LIC Spot

If you ever wanted proof that New York City is a multilingual melting pot, we’ve got just the map just for you. James Cheshire, Ed Manley and friends have just dropped an awesome map/analysis of language use in tweets originating in the Big Apple. They even made an interactive version that turns the five boroughs into something of a pointillist dreamscape!

So what is this? What you see above is a map visualizing 8.5 million geo-located tweets from January 2010 through February 2013 color-coded by language (detected by Google Translate).

A quick zoom into Long Island City, however, shows that there aren’t all that many languages being tweeted outside of English. Some Spanish, a hint of Italian and what looks like a drop of Japanese.

Seeing that LIC is a UN commuter’s dream come true, you would think that more dialects would be overheard (or tweeted) in our area.

Thoughts?

via Gothamist

Well if you thought that Hurricane Sandy isn’t affecting Long Island City anymore, think again.

The Citi-Bike Sharing program that was supposed to have started last year and was postponed for last Fall and was postponed until March and now because of Sandy and subsequent flooding of the Citi Bike facility in Brooklyn, it’s been pushed to May.

It also means that Long Island City happens to be the first on the butcher block and will not have the bike program in its initial phase.

We feel it’s OK, after all, we have a pretty good subway train on the weekends that…oh wait…

more at Queens Chronicle

Starting tomorrow, Google Santa Tracker will use Google Maps to track Santa’s journey around the world and of course, Long Island City. In the meantime, Google can have Santa call someone on your behalf.

NASA has released a video explaining why the world didn’t end yesterday. No asteroids. No commets. Just a cheery pre-holiday calendar day here in Long Island City.

Did you prepare for doomsday by any chance? Let us know!

Little in the City has organized a kid-friendly holiday party that will be collecting toys to donate to Toys For Tots this Sunday, December 9th.

There will be live music (everybody sing along, now); some arts and crafts; and tasty treats. LIC Kids has kindly donated the space for this event.

The party is geared towards kids, but if you want to pass by and drop off toys and donations, please feel free to do so.

More info here.

This is LIC Spot’s first installment of “LIC Confidential”: @skimsuekim investigates LIC’s local secrets:

One of the best perks of being an LIC resident is free admission to PS1 MoMA. And unequivocally, one of the best parts of PS1 is the M. Wells Dinette. (You might remember the collective sigh of foodies when their diner location closed last year or the horsemeat kerfuffle earlier this fall.)

So surely with all this commotion, they must have a secret menu item or two up their sleeves?

Well, no. Not really.

But, their menu changes often so while not so secret, it continues to evolve and be a surprise. Here’s what we ordered off this weekend’s menu and a description of the flavors that pleasantly piqued our interest.

Spotted: French Onion Soup

This was nuclear hot when it arrived in its miniature black cauldron. We shamelessly burnt our mouth on this but it was totally worth it – bacon was its secret ingredient. And when it actually cooled down, the depth of flavor was even richer.

Spotted: Tomato Pot

A thick tomato sauce moat surrounded a poached egg with melted Parmesan and pesto on top. A baguette was served on the side as a vehicle for all the yumminess.

Spotted: Bi Bim Wells

This was the star of the show… an exquisite exhibition of the inventiveness we’ve come to expect from the artisans here. A gochujang sauce brought the heat while the avocado, shaved foie gras, and a poached egg delivered the opulence against the crispness of the vegetables (carrots, cucumbers and scallion). Seafood was the heart of the dish – a Rhode Island oyster, perfectly seasoned tuna with seaweed and smoked scallop katsuobushi floored this patron with its complexity… (oh mommy, umami!)

Spotted: Banana Custard Pie

A layer of bananas underneath a crème brulee inside of a vanilla wafer crust on top of a homemade whipped cream cloud. Every bit as good as it sounds.

Spotted: Iced Espresso (Not on the menu!! Yeah, doesn’t really count, does it?)

Mission: Incomplete

Mouth: Happy
M. Wells Dinette
Located inside MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY
718-786-1800

Weekends 10am to 6pm
Weekdays 12noon to 6pm
Closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays

Officially persona-non-gratta.

We receive countless emails from followers via contact@licspot.com and more often than not we reply to them or even post them.

Our recent email comes from a local who writes:

Can you please continue covering the Murano? They have been blocking the sidewalk for about a week now and have no provisions for the public. I called 311 and they said it can take DOT up to 10-days to respond. I just spoke to the workers, then someone seemingly from management, and all of them were rude and nasty. And when I did so, I was with my baby in her stroller, which is what makes it so bad. They threatened to have me arrested, as if the police have a strong interest in locking up a 34-yr-old area resident and his 10-mo-old baby.

We too have had problems with them since the storm, and word has it that they f-d up big time in terms of the preparations for Sandy. Because they were so nasty to us, we’ve decided to place The Murano onto our persona-non-gratta list.  We officially don’t care about the building and what they have to offer to Long Island City residents.

We do think that the way they are treating locals is shitty, and we ask you all to contact 311 if you feel the same way.  Also, if you happen to live in the Murano, please feel free to post under comments if we are wrong about this.

Photos by Michele Pinto

Amazing pictures by our follower Michele Pinto of Gantry Park being flooded!

Photo by Steven Shen

Yet another photo of the entire LIRR platform under water here in LIC.

Word is out that the Hudson River has breached. The west side of 23rd st. is now under water and that the World Trade Center Memorial is flooding.

*Do you have an interesting view of this hurricane in Lon Island City? Please email us at contact@licspot.com now so we can share them with other viewers.

Well folks, it had to happen. We all have bills to pay, and in our case the web hosting for LIC Spot is costing us, and we need to find a way to pay it off. We’ve decided on non-evasive ad banners that won’t affect the look and style of the site, and will eventually help us pay off these costs.

We are still run by volunteers and will still bring you quality up to date news and happenings in the neighborhood. But if you or your business want to reach a good amount of local views, we would love to bring you along. The rates are fair and more importantly, the site is growing!

Please feel free to contact us at contact@licspot.com