March 31, 2008
Everything Must Go at Flux Factory
Photo via Minicloud's Flickr.
As mentioned late last year, Flux Factory (LIC's beloved art space) is being forced out of their home under eminent domain to make way for the MTA's $6.3 billion East Side Access project. They report on their (hopefully temporary) end online:
Now it must all be destroyed. Our entire block will be razed by the pitiless bulldozers of the MTA. Everything Must Go. Alas, such is the fate of all terrestrial things. So, to mark the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, we’re inviting artists to transform all of Flux into one giant installation.The installation is an all-out apocalyptic party, and will include videos, sculptures, installations, performances, an ongoing garage sale, a Best-Of Flux Thursday Salon performance, an opera, a golden shrine...and, somehow, much more.
Head over to 38 43rd Street in Long Island City by the end of April, because next thing you know it'll be a LIRR station. And look for Flux to pop up somewhere else around town in the future.
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eminent domain sucks!
yes, a LIRR station in that location will surely not be better for the greater good than an art space. good thinking!
eminent domain = government sanctioned theft.
Very un-American
Why do we put up with this kind of crap?
Because art can go anywhere. A commuter rail station and a link to one of the busiest rail hubs in the country can not.
eminent domain = government sanctioned theft
Theft = owner gets nothing
eminent domain = owner gets market rate
"Very un-American"
Eminent domain is written into the Constitution. It existed before America, and it will exist after. Private property ownership has never been absolute.
"Why do we put up with this kind of crap?"
In this post-Kelo world, it seems like everyone hates eminent domain.. but in reality, I think most people support eminent domain as long as it's for a truly worthwhile public project, and as long as it's not their property being taken.
When the government uses their power of eminent domain to help private landowners expand, that is unfair (a la Atlantic Yards, Columbia, et cetera). When a warehouse is torn down to be replaced by a train station that will service thousands daily, that is progress. I'm sure FF will find another location.
This project is costing $6.3 billion. The $354 million for congestion pricing from the Fed is nothing.
I realize I'm a bit late to the party here, but there's a lot of incorrect information, and it sounds like no one is familiar with this part of queens or the plans for development.
First off, Gothamist is being a bit snarky about the LIRR station. There's been no definitive plans for the use of the Flux Factory Space by the MTA (http://www.queenscourier.com/articles/2008/01/10/news/regional/northwest_west/news04.txt) and there are already two LIRR stations in the neighborhood, at Hunter's Point in LIC, and at 61st Street-Woodside. To put that into context, the trip between those two stops on the 7 is about 15-20 minutes. Flux Factory is being town down so that the LIRR can have access to the East Side of Manhattan. This may be convenient for those at other LIRR stops further away from Manhattan, but it won't benefit anyone in the area.
Secondly, the area where Flux Factory is will not "service thousands daily" as one poster suggests. It's in the middle of an industrial stretch of warehouses and car dealerships, pretty much in the no-man's land between Sunnyside and Astoria, and a good 15 minute walk from either side of Queens Boulevard and Northern Boulevard. Considering that so many other parts of Queens go without any form of light rail transportation (Middle Village, Maspeth, Whitestone, etc), it seems unnecessary to tear down buildings and displace artists for the sake of convenience.
On Friday night, Flux Factory, an artist collective in Long Island City, unveiled its final exhibition, "Everything Must Go." Art installations spread out across bathrooms, bedrooms, and even the laundry room of this 7,500 square-foot space, which is set to be demolished to make way for MTA expansion.
Lisa Biagiotti and Kenan Davis, of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, produced and edited the following video on Flux Factory's opening night, which inaugurates a month-long goodbye to 38-38 43rd Street.