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| LIC Post |
The City Council passed a bill Thursday that will require public hearings before some public art projects can be installed.
The legislation was introduced by Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer earlier this year after outcry over a plan to erect a pink sculpture on Jackson Avenue and 43rd Avenue under the Department of Cultural Affair's Percent for Art program.
Some criticized the piece and its $515,000 price tag, spurring the councilman to draft a bill that would require plans for Percent for Art pieces be presented at a public hearing or community board meeting so residents can weigh in.
The guidelines for the program already require projects to be presented to local community boards before they're installed, according to a DCA spokesman.
But Van Bramer's bill legally mandates the public hearings, requires the city to notify the public in advance about it's plans and advertise public meetings at least two weeks before they take place.
28 comments:
That thing is so gross looking. Art my ass!
So they are wasting $515,000 on that nonsense? Why don't they put that money toward resurfacing the streets in the area which are in terrible shape.
But the real question left unanswered by this article is whether or not this awful eyesore is going to happen and if this bill only applies to future awful eyesores.
Street paving is just the tip of the iceberg unfortunately.
How about more first responders to match the huge increases in population?
This is some scary stuff: http://ltvsquad.com/2015/05/18/reopen-closed-lic-williamsburg-fire-houses/
Half the streets between court square and queens plaza have big residential developments already in construction. Meanwhile, there are no planned schools, no plans for more cops/firefighters/EMTs, and streets that haven't been repaved in decades (so the little help that there is can't get there quickly).
But hey let's give them a fucking bubble gum statue instead.
Van Bramers' cute new law is a nice idea but it does nothing to stop that pink piece of shit from being installed and the money being used elsewhere.
That's a lot of money. They could have used that to restore the Civic Virtue statue.
Just think of that money for the Steinway Mansion and think of the elected officials in that part of Queens doing little for the people.
"Just think of that money for the Steinway Mansion and think of the elected officials in that part of Queens doing little for the people."
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The piece of pink art could have been displayed on the grounds of the Steinway Mansion, in the SMAD: the Steinway Mansion Arts District...IF those in control thought out of the box.
You can lead the horses to the water, but you cant make them drink.
Change the color to lavender and councilman Jimmy will love it.
Van Bramer was instrumental in the destruction of a world class tourist attraction that brought money into LIC.
That was 5 Pointz. 10 bus loads of visitors on a summer weekend was not unusual. How much money did these visitors spend in local restaurants, etc?
How was he instrumental?
He pocketed $10,500 from the Wolkoff family, who owned the site. That , chump change, enriched his re-election campaign account.
Then he voted for a variance which allows two 40 story towers, instead of 20 story, to be built there.
He even refused to recuse himself from voting.
Enjoy, stinky pinky Jimmy..
Van Bramer is a crooked self serving , whining SOB!
Look out! He's got his eye on Gracie Mansion.
More useless that that piece of art-shit is councilman Van Bramer, himself!
Yeah, what is it costing taxpayers to keep this shady, screamer in the city council? Jimmy hasn't really done squat for his district.
When the first people die in a high rise fire because LIC has only one engine truck, the blood of the dead will be in Van Bramer and DeBlasios hands.
I also can't wait for the unpaved streets to be filled with school buses hauling kids to Jamaica because there won't be enough schools in LIC to handle all the kids these 20-30 somethings moving in.
All of this just so they can be paid off a few thousand bucks by Big Real Estate. "Sure build whatever you want with no infrastructure or first responder increases'.
These guys are so blinded by money they just plain don't give a fuck who lives or dies, or what quality of life there will be assuming no disasters. No one - not even people who love art - want this piece of shit.
Is this any worse than the cracked chunks of sidewalk that sticks up near the queens side of the 59th at bridge that turns out to be actually an "art piece" ? It looks like something a drunk road crew left behind.
Yes, Anonymous, $515,000 could have been used to restore 'Triumph Of Civic Virtue,' except it has already been cleaned, restored and conserved in 2013---only after it was brashly evicted from Kew Gardens Plaza (without Community Board 9 due process, public approval or a customary nod in advance to the Richmond Hill Historical Society), and displaced to Green-Wood Cemetery (with great speed and urgency), where it remains on temporary loan.
Since an initial meeting that was held on April 8, 2014 at Borough Hall, I am still waiting for calls back from Presient Melinda Katz's Director of Community Board, Barry Grodenchik and Cultural Affairs Director, Nayelli Turrent, as well as a call back from Community Liaison Rep. Andres Villa, of Jimmy Van Bramer's office (whom I recently contacted).
In any case, the statue must be returned to the now blighted Kew Gardens Plaza, with the same speed and efficiency with which it was hastily (and unlawfully) removed--only with this final and binding return, the statue should be greeted by a fully restored, preserved and conserved fountain base, for the water works to be finally turned on again, as a testament to Borough Hall's commitment to likewise 'turn on' a new era of public openness and transparency that I've heard President Katz speak so eloquently about, before CB 9's full board members, on Tuesday, June 10, 2014. Words not followed by any fair and reasonable actions whatsoever.
Alas, if the purported new breed of Borough Hall leadership can't even handle a relatively easy project like this (with a marginal budged of under $200,000, no less--that, incidentally wouldn't have been necessary at all, but for the fact that former BP Helen Marshall ordered Civic Virtue's costly, unnecessary, unjustified removal (where an on site cleaning for $30,000 would have sufficed), that ended up completely betraying public trust (as she squandered taxpayer funded resources with impunity), then I can't fathom how this administration will ever be able to meet the pricier demands of urgency that continue to languish in their wake.
Take care of the relatively small (and publicly ordered) matters first, before attempting anything grander in scale, in order to endeavor to restore civic faith regarding public works and delayed, denied service. To take any less action would be to reject public freedom and democracy itself!
The scammer who made this piece of crap "art" ruined it for all the other artistes-scammers with their crappy installations done on the taxpayers dime. Welfare for wacked out artistes. He must be on drugs to come up with such $515,000 crap.
Look Richard. IF the money was there to restore Civic Virtue, the WILL was not. Why? Because the feminists got hold of Helen Marshall and read her the riot act: the male figure of Virtue was stepping on female heads.
No, no, we can't allocate funds for sexism they maintained. Women are not subservient to men. Women are men's equals...
...just like that female copy who RAN AWAY from the guy with the hammer and her male partner had to save her.
They get rid of Civic Virtue while paying a half a million dollars for that monstrosity?
Yes, also get rid of the RKO Keith's Flushing theater and pump well over six million dollars into that joke called Theater In The Park.
NYC could have bought the magnificent Keith's in 1986 for a mere three and a half million dollars. Instead they dumped truckloads of cash down that money pit now known as Theater in The Dark.
It was a leftover theater in the round from the 1964 World's Fair built on temporary pilings located in the middle of nowhere.
Take a lesson. The city only has money for projects that get awarded to politically connected developers, contractors and artists, etc.
Welcome to the big rotten apple!
Theater in the Park.
I knew someone who took dance lessons there in the lobby last Fall. $15 a pop. The manager emailed the enrolees every week begging them not to forget to attend so they could charge the fee.
To georgetheatheist: Helen Marshall is no longer in a position of dysfunctional, betraying public trust and power---the new purported sheriff in town (and custodian of public trust) is Melinda Katz.
And if she, as the third consecutive female borough president ever intends to restore urgently needed public trust and integrity in Queens County, then she and her administration have a small window of leadership opportunity to actually start leading by honest, ethical leadership that not only leads by immediate example (still not so immediate, I'm afraid), but attentively listens to and complies with the public, taxpaying wishes of her vocal constituents, instead of betraying them with a vengeance (like Donald Manes, Claire Schulman and Helen Marshall).
It is no longer satisfactory and acceptable to delay and deny justice, make back room deals and appointments with other shady and unclean public deal makers and schemers, and impose personal beliefs (that are knowingly false) upon all public art lovers like me and the community at large, by continuing to ignore public referendum, community board due process and following the rules of society, instead of ignoring them altogether, as they exalt themselves into unlawful, unauthorized Neo-Fascism (which is the current edict throughout City Hall, as well as Albany's corrupt Capital, Assembly, Senate and Legislature (which continues to destroy legitimate free trade and commerce).
As I previously lamented, it always starts with a relatively small matter that former rights and freedoms begin to involuntarily disappear from the political terrain, then gradually snowballs to other non-negotiable rights.
We, The People are not asking permission from Borough Hall to return 'Triumph Of Civic Virtue'---we are demanding that the statue be returned back to a working fountain base, which in turn, will help to reinforce public transparency and openness by publicly revealing the many agencies that formerly met in secrecy with Helen Marshal to present day, and invite Civic Virtue Task Force members to continue with meetings that have been stalled since our initial, April 8, 2014 Borough Hall meeting with Director of Community Boards, Barry Grodenchik, and Cultural Affairs Director Nayelli Turrent.
Because that is how honest, ethical democracy should always work (and always for and by the people), and not selectively and occasionally.
The money is within easy reach to bring Civic Virtue back to Queens Boulevard.
But, so far the very symbolic virtue for which the statue itself has always represented (as well as its allegorical sea sirens that are ominously adorned around the statue's bedrock base), are still no persuasive match for the recalcitrant, secretive, evasive corridors of the purportedly new Borough Hall leadership, that still remains as transparent and barricading as sheet rock.
Not too long ago, Civic Virtue outlasted (and outwitted) former Congressman Anthony Weiner, when he resigned in disgrace in early 2011.
Thus, the peculiar and puzzling fact that our governing bodies are still in suspended animation over returning this relevant monument to a working fountain of restorative life and vibrancy, is so much more telling (and profoundly troubling), about how utterly false, fake and failed the leadership still continues to be---all from the inside!
Move it next to borough hall where Civic Virtue once was.
For those members of the Crapper's readership who just came in, you can see the actual removal of Civic Virtue here. Exclusive.
Civic Virtue . . Steinway Mansion . . . pink statues.
Queens: the World's Burro.
georgetheatheist: Especially the speed and urgency with which Civic Virtue was evicted, only weeks after Hurricane Sandy, like it was radioactive (not to mention the hidden taxpayer expense that was never properly authorized through any and all due process)!
And all because of the staggering arrogance and ignorance of Helen Marshall (and her false belief system that was forcefully imposed on her hijacked, burdened, ever angry constituents), that the statue itself was a work of misogyny and sexism (which it never was), and catered to a radical, minority group of ignorant women (none of whom have any graduate credentials in art and/or art history), which continued to maintain an unbelievable schedule of neglect since the dark days of never ending corruption and graft of the Donald Manes Empire of total collapse and anarchy (where sadly and tragically, not much has changed, to date).
But, what truly angers me and my art loving followers on a civic mission (all of whom continue to demand honest, ethical answers regarding why there is still a pointless delay in Civic Virtue's return from Green-Wood Cemetery, where it is still on temporary loan), is how anyone from Borough Hall can even remotely claim (with a straight face, no less), that senseless delays and deniability continue to be used as a substitute for public integrity, openness and transparency. Where? How?
In the end, the battle for Civic Virtue's return continues. But, why there still exists a battle at all (or ever), in the wake of new leadership that purports to listen to its taxpaying constituents, is still the greatest mystery (or dupe), throughout the annals of battlefield history of Queens County---the named borough of graveyards--where actual public art is now ironically banished to the graveyards of other boroughs that don't even share this unique Queens distinction, namely Brooklyn!
Honestly, I could not even endeavor to make this stuff up, folks!
Has anyone done any digging to find out what inside connections this artist had to get the city to give him a half million dollars for what looks like a piece of stretched out bubblegum?
He didn't get the contact based on artistic merit, that much is blindingly obvious.
I mentioned before how that statue looks like if the ebola strain mutated into a hipster,like that doctor who brought that disease home and went out mingling.
The unfortunate thing about this ugly thing is that it's going to ruin it for legitimate artists and works to get funded and display, because any legitimate art is going to be vetted by committee, which is a form of censorship.
Which, as our local news media didn't noticed, is why Civic Virtue got hauled. Except it wasn't removed because of legislature. Which makes it illegal.
Great posts George and Richard.
Thank you, JQ. I have always maintained that the public good must ALWAYS outweigh the weight of private and POLITICAL gain (emphasis added).
But, so far I and the rest of Queens taxpaying residents are still waiting to see even a modicum of inclusionary activity at Borough Hall, that finally recognizes and reinforces honest, ethical leadership (that leads by example).
Despite Borough Hall's obvious 'Delay, Deny and Hope That You Die' credo from a recalcitrant and ineffective leadership (that has always been false, fake and failed, dating back to Donald Manes), all I can do is continue spreading the message---passionately and frequently---until tone deaf politicians get the message itself. And it's not only Borough Hall that is ignoring public referendum and accountability.
It's Councilman Elizabeth Crowley (an earlier supporter), Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (who, ironically chairs the arts committee in Queens---but that didn't stop his community liaison lackey, Andres Villa from nevertheless giving me the runaround for three weeks, that ended in absolute incompetence---just the way it started), and Karen Kowlowitz (who has allowed her own personal, knowingly false belief system about the statue's wrongly ascribed tag of misogyny and sexism to order her silence and complicity---despite that the statue is located in her jurisdictional district, where her constituents want the statue returned), and that's why Queens is a cultural wasteland of raw sewage---like this pink gob of sight pollution in LIC that blights the neighborhood---yet Civic Virtue is still rejected and banished from Kew Gardens Plaza!!
Any help and support from you, JQ, is always most welcome. Please locate us on the web at: civicvirtuetaskforce.org., or contact me directly. We need public outcry, because the lofty powers that be continue to retreat into more silence, delays and secretly negotiated plans with DCAS, the Public Design Commission and other agency parties that continue to ignore Community Board 9 due process (the CB 9 board had taken many previous votes to keep the statue, when it was still located in Kew Gardens, before its unauthorized eviction), and any other societal actions that engender law and order.
As for right now, it's Neo-Fascism and Neo-Bolshevism---and the public be damned!
This is rich! What did van Blowmore want the statue to be, purple? (I don't like the statue, either.)
It's disgraceful, not to mention how beyond reason (and sanity), that Queens politicians (all politicians, really), have betrayed public trust so egregiously.
Profligate, wanton waste abounds, and the city council itself has now seized all power and control to behave like a totalitarian monarchy, instead of a publicly vetted democracy that is by and for We, The People!
In the end, when all is said and done, these voracious, monstrously self-servicing actions betray all levels of purportedly honest, ethical leadership (that leads by example), as they continue to devalue honesty itself!
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