Tuesday, September 6, 2016

US Open closes Queens Museum

From the Daily News:

The Queens Museum is shutting its doors for the rest of the U.S. Open because of increased security for the popular tennis tournament, officials announced Friday.

The museum is located next to the sprawling USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

"Due to the heightened security for the tennis tournament, access to the Museum is affected," the museum wrote in a message on its website. "As such, we will be closed from Saturday, Sept. 3 until the September 11 conclusion of the tournament."

The Museum tweeted the news around 7:30 a.m.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nothing but BS!!! The Director, who commands a huge salary, should be fired. Why would they ignore the potential 500,000 tennis fans who might wander over to the museum as they have done every year? I don't believe this story about heightened security. The Mets were playing across the street from Citifield with no concerns at all.

(sarc) said...

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." Yogi Berra

It is always politics and money.

The New York City Police Department is looking for a larger budget...

Anonymous said...

The USTA needs the Museum's parking spaces!!

Gary W said...

I guess everyone who works there get's an extra week paid vacation

Anonymous said...

Queens is closed to culture anyway, if the Queens Museum can even pass for a cultural institution.
Eastern Queens is a cultural desert.
Western Queens isn't much better either, noting that P.S. One is third rate too.
Visit the Brooklyn Museum during the hiatus. Now, there's a first rate museum!
What Queens rates is mediocrity.
Take heart, though.
We are well known for our political corruption, from the community boards to our school districts to our council members, etc.
At least that's something, even if it's not to be proud of.

Anonymous said...

Ah but the City Field attendees are the common folk.
Who cares about their security.
Tennis is for the upscale. When their security is threatened, those folks from Connecticut, for example,
we are concerned and take measures.
Nobody misses the shit on display at the Queens Museum anyway.Only the NYC panorama is its chief asset.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm....wait until they build a professional hockey rink .
The Barclay Stadium team in Brooklyn are not going to play there anymore.

kapimap said...

As always, queens residents get shut out of FMCP because of the Open.
You cant even find free parking near the museum as the nypd uses the entire parking lot next to the museum.

Anonymous said...

WHERE IS OUR QUEENS BORO PRESIDENT IN ALL OF THIS? THIS IS NOT "GOOD FOR QUEENS, GOOD FOR QUEENS FAMILIES" AS SHE IS ALWAYS TOUTING.

Anonymous said...

**A prediction for the future: USTA will own 1/3 of the park by the year 2030. The unisphere, museaum, thater will be torn down to build more tennis courts, restaurants, luxury suites.The only thing that will be left untouched is the filthy fountain of the planets.

Anonymous said...

Closed at the last minute, exactly when there's hundreds of thousands of extra visitors in the park who could come to the museum?

Something's not right here.

Anonymous said...

Maybe they can send planes that way

Anonymous said...


Go back to the original lease agreement between the City and the USTA.

We fought back in the early 90's to make sure that the parking lots around the New York City Building remained dedicated to Queens Museum parking during "USTA Events".

Queens Museum Board Members fought hard for the right of access to the entire park for all people throughout the year.

It is sad to see that our efforts were defeated over time.

Anonymous said...

Flushing residents get the LGA flights directly over downtown Flushing, as the planes are diverted away from the USTA stadiums. We now have to put up with the deafening airplanes roars, courtesy of the contract Dinkins signed some 30 years ago giving FMCP land to the USTA (The contract states that NYC will pay a penalty fee to the USTA if airplanes fly over the stadiums during the games.)

Anonymous said...

What can you even do at the Queens Museum? The panorama is old and played out at this point...

Anonymous said...

Like Katz says
"We are the WORST boro"

Anonymous said...

"Due to the heightened security for the tennis tournament, access to the Museum is affected,"

Translation: FU Queens !!
All cops dispatched to serve the USTA and tourists taking the #7 train and hotel transportation from Manhattan. These people only spend their money inside the USTA grounds, the surrounding residents and businesses gain absolutely NOTHING and actually LOSE. The catering and food at the USTA even comes from New Jersey. This US open bullshit is perhaps the biggest on-going scam in NYC history !!

Anonymous said...

""Dinkins contract states that NYC will pay a penalty fee to the USTA if airplanes fly over the stadiums during the games""

How is that joke contract even enforceable ? NYC has no authority over the FAA or flight lanes & plans that are often altered due to wind direction, speed and air traffic.

Anonymous said...

Typical Queens Crap !

Anonymous said...

Come on, really!!!

It could be closed the rest of the year.

Two people would notice.

Anonymous said...

The park is up for sale, basically. The Mets, USTA and the aviation industry will consume it shortly. The neighborhoods around it will be pulverized and "reclaimed" with luxury micro-units. Can't wait to take the air train to the tennis center to watch two eastern European rich kids hit slug a radioactive looking nerf ball at one another. RIP Queens.

Anonymous said...

"How is that joke contract even enforceable"

Because it was agreed upon between the FAA and City. QB Prez Claire Schulman and Judge Garufis got scared of USTA leaving. Gaurafis wrote the contract with all kinds of perks - including use of the Flushing Climb and Localizer 31 during the open.

Source:
http://www.greenpointstar.com/view/full_story/26847239/article-Some--Clair-ification-on-airplane-noise

"Planes & plans that are often altered due to wind direction, speed and air traffic."

When wind is under 25 knots, which is basically every day, LaGuardia puts its arrivals into the wind. Never its departures. Never have. LGA can depart runway 13 over NE Queens under nearly ANY wind condition except for northwest, west and southwest. In that case they would switch to Localizer 31 or ILS 22 (left turn).

Here is the LGA SOP: http://nyartcc.org/wiki/index.php/LGA_SOP

Please cite your sources. Barfing up pseudo-technical gibberish creates the sort of confusion that the FAA and corrupt city officials hide behind.

Alan said...

There was a time...

https://www.facebook.com/AirshipAl/videos/10208931140849471/

JQ LLC said...

So it begins. The privatization of public parks under the rubric and cudgel of safety and security. Never mind that FMCP has had a rise in crime this year in addition to other city parks. But it's more frugal and prudent for our cops to act as chaperones for tourists and wealthy sports fans than to protect the public from this new generation of thugs and lowlifes from January to August and from September 12th to December. This is on a par with the Brooklyn/Potemkin-ization (Broopotemklyn?) of Riis Park, whose representatives and officials have recently admitted their priority for the park's upkeep is to cater and rely on the parasitic hipshit demographic.

To close this public service, in a way that resembles a lecherous teenager breaking up with someone without confrontation, for 8 entire days, makes one wonder why it exists in the first place and why they even bother having exhibitions at all.

And I would like to post the question of the utter lack of visibility of the reigning Queens Tribune person of the year Melinda Katz. This person supposedly loves Queens and it's parks more than anyone. Especially her obsession with that dilapidated and rusty structure she keeps ordering ugly painting and cheesy laptop lighting to pretty it up on occasion. I haven't seen anything involving the Queens Steamer since her concert series ended (or has it?).

These elected officials just want these areas to themselves and the frivolous spending masses. They are out of control and acting with utter impunity because they won with the assists of overwhelming cynicism and the ensuing low voter turnout. The only way this ends is when these soulless sociopaths lose when their seats are on the line next election day, if there is an insurrection akin to what happened in Romania in 1989, or more hopefully and in tune with a stabilized society, arrests and indictments of these scurrilous greedy officials from all the blatant patronage and theft of funds and services of the residential constituency.

Cue the Everly Brothers classic...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbU3zdAgiX8

Anonymous said...

And did you know who advocated for Dinkins' shitty USTA agreement?
Jeffrey Chester, of Davidoff (as in Sid) Melito and Partners....who was also the notorious criminal Tommy Huang's attorney.

Queens has a long history of being sold out and will continue to be.
Why? Because it's voter residents are so docile.
They fear upsetting the pols that they hired to represent them.

Wake up,you boobs!
You are the employer. Fire the bastards at the polls. Learn to do,your research before you hire your employee politicians.
YOU ARE TO BLAME.....NOBODY ELSE!

Jerry Rotondi said...

Did I hear somebody ask where Borough President Melinda Katz is?
On her developer pals' contributors' speed dial list!

Face it!She doesn't give a damn!

So, I urge you all to re-elect her or some other connected hack.
Gag! Barry Grodenchik comes to mind.