I've been enjoying Ye Olde Queens Crap blog for some time now. I've been a Queens homeowner and resident for 17 years on 30th Rd, and that still makes me a "new guy" on this block!
I'm writing you regarding a particularly polished turd that just went up here. While it is well....crappy, that's not really the worst of it. If I just had to look at it, and accept it...well that's not too bad. But sadly that isn't the case. These folks have installed an enormous HVAC system on the roof that is bombarding an entire block with a low frequency droning sound - 24 hours a day!
So, we've reached out to them (this neighborhood is still local enough that through mutual friends I was able to contact them directly) - they were very nice - but ultimately completely dismissive towards us.
I know ZERO about posting something on a blog or anything like that. Might you be interested in helping? I mean this piece of junk deserves a spot on Queens Crap if only for its transparent co-opting of the Welling Court Mural Project - but then to shrug off the complaints of the neighborhood (including my neighbor who has been here since 1952!!) So much more to tell, but I won't waste any more of your time (unless you ask).
How do you spell dreck? This website will tell you."
- Anonymous
"P.S. They are spending far more on the appliances for their outdoor rooftop kitchen than whatever the cost may be of a properly designed noise enclosure.
Thanks for taking the time to read this!"
12 comments:
Graffiti House. I guess this is suppose to be some version of 5 pointz?
I suggest if they don't cut the noise down, add to the proclaimed aesthetics of the building by tagging it yourself or with eggs and shit.
Seven floors, all decorated with graffiti. I was thinking $3,000 a month was exorbitant, but then I saw the "Push Button Flush toilet" and "Fully Recessed Medicine Cabinet," and I was sold. My medicine cabinet is only partially recessed.
Also, I have seen Astoria's "idyllic tree-lined streets." There are about a dozen of them.
Yea, they are big on 'Street Art' in Astoria - something the local talent shares with Bronx where the same artists make tributes to dead drug dealers and the like.
Its lipstick on a pig. Gimmicks and cheap appointments across the board here.
Cages look like solid places to put your junk. Not.
17 bike racks. You will need a bike since you have to peddle a good 10 minutes to get anywhere worth going. Lots of fun in rain and winter when you are still stuck here and hit 40.
So much more to tell, but I won't waste any more of your time (unless you ask).
go ahead, waste our time - lets hear it.
They should have kept the real 5 Pointz.
Dozens of tour buses brought money into the area.
Local restaurants benefited.
Nobody goes to PS 1 ......only to their summer beer blasts.
Mediocre art , at best.
No shopping for anything outside of a bodega for blocks. You can share the laundromat with the projects. And, also, the Latin Kings are big in the area so watch your back every time you walk into the building.
Knowing the Greek landlords in Astoria, as soon as the snowflakes move in the 'amenities' will disappear or not be repaired but the rent will stay the same so 2 or 3 people will live in a two room box soon to be extended families of 6+ with several sharing the rent and kids doing their version of graffiti in the halls.
Instant slum.
Geezus. I grew up in Astoria, and you couldn't pay anyone that wasn't from the Astoria Projects to go down that way. Maybe when you were in high school you had the balls to venture to Fishbein's to buy beer while you were still (way) underage. Now the special snowflakes will pay big bucks for a shoddily constructed ivory tower...and it's still mere steps from the pjs.
Well you can thank Costa for this one where there is no infrastructure, only a come-on to the developer's shill Give Me Astoria to lure the gullible newbie.
Yet another reason to avoid HVAC and stick to superior radiators. (The website seems to indicate there's only radiant heat in the bathrooms, so that'll be the only place you'll be comfortable.)
Who would pay through the nose to live in an apartment right underneath all that humming?
How could anyone enjoy that rooftop when they'll be right next to said HVAC exhausts?
The apartments have their own heat/AC. That massive installation is actually just to ventilate the common areas/halls. That's why it runs 24 hours a day. It's massively oversized for the job it needs to do. It's sad, silly, and solvable. This is a classic "kill the messenger" scenario. You'd think that being ticked at the architects and the HVAC designers would be an appropriate response, but no. It's the schmucks who live in the line of fire of a massive air horn and attendant machinery. So much easier to blame the messenger. It really seemed that this could be one of those rare scenarios where solutions are reached through cooperation and face to face contact. Some optimist that sits way back in my mind still thinks so.
P.S. I had no idea this would even be a post! I just thought I was sending an email, but I guess it's a pretty good read. Thanks for the kind words, and taking the time.
> It's massively oversized for the job it needs to do.
That's unusual, usually developers put in machinery that's insufficient for the job at hand, not too big.
I had the same problem a few years back with a roof-top AC unit. I called the EPA and an inspector actually came out and measured the decibel level, confirming it was too high. It wasn't instant, but within six weeks or so the noisy unit was replaced with a new and quiet one.
It's worth a try.
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