OuterB on Queens Real Estate

No open houses this week - a nor’easter’s a-comin’!  Stay inside where it’s warm.  And check out these links:

Take a winter self-guided tour of the LIC Sundial. [Long Island City Sundial]

Andrew Fine has his own solution for the congestion pricing debate. [A Fine Blog]

NY Magazine published its Top 10 Pieces of Architecture , and Queens made the list… well, sorta.  It did as far as being included in No. 10, “Best Street Furniture - New Bus Shelters”

.  I do like them. [NY Mag via A Daily Dose of Architecture]

St. Saviour’s Parsonage is gone, gone, gone, yikes! Apparently it took only one day to raze it.  [NY Daily News]

Fixing up a crappy apartment. [amNY]

Bonus for this “indoor weekend” - escape the room.  [Muselock]

Photo credit: HarlanH on flickr via a Creative Commons license

The Daily News brings us up to date on the continuing saga of St. Saviour’s in Maspeth. Apparently, the owner of the property has given up on his efforts to get the property rezoned for housing because of the city’s lack of support for a zoning change. So, he’s looking to work within the current mixed-use zoning, which could mean the property could be developed into something industrial, commercial, or retail. The property is in a mostly industrial area (there are houses here and there), though.

Particularly interesting to me was that the owner is also open to someone else buying the property. Perhaps the community could?

Because the owner of the property is moving in a different direction, this also means preserving the church is off the table. It is more vulnerable now to being destroyed - apparently a deal had been made to preserve/restore the church as long as the housing (increased density) would be built.

It will be interesting to see what happens! Never a dull moment with this property.

Related:

Decision to scrap housing plan may end in demolition of Maspeth worship site [NY Daily News]
Maybe That’s Why Saving St. Savior’s in Maspeth Never Succeeded [previously on OuterB]

According to the Daily News, Councilman Dennis Gallagher, has been working all along with foreign developers to develop the St. Saviour’s land for houses:

Councilman [Gallagher] has been quietly lobbying city planners and Borough President Helen Marshall on behalf of a foreign developer who wants to build houses on the grounds of the historic St. Savior’s Episcopal Church in Maspeth.

Gallagher’s efforts have infuriated residents and civic leaders who have fought for some two years to preserve the church and surrounding property as a park. Gallagher flatly denied engaging in hush-hush influence peddling in an interview with Queens News on Friday.

Well, I expect there are some that are licking their chops with this tidbit, reveling in the schadenfreude, but a lot are probably mostly disappointed in (and/or angry with) the Councilman, wondering if anything can change, and wondering what these “environmental concerns” are holding things up… I’d sure like to know.

Update: See the Juniper Park Patriots for an opposing viewpoint.

Related:
Dennis Gallagher has let down community, activists claim [NY Daily News via the Historic Districts Council Newsstand]

Curbed ran a post today about St. Saviour’s in Maspeth, the site of one of Queens’ most intense preservation battles. The before and after pictures of St. Saviour’s are pretty striking, and it’s pretty sad to see all those trees just gone. The post itself is informative, but once again the comments degrade to babble, insults, and racist spew. I recommend you ignore the comments and focus on the content by Curbed readers, unless you want to read something pointlessly unpleasant. I know Curbed writers do a good job on their end, and are not responsible for the comments, but it really sucks a lot of the legitimacy out of that site. I like the Curbed site and am thankful for my RSS reader so I can ignore the comments!

• The Greening of Queens Not Quite Going as Planned [Curbed]

Zipcars are starting to become an amenity at many new developments. They’re already available at CityLights in LIC. [NY Post]

“Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted this afternoon to authorize a $10 million installation of protective bollards in front of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia Airport.” [City Room]

Hot preservation news in Douglaston, Maspeth, and Forest Hills. [Historic Districts Council Newsstand]

The bungalows on 129th Ave. [the progressive southside]

ForestHills72 explains that it might be cheaper to buy than rent in Forest Hills. At least currently. [ForestHills72]

Grody stuff is dripping from the El in Richmond Hill [NY Times]

Bjork’s big black boat spotted in LIC this week. [Curbed]

Check out the “challenge course” at Alley Pond Park in Queens. Activities include a climbing wall and a 60-foot-high pulley called a “flying squirrel”. [NY Magazine's Daily Intelligencer]

Photo credit, Flushing Meadows Park: Meg Cotner

That has been the call for a while by those who want to keep St. Saviour’s church in Maspeth from getting bulldozed over for some kind of new development.  Currently, it’s zoned for manufacturing, though Maspeth Development LLC (the current owner) applied to get the property rezoned for housing nearly two years ago. So, who know what could go up there.  However, what I do know, is that this situation drives some in the community crazy.

The loudest voices on the preservation side want to make it into a park and community center, which they say would satisfy Bloomberg’s vision in PlaNYC to have more parks available to New Yorkers. But, the city says they don’t have the money to buy the property. Another suggestion is to give the developer some vacant city-owned land in exchange for St. Saviour’s. Additionally, the church can’t be protected as a landmark, as the building has been changed too much, according to Landmarks Preservation Commission spokeswoman Lisi deBourbon.

Related:
Endangered church looks for new life [amNY via Historic Districts Council Newsstand]

And as one of our open house picks, take a look at this nice set of photos of Maspeth, a sleepy little part of Queens.

Maspeth NY Profile Pictures [about.com]

Astoria
House: 4 bedroom/4 bath Tudor
$899,999
Ditmars area
Sunday July 1, 1-3pm
NY Times Listing [Re/Max]

Briarwood/Jamaica
Co-op: 1 bedroom/1 bath
$145,000
Windsor Terrace, 170-40 Highland Ave., #405
Sunday July 1, 1-3pm
NY Times Listing [NY Times web listing]

Forest Hills
House: 3 bedroom/1.5 bath attached brick house
$629,000
67th Avenue
Sunday July 1, 2-6pm
NY Times Listing [Steve Elliot, Owner/Broker]

Jackson Heights
Co-op: 1 bedroom/1 bath
$285,000
The Madison, 35-06 88th St., #1c
Sunday July 1, 2-4pm
NY Times Listing [NY Times web listing]

Maspeth
House: 5 bedroom/3 bath 2 family Colonial
$699,000
60-28 59th Avenue
Saturday June 30, 1-4pm
NY Times Listing [laffey.com]

The state wants to renovate the Kosciuszko Bridge, which connects Maspeth and Brooklyn. Eminent Domain is being invoked in five of the six proposed plans, which would tear down a number of already existing structures, including homes and industrial lots. By moving ahead with the appraisal process, they’ll be able to get their properties appraised quickly and move forward in relocating (assisted by the state). The “no-build” option is unlikely.

Adam Levine, a state transportation spokesman, said, “We wanted to take the necessary steps that would otherwise have been kicked off later, by the Record of Decision. Most projects require eminent domain under only a few of the build alternatives, but this (project) has it for all proposals. We thought it merited special consideration.”
Related:
State Officials Jump-start Eminent Domain Process [Queens Chronicle]

• An Apartment With a View, and a Catch [NY Times]
• Three-Alarm Fire in Bayside Extinguished [1010 Wins]
• St. Savior’s Lawsuit Thrown Out Of Court [Chronicle]
• Zoned, sweet home deal [Daily News]
• Ode to a neighborhood street fair [Joey in Astoria]
• Next Big Thing Set To Emerge Is Long Island City’s Silvercup [NY Sun]
• MetLife considers leaving Queens for Manhattan [Crain's]