Using "imminent domain", our government and industries uncaringly builds over, crisscrosses, and undermines communities. Nobody cares about how it affects the "little people". When "big business" sees a profit-bearing advantage, they rip up an area or dig into it.
They figure that the human race is like ants who will soon re-populate on whatever fiasco is left behind. And they're right.
NYC is famous for slap-dash construction and unfinished projects (when schemes ran out of money). Look at the city's most prestigious art museum, the Metropolitan Museum, built in 1894...
or St. John the Divine (the world's 4th largest church) built in 1892...
What remained? Pollution. Thanks to local industries, the Newtown Creek and East River are the foulest waterways in America. Look at the sludge, below!
Much of Queens County shoreline is occupied by ConEd power plants or Water Treatment facilities.
Below, you can tell how much acreage is used for the power plant (almost half the area)... for an outdated polluting system (of profit). Where are Tesla's inventions to save us?
New York City exists in the footprint of Industrial-era robber-barons who made their fortunes on coal, oil, Thomas Edison inventions, and General Electric devices. So, the city is powered inefficiently by dirty methods. Air and water power are equally possible but are continually disregarded.
The islands around Queens were commandeered as prisons, jails or asylums. When burial grounds were finally made illegal, for health reasons, churches and corporations gobbled up tracts of land to make cemeteries in Queens, to sell back to people. When railroad robber-barons of the Gilded Age desired profits from customers who were "stuck on an island", they carelessly crisscrossed the congested area with sooty machinery... then abandoned it. Their stingy mentality still permeates NYC train travel. That's why the MTA-owned LIRR still uses outdated coaches from the 1960s (while charging pricey modern-day fares).
Or why subway stations still aren't air conditioned (nor do they have fans to circulate air).
And it explains why trains and stations are as dirty as they were in the 1970s.
Or why MTA Police booths are unattended (and security cameras in most stations don't actually work)!
Yet, overpaid (often absent) MTA cops have plenty of money for new "toys":
(Not everything turned out as pretty as the High Line Park).
In fact, the above pictures represent what much of Long Island City looks like, in addition to taxi cab parking lots, and the Amtrak train yard. LIC represents the anti-thesis of tree-lined, culturally-minded, garden-community of Astoria.
During my 6 years as a resident in trendy Astoria, I watched the LIC neighborhood, to the south, explode with uncaring construction growth... like weeds out of control. Previously when riding on the elevated subway, you were able to see a nice view, with only the Citibank tower in the way.
The view of the skyline is totally obliterated by rows of high-rise apartment buildings--all clustered around each other... the way weeds grow.
Look at the building on the right (below). Those residents--paying for balconies--are now enclosed on two sides by a new building that's rapidly going up. Due to a lack of zoning, it's allowed to rise up practically next to those balconies! There's no care for how "boxed in" the crowded buildings are.
They've already developed all the land, right up to the waterfront. Stupidly and uncaringly, they left no room for parks!
$45 million of city funds merely gave the area a sliver of a park, encompassed by the loud and never-ending traffic going to the bridge.
Will that slice be enough for the huge new population growth?
While those imbeciles are busily building unneeded skyscrapers, is anybody enlarging the sewers to accommodate hundreds of thousands of new people? Consolidated Edison is rarely able to keep the electricity on during summertime, so is it strengthening its capacity to handle the influx of residents? The subways that pass LIC are already crowded. Is the Metropolitan Transit Authority buying more trains or increasing frequency? Those are all critical assets, yet the answer is No to all of them. Historically, NYC acts like Ebenezer Scrooge and merely wants to lure tenants for money (by enticing others to construct things), but it avoids investing in its own infrastructure. It treats its whole cityscape as a disgustingly-crammed tenement house (from the era of the Industrial Revolution).
Who do they expect will fill all those empty rooms? There is speculation that if NYC merely continues to boast that it's the "best in the world", that will be enough to entice a conglomerate like Amazon to put one of its headquarters there. As long as NYC makes companies exist in it, it forces millions of people to be there, too... and it can do nothing while pocketing revenue. I doubt that intelligent companies will continue to overpay for the "privilege" of occupying the crappiest city in America. Yet, city agencies are happily waiting to take/pocket the fees, bribes, building permits, and taxes. Personally, I foresee technology allowing "remote work" and "working from home" to alleviate the insane costs, commutes, and pressure from NYC dwellers and release them to live in nicer places--that cost a lot less.
Who do they expect will fill all those empty rooms? There is speculation that if NYC merely continues to boast that it's the "best in the world", that will be enough to entice a conglomerate like Amazon to put one of its headquarters there. As long as NYC makes companies exist in it, it forces millions of people to be there, too... and it can do nothing while pocketing revenue. I doubt that intelligent companies will continue to overpay for the "privilege" of occupying the crappiest city in America. Yet, city agencies are happily waiting to take/pocket the fees, bribes, building permits, and taxes. Personally, I foresee technology allowing "remote work" and "working from home" to alleviate the insane costs, commutes, and pressure from NYC dwellers and release them to live in nicer places--that cost a lot less.
Meanwhile, the city's authorities claim that they lack funding to restore parks, schools, or public pools in the area.
When you understand that NYC's government has always merely strong-armed and squandered its money, then you shan't be surprised. In fact, when LIC was its own city in the 1880's, its mayors and "political ring" were notoriously corrupt. Even when arrested, an embezzling mayor asked to use city bonds as his bail. But that's no surprise when you consider that when NYC was Dutch-owned in 1653, its governor said, "I derive my authority from God and THE COMPANY, not from a few ignorant subjects" (as in "royal subjects").
In 1870 LIC incorporated itself, separated from the Town of Newtown, and took the Village of Astoria. That independence was short-lived. Always hungry for revenue, New York City annexed Queens County in 1897. On January 1, 1899, half of the county refused to belong to NYC and seceded to become Nassau County. Meanwhile, NYC's corrupt politicians dissolved all of the local governments within Queens. NYC's corporations were ready to dissect it. If you read my blog entry about Corporations, you know that they can behave like psychopaths.
Immediately, revenue went to immensely-corrupt Tamany Hall, which controlled NYC politics. Following consolidation, vast tracts of land in LIC were converted for industry. In revenge against the mansion owners who fought the corruption, waterfront land near the estates was taken for Consolidated Edison Electricity (powered by a NYC "kingpin" financier). In 1903, ConEd filled in a creek in eastern Astoria and established ConEd Gas Company.
Despite slick realtor slogans, home-hunters dislike LIC's deliberate lack of "quality of life". No restaurants. No diners. No cafés. Not one supermarket. No green spaces. The persistence of several strip-clubs. The filth. The "wind canyons" caused by the skyscrapers. The ceaseless honking from the never-improved bridge traffic.
(A problem with NYC is its habit of uncaringly building atop outdated roads, bridges, and ferry slips instead of building new ones. In fact, this bridge began in 1881 but wasn't completed until 1909!--thanks to corruption that syphoned funds... just like the Brooklyn Bridge).
Nobody is concerned how all those people are going to occupy such a small space. Or how the sun will be blotted out of the sky by the "fence" of high-rise buildings. Or how few are affordable to the average citizen. Are they preparing extra street parking? Are they going to run more trains on the nearby subway lines?
(If you see how long they allowed the 6-line to remain the country's most-over crowded route, you'll know the answer).
Already, the lazy MTA suffers from turn-around delays when trains reach the terminus in Astoria. Engineers are rarely ready to swap places, so trains sit idle way longer than they should. (While they're idle, nobody is cleaning either). Thus, trains sometimes shoot past the first few Astoria stops, in order to get back on schedule. That uncaringly forces already-late riders to wait longer (in whatever weather) for the next train.
Meanwhile, the Astoria-bound trains get delayed and wait in a line--delaying THOSE passengers--as they wait to get to the terminus. After several years, the MTA has done nothing to improve that. During that time they've merely elongated the inconvenient "track work" that disrupts subway use (and gives lots of overtime to overpaid workers).
If tens of thousands of people converge on the already-crowded Queensboro Plaza subway station (built in 1917--as you can see by its rivets--and never upgraded since), how will it affect commutes?
In 1981, the MTA listed the station as among the 69 most deteriorated in the subway system. Does it look like they applied funds to improving it, since then?
Nearly daily, the vehicular traffic approaching the Queensboro Bridge is a traffic jam...
...that plagues all streets in the vicinity (because city planners carelessly funneled all traffic to one place... and haven't added support to it since 1890). Nobody cares about the drivers' frustrations or lateness. The city merely continues to accept tolls for inferior infrastructure. People keep paying.
The corruptly ineffective MTA--historically famous for filthy trains and station, daily signal failures, daily delays, unprofessional employees (often caught napping),
and uncaring to public outcry--sold air rights for $52 million. Looking to make a "quick buck" (for doing nothing), they've allowed the construction of a huge missile-like skyscraper.
It will practically be on the doorstep of Queensboro Plaza, in the worst congestion point. But, nobody cares about that. A two-lane road nearby will have to suffice for the "luxury residents".
Naturally, the greedy developers are racing to begin construction before summer, so they can qualify for mayoral tax breaks without having to include affordable housing. Who makes these laws (and loopholes)?! It will cast shade upon all the low-rise buildings north of it (which are thankfully kept small by zoning requirements).
Residents who previously enjoyed vistas and breezes like this...
might have to live like this...
That's why I applaud Astoria, which lies north of LIC. It's a slice of heaven! Astorians see the "bright side" under the Industrial-era refuse.
Thanks to its cohesive sense of community pride--pressuring its local politicians, it's maintained a Paris-like zoning for low-rise buildings. I applaud my neighborhood's civic pride to upkeep its parks and pleasures.
No walls against diversity: acceptance abounds to savor what makes each creed unique. People "pitch in" voluntarily to reclaim an d maintain our beauty.
Below, Welling Court Mural Project gets rave reviews.
There are many farm-to-table restaurants in Astoria, as well as volunteers who sustain the Queens branch of Brooklyn Grange Farms.
Despite slick realtor slogans, home-hunters dislike LIC's deliberate lack of "quality of life". No restaurants. No diners. No cafés. Not one supermarket. No green spaces. The persistence of several strip-clubs. The filth. The "wind canyons" caused by the skyscrapers. The ceaseless honking from the never-improved bridge traffic.
(A problem with NYC is its habit of uncaringly building atop outdated roads, bridges, and ferry slips instead of building new ones. In fact, this bridge began in 1881 but wasn't completed until 1909!--thanks to corruption that syphoned funds... just like the Brooklyn Bridge).
Nobody is concerned how all those people are going to occupy such a small space. Or how the sun will be blotted out of the sky by the "fence" of high-rise buildings. Or how few are affordable to the average citizen. Are they preparing extra street parking? Are they going to run more trains on the nearby subway lines?
(If you see how long they allowed the 6-line to remain the country's most-over crowded route, you'll know the answer).
Already, the lazy MTA suffers from turn-around delays when trains reach the terminus in Astoria. Engineers are rarely ready to swap places, so trains sit idle way longer than they should. (While they're idle, nobody is cleaning either). Thus, trains sometimes shoot past the first few Astoria stops, in order to get back on schedule. That uncaringly forces already-late riders to wait longer (in whatever weather) for the next train.
Meanwhile, the Astoria-bound trains get delayed and wait in a line--delaying THOSE passengers--as they wait to get to the terminus. After several years, the MTA has done nothing to improve that. During that time they've merely elongated the inconvenient "track work" that disrupts subway use (and gives lots of overtime to overpaid workers).
If tens of thousands of people converge on the already-crowded Queensboro Plaza subway station (built in 1917--as you can see by its rivets--and never upgraded since), how will it affect commutes?
In 1981, the MTA listed the station as among the 69 most deteriorated in the subway system. Does it look like they applied funds to improving it, since then?
Nearly daily, the vehicular traffic approaching the Queensboro Bridge is a traffic jam...
...that plagues all streets in the vicinity (because city planners carelessly funneled all traffic to one place... and haven't added support to it since 1890). Nobody cares about the drivers' frustrations or lateness. The city merely continues to accept tolls for inferior infrastructure. People keep paying.
The corruptly ineffective MTA--historically famous for filthy trains and station, daily signal failures, daily delays, unprofessional employees (often caught napping),
and uncaring to public outcry--sold air rights for $52 million. Looking to make a "quick buck" (for doing nothing), they've allowed the construction of a huge missile-like skyscraper.
It will practically be on the doorstep of Queensboro Plaza, in the worst congestion point. But, nobody cares about that. A two-lane road nearby will have to suffice for the "luxury residents".
Naturally, the greedy developers are racing to begin construction before summer, so they can qualify for mayoral tax breaks without having to include affordable housing. Who makes these laws (and loopholes)?! It will cast shade upon all the low-rise buildings north of it (which are thankfully kept small by zoning requirements).
Residents who previously enjoyed vistas and breezes like this...
might have to live like this...
That's why I applaud Astoria, which lies north of LIC. It's a slice of heaven! Astorians see the "bright side" under the Industrial-era refuse.
Thanks to its cohesive sense of community pride--pressuring its local politicians, it's maintained a Paris-like zoning for low-rise buildings. I applaud my neighborhood's civic pride to upkeep its parks and pleasures.
No walls against diversity: acceptance abounds to savor what makes each creed unique. People "pitch in" voluntarily to reclaim an d maintain our beauty.
Below, Welling Court Mural Project gets rave reviews.
There are many farm-to-table restaurants in Astoria, as well as volunteers who sustain the Queens branch of Brooklyn Grange Farms.
We shall see how civic pride and sense of individuality...
....perseveres against a tax-paid government's "self prostitution" to real estate developers and power brokers.
Please also read: http://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2016/04/luxury-apartment-rental-buildings-and.html
"In our lifetime, we are put on Earth to do more than just make ourselves happy. Be bold. Do something to help others. Now is the time for us to invest in future generations".
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