The folks at the GAHS are the caretakers of the LIC/Astoria historical endowment, and often find themselves getting worked up about new things happening here in the hood. For example, the "Moses era mega projects" going up all over the waterfront. LICNYC can't take too much issue, sadly, since replacing the vacant factory-fronts and electrical conduit doesn't seem to tragic.

LIC fire dept helment (from ebay)

From coverage of a recent talk at the Quinn building: The images drew frequent, audible gasps of dismay as the crowd reacted to the differences between the old and new buildings. Comaskey several times referred to new structures as “cash cows” for developers and real estate professionals. “This is what’s happened to your neighborhoods, your homes,” he said. “It’s just nasty. It looks nasty, it feels nasty. It’s just not good construction.”