How to navigate through LIC Arts Open on Thursday

15 May

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Our good friends at LIC Market have given us a great list of hand picked events for LIC Arts Open for this week. There are many more than listed here, but it’s a great list to start with!

 LIC is a large and thriving art community with clusters of happening spots. LICAO is cleverly organized into “Nabe” Nights: Artists and cultural institutions organize their receptions and performance schedules by location.  This means you can gallery hop each night of the festival and check out many outstanding events, just a short walk from each other.

Additional May 16  Events Include:

 

Studio 34 | 34-01 38th Ave

 ”1st Annual Open Call Group Exhibition”, “A Concert by Globular Cluster” (installation/audience participation), “RottoBella: Works of Broken Beauty” (a mixed media presentation on loop), “Brush-Votes-Creating the Creator” (performance/audience participation), “LICArtists, Inc: Independents Group Show” & “Beach Elements ll”

 

Clocktower | 29-27 41st Ave

Luba Lukova: Recent Prints & LIC Arts Open 2013 Group Show (Bertille de Baudiniere, Gabino A. Castelan, Michelle Cheikin, Jean Patrick Guilbert, Jack Howard-Potter, Annalisa ladicicco, Ananda Lima, Ray & Rita Normandeau, Selva Sanjines, Studio 7/Junenoire & Nadia and Rita Varian)

 

Gotham Center | 42-09 28th St

“Idle Hands…” (Karen Dimit, Beth Williams Garrett, William Garrett, Kenny Greenberg, Jean-Marie Guyaux, Eliot Lable, Karen Cintron, John Day, Peter Goldwater, Matt greco, Sin-Ying Ho, Osaretin Ighile, Antonia Perez & Priscilla Stadler)

& “Pillow Talk”

 

The Space | 25-17 41st Ave

“Lined-up” Works on paper by Cristian Pietrpiana

 

Materials for the Arts | 33-00 Northern Blvd

“Long Forgotten Song” Artwork by Ben Pederson

 

Space Gallery | 29-09 39th Ave

Unknown Group Show

 

RESOBOX | 41-26 27th St

Asian & Asian American Group Shoe

 

44-02 23rd Street, Suites 203 & 205

Akie Bermiss

 

The Secret Theater | 44-02 23rd St ($18 – $20)

“Reasons to be Pretty” & “Periapsis Music and Dance”

 

There are many more LIC Arts Open events taking place from 5/15 – 5/18. For more information, visit the LICAO website or pick up brochures at local businesses including LIC Market.

Reminder: No smoking at Gantry State Park

14 May

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The other day at Rainbow Park I got a whiff of someone’s cigarette smoke and it made me wonder if smoking is banned at Gantry Park. It is.

Don’t get me wrong, I used to smoke and loved the outdoors while I puffed away on my death sticks. But it’s only fair that others (yeah, like the children at the parks) don’t have to suffer through it.

You heard is here folks, stop smoking at Gantry Park! It’s now the law:

Smoking will be forbidden at more New York State parks this summer.

The office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that residents should be able to enjoy the outdoors “free of pollution from secondhand smoke.”

The new rules vary from park to park, so the state has posted a list online of places where smoking is banned.

In the state parks in New York City, smoking is permitted only on sidewalks and certain parking lots. The New York City state parks include Riverbank State Park in Manhattan, East River State Park in Brooklyn, Bayswater and Gantry Plaza state parks in Queens, Roberto Clemente State Park in the Bronx, and Clay Pit Ponds Preserve on Staten Island.

 

via CBS News

It’s official: 4th of July fireworks NOT in East River…again

13 May

Not in LIC!

Not in LIC!

 

Do any of you remember the days when the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks took place on the East River? The roads would get crowded and our apartments offered the best seats in the house for the most spectacular pyrotechnics in the United States (though I hear San Francisco has a pretty good one too).

Ever since Macy’s moved the barges to the Hudson River in 2009, it’s stayed there and it seems like it may never come back.

Therefore I’d like to perhaps inspire one of our followers to start a petition: Bring the Fireworks Back to the East River!

Any volunteers?

Interactive map tells you when the cicadas will arrive in Long Island City

13 May

 

After 17 years in rehab, the cicadas are coming BACK! At some point this month, when the finally soil warms to a steady 64° F, the mysterious Magicicada Brood II cicadas will burst forth for the first time since 1996 in Long Island City. Billions and billions are expected to surface, mate, and die, and the fine folks at Radiolabwant you to help make sense of it all. So they’ve started this interactive cicada tracking map.

If/when you see a cicada, research scientist John Cooley and professor Chris Simon at the University of Connecticut Ecology & Evolutionary Biology are asking you to fill out a report form so they can compile a study tracking their reemergence.

 

via Gothamist

Pony-Tailed Man Attacks Person On 7 Train

13 May

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A subway rider contacted the police about a horrifying attack he/she witnessed on the 7 train last week, and now cops are looking for the assailant.

According to police, the incident took place on a Queens bound train on Sunday, May 5 at about 1 a.m. In the video, an unidentified man punches a victim and then leaves the train at 69th Street.

The suspect is described as a M/W-H, approximately 5’9″, 180 lbs with brown eyes and long black hair with a pony tail. He was wearing a dark T-shirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website atWWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

 

via Gothamist

What you missed at Beer and Balls on 51st

12 May

Patrick and his wife, Ro

Patrick and his wife, Ro

 

Alewife’s festival of Beer and Balls (meat, that is) lifted its glass to a crowd of appreciative punters in ways that achieved so much more in quality and style than my previous excursion to this beer-lovers haven on 51stAvenue in Long Island City. Beers (all local NY) represented included interesting stronger-than average beers (10-12%!), hop driven IPAs and some nice darker-than-the-night stoat and spicy wheat beers. Finding matches to the range of meatballs was an enjoyable experience.

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I had attended the APorkopolypse pig and beer fest a few months ago and felt that the system of tickets for beer and food was a little unfriendly. Today’s deal was tickets for the food and as much beer as you wanted to taste, making this a much more welcoming experience.

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Meatballs were offered by local restaurants Alewife and Open Door (that new place on 50th between Vernon and Jackson) and Manhattan establishiments Dirty Burger and Tommy Lasagne. Each offered choices with the prize, for me,  going to the home team Alewife for their three options, especially the Dragon Ball – generously spiced (clove, cinnamon etc) balls in a Schezuan sauce. That’s not to say that the other offerings were low-key. The chilli-led sauce for Dirty Burger’s 25 spice option required at least twice the amount of beer to quell but was very tasty, the sauce sitting around the meat so that your taste buds were able to taste both the meat and the sauce without retreating to a glass of milk. Open Door’s options were also very tasty, great meat and respectful flavorings. I wanted a final taste-off but by the time I had done the rounds the dishes were empty.

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My favourite in the beer department was the “Notorious IPA – Chinook”from Bed-Stuy brewery, not blatantly advertized but hidden as an “under the counter” option and served by the brewer himself in an experiment to gain votes from customers in choosing between his two beers; the other being termed more “aggressive”. This made the occasion extra special, discussing hops and brewing with the man responsible, head brewer Charlie Wildman is quite a different experience from  the “I’m only here to serve the beer and don’t know much about it” reactions from most of the servers. Bed-Stuy brewery is a venture partly owned by Alewife owner Patrick Donagher who plans to bring brewing onto the Alewife premises, thus joining other locals like Rockaway in offering “Fresh-As” beers to the local scene; a welcome boost to the local economy and the variety of ales available to locals, as well as those who travel miles to enjoy our growing neighborhood food and drink options.

 

by Eric Hathaway

 

 

Workers Install Spire Atop One World Trade Center in New York City

10 May

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The view of One World Trade Center from LIC

 

Today, workers installed the spire atop One World Trade Center, bringing the building to its full symbolic height of 1,776 feet. Provided the 408-foot addition is considered a spire rather than an antennae, this makes One World Trade Center the tallest building in the United States and the third-tallest in the world according to New York Daily News. The tower is currently scheduled to open for business in 2014. TODAY’s Matt Lauer covered the momentous construction event and shared the view from the top of the skyscraper in the following videos.

You can sleep tonight: Carjacker in police custody

9 May

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After a large scale manhunt, a suspect is in custody for the apparently random carjackings of two luxury vehicles in Queens.

The suspect was taken into custody around 6 p.m. in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

All the incidents happened in Long Island City Thursday morning. The first carjacking was in the vicinity of 21-27 Borden Avenue at 9:30 a.m., while the second was at Van Dam Street and Thompson Avenue at around 9:50 a.m.

Authorities say the suspect, identified as Nicolas Almonte, 27, carjacked a Mercedes at gunpoint, then carjacked a Lexus nearby. The suspect then attempted to carjack a second Mercedes and another vehicle, but was not successful.

Although the suspect committed the crimes while brandishing a weapon, police have reason to believe that the gun is either a pellet gun or a fake.

Almonte fled the third crime scene.

Police were searching for the suspect at his home, his place of business and at his mother’s house.

No shots were fired in any of the incidents, and no drivers were injured.

 

via WABC-TV

More details emerge on LIC carjacker

9 May

 

According to WABC the carjacker reportedly works at a scaffolding company in LIC. He’s in his 20′s and has tried to carjack more than two cars and was unsuccessful.

 

From WABC:

 

NEW YORK (WABC) – A large scale manhunt is under way in Queens for a man wanted in the apparently random carjackings of two luxury vehicles and the attempted carjacking of a third.

 

All the incident happened in Long Island City Thursday morning. The first carjacking was in the vicinity of 21-27 Borden Avenue at 9:30 a.m., while the second was at Van Dam Street and Thompson Avenue at around 9:50 a.m.

Authorities say the suspect carjacked a Mercedes at gunpoint, then carjacked a Lexus nearby. The man then attempted to carjack a second Mercedes and another vehicle, but was not successful.

Although the suspect committed the crimes while brandishing a weapon, police have reason to believe that the gun is either a pellet gun or a fake.

The suspect, described as in his 20s, fled the third crime scene.

Police fear the man may be acting irrationally and were searching for him at his home, his place of business and at his mother’s house.

No shots were fired in any of the incidents, and no drivers were injured.

Police were monitoring nearby roads, but none of the bridges or tunnels were closed.

The suspect reportedly works at a construction scaffolding company located at the first incident. He appears to have inexplicably walked out of work and committed the first carjacking.

BREAKING: Police seek man in two LIC carjackings

9 May

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Not actual picture of carjacker.

 

Police have been on the manhunt today looking for an armed man who carried out two carjackings on Borden Ave. and Thompson St.

The New York Times reports:

The man, who was said to be carrying a black gun and who has not been identified by the police, is wanted in connection with at least two successful carjackings and two others in which he failed to seize the cars in and around Long Island City.

The first occurred just after 9:30 a.m. on Borden Avenue, near the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, the police said. A second happened about 20 minutes later and a little more than a mile away near the corner of Thompson Avenue and Van Dam Street, the police said.

The man also tried additional car robberies, in the area, the police said, but he was now believed to be on foot. The police did not specify an area where he was thought to be.

It was not immediately clear what set off the rapid series of robberies in an industrial section of Long Island City or why the man ditched each car so soon after taking each in a violent manner.

The police said no shots had been fired as of late Thursday morning and that there had been no serious injuries related to the robberies. The police were looking into the possibility that the gun was either a pellet gun or a fake weapon.

The police said officers in the area would conduct checks of cars crossing into Manhattan from Queens if it appeared that the man was trying to flee in that direction, though it was unclear if they had started to do so.

Traffic appeared to be flowing normally across the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge, the authorities said.

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