove my opinion wrong! (Can you ever prove an opinion wrong?) I must be touching a nerve.

The moderators told me they thought the entry was entertaining before they posted it. Go figure!

Location, location

The latest from Curbed:

Introducing Maspeth's Glorious New Ram Hotel

There's a "part 2" scheduled for later today...

More arboricide in Maspeth

Letter to NYC Parks Department and Community Board 5:

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Maspeth's town Christmas tree, which I believe is on NYC Parks Department property at 69th Street and Grand Avenue, was unceremoniously ripped down this past weekend, and a circular wall was built in its place.

This evening I noticed a contractor along with his pickup truck full of equipment on the park plaza. He had just finished cementing the last bricks in place and he told me that the old tree had died, so it had been removed, and that a new fully-grown tree was coming, although he had no idea as to when. I pass that tree often and don't recall it looking dead. In fact, it looked to me like it needed a pruning.

Anyway, I asked him who hired him and who was paying for the construction he said it was a "big secret."

I was expecting to hear him say "the Parks Department," so I am concerned that this was done without Parks' permission.

Am I correct?

Thank you.

Christina Wilkinson
Secretary
Juniper Park Civic Association

Anyone see a short, pink, bald man with a chainsaw in the vicinity of 69th & Grand this weekend? Just kidding!

Photo & text from junipercivic.com

Queens sewers not up to speed

For most of New York City, the flash flooding on the morning of Aug. 8 was brief, if breath- taking. But try telling that to Kathleen Conway of Woodside, Queens, whose son-in-law is busy ripping out the mold-grimed walls of her live-in basement before they crumble.

Flood-Soaked Queens Blames Development, Lagging Sewers and Climate Change

Emily Lloyd, commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, said that she expected intense storms to occur more frequently over the coming years, and that her agency was investing in preparations.

Commissioner Lloyd said Queens received one-fourth to one-third of the city’s sewer repair dollars, largely because sections of the borough’s drainage system lagged behind development and, as she put it, “we’re playing catch-up there.” The borough will receive $650 million for sewer repairs over the next 10 years, she said.

[Congressman Joseph Crowley] said his constituents overwhelmingly blamed overdevelopment, which is diminishing the amount of porous ground available for drainage.

“I don’t think it takes rocket science to say that water needs a place to go,” he said.

And we don't need a rocket scientist to tell us who promoted overdevelopment over the past 25 years. We'll be observing which of our local politicians attend ribbon cuttings on new development projects after announcing that overdevelopment is a problem - and which vote in favor of massive upzonings, such as the one planned for Jamaica, especially after this:

...she said mitigating flooding from intense storms would require more than “traditional city-owned pipes and pumps.” In southeast Queens, she said, the water table has risen 30 feet in 20 years, and now sits “just below the surface.” Builders, she said, have eliminated drainage areas and built below grade.

THANK YOU QUEENS MACHINE!

Photo from junipercivic.com

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer

From 2005 to 2006, the rich grew richer in the New York region and the poor, over all, remained poor, producing the widest income gap of any major metropolitan area, according to census figures released yesterday.

New York’s Gap Between Rich and Poor Is Nation’s Widest, Census Says

In Manhattan, the poverty rate among children dropped sharply — to 27 percent from 32.5 percent. City officials boasted about the decline. But one reason for it may be that poor children’s parents can no longer afford housing in Manhattan, and they are being replaced by wealthier youngsters.

Crap Columns

This commercial crap condo was the subject of my last Curbed post yesterday afternoon. The addresses are 70-11 thru 70-23 Austin Street in Forest Hills.

Read Forest Hills' Columns of Crap on Curbed for more details.

This is not a new house

Despite what you may be thinking, this is not a new house.
Your eyes are deceiving you, as did mine. Read the rest of this entry on Curbed.

"What the...?" in the Meatpacking District

Here's my latest effort on behalf of Curbed. If you're wondering what you're looking at, it's a high-priced hotel straddling the High Line. I kid you not! Just look at this: Standard Hotel rendering

Here's my Curbed post:

High Line Construction Chronicles: Standard Anything But

Photo from A Fine Blog via Curbed

Bloomie: "What's a little water?"

Mayor Bloomberg is offering only a lukewarm public endorsement to the idea of pursuing a federal disaster designation for areas of the city dealing with damage from the Category 2 tornado that touched down earlier this month.

Mayor's Support Seems Tepid for Aid After Storm

Yesterday, however, he didn't seem to be fully on board the bandwagon of elected officials aggressively pressing to secure the federal designation, which would bring in federal money for residents and businesses that suffered damage. When asked whether he wanted the area struck by the tornado to get disaster designation, Mr. Bloomberg said: "I think from the governor's point of view he certainly has to ask."

He then went on to say that there were no "real injuries and a limited number of houses destroyed." Neither point bolsters the case that the area should qualify for federal money.

Maybe he's just hoping that homeowners will give up and sell their property to developers.

Smoking caused Deutsche building fire

In a highly unusual move, three ranking New York Fire Department officials were yanked from their posts Monday after the mayor and fire commissioner said they appear to be responsible for information lapses that led to the deaths of two firefighters at the former Deutsche Bank building.

Lack of plan cited in Ground Zero fire

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, at a City Hall news conference, announced both the officials' reassignments and a preliminary cause of the Aug. 18 blaze in the building: careless smoking by workers on the 17th floor.

"Smoking was prohibited in the building," Scoppetta said. "Nevertheless, smoking was engaged in throughout the building, and particularly on the 17th floor where the fire originated."

Mayor: Workers' Careless Smoking Caused WTC Tower Blaze

"We will hold everyone accountable, no matter where this investigation takes us,'' Scoppetta said.

Bloomberg on Monday said he had ordered the city's Department of Environmental Protection to devise a procedure for notifying the Fire Department when decontaminations are taking place that could affect fire response.

He said the city was also investigating whether the Department of Buildings bore responsibility in the inspections failures.

Inspections Criticized Again, 20 Years After 7 Deaths

Records from the city’s Department of Buildings show the challenge for any inspection system in New York: The city has more than 14,000 buildings that are more seven stories tall; last year the Building Department issued 3,653 demolition permits and 84,391 permits for new construction or major alterations to existing buildings. Buildings are inspected depending on size and use. High-hazard structures, like hospitals, are inspected every year, and the lowest-hazard multifamily buildings are inspected every five years. Single-family homes are not inspected by the Fire Department.

One fire officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the situation, said the job could be overwhelming for fire companies in busy areas.

“There is a hole in the system,” the officer said. “We can’t possibly cover all the buildings in detail, and cover all the buildings that we are allotted.”

Hmmm... sounds like closing the firehouses and not hiring enough firefighters was not such a smart idea. Oh well, as long as it saves a few bucks.

Photo from Newsday

Member of the dirty pol club

They just want to be loved, is that so wrong?

Dennis Gallagher, the Queens councilman recently indicted on charges of raping a 52-year-old grandmother he met at a Middle Village bar, is just the latest in a long line of New York City pols to have been accused of behaving badly.

Gallagher just latest city pol behaving badly

Dr. Fran Praver, a psychoanalyst, believes most politicians are undone by the thirst for power that leads them to public life in the first place.

"The very part that drives them to achieve can undo them," she said. "It's so easy for them. They can get away with it, and they have this charisma that draws people to them and a need to be loved and adored."

Photo from Newsday

Bait and switch

The $236 million project on 125th Street and Park Avenue promised to bring 2,500 jobs and the first new major tourist hotel to Harlem since the Hotel Theresa closed its doors in 1966.

The envisioned Marriott, and the community-benefits agreement that came with it, fell through when the developer, Michael Caridi, sold his interest later in 2005 to Vornado Realty Trust, a real estate giant that controls 22 million square feet of space in Manhattan. Instead, a 21-story, 640,000 square foot office tower is planned and scheduled for completion sometime in 2009.

Harlem Park plans worry residents

Some lawmakers, though, worry that the new development is moving forward without the kind of community oversight that the original agreement had.

"It was the old bait and switch," said state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan), who opposed the project when he was in the City Council. "These projects have to come through us to get the authority to build a certain height. Once we give them the authority and the project doesn't go through, the owner, without doing anything, has increased the value of the property, and they can sell it without going back to the council for approval."

NJ Senator in lobbying probe

Interesting probe happening over in NJ:

Kay LiCausi worked for [Senator Robert] Menendez from 1998 to 2002.

A grand jury in Newark has subpoenaed hundreds of pages of financial documents from Jersey City Medical Center, which received a variety of public financing when Kay LiCausi, who was an aide to Mr. Menendez while he was in the House of Representatives, lobbied for the hospital. Last week, the grand jury heard testimony from Jonathan Metsch, a former Menendez fund-raiser who was president and chief executive of the hospital when it hired Ms. LiCausi, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported on Sunday.

Inquiry Focuses on Former Aide to Menendez

Ms. LiCausi’s client list includes an array of other organizations that sought public financing or government permit approvals for major projects.

In 2004, several months after she was hired by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Mr. Menendez announced the first of two appropriations totaling $9.5 million to repair the shoreline and extend a berth for the company’s ships.

When questioned last fall about his dealings with Ms. LiCausi and her clients, Mr. Menendez said that his relationship with her did not affect his actions, and that he did not consider it a conflict of interest to obtain tax dollars for companies who hired his fund-raisers as lobbyists.

That's what they all say...

Photo from NY Times

Crap village in Rego Park

At the corner of Fleet and Alderton Streets in Rego Park in the heart of the Katz litterbox, no matter which way you turn, you'll find a big pile of crap:




The Olympics may not have been able to build their 2012 village in LIC, but Queens Crap villages continue to sprout up all over the place.



Honey, we ain't in the crescents no more. Please plant more street trees here, pronto!

The Powerhouse - seeing is disbelieving

You all know what this is, but see my latest post on Curbed to find out what's going on here.

I must say that Curbed has cajones printing my stuff although they apparently drew the line at the part of my editorial that said something like, "If only I had the means to purchase a unit in this formerly toxic site. Maybe someday when I win the lottery."

Check this out: Mehandes Engineering rendering

Egads!

Photo by me courtesy of Curbed

Not getting what they paid for

From Brownstoner:

Yesterday’s cover story in the real estate section of The Times zooms in on the growing number of condo owners who say they’re being given short shrift by developers. More and more buyers are claiming that though developers have promised them the sun, moon and stars, they’re not even meeting the most pedestrian of expectations.

Photo from NY Times

Houseboats forced to pick up anchor

Billy Joel sang "There ain't no Island left for islanders like me" nearly 20 years ago.

Soon there will be even less Long Island on the north shore:

For decades, the flotilla of houseboats hidden behind a row of marinas on Manhasset Bay here have weathered hurricanes, deep freezes and the buildup of mud on the bottom.

Fears of Development Ruffle Long Island Houseboat Haven

Manorhaven, on Long Island, is home to 55 houseboats.
But now the owners — whose 55 floating homes constitute the largest such community remaining on Long Island — fear a new threat that, in this area of high property values, seems more powerful than any act of God: development.

The mayor of this village, Nicholas B. Capozzi, is pushing a plan to open the area, long zoned for commercial marine use, for residential development. The boat-dwellers say this will allow luxury condominiums to rise at the marinas where they dock, leaving them without their boat slips.

Now luxury condos are pushing people out to sea.

People made to move, lots left to the rats

Now here's an interesting story:

“Forty years without doing anything,” she said. “We had to move and everything was knocked down. Why? So the rich can move there now?”

Forty Years of Growth, Except Where It Was Expected

Emptiness has been the one constant for the five remaining city-owned parcels in the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area along Delancey Street, near the Williamsburg Bridge. At a time when the city has few lots to build housing for low- and moderate-income tenants, the five undeveloped parcels are an incongruous sight, especially since officials and advocates considered them the biggest patch of vacant city land in Manhattan.

Photo from NY Times

A tram for Fort Totten

As the city moves forward with plans to transform into parkland 50 acres at the former Fort Totten military base, Phil Konisberg, a neighbor, eagerly awaits one new amenity. It is something that will make the park accessible to the elderly and people with disabilities.

Fort Totten Park to be accessible to all

He won't have long to wait.

An alternative-fuel tram will take visitors who need it around the grounds of the picturesque Bayside Civil War-era fort with its views of Long Island Sound and the Whitestone Bridge.

"We plan to have the tram in place by next spring," [Parks spokeswoman Abby] Lootens said. "The tram will make the property more accessible to all park users, including those in wheelchairs."

Photo from Queens Tribune

Storm causes big fat rat to scurry

Though Brooklyn grabbed headlines when it was slammed by a rare tornado this month, Queens suffered far more damage in the freak Aug. 8 storm, an official report on the storm shows.

In a letter sent last week to President Bush requesting federal disaster aid, Gov. Spitzer estimated that 1,359 homes in Queens suffered damage in the storm, compared with 189 in Brooklyn and 21 on Staten Island.

Storm-damaged Queens asks, what about us?

"The city needs to take responsibility," said City Councilwoman Melinda Katz (D-Queens), whose Forest Hills basement flooded. "The city sewers clearly couldn't take all the water."

Nice quote from the chair of the land use committee who promoted all the overbuilding that led to this disaster. Don't you love how she tries to make herself look sympathetic so that she'll escape scrutiny? Hey Mel: Your committee voted in favor of the Jamaica plan right after this, which includes areas hard-hit by flooding. The sewer systems will not be up to speed anytime soon, but you want hundreds of thousands more people moving in pronto. You're a real ass, Melinda.

Tin Can Alley

Hey, would you like to live in an expensive pile of crap that looks like a cross between a parking garage and a fortress of steel? Well then have we got the place for you!
Welcome to Tin can Alley in Long Island City! Not sure what they were thinking when they erected this baby, but my friends and I stood there with mouths agape for a few minutes when we first gazed our eyes upon it. If you're feeling a little unkempt while you're passing by 48-21 5th Street in Long Island City, then you can always use the side of the building as a mirror. 47 units of overpriced prime habitat - and all without a view!


Here's what's next door. Quite a contrast, eh?

This post featured on Curbed!

Call to have FDNY retirees inspect buildings

Two lawmakers want to hire retired firefighters to help inspect buildings for the type of hazardous conditions that may have led to the deaths of two firefighters in the former Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero.

Pols: Hire ex-firefighters to inspect unsafe buildings

State Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) and Council Member Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) say retirees could flag safety hazards like poor sprinklers, blocked doorways and malfunctioning standpipes.

"Because they're retired, they may not be able to physically put out fires," Adams said at a news conference near Ground Zero, "but they still have the expertise."

It's not the first time Bovis is in trouble

Bovis Lend Lease has been in hot water before:

BANK-RAZE BIZ'S HISTORY OF HORROR

Sadly, this latest incident probably won't be the last time, either.

This is the company that was also in charge of the renovation of the Tweed Courthouse, which took too long and cost more than expected.

"I think we're going to get what we paid for this time," said Jennifer J. Raab, chairwoman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (at the time).

Now it's falling apart.

Hey, guess what? One of the Queens reps on the Landmarks Commission was a senior vice president at Bovis for 14 years who worked on the Tweed Courthouse. She is now executive vice president of design, construction and capital planning for the WTC memorial.

Don't you love all the coziness and deception? Boss Tweed would be proud.

Photo from NY Post

Avella vs. Crescent crap

Rego Park civic members and City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside) are calling on the city Department of Buildings to investigate an out-of-character home in the neighborhood which they say violates zoning regulations and should be brought up to code or torn down.

The beige-bricked house, a detached two-family at 64-24 Asquith Crescent in Rego Park, is built up to the property line, according to Avella, which he said is "a clear violation" of zoning rules.

Avella asks city to probe out-of-character houses

Avella and members of the Rego Park Crescent Association held a news conference at the site of the home Saturday to urge Buildings to inspect the home and audit its plans.

But the owner of the building in question, Albert Bababzhanov, said the home was built legally despite the Buildings Department putting a stop-work order on it. He contended neighbors have been harassing him about the house.

Sunnyside gets a facelift

The City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved last week the first two exterior renovation projects in the newly minted historic district: the renovation of an existing enclosed porch in Washington Court and the redesign of a rear dormer in Hamilton Court.

First Facelift Approved For Sunnyside Gardens

For years, property owners in Sunnyside Gardens have had to go to the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the City Planning Commission for approval of property modifications. Under the proposed amendment, owners would simply have to apply directly to the LPC, which would handle the rigorous review process and issue approvals or denials.

Photos from Queens Tribune

Some food-related quickies

Today's NY Times tries some Flavors of Asia in Elmhurst.

They also have a story on the guy pictured above who is so addicted to the Mets that he flies 1200 miles to see them:

...for nearly every New York Mets homestand over the past four years, Mr. Lee has flown to New York from his adopted home of Kansas City, Mo., to sell cotton candy at the games.

Now there's a fan!

Photo from NY Times

SUV crap

There's something about Queens Crap that just screams out to owners of gas-guzzling oversized vehicles.
These photos were taken in Flushing.

According to New York Shitty, LIC is no better and new ain't so beautiful.

New York Post pissed at Times Ledger

You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't!

On August 8, Marc Raimondi and Ivan Pereira, reporters for the Times Ledger, the Queens weekly that was purchased last fall by Rupert Murdoch, thought their editors were doing their corporate big brother the New York Post a favor. The reporters had located Matt Murphy, who caught Barry Bonds’s 756th home run, through their high-school alumni Website and gotten the first interview with him, which the weekly posted on the Internet. But the Post didn’t appreciate the tip.

Rupe’s Stepchild Told to Drop the Ball

“The Post basically had a fit and demanded the story come down off the site,” apparently to keep the Daily News from seeing it, says a source close to the weekly. The Times Ledger complied, and the Post published its own version later that night.

How incredibly lame.

Original article here: Exclusive: Elmhurst native snags Bonds' record-breaking homer

Bye-bye Ben's?

POLS' POWER DELI IS SHUT
By MAGGIE HABERMAN, NY Post

Ben's Best, the Queens deli that's played host to politicians hungry for its famous pastrami, was shuttered yesterday.

It wasn't immediately clear why the doors were closed at the eatery, famous for catering political fund-raisers from its Queens Boulevard location.

Health Department officials said the restaurant failed a final follow-up inspection Thursday.

The delicatessen made a national splash in 1999 when then-Gov. George Pataki made an NBA playoff bet with then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush on the finals between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.

Bush won the bet, and cashed in on a feast of matzo balls, kosher sandwiches and "Cel-Ray" soda.

Photo from Queens Gazette

'Cat & mouse game' at Deutsche building

Safety rules were broken with impunity at the Deutsche Bank building because tipped-off supervisors had workers hide violations from inspectors, asbestos-removal crew members said yesterday.

SAFETY LAST DURING THE DEUTSCHE DEMOLITION

"Whenever an inspector would arrive, you could hear them on the radio saying, 'There is a cat in the building. There is a cat in the building.' It was like a game of cat and mouse," said a 40-year-old asbestos worker who was employed by the John Galt Corp. at the structure.

Bronx-based John Galt was fired on Wednesday, but was still on site Thursday, when one of its workers dropped a 300-pound pallet jack from the 23rd floor that nearly killed two firefighters below.

William Corbetis, 50, of Engine Co. 258 in Long Island City, Queens, remained in the intensive-care unit of St. Vincent's Hospital yesterday but is now breathing on his own.

Neil Nally, 35, who suffered head injuries, was discharged yesterday.

Photo from NY Post

A tale of two Jamaicas

When Gloria Black looks into Jamaica’s future, she sees a grand restoration: Department stores will move into spaces where discount jewelers sell removable gold teeth; vacant storefronts, their windows taped up with yellowing newspaper, will fill one by one. The prosperous downtown of the 1960s — the one that drew families from Harlem and Brooklyn and South Carolina — will return to southeast Queens.

Southeast Queens Is Split Over Makeover Proposal

Crystal Ervin sees something different. If Jamaica is reshaped by the city’s rezoning, she fears, the single-family home her parents bought in 1953 will be jammed up against a six-story building. Parking, already a headache, will become a nightmare. And the modest middle-class dream of her mother, who is now 85, will be taken away.

Still, to many of the neighborhood’s residents and business owners, the rezoning remains abstract and distant. Dr. Barry Eisenkraft, a veterinarian who practices on Hillside Avenue, said he tried to organize some of the neighboring businesspeople around the issue and received no response. Ms. Black sympathized; only about a third of the people in her neighborhood, she estimated, have focused their attention on rezoning.

“You get people who seemingly just can’t generate the interest,” she said, “until it smacks them in the eyes.”

Most precious quote: “There’s no CVS, no Rite Aid. As it stands right now, people have no reason to come to Hillside Avenue.” (I'll be happy to send you mine since I have both of those plus a Duane Reade.)

Photo from NY Times

Race matters

The Trib reports that Queens is still majority white, although there are less Caucasians moving in here than other races:

Boro Remains White Despite Minority Surge

Meanwhile, Time Out NY asked the average NYer if race mattered and got a resounding "yes": Does Race Matter?

Some are even calling for re-segregation.

Illustration from Time Out NY

Corporal punishment

The 4 corners of 39th Avenue and Corporal Kennedy Street in Bayside feature 4 different distinct architectural styles. Unfortunately, Art Crappo is one of them:

Northeast
Northwest
Southwest
Southeast