The LPC: As arbitrary and capricious as they wanna be

Hey Crapunzel,

You have probably heard that the Pepsi Cola sign in LIC has achieved Landmark status, but consider this from The NY Times story:

"The Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation reconstructed the sign in 1993, after heavy damage was inflicted by a winter storm."

I am certainly not an expert on NYC Landmarks but this appears to be a contradiction of a previous decision by the landmarks commission concerning Old St. James Church of Elmhurst.

If the Pepsi sign was totally reconstructed and granted Landmark status why hasn't St. James, whose appearance has hardly been altered since the 18th century, been treated in the same manner?

I guess the Manhattanites have decided that an ancient Elmhurst church isn't as cool as a 20th century LIC commercial sign. Go figure.

Adios,

philipe the confused

Yes, Philipe, I think you have nailed it.

Replacement of quaint Astoria homes will complete crap sandwich

From Curbed:

Two houses sitting side by side in Astoria will be demolished to make way for a five-story building with 23 apartments, YIMBY reports. The developer, George Elliott, recently filed plans with the Department of Buildings for the project at 30-70 38th Street. But first, it has to clear the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) hurdle.

It presents an interesting case in that the two houses that are to be replaced for this project fall under different zoning districts, even though they sit side by side.

The developers wants both sites to be under a higher density allowance, which would let him build up to 50 feet.

If everything goes according to plan, this T.F. Cusanelli and Filletti Architects-designed building will include amenities like bike storage, a parking garage, and a recreational room on the ground floor.

23 units to replace 2? Eh, that's ok, I'm sure the infrastructure can handle it (end sarcasm).

It takes more than a year to pave a parking lot

From the Queens Tribune:

After the parking garage behind Queens Borough Hall was demolished last summer, the project for a new parking lot was initially delayed and has now been put on the fast track.

Kenichi Wilson, chair of the Community Board 9 Transportation Committee, said the project went to bid on March 27 and will be closed in 30 days from that date. He added that the project is anticipated to break ground later this summer with an end date in summer of 2017.

Borough Hall’s parking garage being demolished last summer.

Some updates to the new 302 space parking lot is four spots for electric powered cars, LED lighting, a closed circuit camera system, and license plate readers. Wilson said the spaces for electric powered cars may increase depending on demand.

Piece of Van Wyck collapses into Flushing Meadows parking lot

From CBS 2:

Some Queens residents said a popular parking lot is turning into a danger zone, and they blamed falling debris.

As CBS2’s Elise Finch reported, the parking lot sits under the busy Van Wyck Expressway, and near a popular recreation center.

People who frequent the area said they want to see long overdue repairs finally happen.

An enormous slab of concrete and metal has been all anybody visiting the Flushing Meadows Aquatic Center could talk a about lately. It looks as though it fell from the underside of the Van Wyck Expressway into the parking lot — just steps from the swim center’s entrance.

“This has become dangerous,” said Loida Papandrea of Little Neck, Queens. “You can see. You can see all the breakage. This is not the first time cement has fallen down if you just look at all the cracks.”

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, NYC Parks Advocates President Geoffrey Croft got multiple calls from people who work and play in the area. They said a huge chunk of debris fell 30 feet, narrowly missing several cars.

The slab measures 2 1/2 feet by 2 1/2 feet, and likely weighs more than 200 pounds.

Twenty-four hours later, it was still there.

Judge Garaufis' house completely destroyed

"April 7th Update. ....... Here's the skinny on what's happening with the Judge's house. Looks like they're dismantling the whole thing as you can see by the latest pictures though we did meet Lisa, the daughter of the people who bought it. She's a real estate agent herself and seems very nice and though she said it was just a remodel she confirmed that it's going to be a brick building.

Now you see it - Now you Don't.
Update for April 11th, 2016. Well, as you can see, it's gone
Walked by it today to see that it's 30 seconds from completely vanished."

Let's recall that this was supposed to be an alteration, with only a small part of the building to be demolished, as per the ZD1 diagram.

Above from Bayside, Queens Facebook group