Local residents are pushing to landmark the former Elks Lodge building on 44th Drive, citing the property as one of the few remaining vestiges of Long Island City's history in the rapidly developing neighborhood.
Supporters fear the century-old building, located at 21-42 44th Dr., will soon be torn down or turned into luxury housing after a partial demolition permit was filed for the site in December, Department of Buildings records show.
At the time of the filing, Adam Westreich of the development group Alwest Equities told local news site LIC Post that the company was working with Planet Partners to demolish the lodge and construct an eight-story condo building there and on the lot next door.
Westreich declined to comment on those plans when reached Friday, but City records show the building was sold in February to a company called 44th Drive Owner LLC; attempts to reach this entity for comment were not immediately successful.
While plans for the site remain murky, local groups are hoping to garner support to preserve the three-story site, which sports an ornately detailed facade — including an Elk's head carved into its exterior molding.
Here is the petition.
17 comments:
For 40 years every building has been looked at not for the benefit of the community, but for developers. They are not building a new community, they are creating investment opportunities for campaign donors as they are displacing a community.
Wait till the first extended 3rd world family moves into the towers and starts their Queens Magic on the horrified hipshits with a family soiree in one of the community rooms.
Same old story.
An old dump. An eyesore.
Someone moves in to build something, now its a Landmark!
A tower will be built in its place.
Cue the wailing over 'affordable housing' and 'poor doors'.
There won't be any 3rd world people living in this glass and steel monument to lack of taste.
It's called 'THE FUTURE'!
Clueless comment from "same old story" Anon. Go back to your real estate office.
what is really displacing people are tax havens for cheap limp dick and dry roast beef misers to hoard their obese wealth. How many more skylines are they going to build there including downtown brooklyn and park slope? And what makes these cretins who are obviously jealous of Dubai and the imbeciles rubber stamping this in the DOB, approved by officials in city hall wearing blinders and on angel dust think that the ground below it is going to handle it.
Props for the usage of hipshit, let's get this term rolling.
Frankly the third world families have nothing on the obnoxious millenial gilded age lifestyles of the pube faced and cat eared donning hipshits.
'same old story' - the building is in good condition and was up until recently a union office.
That said, this building stands absolutely no chance of being preserved. I'd love to see it saved, but I'm a realist. The developers paid millions for this thing and they're not going to save it just because a few people sign a petition. The only way to save it would require someone else buys it. And guess what? The developer isn't selling. If they were, they'd demand double what they paid.
The time to save this building was years ago.
I humbly suggestion preservationists find another building, pool together funds, and save something that way.
misers hoarding their wealth wouldn't pay for a skyscraper.
DOB officials don't wear blinders. They are paid off.
I saw a meme: 'Hipsters are what happen when you tell every child they are special"
where is Jimmy Van Bremer on this -- this is his territory -
My god, you nitwits still arguing about these things. Its over Johnny, been over for 25 years now. Move out or wither and die.
SAVE THE PEPSI SIGN!
And imagining it was landmarked, the main questions are left unanswered.
How do I pay for sustaining this giant monument of yesteryear.
How do I generate enough money to pay the taxes now that the ability to make changes has been greatly limited?
What do I do now that I am losing money?
Do you realize that it takes approximately $200,000 to $500,000 just to sustain a building of this magnitude?
Taxes, water, sewer, heat, electricity, city inspectors, insurance,, maintenance, sidewalk sweeping, snow shoveling security, et cetera...
How do you generate that kind of cash?
You know it is very expensive and tough when the union walks away, but, I guess it will create a bunch of jobs.
Again, imagine it were to be landmarked, the owner can no longer sustain it, walks away, It is abandoned, deteriorated, and foreclosed upon. A greater eyesore that the community cries do something.
You people love to demand how others run their affairs, yet it seems you have no grasp whatsoever, otherwise you would have purchased it yourselves and created another cultural center in honor of old crap...
Well Sarc, it's funny how this is not a topic of discussion in landmarked areas of Manhattan. If a not for profit buys it, there are no taxes. If it is adaptavely reused for apartments, then the income generated pays for all that.
Once again, thousands upon thousands of owners of landmarked buildings have figured out how to renovate and reuse them in order to make a profit. So why wouldn't this one be able to?
This would be perfect for affordable housing, which LIC desperately needs.
I doubt the union hall 'walked away' - they either cashed in big or lost their lease due to rent hikes or the new owners simply refusing to provide one.
JVB doesn't give a damn about preserving anything. He wants to get as much cash in his pockets from selling out LIC as he can, so he can move on to mayor or boro president when his term limits are up. Around that time will be when LIC really starts to become a seriously congested mess covered in high rises on every street.
spy
How do I pay for sustaining this giant monument of yesteryear. How do I generate enough money to pay the taxes now that the ability to make changes has been greatly limited? What do I do now that I am losing money?
SPY
ASK THE OWNERS OF THOUSANDS OF LANDMARK BUILDINGS. NO COMMUNITY, ONCE LANDMARKED, EVER ASKED TO GIVE UP THE DESIGNATION.
spy
Do you realize that it takes approximately $200,000 to $500,000 just to sustain a building of this magnitude? Taxes, water, sewer, heat, electricity, city inspectors, insurance,, maintenance, sidewalk sweeping, snow shoveling security, et cetera... How do you generate that kind of cash?
SPY
RENT THE SPACE. HELL THE APARTMENTS IN THAT BUILDING CAN EACH GO FOR $30 – 40 THOUSAND. WEDDING RECEPTIONS, PUBLIC EVENTS, A MUSUEM, WELL YOU GET THE PICTURE
spy
You know it is very expensive and tough when the union walks away, but, I guess it will create a bunch of jobs.
SPY
THERE IS A POINT SOMEWHERE IN THERE THAT WE ARE MISSING.
spy
Again, imagine it were to be landmarked, the owner can no longer sustain it, walks away, It is abandoned, deteriorated, and foreclosed upon. A greater eyesore that the community cries do something.
SPY
IMAGINE YET ANOTHER BANAL SOULESS BLOCKBUSTER WITH ALL THE CHARM OF A SOVIET BLOCK OF FLATS THAT EARNS SOMEONE LOTS OF MONEY. NOW IMAGINE A COMMUNITY CENTER.
spy
You people love to demand how others run their affairs, yet it seems you have no grasp whatsoever, otherwise you would have purchased it yourselves and created another cultural center in honor of old crap...
SPY
WHY DO REAL ESTATE PEOPLE SOUND SO, WELL, LIKE IGNORANT USED CAR SALESMEN?
Just call Jimmy Van Bramer.
He's been bending over backwards for developers in LIC.
Maybe he can help protect this historic building.
Yes, when pigs can fly!
BTW...
Hello Councilman Jimmy. Glad to hear from me again?
Odd that dozens of people gather together to talk about the endangered future of the arts and the endangered future of LIC that no media outlet has covered it, nor has any media outlet sounded out the elected or government officials about this.
No wonder the Democratic Party is in trouble.
Ignoring this is something that Hillary would do as she rubs shoulders with technocrats and Wall Street.
So many people who want to do so many things with other people's property. It's a shame they have to live in America.
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