Raxner - your post made me chuckle.  DB's comments constitute a big, long whine that the area around him is changing to his dislike and getting more expensive.  Welcome to the free world.  Residents in LIC haven't known for years about the plans to develop high-rises on the waterfront?  They didn't know about plans to make the area more residential?  They didn't know that this would bring in different types of people to live, which would bring in more stores, shops, restaurants, etc. of various types?  In what ways do you think the long-term residents could have "participated . . . in shaping the changes . . ."?  No, DB's comments typify the attitudes of some longer-term residents of an entitlement that the old, drab LIC in which they felt comfortable should never change, and that any new resident should have to abide by whatever desire the existing residents dictate for the future of the area.  Well things do not work that way.  Long-time residents and new residents have the same right to voice their opinion and provide input as to what happens in LIC.  The area is changing because there are lots and lots of people that want to live here that want the changes.  Also, please stop with this myth that LIC was some glorious utopia of nice quiet pretty streets before the development.  The waterfront area had some residential housing mixed in with mostly industrial buildings that are generally non-descript, on streets that were drab and barren.  The development is transforming it into something that could be amazing, and in many ways already has become.  Why should the thousands of people new and coming be denied this great place to live because of the desire of some to keep everything around them locked in time?

Jake, maybe you can start a new permanent thread where we could all post comments regarding new yuppies destroying the neighborhood versus old clueless types pretending the neighorhood used to be utopia.  I'm not sure there is much that has been left unsaid.

One of the previous posts stated that in 90's nobody was talking about development.  I looked for the old article posted on this site from NY Magazine in 1980 but coudn't find it.  I think the article shows the debate has been ongoing for many years.

Thanks for the reminder, I certainly forgot about the free world here (and thanks also for welcoming me to it, I wasn't much used to it) and the way things work.  Fortunately, once everything is more expensive, those who get displaced will certainly have to find another place to gather.  Let's hope it will be drab, because that's what they like so much. 

Well a powder keg for sure!

Thanks for the reading comprehension Raxnar, you get 5 stars. I'm shocked at how many people read into what i said with their guilt on full display.Now about entitlement Pep... The only thing "the old" LIC residents asked for was disclosure. We didnt and wouldnt have permitted such a decadent plan had we known it was the intention. Most of the "old LIC" people i know and its almost all of them, are blue collar down to earth queens folks. We dont aspire to Spa's and concierge service, massage on demand or cooking lessons. We didnt move here thinking "" i cant wait for the french nouvelle cuisine restaurant, or the screening room" We are the last people you can call entitled. so whos stereotyping now? The fact of the matter is some one on here asked how the community felt about the new residents and the buildings they reside in. I answered it. If it's an answer you didnt like , I'm sorry. But to be fair this whole thing has been such a drag for us. Yes we had trees, yes we had a school ( sadly closed because of the diocese) but we didnt have the litter, that my friends is new. Considering this neighborhood was full of sidewalk washing immigrants litter was not an issue. So you dont think it was a utopia? your wrong. I lived here and it was. clean safe and personable.
All the tension was brought on by the developments and their needs, wants and desires. As if we dont exist at all.
I have no more rights than anyone, but i certainly have the right to set you straight. Listen to Rexars clarity and impartiality. he lives there and gets it. he'sjust not afraid to spill the truth to people that dont want to hear it.


and Jake, you werent joking when you tried to say we should all be queens west and you know it. you argued for weeks that hunterspoint wasn't a real name anymore. you also told a guy on here that the powerstation ( somthing you like now?) wasnt by McKimm, Meade and White and shockingly ..it was...oops!
i have ready endless ohhing and ahhing by you and kyle in the past about all the pricing and amenities as if it was all you cared about. so dont try and back out now, Your impressed by luxury and privilege. You never once stepped to the plate to try and stop any of the destruction.

I wonder if anyone is worried about the fact that your getting priced out of living here because foreigners are willing to pay these insane rents because their currency is worth double ours? Its crazy. the prices will go up and up . and the building will continue and where will that lead any of us.... New Jersey.

ps. Im queens born and bread and have spent my entire adult life in LIC. I m not a transient Im a new yorker who planted his roots here only to grow and get tangled by a new skyscraper.

As a 20 yr resident, who's still 'new' compared to my neighbors who've been here for 50+ years...I just have to say that people are people, no matter if they're new here or the old timers. With that, you get varied opinions, selfish and giving types, those who keep to themselves, and those who are vocal politically. I am amazed at the throngs of people walking around --- at least 1000 more in the last few years. The plans for Queens West did change drastically from what was originally promised. The newcomers need to give the longer term residents slack on that point. You were not here for all the meetings in St. Mary's basement. Real estate is like a plane ride--some people fly for free, some pay more for 1st class, some get a special fare and others get hosed...but they still get a seat...and everyone is headed in the same direction. I've been shoveling/sweeping/hosing the sidewalk and along the curb with my neighbors for years---what kind of slob dumps cigarette butts, used condoms (BLAH) and garbage into the street? Who puts steaming dog crap (BLAH) into a residential garbage can (when it has to be SORTED)when there are city cans on the corners and in the parks? I don't have a super or a concierge, so i have to shrug it off and keep my piece of LIC neat. It's great to hear jazz wafting at night or on weekends at the farmer's market, but It's insane that the no parking signs on 48th for the farmer's market are in force thru, is it November?  Change is not perfect. When I moved here it was not a wasteland..it was just not as shiny.  There was a street fair on Vernon, under the old bridge, the Noguchi Museum, plenty of artists and interesting old timers, and the neighborhood had a very small town feel. Stopping to talk with Joe Imp or Spike from Cafe Vernon as we'd pass on the sidewalk. There was a palpable absence of babies and small children--it's wonderful to see the changes and to hear kids playing. I patronize as many of the shops and restaurants that appeal to me. Not all do, for various reasons...but I wish them well. I see a lot of passion in the shopowners---old and new. Sometimes making your avocation your vocation can be a slippery slope---but it's a labor of love. These hardworking shopowners deserve our curiosity. Within a few blocks I can have escargot, crepes, bagels, grilled cheese, french fries w/brown gravy, ribs, thai, pizza---wood oven or paolo's, lite bites and a great array of teas, amazing italian, sushi, tapas, arepas, rip n' dip, an irish breakfast, etc... I've learned a little something from all the wine shops, and it's nice to have tastings and a choice--cheep critter wines, or new ones I'd never heard of previously. I don't care much about everyone else's amenities or square footage----I love it here and I just wish for thoughtful neighbors who like or love it, too, a roof over our senior's heads, and continued thoughtful development of what has been rightly called the gold coast near midtown.