Friday, April 4, 2008

Long Island (Inner) City

Condos are rising in the redeveloping Queens Plaza area, where the din of Queensboro Bridge traffic competes with the rumble of the elevated N and 7 train lines. To the north, in an area known as Dutch Kills, nearly a dozen hotels are rising - and condos are expected to follow if proposed rezoning is implemented. And to the south, in Court Square, with the 50-story Citicorp building as its landmark, construction dots the industrial landscape.

Apart from the sprouting condos, there's not much these areas have to offer. But this summer, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) will begin two major projects: a $40 million makeover of the Queens Plaza area - which will make the traffic-choked streets more pedestrian- and biker-friendly, along with the creation of a 1½-acre park - and a $15 million facelift (think landscaped medians) on Jackson Avenue, LIC's main artery.

Construction is expected to last up to two years, according to the NYCEDC's Yonit Golub. If all goes according to plan, the area could become a viable neighborhood, with residences, offices, cultural institutions and industrial buildings that are home to lumber companies and rubber factories coexisting side by side. But for now, buying into inland LIC takes some nerve and foresight.


LONG SHOT: LONG ISLAND CITY SPRAWLS BEYOND THE WATERFRONT

"I wanted to be a pioneer and get there early," says Anubhav Richards, a resident in the Queens Plaza condo building, the area's first residential development, which opened in 2006.

His building is located directly north of the elevated Queensboro Plaza subway station. There's no grocery store in sight; a strip club is just down the block.


Makes you want to move there right away, doesn't it? Reconstruction of Queens Plaza? Fun, fun, fun.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Prime location"
for a tourist to bunk,
unless he's here for a local
funky LIC sex junket.

Talk to your local "Bloods" rep
who's running the "girls" around Queens Plaza!

Anonymous said...

Yeah!!! Love the condos!!! Better then crack houses and strip clubs anyday.

Anonymous said...

In LIC, you get the worst of both worlds...strip clubs, crackhouses AND condos!

Jane Doo said...

i'd rather have the character of crackhouses and strip clubs than turn lic into the half-sister of downtown brooklyn. it's bad enough astoria is being molded into the new park slope. HELlOO if i wanted to live in either of those neighborhoods i wouldn't be in queens.

Anonymous said...

it's bad enough astoria is being molded into the new park slope.


Who are you, a real estate broker? Astoria is becoming, as my Brooklyn friends called it in the 70s, Park Slop.

In other words, Elmhurst.

Viva La Astoria!!

Anonymous said...

did these condos even get the Csof O ?
one "development" on top of astoria park can't even get his done as there wasn't enough takers for the condos.....some are in and stuck there and he can't even get rentals as there's no CofO..
section 8 same as manhattan ?
LMAO.

Anonymous said...

Careful, dont let the kiddies at astorians.com hear you. Now that the moderator has driven all adults from the playground, all they want to talk about is the latest Brazilian restaurant, how much they hate their boss, want a bookstore, blah blah blah over and over again.

One of their converstions are the Pistilli properties - the same things over and over again. That is one group that needs a hose of cold water.

Its painful watching a community wake up to what is happening when its too late.

zemilideias said...

whadya mean, diss on Pistilli? His place looks great. It looks just like the Krogers Grocery Store in Flint Hills, Michigan. Every neighborhood should have one. In fact, don't you think Astoria would become park slope if it had more Pistilli stuff? Such good taste...such nice fountains and green and purple flashing lights in the lobby...such awesome Italianate ironwork just off the junk from China. Yeah. Junk.

Anonymous said...

I wonder what people will think when they finally move into those buildings hugging the Queensboro Bridge and realize they can't get a good night's sleep because of the constant trains and cars. Do they think they will all go away when the city spends $40,000.000 of our taxes to plant trees that will unfortunately die in a year due to all of the pollution there?

I know someone that fell for the con game and bought an apartment across from the Met Life buildings who lost their view in a year due to another ridiculous looking prefab crap building (with concierge, of course) across the street from it and now can't sell the thing. It's been up for sale for over a year. No offers. Some revitalization plan we have here Mayor Bloomberg and Helen Marshall.

We can thank the geniuses in our city government who have absolutely no foresight in correct city planning that only think about handing over yet another one of our neighborhoods to the millionaire real estate lobbyists who helped put them in office.

Let's displace a few more million middle class from NYC, why don't we. In 5 years, it will be nothing but a Disneyland for the Euro rich and their illegal immigrant class of servants.