02/04/13 3:45pm

Lunar New Year in 5 cultures

Joanna Eng tells us about Lunar New Year in five cultures – Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian. And while Lunar New Year is February 10 this year, the big celebration here will be in Flushing on Saturday, February 16. You’ll get the chance to experience the Chinese and Korean takes in particular on this important holiday. Ways to celebrate are watching the parade, “wander from bakery to store to restaurant in Flushing, and order whatever they suggest for the holiday,” or head to Jackson Heights and enjoy some momos (one of the special foods for Losar, Tibetan New Year) in the neighborhood, which is increasingly moving from Little India to Himalaya Heights.

TONY discovers LIC, yet again

Time Out New York continues to have a crush on LIC, and posted a short bit on LIC cultural institutions, such as Gantry Plaza State ParkMoMA PS1, Chocolate Factory, and Oracle Club. Also, “Inevitably, however, regeneration brings the risk that some of the iconoclastic fringe element will be quashed—5Pointz Aerosol Art Center.” This institution is going bye-bye and new condos will be going up in its place.

The case of suspended weekend 7 train service – what exactly is the MTA doing?!?

Curious about what the MTA is doing while the 7 train languishes in LIC on weekends this winter? Well, one of the things they are doing is replacing old track with new track – the scene is pretty amazing, with these heavy, heavy section of tracks raised and lowered, and some parts of the track needing to be cut to accommodate the track swap. The MTA has posted photos of the process to their Flickr account and it’s pretty interesting. Definitely check it out to satisfy your curiosity.

Agenda for the next CB13 meeting is here – heads-up, Rockaways

The folks at Rockaway Emergency Plan posted the agenda on Facebook for the next Community Board 13 meeting on Feb 12. “Beach replenishment and stabilization” is on the schedule, which we expect will be of great interest to the surrounding community. About the meeting, REP says:

It’s been moved to a larger location, the auditorium inside Scholars’ Academy on Beach Channel Drive and Beach 104. We’ve reached out to the Army Corps with some of your questions posted here last month and we’ll publish a primer with hopefully some answers at the end of this week.

Yet your neon on, man

The guys who run Krypton Neon in LIC are holding some workshops where you, too, can learn how to bend glass tubes and create some neon art. These workshops are rare – maybe once a year – so if you’re curious, head on over and take a look-see on their site for class descriptions, timing, cost, etc. This could be exactly what you’re looking for.

12/14/12 11:00am

Gantry Plaza State Park

NYCgo has produced a really lovely video called This is New York City—Long Island City, Queens – and yes, it’s all about LIC. It really shows off how awesome LIC is – this is a gem of a neighborhood (we’ve already shown you why we love to eat, have fun, and live here).

We noticed a lot of familiar faces and spots in the video, over two dozen in under two minutes – Gantry Plaza State Park, Sweetleaf, Chimney Cake, Dutch Kills Green, the East River Ferry, MOMA PS1, the Museum of the Moving Image, Noguchi Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park and the floating buddha, Malu, Domaine Wine Bar, and more.

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11/30/12 3:00pm

Now that we are in the final stretch of 2012, the “best of” lists are starting to come out. Time Out New York has put together their list for the top attractions in Queens, and here are the winners (with our own descriptions):

Image source: David Berkowitz on Flickr

CitiField – This is a great stadium to see a ballgame, and we prefer it to Yankee Stadium, also a new ballpark. The views from all over the stadium are great and it feels like it was created on a very human scale. Their food is also excellent – Shake Shack and Blue Smoke come to mind immediately. Congrats again to R.A. Dickey of the NY Mets, for his Cy Young Award this past year.

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Welcome to the second installment of our three-part series, LIC for Brooklynites! The first part was about where to eat, and now we’re moving on to what to do. Here is our list of worthwhile things to do in LIC, from museums, to parks, to recreation.

This post is sponsored by Modern Spaces.

If you are looking to Buy, Rent or Sell stop by of our offices in Brooklyn, LIC or Astoria.

Art and Museums

MOMA PS1

 

moma-ps1-lic-queens

Image source: Jules Antonio on Flickr

This 19th century schoolhouse holds some of the most current art available in NYC; it is one of the oldest (and largest) nonprofit contemporary art institutions in the US, founded in 1971. Various kinds of new and experimental art in all media are displayed throughout the space, and MOMA PS1 considers itself more of an exhibition space, rather than a “collecting institution.” As indicated by its name, PS1 is affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art.

Each summer, PS1 launches their weekly “Warm Up,” a music (often DJs) and dance extravaganza held in the courtyard of the museum, surrounded by the winner of the “Young Architects Program,” usually in the form of a large scale art piece that consumes the place. Inside is the newly opened M. Wells Dinette, the creation of Sarah Obraitis and Hugue Dufour of M. Wells Diner fame, and probably the best place in the borough for sous vide prepared food and other culinary delights.

MOMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY 11101; (718) 784-2084; momaps1.org (GMAP)
Hours: 12-6pm, Thursday through Monday (Closed Tuesday and Wednesday)
Admission: $10 adults; $5 students and senior citizens; free for MoMA members, MoMA Corporate Members, MoMA admission ticket holders, Long Island City Residents, NYC public school students, Members of the Press, and other Museum Staff with valid ID.

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10/10/12 12:00pm

50-01-second-street-lic-queens

The Commercial Observer reports that a residential project (no name just yet) “is underway thanks to a $51 million construction loan provided by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The Lightstone Group and its sponsored, non-traded REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) Lightstone Value Plus are constructing the 199-unit multifamily property at 50-01 2nd Street.” (GMAP) In August 2011, Lightstone purchased the development site from the owner, represented by Pinnacle Realty, for $19.3 million; it has 183,456 square feet of development rights.  (more…)

10/10/12 10:00am

astoria-park-queens

Here at QueensNYC we love our parks. Queens is fortunate to have a number of excellent waterfront parks – Gantry Plaza State Park in LIC; Astoria Park in Astoria; Hermon A. Macneil Park in College Point, just to name a few – as well as parks within Queens, such as Forest Park and Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Are you a park-goer, and if so, which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments or via twitter at @queensnycity!

10/08/12 2:00pm

playground-padlocked-gantry-plaza-state-park-long-island-city-queens

Image source: Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park

The Friends of Gantry Plaza State Park want your input on what to do about the playground that has been padlocked due to safety reasons. The group has “secured the pro bono services of a landscape architect to develop a new design for that area” and they would like to know what neighbors would enjoy seeing in this space. (more…)

10/05/12 3:45pm

Hunters Point in in store for a pretty great library – dedication ceremony earlier today

Earlier this morning there was a dedication ceremony for the Hunterspoint Library. This $28 million, 21,500-square-foot library will feature large windows and a roof terrace. It will also join the emerging number of green buildings in LIC, and in particular it will use geothermal wells to cool the building (no a/c units on the roof), according to Queens Library CEO Thomas Galante. They are gunning for a pretty high LEED certification, too. In the words of Jimmy Van Bramer, the waterfront library will be “a landmark in future years.” Local children planted “trees of knowledge” that will grow near the site.

There’s a hole in Gantry Park

Soon you’ll be able to look through a 10 ft in diameter hole in the middle of the esplanade at Gantry State Park. Through it are views of the river underneath. It’s located at the northern tip of the park (GMAP), which isn’t yet open to the public. When it is open (next year sometime), they’ll light it from below and turn it into a viewing station with a safety railing installed.

Two restaurant weeks are coming to Queens

This month, Queens is home not just one, but two restaurant weeks. First, there’s ninth annual Queens Restaurant Week. Over 125 restaurants are expected participate. Most of the restaurants will offer a three-course, prix fixe meal for $25 from October 8-11 and October 15-18. Here is a list of participating restaurants.

Then there’s the inaugural 30th Avenue Restaurant Week, happening from Friday, October 12 through Sunday October 21. Restaurants along the avenue will offer discounted specials during the ten day celebration, such as a free appetizer with a meal. At this point, 23 restaurants have come on board for the restaurant week, including Flo Café, Sweet Afton, and newly opened LaBottega.

Bikes and cars and parking in Astoria

Streetsblog has summarized the current tension between bikes and cars that has come to light in Astoria. Conversations about the parking needs for both modes of transportation have been popping up in discussion forums and the blogosphere. In this case, it is focused on the request by popular cafe/restaurant The Queens Kickshaw by their request – through proper channels, AKA the city’s CityRacks application process - to get a bike corral in front of their place of business. CB 1 turned down their request because in their eyes the bike corral would ”take up a very valuable [car] parking space” according to Lucille Hartmann, CB 1 District Manager. Jennifer Lim and Ben Sandler have taken a new approach to state their case, with an online petition. It currently has 324 names and counting.

Woodside Cafe – home of crazy delicious Nepalese food

CitySpoonful published a review of Woodside Cafe, located in the former digs of deeply missed Spicy Mina’s. We were along for the ride during the meal reviewed and we can attest to the awesomeness of the dinner. Pictured at the start of the article is the potato achar, definitely one of our favorite dishes. Those steamed vegetable dumplings were also out of sight tasty. Check out the review for more mouthwatering content.