Patsy’s Pizzeria will be opening its first location outside of Manhattan at 21-64 Utopia Parkway (GMAP) in Whitestone, Queens, sometime in April. The famed pizzeria originally opened in 1933 in East Harlem and has four other Manhattan locations. Owner Frank Brija declares, “This will be the best pizza to hit Queens in 100 years.”
That’s quite a claim. So we decided to take a look at the other revered pizza joints in the borough to see what Patsy’s will be up against:
New Park Pizzeria in Howard Beach (GMAP) is a Queens original, established in 1956. Devotees from all over the city agree that Queens has the best pizza after they’ve tried a New Park pie.
$2,990,000
158-11 Riverside Dr, Whitestone, Queens, NY
4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Your Own 50 Foot Private Beach With Spectacular Views, Large Rooms Throughout, Large Yard For Pool, Ceramic Tile Floors, Perfect For Large Or Extended Families. Attic Can Be 5th Bedroom. See This Property »
$739,000
88-20 53rd Ave, Elmhurst
4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Complete Brick Semi-Detached Colonial Located On Midblock. Very Close To Shopping, Subway, Public Transportation & School. Well Maintained And Tastefully Furnished/Decorated, Four Bedrooms, 1.5 Baths, Living Room, Formal Dining Room, Kitchen, Eat In Kitchen, Skylight On Second Floor. See This Property »
Here is a roundup of properties we’ve featured on QueensNYC this week. There are two co-ops, a condo, and a house in the communities of LIC, Astoria, Bayside, and Beechhurst.
2-26 50th Ave, #7I, Long Island City, NY 11101 (GMAP) - This 1 bed/1 bath condo at The Yard in LIC is priced at $650,000. One of the thoughtful elements in the building is the use of reclaimed wood from old rail yards, used in the building’s lobby. There is also art hung in the building’s hallways. The kitchen is small but upscale stainless steel appliances are installed. Other amenities include an entertainment room, outdoor garden that includes hopscotch, swings and a see-saw, and a landscaped roof deck with barbecue pits. The location is about equidistant between the Vernon-Jackson 7 subway station (just one stop to Grand Central) and the Hunters Point East River Ferry dock. Gantry Park is also just a block away.
Here is a roundup of the real estate listings we’ve featured on QueensNYC this week. There are two inexpensive co-ops in Jackson Heights and Corona, and a large house in affluent Beechhurst.
33-44 93rd St, #6X, Jackson Heights, NY 11372 (GMAP) - This 1 bed/1 bath co-op in Jackson Heights is priced at $129,000. The unit is on the top floor with a renovated eat in kitchen. There is also a dining room. It’s a little over a half mile walk to the Junction Blvd express stop on the 7 train, and is also quite close to the Grand Central Parkway.
Image source: _Fidelio_ on Flickr – the amazing Christmas light display
The Huffington Post shared a video by MyBlockNYC of the amazing display of Christmas lights and cheer at the house on 166th Street between 23rd and 24th Avenues in Bayside Whitestone (GMAP). It’s an incredible scene and has become a holiday standard in the neighborhood. Displayed are classic figures of Santa and snowmen, music, moving model trains, and lights, lights, lights!
Image source: NYDN – the most expensive house in Queens, located in Neponsit, was damaged by Hurricane Sandy and is uninhabitable
The NY Daily News reports that the most expensive real estate sold in Queens this year is on the waterfront, according to survey results by Point2Homes, an online residential real estate listing company. In particular, the neighborhoods of LIC, Malba, Whitestone, and the Rockaways have had the highest priced properties. If you remember from this past summer, the most expensive sale made in the history of Queens was for a home in Neponsit, on the Rockaway peninsula. It was damaged during Hurricane Sandy, and is currently uninhabitable.
And on the subject of Hurricane Sandy, it is not surprising to hear that the storm has negatively affected property values in the Rockaways. Real estate broker Robin Shapiro, who does a lot of her work in the Rockaways, says right now there is a lot of damage to many of the homes, some totally destroyed. Robert Tracey, of Tracey Real Estate, says that housing prices have dropped in the area 20% to 30% since the storm.
A number of folks in the local real estate industry believe that waterfront property prices will bounce back and that people will still want to live there, despite the perceived risk so soon after the storm. In the words of Modern Spaces’ Eric Benaim, ”People want to live on the waterfront.” Real estate appraiser Jonathan Miller says “The aftermath of the storm hasn’t changed people’s love for being on the water and having the view.” Comparisons have been made to downtown Manhattan just after 9/11. Rosemary Scanlon, dean of New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, made just that comparison, and is convinced the market for waterfront property will rebound.
After the Neponsit home sale, a house in Malba was the second highest sale in Queens, at $3.7 million. Malba is an affluent neighborhood between College Point and Whitestone (its name is an acronym made from the first letters of the names Maycock, Alling, Lewis, Bishop, and Avis, who were the five founders of the Malba Land Company).
So why are these properties so expensive? Well, there are the aforementioned views, which can be amazing. Also, according to David Legaz, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty Landmark, “You have a combination of mostly waterfront homes on large properties. Generally, they have a movie theater, a sauna, a wine cellar, Jacuzzis and a steam room.” Nice.
