47-11 90th Street via Google Maps

A plot of land in Queens that contains a historic burial ground is selling for $13.8 million. As first reported by Patch, the lot at 47-11 90th Street in Elmhurst was home to the United African Society of Newtown, founded in 1828 as one of the first freed African American communities in the area, and its cemetery. In a brochure, real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield markets the land as “92,000 buildable square feet for residential development,” but makes no mention of the historic burial ground underneath.

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Google Street View of the mall and Sky View Parc

According to The Real Deal, developer Blackstone will be opening an upscale food hall at Flushing’s Shops at Skyview, a large shopping mall with big-box stores such as Target, BJ’s, and Nordstrom Rack that’s part of the larger Sky View Parc luxury condo development. In addition to plans for “chef-driven” and “fast-cash” food offerings, performance spaces and nightlife events are also in the works. And according to the group who will be curating the food hall, it’s taking inspiration from San Francisco’s popular Chinese marketplace.

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Image via Google Earth.

A planned expansion by Target into several Queens neighborhoods has run afoul of politicians and community groups. The chain store hopes to open new stores in Astoria and Elmhurst by 2022, but activists in the borough have been fighting to stop the new additions, objecting to the fact that they’ll replace mom-and-pop stores and concerned about the effects of gentrification in their neighborhoods. Another concern is that Target’s non-union workforce will replace union jobs, The City reports.

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“They’re off!”  The NC-1, NC-3 and NC- 4 begin their journey across the Atlantic May 8th, 1919. Via the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Did you know that the world’s first Transatlantic flight took off from the Rockaway Naval Air Station on May 8th, 1919? The plane, a US Navy Seaplane NC-4, not only departed from the Rockaways but also was assembled there. The NC-4 was one of three planes that vied to be the first across the Atlantic. The NC-1 and NC-3 started out alongside the NC-4 that day in the Rockaways. The planes set course for Plymouth England, and the NC-4 proved victorious, making landfall there on May 31, 1919, after a whopping 57 hours and 16 minutes in the air.

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Image via Flickr.

Last week brought news that a $5.6 million Amazon conversion project is coming to the former Bulova facility at 26-15 Boody Street in Woodside, Queens that will turn the warehouse into a delivery center for the retail giant. Though the new project is expected to create 2,000 new jobs, an Amazon spokesperson told 6sqft they’re likely to be $18-$25 per hour jobs rather than the 25,000 $150K professional salaries the no-go Amazon HQ had promised.

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Queens’ Skyline Tower has launched its first 20 listings, providing a glimpse of what we can expect when the official sales gallery opens up later this spring (h/t Curbed). In addition to taking the title of 6sqft’s 2018 Building of the Year, the 67-story building caused a stir last year for its notable height—it will be the tallest in the borough—and proximity to Amazon’s planned HQ in Long Island City, leading to a record-breaking $1 billion sellout. When complete, the Hill West Architects-designed, 778-foot-tall tower will house 802 condos. The 20 live listings include studio- to three-bedroom units, ranging in price from $660,400 for a studio to $2,325,610 for a three-bedroom with outdoor space.

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Photo courtesy of TWA Hotel/MCR and Morse Development

In just two weeks, the famous Eero Saarinen-designed TWA terminal at JFK Airport will be reopened for the first time in 18 years, rechristened as the Jet Age-throwback TWA Hotel. There have been several announcements in recent months, from the opening of reservations to the unveiling of the rooftop infinity pool and observation deck, and now we have even more details on everyone’s favorite topic–food. The terminal’s famous Departures Hall, where TWA travelers originally checked in for flights, will be transformed into a small dining hall with offerings from four local mini-chains–The Halal Guys, Empanada Mama, Earl of Sandwich, Playa Bowls, and Fresh & Co.

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Rendering of the Noguchi Museum campus by Büro Koray Duman

The original studio and pied-à-terre of Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi will open to the public for the first time as part of a new unified campus, the Noguchi Museum announced earlier this month. The Long Island City museum plans to expand its existing museum and sculpture garden, founded by Noguchi in 1985, by adding a new 6,000-square-foot building and restoring the sculptor’s studio.

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image via Google Earth

Two months after mega-retailer Amazon announced it was walking away from a lease at One Court Square, a Long Island City library branch that occupies space on the ground floor of the 53-story Citigroup building is facing the possibility of eviction according to non-profit publication The City. The lease on the 3,200-square-foot One Court Square branch of the Queens Public Library expires on August 31. The library has paid an annual rent of $1 since the building opened in 1989 as part of a deal with Citigroup, whose lease on the space ends in May of 2020, but a spokesperson for the library has said that the building’s owner has “indicated it is seeking market rent for the library space.” Last year, building owner Savanna was reportedly seeking $55 to $65 per square foot for space in the building.

A valuable community service in jeopardy