It's New Yorkers versus Hollywood, once again. Locals have sounded off against film crews invading their neighborhoods in the past, and now Crain's NY has the latest from the front lines, which have moved from Brooklyn to Queens for the latest battle.
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Results tagged “lic”
More New Yorkers Complaining About Hollywood Takeovers In Their Neighborhood
M. Wells Applies For A New Liquor License In LIC
[Update below] Until it suddenly closed in August due to lease problems the foodie favorite in a former diner M. Wells could seemingly do no wrong (unless you were GQ's Alan Richman). Luckily, when it shut its doors owners Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis promised that they would be back. And hey! Somebody calling themselves M. Wells Diner has gone and applied for a liquor license in Long Island City!
Bank Of America Branch Transformed Into Art Deco Florida Nightclub The Palms
We told you last week that 3rd Ward, Chashama, Artists Wanted, and The Danger crowd were opening The Palms in Long Island City, a temporary outdoor nightclub with DJs, dumpster pools, food trucks, and lounge chairs. What we didn't tell you (because we didn't know) is that the venue has risen out of the ashes of a shuttered Bank of America branch. Outside in the parking lot is where you can go swimming, dance, and play ping pong—inside, bartenders serve drinks from where tellers once issued withdrawals. A toast: To the bailout!
Food Truck Sanctuary Opens In Long Island City
Food trucks getting chased out of midtown by The Man can look east for opportunity now that a new food truck oasis has opened on privately-owned land in Long Island City, in a prime location in the shadow of the Citicorp buildings. Opened yesterday in an 11,000-square-foot parking lot owned by Rockrose Development, the food truck court is open for lunch weekdays from 11 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. On weekends, starting Friday, the Rockrose lot across the street will be transformed into the 3rd Ward dance/art party called The Palms, which features dumpster pools.
Drinking, Dining, Dancing, And Dumpster Pools: The Palms Opens In LIC
Creative Brooklynites: it's time to temporarily retire in Queens! 3rd Ward has built what they're calling their own version of Boca Raton in Long Island City, dubbed The Palms... but it sounds a little young to us. They say their month long project is "one part open-air dance party, one part ode to the Boca Raton pools of a bygone era." Sadly, no shuffleboard... but there will be lounge chairs, lobster rolls, music, and the three Ds: drinks, dumpster pools, and a dance floor.
Corner Bistro Opening A Branch In Long Island City!
For all those sick of hearing about yet another new Shake Shack, we bring word of one of the original remaining New York burger institutions expanding after half a century: The Corner Bistro is opening a second outpost in Queens. Long Island City, to be exact.
New LIC Court Square Subway Station Connects 7 To G, E, M Trains
Subway riders: Here, at long last, is your new Court Square Subway Station Complex! Until now, those who wanted to transfer between the 7 line and the G, E, and M lines in Long Island City were reduced to vulgarly venturing out onto the street. That's right, the street! Now you'll be able to do it all without once leaving the warm bosom of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Residents Petitioning To Save The LIC Water Taxi Beach
The original flavor Long Island City Water Taxi Beach is dead in the water, but one local is trying to petition to get it moved down shore. More than 1,000 people have signed Bea Murphy's petition, which asks the city to reconsider its previous rejection of WTB's proposal to move the beach while the city uses the previous beach area for staging storm sewer outfalls for the new Hunters Point South development.
Another Car Careens Off Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, Slams Into LIC Building
A week after a car careened off the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge and barreled into a strip of Long Island City stores, it's happened again this morning. The car careened off the bridge into the same group of stores. The crash occurred around 4:30 a.m. and MyFoxNY reports, "The driver of a 2006 Volkswagen Jetta driving Queens-bound on the lower level of the Queensboro Bridge lost control and crashed into a building at Crescent Street and Queens Plaza."
Water Taxi Beach LIC Is Dead, Water Taxi Beach Seaport Is German (And No Longer A Beach)
As was rumored last week, after six years of fun in the sun, city construction has killed the Long Island City Water Taxi Beach. The villain who slayed the beach? The need to build combined storm water sewer outfalls for the new Hunters Point South development.
5 Pointz Artists Respond To Possible Elimination
This weekend, there was a report that iconic street graffiti mecca 5 Pointz may soon be bulldozed and resurrected as high-rises, restaurants and retail stores. The deal is contingent upon approval by the city's zoning and land-use review process, but the 5 Pointz artists are treating it as if it's happening: they started a petition to support keeping the current space for the artists and wrote a response online:
PS1 Unveils This Summer's Courtyard Design
Every summer PS 1 in Long Island City changes the appearance of its courtyard, and this year's makeover has just been unveiled. The winning submission for MoMA PS1's Young Architects Program is "Holding Pattern," by NY architecture firm Interboro Partners. Partner Tobias Armborst talked to Arts Beat about the design, saying, “A lot of the things are commonsensical"—the design also has an interest in recycling and sustainability.
Phase 1 Of LIC Waterfront Development Is A Go
Today Mayor Bloomberg announced the development plan of Phase 1 of Hunter’s Point South, which would provide more than 900 new housing units in the first phase and 5,000 by the project's completion along the Queens waterfront. The first phase, to be completed by 2014, will also create five acres of new waterfront parkland, a new 1,100-seat intermediate and high school, new retail space and parking. Bloomberg said, “At Hunter’s Point South, not only will we build the largest new affordable housing complex in more than three decades, we’ll do it on long-vacant waterfront property that has incredible views and sits adjacent to one of New York City’s fastest growing neighborhoods."
Extreme Makeovers For Worst Subway Stations
Way back in 2009 the MTA released a list of the worst subway stations after assessing conditions across the city; coming in at #1 was the Seneca Avenue (M line) station in Ridgewood, Queens. At the time, the agency promised that 25 of the stations would get major overhauls sometime over the next 5 years. Well, now that number is up to 29, and allegedly work will start at some stops this year.
Silvercup Studios Sues Silvercup Hotel
A new luxury boutique hotel opening up in Queens is already being sued. Silvercup Studios in Long Island City is suing the operators of the establishment, which is called Silvercup Hotel. According to the Daily News, the lawsuit claims the hotel is "exploiting the goodwill inherent in the Silvercup" trademarked name. The hotel is nearby, at 29th Street and 39th Avenue, and is advertising its proximity to the famed studios (where shows like Gossip Girl film). The suit seeks an injunction against the hotel using Silvercup in their name, as well as $200,000 in damages. As of right now, their website is still up and running under the name Silvercup Hotel.
LIC Gets First Green Condo
And so it begins. The Solarium in Long Island City has been "green certified" by the National Association of Home Builders Research Center, becoming the first building to get that certification in Queens. Not only will the apartments be stocked with Energy Star appliances, low flow toilets and bamboo floors, but the building will be topped with a 6-foot-wide wind turbine, used to power the elevators and common areas. Leasing consultant VP Rick Rosa told the Daily News, "We needed to be different. Right now, being green is a fad. In five years, that fad is going to be a reality."
Profs Protest CUNY's Move to Overpriced Citibank Building
Students and professors at CUNY Law School are questioning why their institution is shelling out $155 million for a new building in Long Island City, when similar ones with far lower pricetags are available in Manhattan. Again and again they've inquired about the city-funded purchase of a six-floor building at 2 Court Square—a property owned by Citibank—but the administration repeats the same refrain: that the price “is far less than it would have cost CUNY to construct a new building for the Law School, which an independent architectural firm estimated would be $250 million.” Real estate professionals agree the transaction is suspect. “I think it’s a great deal for Citibank, obviously,” said one knowledgeable broker.
P.S.1 Censors Performance Art
Over the weekend, P.S.1 in Long Island City housed Brooklyn Is Burning, an event curated by Sarvia Jasso and Andres Bedoya that promotes and embraces artistic expression. So certainly the museum that welcomed such an event into their space would also embrace all forms of art... right? Well, it seems even P.S.1 has its limits.
Unofficial Titanic Memorial Moves
About 5 years ago we pondered the mysterious Titanic house in Long Island City—which turned out to be the work of Joe Colletti, a collector of memorabilia from the ship and overseer of an unofficial memorial to its tragic end. Well, he's now moved out and handed over his collection to the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Queens is Getting Its First Food Co-op
A group of Queens residents is bringing its version of the Park Slope co-op to the "food desert" of Long Island City. Fifteen foodies are currently in the planning stages for the grocery cooperative, which they hope to have up and running by 2011. "People are very interested in food in this borough," said Leah McLaughlin, publisher and editor of the food magazine Edible Queens. Like its Brooklyn inspiration, the Queens Harvest Food Co-op will be staffed exclusively by members and funded by member contributions, as well as grants. "We hope the food co-op will increase access to affordable, fresh, healthy foods," organizer Maggie Ornstein told the NY Daily News. "The hope is to have what you'd find in your supermarket. The main difference is as a [co-op] member, you have decision-making ability."
October Brings Michael Jackson Back
Surely this Halloween will bring every era of Michael Jackson back to life in costume form, but this Long Island City local has put up a scarecrow tribute to the late performer. Apparently he wears two gloves in the afterlife!
Couple Claims Actor Attacked Dog in Queens
Jennifer Aniston's co-star (and maybe-beau), Gerard Butler, is back in the news. Last we heard Butler's bodyguard attacked a photographer's car, and now the NY Post reports that the actor allegedly hit a couple's dog late Monday afternoon in LIC. While walking his own pug, Lolita (unleashed!), Butler encountered Fred and Maria Varecka and their greyhound, Mayfly (leashed). When Mayfly went for Lolita (Butler claims taking two bites at her neck), the couple says the actor "slammed Mayfly's head against a fence, screaming, 'That dog should be put down!'" The couple, in their 60s, said the encounter left them shaking, and when they told him he should put a leash on his dog, "he kept on going and going, ranting and raving... He was being verbally abusive." A police report was filed, but no citations have been handed out. Butler's PR spinderella says that he spent the evening at the vet's office, and even shelled out $3,000 for the visit of another family's pet he met there. Meanwhile, Fred Varecka tells the paper, "I thought a lot of him as an actor. And he might still be a good actor. But I don't respect him as a person." No word on whether there will be a ceremonial trashing of their Butler DVDS (Phantom of the Opera and 300).
5Pointz Gets Stripped
The graffiti mecca of Queens is getting... buffed! liQcity has images of 5Pointz in LIC getting a fresh coat of yellow paint. The site says they are "merely getting a free canvas reset, as the owners of the building were required to repaint as part of the necessary renovations after the recent stairwell collapse." It was recently divulged that the artist studios housed inside will be vacated, following the stairway collapse earlier this year that injured one renter. But "5pointz will still exist on the exterior walls" and new pieces go up every night as artists try "to keep up with the yellow paint machines." An image of the very yellow front of the building is after the jump.
Benefit for Injured Artist as 5Pointz Closes
It's been over three months since jewelry designer Nicole Gagne was seriously injured during an external stairway collapse at 5Pointz. The LIC building housed her studio, along with many other artist's workspaces.
Park Envy: LIC Opens Waterfront Oasis
Gantry Plaza State Park: you had us at hammocks. Seriously, the people in charge of the Williamsburg waterfront park need to take a cue from the Queens West waterfront, which Curbed reports took a big step today from "casually-accepted planned community to, dare we say, desired urban oasis." Alongside the aforementioned hammocks are lounge chairs, a promenade, the Pepsi sign, and sweet lush green grass. Now if only the fireworks were on the East River this year, we'd suggest staking a spot out now.
P.S. 1's New Summer Courtyard Installation, "Afterparty," Debuts
With monsoon season seemingly on the wane, it's high time we welcomed P.S. 1's annual summertime Young Architects Program, wherein the Long Island City museum invites a design team to transform their giant courtyard into... whatever. This year's project, by the firm MOS, is drolly dubbed Afterparty, a sly nod to P.S. 1's popular afternoon "Warm-Up" music series.
5Pointz Mural Goes Up In Tribute To Injured Artist
Following the fall that Nicole Gagne took when the outdoor staircase at 5Pointz collapsed over the weekend, the graffiti artists who are responsible for painting the murals covering the Long Island City building have added a new one in tribute to her.
Pepsi Cola Sign Coming Along
Even Coke fans probably appreciate the old Pepsi Cola sign that's been part of the LIC skyline since 1936. It may have moved from its old spot, but (for quite some time) it's been getting rebuilt not too far away, letter by letter. Just a couple of days ago it only had the P E I and C letters in place, and now the NY Times checks in to find "the 120-foot-long scrawl, a creation of the Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation," has just one more letter to go. One source told them the original plan was to have it back to its original splendor by March 1st, “But they’ve run into difficulties and now say they don’t have a schedule." Perhaps Madoff's old papers got in the way.
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