Here's the latest article about how LIC is "up and coming"

From the Daily News:

A Queens neighborhood that went from sprawling warehouses and manufacturing plants to luxury towers is now undergoing its latest transformation: as a haven for tourists.

Hotel developers are capitalizing on the area’s proximity to Manhattan — and lower nightly rates — to lure visitors to chic lodges that fight to outdo each others.

And many residents, who are moving in as high-rises continue to sprout up on the waterfront, are embracing the boom.

And then the article goes on to quote "residents" such as a spokesman for the city’s tourism agency, NYC & Co., the director of the Queens Tourism Council, and James the director of the tourism and hospitality program at LaGuardia Community College.

My favorite comment came from RexLIC, "I'm surprised it took until Thursday for the weekly "LIC is booming" article."

Are the tourists really spending money outside of their hotels in LIC? Especially the ones along Vernon Blvd across the street from a power plant?

My favorite "civic leader" George Stamatiades had this to say: “It’s a positive influx of development,” he said of the burgeoning local industry, though he complained that some developers are “nothing but bums.”

CUNY wants to enter hotel business

From Crains:

The City University of New York has retained Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to help the school determine if it should proceed with a plan to build a hotel in Long Island City, Queens in order to expand its hospitality program.

The school said the assessment should be completed some time this fall. In January, CUNY began looking for a consultant to help the school evaluate a 91,000-square-foot lot it owns at 28-02 Skillman Ave. for potential hotel use. The property is part of CUNY's LaGuardia Community College campus. Cushman & Wakefield is working with a number of other CUNY colleges that offer hospitality and tourism programs, including New York City College of Technology and Kingsborough Community College, to evaluate the development project.

The lot under evaluation is bounded by Skillman Avenue to the north, 29th Street to the east, 47th Avenue to the south and 28th Street to the west. It has been owned by CUNY since LaGuardia Community College was founded in 1971 and is ripe for development. The property is currently zoned for up to a 600,000-square-foot development, but the school said it does not plan to build to the maximum size. If built, the hotel will be linked to a new hospitality program at LaGuardia.

Legionnaire's disease at LaGuardia CC

From NBC:

Two employees at LaGuardia Community College in Queens have contracted Legionnaires' disease as a result of legionella bacteria in the hot water system, health officials say.

The legionella exists in Building C at the school in Long Island City. Staff members learned in a school email Wednesday that two employees there have contracted Legionnaires in the past year.

The plan is to clean and chlorinate the hot water system, while the building remains open for business. CUNY says hospitals and other buildings have done that many times.

Everyone wants to get into the act

From Crains:

The City University of New York is planning to build a hotel in Long Island City, Queens, to enhance its schools' hospitality programs.

CUNY is looking for a hospitality consultant to evaluate a 91,000-square-foot lot it owns at 28-02 Skillman Ave. which is part of its LaGuardia Community College campus, for potential hotel use. The selected consultant will help CUNY analyze the feasibility of a hotel project in light of the current commercial real estate market, review zoning of the site and explore financing options for such a project. The consultant would also ultimately assist CUNY with preparing a request for proposal seeking a developer/hotel operator to partner with and build the project.

“We realized we have a number of programs in the hospitality area and when we explored expanding these programs, one good element is to have your own hotel where students can train,” said Iris Weinshall, CUNY vice chairman responsible for facilities and real estate planning and development. “We hope to hear back from folks, soon, and are very excited about moving forward with this project.”

The parcel of land, bounded by Skillman Avenue to the north, 29th Street to the east, 47th Avenue to the south and 28th Street to the west, is zoned for up to a 600,000-square-foot development. That means there would be no need for the school to go through the lengthy city approval process to obtain a zoning change on the site, according to Ms. Weinshall, who added that CUNY does not plan to build a hotel that large.

Good luck with that

From the Daily News:

A Queens professor hopes his students can help solve a riddle this summer that has confounded the borough's tourism experts for decades.

James Giordano will challenge his marketing class at LaGuardia Community College to devise plans to convince tourists who visit New York City to spend at least one day of their stay in Queens.

Giordano will forward the ideas to the Queens Economic Development Corp., which is slated to kick off its "75 Days of Summer" campaign today with help from Giordano's students.

Students will also visit area hotels and hot spots, hoping to convince them to offer discounts that could attract even more tourists.

Organizers are betting the students will offer fresh perspectives on pitching the borough to visitors through social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Stoddart said the borough will also re-launch the Queens Tourism Council, a collective of cultural groups and sites that fell inactive in recent years.

It's an effort to capitalize on droves of tourists who fly into Queens airports and stay at local hotels but spend most of their time and money in Manhattan.

Queens is where people live, not a place for outsiders to come to gawk. It's about time the city understood that and provided for the taxpayers instead of focusing on tourists all the time.

Parking woes in LIC, Flushing

From NY1:

Downtown Flushing is expected to undergo some major changes in the coming years, but not everyone is on board with the plan to redevelop the area.

It doesn't matter what YOU want, only what the developer wants. See here from the Daily News:

Developers of the project - which would also include office space and a YMCA - said their plan calls for a 1,600-space parking garage.

That won't cut it, though, said Terence Park, leader of the group Political Coalition of Flushing.

"It's already so congested," Park said, adding that the new development will mean even more people vying for spots on the block bounded by 37th and 38th Aves. and 138th and Union Sts.

"I believe we need at least 2,000 parking spaces to accommodate housing and Flushing Commons," Park said.

Chuck Apelian, vice chairman of Community Board 7, agreed.

The initial plan in 2005 called for the site to include 2,000 parking spaces.

"I think we have to stick to the original agreement and I see no reason to reduce the parking," Apelian said, adding that the new plan for 1,600 spaces was "unilaterally decided by the developers."

Let's all watch Chuck stick to his guns like he did with Willets Point...

From the Daily News:

Long Island City buzzes where Van Dam St. traffic grinds into Thomson Ave. near LaGuardia Community College, the National Hockey League-sized City Ice Pavilion and a Manhattan-convenient subway stop.

But every day, only lucky motorists manage to find parking along those blocks - a situation that torments drivers and bedevils local stores and restaurants.

The problem begins with the prevalence of local education draws like DeVry and LaGuardia Community College, a Days Inn hotel and a center for playing laser tag and paintball.

Also, many commuters from across Queens seek parking spaces before hopping onto nearby subway lines for the ride into Manhattan.

Those factors - plus the closing of a municipal lot at Jackson Ave. and Queens Blvd. a few years ago - compound parking woes.

Motorists battle even to pay steep fees at lots so overwhelmed that they turn away dozens of irritated potential patrons every day.

Students say they arrive in the area a few hours early just to ensure a space. If they show up later, they risk missing classes while repeatedly circling the blocks.

I thought if you included less parking in developments, then there would be more space because everyone would ride their bikes. Whoops...

Another great moment in Queens preservation

From ArchiTakes:

The City University of New York has demolished a 1914 garage on its LaGuardia Community College campus that was part of the historic Loose-Wiles Sunshine Biscuit plant in Long Island City. The building had been protected by its formal status as “eligible” for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places until the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) issued a Letter of Resolution allowing its demolition in January. The ground on which the building stood will be paved for parking.

Restoring a building so pre-loaded with the green architecture virtues of flexibility and natural light, and tapping its immense embodied energy would have been a real coup for the sustainability on which CUNY congratulates itself. It would also have been the only responsible solution from a historic preservation standpoint. What’s lost in historical authenticity and identity of place is beyond replacement by new construction of any cost. When NYU outraged preservationists by demolishing Greenwich Village’s Poe House and most of the Provincetown Playhouse building, at least it was a matter of private versus public interest. CUNY is a public university system with 21 campuses and nearly 300 buildings, many of them architecturally or historically significant. How many of these will fall in the path of its mission?

CUNY incubator unpopular

A newly constructed incubator facility in Queens that provides cheap rents to fledgling design businesses is struggling to fill its units. The $6 million, 35,000-square-foot development run by CUNY's LaGuardia College can't seem to fill its six remaining units, despite its rents being as low as $2.50 to $3 per square foot and its location being close to a large community of designers. Amenities include free internet hookups, discounted phone service and courses on design and small business management. Lack of demand has been blamed on its remote Long Island City location.

Queens design incubator a hard sell

So why not put your dorms here, CUNY?