New Ferry Service in Astoria

     Today is the first day of Ferry Service from Astoria to NYC.  How did this long-overdue scenario happen?

     See the picture below?  It shows a long-neglected alcove of government-created low-income Housing Projects in Astoria with a new high-rise "luxury building" going up behind it.  In the foreground is a new ferry slip.

Originally, the dual-ferry dock was expected to be located at the new building, but due to logistics, it was stationed on the opposite side of the area.  (Perhaps the new ridership traffic will improve that forsaken area).  

The incoming/outgoing ferry routes now share the space with kayakers who launch from Hallets Cove Beach.  The tiny beach the only waterfront in Astoria to launch kayaks and rowboats from.  (The rest is monopolized by power plants, water sewage treatment plants, and bridges).    

     Seen above, high-rise complexes are planned for Hallets Point (yes, the idiots spelled it wrong in the image AND on their own website).  A real estate development is intended for Astoria Cove.  The Durst Organization began its 2,400-unit development on Hallets Point in 2016 but halted when New York's tax abatements stopped.  They claimed that they couldn't afford to continue without the tax breaks.  Really?  (The tax breaks happen if the developer includes a certain percentage of affordable units).  The state government quickly continued the tax-breaks to developers in 2017, which is criticized as a giveaway costing billions in lost city tax revenue.  Yet, our City Council approved the project: a lost value of $350 million.  I suppose they expect the overworked taxpayers to make up the missing amount.

     That's typical in NYC: realty developers won't build unless they're given money/tax refunds to do so.  Thus, the government colludes with longstanding realty conglomerates by not granting such tax advantages to outsider developers.  

Above is how things look now; below will be after the change.

Naturally, the Mayor "smelled" money and attended the ground-breaking before construction began.  I can't recall the last time that he ever visited Queens, but he showed up for that half-billion dollar project.

     Having been satisfied with their renewed tax breaks and city government/mayoral support, the developers then complained about how to lure buyers to their buildings.  On a remote outcropping, it's 1.4 miles from the nearest subway station.  Adding hundreds of more people doesn't help the overcrowded subway, either.  The corrupt MTA operates a 100-year-old/crumbling subway route--which is often unreliable--and has a bottleneck of constricted access to Astoria.  It hasn't added more trains or routes since 1917, which clearly falls far behind the rapid increase of population.  It also falls behind the new Metro lines built by other modern cities around the world.  Just like NYC, the MTA doesn't care and faces no consequences to care.

     Instead of fixing the overdue subway, the mayor (and his developer buddies) conjured up the idea of building a streetcar line.  It was ridiculously expensive--the hallmark of involving money that would be stolen.

     Would it help most of Astoria?  No.  From those new realty developments, it would go directly south (along the riverfront and away from the rest of the neighborhood) to Brooklyn, for subway access to the city.  Naturally, tax payers and residents rallied against a huge expense that only benefitted a few people and disrupted the waterfront property--and narrow Vernon Boulevard.  Looking at how narrow the road is, where would they put the streetcar route?  

Did they intend to abandon the bike lane?  Already the bike lane gets intersected by bus-stops, curbside parking spaces, and right-side car turning lanes at intersections (which is all careless infrastructure at the detriment of cyclists).

     So, the city authorities decided to help the developers--oops, I mean residents--with something else: a ferry service to Manhattan.  The only new ferry service in NYC within the last century began this year in Brooklyn (you can tell how little NYC invests in its commuter support)... built by an outside company--not the MTA.  [In fact, their computers and token-acceptance system is far better than the MTA's].  Yes, riders pay extra to use it, in addition to their MTA fees; it is not considered a "transfer".   

     Unfortunately, the ferry route ignored an obvious stop to the Upper East Side, parallel to Astoria (which existed 100 years ago, when the Steinway Village had one).  Instead, it takes Astoria riders all the way down to 34th Street--ignoring any other possible stop along the city's waterfront above that!  (Somehow the Bronx town of Soundview got those ferry stops, instead).  

With population influx imminent in Astoria, more and more homeowners are selling their properties to make way for bigger apartment building$. 

Our tax-paid mayor and his lobbying friends are happy.

Crime Extended in America

    As a born/bred Manhattanite, Lewis was never encouraged to get a Driver's License.  He is finally applying for one: a result of my encouragement.  However, this morning's Local News featured a segment about a 21-year-old who has already been allowed to accumulate 81 license suspensions!  !!!  What kind of lenient/crappy country do we live in?  

    Where does the young guy live?  Long Island, where I grew up.  Well, that figures!  Leading ever-increasingly-corrupt America, Long Island and NYC are the worst at enforcing laws.  A coworker--watching the same TV--commented, "He must have a friend who's a cop, to wipe away all of those suspensions."  That doesn't make me feel better about New York's overpaid-yet-ineffective police.

     You must remember that America's government doesn't care if you live or die; they collect taxes when you're born, when you earn money, when you give that money, when you die, and when you inherit money.  The only purpose of American government is to ensure the collection of the money that sustains it.  It doesn't care about the betterment of social behavior.  That's why corporate crimes go unpunished, imprisonment for "white collar" crime is lenient, criminals are released so many times, wars are sustained, infrastructure is ignored, and citizens' right are infringed.  It's why criminals with long "criminal records" are still set free amidst the public, often committing more crimes.  In other countries, if you're convicted of robberies four times, you're not easily released from prison to rob again.  

      Such a phenomenon is typical of a suburb that condones "illegal day laborers", while penalizing drivers who don't wear seat-belts.  It's typical of a state that's content collecting violation fines from slumlords, instead of shutting down those slums and ensuring healthy standards of living for all tenants.  Typical of a country that releases repeated-criminals (as the film "Ocean Eleven" makes fun of)--or makes mega-criminals into celebrities (as the film "Wolf of Wall Street" makes fun of).  
     Against its own laws, America's government doesn't care about the risks to society or the dangers to taxpayers... it only cares about collecting money/fines.  

     Sadly, lazily unmotivated tax-payers allow it.  

Make Your Bed = Wisdom

What is Burning Man - Another Place to Express Yourself & Party Uninhibited

     Discussing last week's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance", my friend asked about one of the judge's comments.  Remarking on a dancer's exotic outfit, the young judge said "That'd be perfect for Burning Man."  What was Burning Man?  Despite my lack of interest to attend, I have acquaintances who've gone, and I pride myself on being aware of varied things in the world in which we live.

     Begun in 1986, it's an end-of-summer, week-long party in the middle of Nevada's Black Rock desert.  The desert is a prehistoric dried lake--a "dust bowl".  Initially, its "effigy bonfire" celebrated summer solstice.  It is still considered one of the world's biggest pagan events.  UFOlogists would love the patterned grid created by the event organizers.

     Nevada lets nearly anything happen without legal repercussions, so it seems the ideal location.  Black Rock is near Reno, a casino town like Las Vegas, but also the "divorce capital", since the 1940s.  It costs money to arrive for the event--especially considering the airline ticket price-gouging that's allowed to happen during Labor Day Weekend.  Still, "if you build it; they will come".

     Event organizers "truck in" a staggering amount of eccentric and mischievous paraphernalia--all temporarily installed in "the middle of nowhere"... at enormous expense.

That's right, ALL of these people were unrestricted by their schedules, jobs, families, or financial constraints to attend.  [Since vacation time in the U.S.A. is one of the lowest in the world (2 weeks), it's an impressive feat].

After people go (and share energy), they want to go each year.  Returning participants--from all around the globe--are called "Burners".

In fact, burners have their own language:

playa - (not meaning "he's a playa"--although many of the male attendees are) is Spanish for beach.

ancestors - the spiraling dust storms.

artica - where participants go to buy ice.

burn scar - environmental discoloration due to fire built on ground, which is prevented by using burn mats/platforms.

chasing shadows - racing across the playa in pursuit of brightly burning objects.

culture shock - state of melancholy, anger or frustration when trying to readjust to normal life after Burning Man. 

decompression - a party held one month afterwards, to give participants a chance to return and get relief from reality.

Donner Award - given to whomever pushes the limits of stupidity, inattention or bad luck.

fallopian tubes - two roads that connect the gates with the grid.

fluffer - (in the porn industry, this is the gay guy who uses oral skills to excite the male stars) a volunteer who supports others in the field.

FOMO - fear of missing out on something going on.

moonwalker - participant who's become unaware and wanders the playa in a dream state.

nose tators - plugs of dust that form in nostrils.

sparklepony - derogatory term for participants who fail to embrace the principles and is overly reliant on their own friends.  They usually pack nothing buy costumes.

Black Rock Ranger - volunteer guardian, empowered to mediate disputes and address safety issues (as seen below, wearing the traditional khakis outfit).

Rangers are not enforcers; they merely act to "protect the sacred space of the Temple."  Burners probably prefer their own Rangers instead of local law enforcement.  

70,000 people bought tickets to attend, last year.

At nearly $400 per admission ticket, that's $28,000,000.00!  All paid by hippies, nudists, twinks, massage therapists, aura therapists, bored housewives, folks living "off the grid", and varied "artists"... to camp together for a week in the desert.  

     No wonder Nevada is happy to share its public land.  It is strictly not commercialized and prohibits vendors as well as corporate sponsorships.  But, it does accept grants and donations of land or money.  It uses volunteers for nearly everything: Box Office sales, Concierge, Census taking, and Data Disseminators.  It also uses Greeters, Fun Interactors, and an Appreciation Team (A-team) to keep the Temple grounded with good vibes.

Initially a hippie convention, the clothing-optional, free-spirited, free-for-all milieu attracted greater crowds.

The notion of unsupervised orgies caught the attention of the gay community, which quickly joined--in all its usual bare-chested & buttocks-clenched enthusiasm.

Even though it is an open-minded complex, the gay group naturally made their OWN camp.

All those muscles actually got applied to workmanship as they built their annual camp and decorated it.

Each year, its notoriety attracted more and more newcomers.

After all, you never know whom you might encounter... when maneuvering your wood, popping a tent, and positioning your pole.

It's amazing: delicate personalities and effeminate glitterati--that normally pout over the silliest things--don't mind the dessert's sudden sandstorms and ever-blowing dust!





I guess they don't mind, since everyone is in it together... just like camping in the mud.

     To be fair, the organizers concoct amazing structures of whimsy out of all kinds of materials (all shipped to the location and built on-site).

Not to mention the thousands of bicycles and mutant vehicles used to traverse the huge expanse of dessert sand.  It probably gives a faraway-world effect.

It seems a truly an "out of this world" experience of fantasy.

You can do nearly anything you want--out in the open--and feel free/unrestrained/undisciplined.

Even more perverse than Fire Island, it's an orgy of sex appeal.  Despite the barren setting, it attracts an astounding quantity of "beautiful people" who like "to be seen" to "fit in": the crowd that visits Mykonos, Ibiza, Madrid, and Provincetown en mass.

Notice the name of the lounge: "Cock n' Tail"

For some younger participants, it's a "coming of age" scenario

Whether day or night, it's a networking event, often forging long-lasting connections across vast distances.




For flirtations and casual sex, it's an ideal playground.

An occasional marriage even occurs.



Perhaps that compensates for crappy food, dirt in your water, communal showers, and sleeping in dusty tents or trailers.



Coloring the landscape, the event is renown for its creative costumes... worn for no particular reason.















As the event gained notoriety (thanks to social media disturbing the secret), those outfits gained attention, too.



If you don't meet someone "fun" at the bonfires or midnight concerts, then it may the person lathering up beside you during your shower...

... or just a person casually "cruising" the area...





From what I hear, the intention is always to get what you aim for.



Each year, everything seems to go smoothly, and it shows how raucously happy groups can coexist without a glitch.

Just like the end of summer on Fire Island, attendees are sullen at the return to reality (for some, their normal life is still far from the average person's real life).  They might take their freedom experience and apply it to living more fully.  

     While the artwork and construction can be considered impressive, it's disappointing that those folks spend half a year dedicated to building a temporary community.  Imagine if those man-hours went towards bettering the world.