There is lots of coming-soon buzz about the D'Agostinos in one of the Queens West buildings and the Gristede's coming to the Arris Lofts building at Court Square. Almost as much as there is Fresh Direct activity around here, upgrades at the C-Town on 21st Street, and sheer throughput at the Korean on Vernon (will someone open another one already!).

But there's also another online grocer in the 'hood.

Apparently, an MBA whippersnapper has decided the world is big enough for two online groceries. This one is meant to be gourmet, social, and in all ways finer. And they push their groceries to you in carts rather than in door-to-door trucks (let's see how that works this hot hot summer).

Read about it in the Sun

Posted by Amol at 09:48 AM | Permalink

Did you miss the fantasyland fashion performance art last week at Choc Fac? Read about it in the NY Press

Posted by Amol at 09:45 AM | Permalink

Click more for the upcoming wine tastings (which wines, which nights, all free).

(Send LICNYC your events if you got 'em!)

June Tastings

Thursday June 7th 4pm - 7pm

VRAC Macon-Villages
VRAC Cotes-du-Rhone - Try this entry level priced wine, and learn to love the Cotes du Rhone
Niclara Pinot Grigio

Friday June 8th 4pm - 7pm

Weimer Semi-Dry Reisling - NY State
Foley Charbono - A unique Italian grape, made extraordinarily in California
Cristalino Brut

Thursday June 14th 4pm - 7pm

Collin-Bourisset Pouilly-Fuisse
Vieux Clocher Vacqueyras - A southern Rhone blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre
Chateau Malecasse

Friday June 15th 4pm - 7pm

Les Heretiques Rouge
Perrone Bigaro Sparkling Red
" Le Tuffeaux" Mont-Louis Sur - A Vouvray-type wine with a hint of sweetness

Thursday June 21st 4pm - 7pm

Chateau de Roquefort
Crios Rose de Malbec - A rose made from the most noble of Argentina's grape varietals
Friday June 22nd 4pm - 7pm

Quintay Sauvignon Blanc - Top of the line selection from Chile's Casablanca Valley
Collelcto Brunello
Col Vetoraz Prosecco
Thursday June 28th 4pm - 7pm

Craneford Grenache - Barossa Valley
Kim Crawford Pinot Gris
Roederer Estate California Sparling Wine - From the People who Make "Cristal"

Posted by Amol at 03:42 PM | Permalink

See more from runs_brooklyn

Posted by Amol at 03:19 PM | Permalink

New. Just outside Grand Central.

Posted by Amol at 09:46 AM | Permalink

On the 'goodness' meter, City Dog Lounge is actually a very good shop. And therefore one of our favorite pet destinations. Especially for pet care like nail clipping and walking.

Posted by Amol at 03:54 PM | Permalink

Weird MTA parking lot where there once was a gravel field.

Posted by Amol at 03:25 PM | Permalink

Demo at the foot of the bridge.

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Demo next to the bridge.

Posted by Amol at 03:17 PM | Permalink

Hackett building, demo'd.

Posted by Amol at 03:16 PM | Permalink

+++Friday, May 25+++

LISPECTOR (Paris, France)
http://www.lispector.com/
http://www.myspace.com/lispector
" . . . as glorious and as pop music gets, perfect for jumping on the bed or having a good cry. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant." -URB

UMBERTO (Harrison, NJ)
http://www.myspace.com/umberto
"Umberto has a gift for making you believe that every word, every screaming noise, is real and true." -Ann Arbor Observer

INVISIBLE FRIEND (Manhattan, NY)
http://www.myspace.com/invisiblefriendband
Semi-French pop.

9:00 PM
$5

The Creek and the Cave
10-93 Jackson Ave.
Hunters Point, Long Island City, Queens, NYC
1 stop from both Brooklyn & Manhattan

G to 21 St
7 to Vernon-Jackson
E-V to 23 St-Ely Av
B-61, Q-67, and Q-103 Bus

Presented by http://www.LICpop.com
show poster: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/203/495536153_34800fa2de.jpg

******************************************

UPCOMING SHOWS IN THE NABE (plan ahead!):
+6/1: The So So Glos @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/8: Vince Dynamic @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/15: Beat Radio, Great Lakes Myth Society, Chris Bathgate, I am a
Bolt of Lightning, Tom Drake & the Shiny Machines @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/22: Katie Elevitch @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/23: Al Duvall, The Pindrop Symphony @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/13: Lord of the Yum-Yum, Charlie Slick @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/14: Dan Costello, Lord of the Yum-Yum, Charlie Slick, Jib Kidder @
Dominie's Hoek
+7/20: Frontier Ruckus, Rivers & Lakes @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/27: Grrropolis, The Nice Jenkins @ The Creek and the Cave
+8/3: David Martin @ The Creek and the Cave

Posted by Amol at 04:11 PM | Permalink

We have some new friends in the neighborhood in this really cool building on 5th at the waterfront: Recycle a Bicycle. I'm guessing the fine folks at Plaxall helped them get the space...but just a guess. Learn more about them

Posted by Amol at 09:43 PM | Permalink

We have some pretty progressive trash cans in LIC, like this eco-friendly solar-powered compressor can on Jackson near Court Square.

Check out this note about how the cans are spreading...

Posted by Amol at 12:46 PM | Permalink

Terrific Greek, near the Astoria Pool. Opens Memorial Day.

Posted by Amol at 06:00 PM | Permalink

The schedule

Posted by Amol at 04:58 PM | Permalink

Be part of LICNYC. Get into the forums.

General LICNYC	Arris Lofts	Echelon
Purves	5SL	Citibank and UNFCU
Fusion

Posted by Amol at 02:29 PM | Permalink

Christie's shows off their stuff before auction, and this time they are showing off a neo-colonialist kit-house by French architect Jean Prouve.

It's a different kind of development on the LIC waterfront. Set in the nook under the Queensboro Bridge -- the future home of a monster boardwalk-commerce-and-condo development by Silvercup -- it's attracting all kinds of unusual characters to the hood. Get off the 7 on Vernon-Jackson, walk North on Vernon till nearly the bridge...and you're there. Please support your locals: pause along the way and buy an apartment!

More pics

Through July 4th weekend.

Posted by Amol at 02:24 PM | Permalink

Humble place on vernon. But OK! Good chick parm.

Posted by Amol at 03:28 PM | Permalink

Coming soon: summer.

Posted by Amol at 03:22 PM | Permalink

A searchable guide to the local area

More maps of LIC, and our old LICNYC map

Posted by Amol at 06:11 PM | Permalink

We heard on the street that Matthew Barney has taken a big new space in LIC. Well, here's confirmation.

It seemed appropriate that on that quasi-apocalyptic Sunday afternoon when the nor'easter sky released eight inches of rain on New York City that Matthew Barney had a rare live performance. In an enormous empty one-story warehouse not twenty feet from the East River in Long Island City, a standing crowd of around 200 populated by numerous art-student types, famous artists like Cindy Sherman and Vito Acconci, sundry museum curators, and icons like David Byrne and Björk witnessed what seemed like a cosmic cross between an Egyptian funeral, the end of the world, the Rape of Europa, a demolition derby, a porn film, and voodoo ritual. Whatever it was, it freaked a lot of people out.

More

Posted by Amol at 06:06 PM | Permalink

This Sunday the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is taking to the streets with their annual street fair about film making. If you've been seeing all the shooting around the 'hood, you'll appreciate to the chance to see what those donuts really taste like and just how luxurious those stars' trailers are.

A note from the AMMI folks: Check out Sunday’s New York on Location, a day-long street fair and celebration of filmmaking. The public will have an opportunity to step inside twenty film trucks and trailers—the studios-on-wheels that are usually off limits. Given the frequency of location shoots in LIC (where I live), I think people in our neighborhood would be interested. Families and kids of all ages are welcome. The Museum will also be open free all day.

Free access to the museum! Worth it!

Museum of the Moving Image (link)
35 Avenue at 36 Street, Astoria, New York 11106 directions

Posted by Amol at 09:28 AM | Permalink

Joining the Women's Studio Center and the several big studio buildings like 5ptz (link), and even the SculptureCenter, PS1, Noguchi, Socrates, and Fisher Landau...is BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center. They are over by the Five Star Punjabi area near 21st St and 44th

A note from their director: I would like to invite you to visit BrickHouse Ceramic Art Center. New to L.I.C. it is located at 10-34 44th Drive. BrickHouse offers pottery classes to adults and rental space to ceramic artists in the Associate Artist Studio. The ceramic studio is fully equipped with slab rollers, potter’s wheels, extruders, glazes, and kilns. Beginners are welcome. Open studio and pottery sale on Saturday, May 19 from 3-8 pm. 718-784-4907. - Ellen E. Day

Posted by Amol at 09:06 AM | Permalink

L.I.C. QNS NYC is overrun with Michigan singer-songwriters this weekend, and that's not a bad thing.

Also, http://www.LICpop.com is finally up and running and will be updated a few times a week with show previews, photos, video, and events calendar, links, and heaven knows what else. Oh, and be our friend over on YerSpace: http://www.myspace.com/licpop

See you at the bar,
BZ

******************************************

+++Friday, May 18+++

RACHEL LIPSON (Brooklyn, NY)
http://www.rachellipson.org/
http://www.myspace.com/rachellipson
"Her great ability is to engage directly with the song, to inhabit them so that we communicate seemingly directly with the songs."
-Americana UK

MISTY LYN & THE BIG BEAUTIFUL (Ann Arbor, MI) http://www.myspace.com/mistylynmusic
" . . . songs full of wanting and the shadow of a turned-away glance .
. . " -MetroTimes

music starts at 10:30 PM
$5

The Creek and the Cave
http://www.thecreekandthecave.com
10-93 Jackson Ave.
Hunters Point, Long Island City, Queens, NYC
1 stop from Brooklyn & Manhattan

G to 21 St
7 to Vernon-Jackson
E-V to 23 St-Ely Av
B-61, Q-67, and Q-103 Bus

show poster: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/495420383_e8374e846c.jpg

******************************************

+++Saturday, May 19+++

GREGORY STOVETOP (Brooklyn, NY)
http://www.myspace.com/gregorystovetop
"Affable, earthy, and explosive, this solo singer-songwriter . . .
throws himself into his songs and performances." -Ann Arbor Observer

MISTY LYN & THE BIG BEAUTIFUL (Ann Arbor, MI) http://www.myspace.com/mistylynmusic
" . . . songs full of wanting and the shadow of a turned-away glance .
. . " -MetroTimes

MATT JONES (Ypsilanti, MI)
http://www.myspace.com/mattspainting
". . . imposing tower of a human being . . . one certainly wouldn't ever guess that his singing voice would land in the upper regions of the tenor range and posess the sweet timbre of a choirboy's, but it does." -Celestial Biscuit

JIM ROLL (Ann Arbor, MI)
http://www.myspace.com/jimroll
"Difficult to pigeonhole but recommended to those who like their Americana with a noir-ish tang. Four Stars." -Q Magazine (UK)

music starts at 9:00 PM
FREE

Dominie's Hoek
48-17 Vernon Blvd.
Hunters Point, Long Island City, Queens, NYC
1 stop from Brooklyn & Manhattan

G to 21 St
7 to Vernon-Jackson
E-V to 23 St-Ely Av
B-61, Q-67, and Q-103 Bus

show poster: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/495420385_792d149678.jpg

******************************************

UPCOMING SHOWS IN THE NABE (plan ahead!):
+5/25: Lispector, Umberto, Invisible Friend @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/1: The So So Glos @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/8: Vince Dynamic @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/15: Beat Radio, Great Lakes Myth Society, Chris Bathgate, I am a
Bolt of Lightning, Tom Drake & the Shiny Machines @ The Creek and the Cave
+6/23: Al Duvall, The Pindrop Symphony @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/13: Lord of the Yum-Yum, Charlie Slick @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/14: Dan Costello, Lord of the Yum-Yum, Charlie Slick, Jib Kidder @
Dominie's Hoek
+7/20: Frontier Ruckus, Rivers & Lakes @ The Creek and the Cave
+7/27: Grrropolis, The Nice Jenkins, David Martin @ The Creek and the
+Cave
+8/3: David Martin @ The Creek and the Cave
+8/11: Or, the Whale @ The Creek and the Cave

Posted by Amol at 09:05 AM | Permalink

Apparently Dunkin Donuts makes their kruellers here on 11th and 44th Ave near the Metropolitan Ave.

Posted by Amol at 05:55 PM | Permalink

Here is where the rat demo team took out the little garden. Though, we all suffer from rats on the streets. And we can't say LICNYC has ever been invited into that nice garden.

Posted by Amol at 05:53 PM | Permalink

That one lovely patch of green on 21st street, embedded in the playground as a community garden, got nuked last week.

Murray Playground from space

...early one morning three weeks ago, four Parks Department employees with a large yellow earth-moving machine cut a hole in the four-foot-high chain-link fence that surrounds the garden and ripped up much of its middle portion, which was home to the garden’s butterfly bushes. They also tore down a latticework arbor, along with the wisteria and honeysuckle that climbed up it. More from the NYT

In case you didn't know already, our LIC parks are not the top rated. Hey, Gioia, get to work!

Posted by Amol at 05:51 PM | Permalink

After the upgrades, it's even better than the best. Smells lemony rather than Cloroxy. Big improvement. Get the chicken makhni and the tall bottle of Taj. Take your friends. They have an awesome party room downstairs now.

Posted by Amol at 05:51 PM | Permalink

This tiny green triangle is one of many that are sprinkled across LIC's

angular streets. This one is McKenna Triangle near Citi's building.

Posted by Amol at 11:01 AM | Permalink

Supercool made-to-fab house on auction by Christie's this week is on display in LIC, near the bridge on the SilverCup lot.

More from the NYT

Posted by Amol at 10:42 AM | Permalink

Free booze. Weekly.

Posted by Amol at 07:09 PM | Permalink

Along with its business-hours-only outpost Gaw.Gai near Court Squre, Tuk Tuk is the best and easiest curry in the hood. But don't forget the redesigned Five Star Punjabi Diner. Man is that good.

Posted by Amol at 07:53 PM | Permalink

In a new neighborhood, it may be premature to be talking 'new frontiers'. But LICNYC is a forward thinking sort of periodical. So what's next? Queens West/Vernon Blvd - done. Court Square - happening. Jackson Ave/11th St - demo done and steel coming up.



So....



Well, the cigarette butts and Daily News littered quadrant that is Queensboro Plaza. That's what's next. You will be surprised over the next few years what condos can do to a crappy street.



View 59, pictured above, takes shape.

Posted by Amol at 05:25 PM | Permalink

Heckuva crowded and ridiculously howl, stomp, and strap-on bass-drum- and harmonium-filled show last week headlined by BEAT THE DEVIL. A few videos if you missed it. Believe the buzz:

Video 1

Video 2

*Shows start at 10:30 the next few weeks, as they follow a play called TO THE TEETH that's goin' down in the Creek Theater.*

+++FRIDAY, MAY 4+++

CHILD BITE (Ferndale, MI)
http://www.childbite.com/
http://www.myspace.com/childbite
"Somewhere between the hurried bravado of a streaker sprinting across a soccer field, a Sunday barbeque at the Tasmanian devil's house and the deceptive deadliness of a chainsaw juggling clown on a unicycle, you have Child Bite: sugar-drug-punk with nigh inhuman howls and a beautifully skewed take on new wave synth serenades." -REAL DETROIT WEEKLY

EMILY JANE POWERS (Chicago, IL)
http://www.myspace.com/emilyjanepowers
"Queen of Midwest lo-fidelity." -SONGS:ILLINOIS

Music starts at 10:30 PM
$5.00
@ THE CREEK AND THE CAVE
10-93 Jackson Ave.
Hunters Point, Long Island City, Queens, NYC at the foot of the Pulaski Bridge G to 21 St
7 to Vernon-Jackson
E-V to 23 St/Ely Av
B-61 Bus

http://www.thecreekandthecave.com

******************************************

UPCOMING SHOWS IN THE NABE (plan ahead!):
5/11: Syscrusher, Slasher Risk @ The Creek and the Cave
5/18: Misty Lyn & the Big Beautiful @ The Creek and the Cave
5/19: Gregory Stovetop, Misty Lyn & the Big Beautiful, Matt Jones, Jim Roll @ Dominie's Hoek
5/25: Lispector, Umberto, Invisible Friend @ The Creek and the Cave
6/1: The Shapes, The So So Glos @ The Creek and the Cave
6/15: Great Lakes Myth Society, Chris Bathgate @ The Creek and the Cave
7/13: Lord of the Yum-Yum @ The Creek and the Cave
7/14: Lord of the Yum-Yum @ Dominie's Hoek
7/20: Frontier Ruckus @ The Creek and the Cave
7/27: Grrropolis, The Nice Jenkins, David Martin @ The Creek and the Cave

Posted by Amol at 08:34 AM | Permalink

You missed it. Two major artists and their favorite slides. Fun and insightful.

Posted by Amol at 07:32 PM | Permalink

Apparently, when you live in a giant condo complex isolated from the world and the streets and the sun and the children and across the river from Manhattan....you meet more people.

condos-new york city-urban areas-urban living - New York Times

Posted by Amol at 05:18 PM | Permalink

Long-time friend of LICNYC, Rick Rosa from Douglas Elliman, is back as a sponsor. Things are getting very busy in the hood -- Rick's name is on nearly a dozen properties around the Vernon Blvd zone. He must be very busy!

Contact Rick about both his commercial and residential listings by calling 646 299 2096 or clicking here to get in touch with him by email. His online listings are here.

Posted by Amol at 08:10 AM | Permalink