St. Patrick's Day was three months ago, but only now is the city getting around to dyeing the East River green. The Office of Emergency Management has announced that the DEP will conduct a "Dye Test" at 51st Avenue and 2nd Street in Long Island City at 10 a.m. this morning. We're waiting for the DEP's press liaison to explain why they're doing this, but in other cities, such tests are sometimes used to monitor the dispersion of effluent from sewage treatment plants. OEM says the "non-hazardous green dye will be visible in the East River." (It's unclear how this will coloration will differ from other days.) more ›

Almost four years after announcing a plan to build up to 5,000 units of affordable housing in Long Island City, Mayor Bloomberg has put out a call for developers for the significantly scaled down project. The first phase of the Hunter's Point South development calls for 1,000 units, and would be built on the corner of the East River and Newton Creek. About 600 of the apartments would be reserved for "middle income" families making between $63,000 and $130,000 for a family of four. more ›

It's like Brooklyn Bridge Park all over again. The plan to build a waterfront park in Long Island City funded by the construction of new housing has neighbors and open space activists up in arms, according to the Post. The city will use the revenue from 5,000 planned apartments in the Hunters Point South development to pay for an 11-acre public esplanade — sparking fears that the parkland will feel private and that the city will begin relying on housing to pay for future park projects. more ›

A fire broke out at a warehouse, located at 27th Street and 50th Avenue, just before 6 a.m. and has grown into a three-alarm blaze. The smoke has been so heavy that all westbound Long Island Expressway lanes were shut down temporarily—they have since reopened but there are still delays near the Queens Midtown Tunnel. According to MyFoxNY, "NY Traffic Authority Ines Rosales recommends drivers in the area take the 59th Street Bridge or get off on Queens Boulevard and take the Queens Borough Bridge." And firefighters are still working to get the fire under control. more ›

A lawsuit against the MTA is about to go to trial surrounding the rape of a woman on a G train platform in Queens three years ago. And the victim, now 25, told the Daily News this weekend that she forgives her attacker ("I know he was sick in the head"), but not the token booth clerk at the 21st Street station, "I can't forgive those five seconds when I stared into his eyes, screaming for help, imploring him with my tears and all I got back was a cold stare." more ›

This past weekend, an aluminum tree sculpture, dubbed A Tree for Anable Basin, built upon a floating island, set sail off Hunters Point. The project by Chico MacMurtrie and Amoprhic Robot Works was conceived to investigate and celebrate "the enigmatic, rapidly changing waterfront environment of Long Island City." It also acts as a "condominium for birds"; the press release reads:

It is designed to emote the displacement of nature, specifically of migratory water birds by industrial activity and urban development. more ›

MUSIC: There's not a whole lot going on musically tonight, but the show at Cake Shop seems pretty...sweet. By The End of Tonight and Multitudes will be taking the stage -- the former is described as "the perfect marriage between the math-rockiness of Hella with the glistening, soaring guitars of Explosions in the Sky." more ›

April 5: Italian Festa to celebrate the paperback publication of George deStefano's An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America. A reading and signing, followed by a Sicilian wine tasting, with antipasti served. Free. Hunters Point Wines and Spirits, 47-07 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens. more ›

Last year, a 21 year old art student was raped on the G platform at 21st Street in Hunters Point. Then it turned out that the token booth clerk did see the victim and rapist, but he stayed in his booth and pressed the panic button - as per NYC Transit procedures. Now, the victim, now 23 years old, is suing NYC Transit for negligence claiming that it "failed to meet the standard of care owed . . . to their passengers." "Nicole" spoke to Post and recounted what happened:

The NYU grad was attacked during the early hours of June 7, 2005, as she rode a Queens-bound G train. The pervert first began to stroke her feet. Disgusted, Nicole got up and moved - only to be pursued by the creep. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg finally made his way to Astoria yesterday to be briefed on the situation leaving thousands of Queens residents and business owners have been with little or no power. Yet he nor Con Ed could not explain why power had been out for four days. Mayor Bloomberg did say, “I cannot explain why we’re in this situation. It’s an intolerable situation.” And the Mayor and Con Ed don't know when power will be back on. What is known is that there were multiple manhole fires, cables just seem to be melting all around, and Rikers is using back-up generators! more ›

July 3-4: Prix Fixe Menue at Barmarché more ›

Extra, extra - it's time to get your free NY Times tabloid, the MarketPlace Weekly, this afternoon! It will be full of "classified ads, supplemented by articles culled from The Times's Job Market, Real Estate, Automotive, Business and Dining Out sections, among others." Hmm, so it's like a reverse paper - mostly small type ads, with some content; we're officially in the bizarro world. The NY Times tells NY1, "We have an opportunity to reach an 18- to 34-year-old reader – or perhaps even a Times reader – with very specific information. It's very targeted toward those readers that are interested in finding a new job, purchasing a home or purchasing a new car." Well, Gothamist gets the need for job listings (sometimes scrolling through Monster gets tiring!), but purchasing a home or new car seems a little more...aspirational for the 18-34 year old reader. If there were listings for sample sales and concerts, not to mention free wine tastings at area wine merchants and free anything else, then you're talking. Anyway, here's the official word from the New York Times:

Street teams strategically positioned at over 250 commuter centers including Grand Central Terminal, WTC PATH, Pennsylvania Station, the Port Authority, the Staten Island Ferry, Jamaica Station and Hunters Point in Queens, Flatbush Avenue and the Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, and The Grand Concourse in The Bronx, will hand out the weekly during the peak afternoon travel times of 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. MarketPlace Weekly will be available every Thursday. The guide will also be given out at select college campuses in the city.

This morning, the local news stations reported that a woman was raped on a subway platform at the 21st Street G station in Hunters Point Queens. The woman had gotten off the train at around 3AM in the morning, when a man approached her. The G train skipped the Long Island City stop while the police investigated; the suspect is still at large. more ›

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