Rendering via Vass Stevens

A new food hall is coming to the Astoria–Long Island City border in Queens, the Commercial Observer reported on Tuesday. Developer Vass Stevens Group is in the process of converting a former print shop, dollar store and restaurant supply store at 34-39 31st Street into a retail space with eight 2,000-square-foot storefronts. The interiors of the single-story building have been demolished and renovations, which will add new glass storefronts and doors, are set to begin soon.

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42-50 24th Street rendering via Dynamic Star

Long Island City has been fertile ground for new skyscrapers for over a decade–and the biggest additions are still yet to come. Despite concerns over an apartment glut, developers are racing to send 60- and 70- story towers skyward, including the Durst Organization’s Queens Plaza Park, United Construction’s Court Square City View Tower, and Stawksi Partners’ 43-30 24th Street. A newcomer to this party is a mixed-use tower from Dynamic-Hakim and Property Markets Group (PMG) set to rise at 42-50 24th Street, CityRealty reports.

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Via Hill West Architects

The soaring condo tower planned for Long Island City’s Court Square shrunk in height this week, dropping from a proposed 984-foot tower to 778 feet, Curbed NY reported. This isn’t the first height fluctuation for the building, dubbed the Court Square City View. Developer Chris Xu proposed a 964-foot tower in 2016, bumped it to supertall status at 984 feet in 2017 and now, according to the WSJ, the tower will rise just under 780 feet. Despite reducing in height by more than 200 feet, the tower will still be the tallest building in Queens upon completion.

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Photo by Pablo Enriquez

In MoMA PS1’s temporary exhibit at its sprawling outdoor courtyard in Long Island City, people become the art. Hide & Seek, created by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream The Combine, features moveable mirrors that offer surprising and dislocating perspectives of the courtyard and the crowd looking into them. Newsome and Carruthers were named the winners of the 2018 Young Architects Program, which challenges emerging architects to design a creative, sustainable outdoor installation. Hide & Seek will be on view at MoMA PS1 between June 28 and September 3.

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Photo © 6sqft

The Hunter’s Point South Park extension officially opened Wednesday, over three years after construction began at the Long Island City site. The second phase adds 5.5 acres south to the existing park, which currently has a basketball court, playground, two dog-runs, and a volleyball sand pit. The city’s Economic Development Corporation and Department of Parks and Recreation developed the project, which measures 11-acres from 50th Avenue to Newton Creek on the East River.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, local officials and community members gathered to celebrate the project’s opening. “This is a beautiful park,” State Sen. Michael Gianaris said. “Enough to make our friends across in Manhattan look over and be jealous that they don’t have anything as beautiful on their side of the River.”

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Rendering via CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture and Design

A Kickstarter campaign launched on Thursday for a civic design project aimed at reconnecting the neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Long Island City and the residents who live there. Brooklyn-based studio CRÈME/ Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design’s concept, called Timber Bridge at LongPoint Corridor, calls for constructing a floating bridge made of durable timber that would sit on Newtown Creek and expand past to the LIRR rail yard in LIC. Not only would it provide people greater access to transit options, according to the design team, Timber Bridge would give bikers and pedestrians a safer commute than the Pulaski Bridge, a less-than-ideal path with lots of cars.

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A listing broker for this 1848 former local firehouse told the Wall Street Journal that its $5.5 million asking price was “aspirational,” but the neighborhood certainly has changed since its owner purchased the three-story, 3,500 square-foot converted townhouse in 1981 for $115,000. Long Island City turned fancy and this Federal-style firehouse got an architect-led overhaul that gave it three bedrooms, a 17-foot vaulted ceiling, a home office/library, a garden, a terrace, a garage, an elevator, and a sliding glass wall.

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Rendering courtesy of Durst Organization via SkyscraperPage

After picking up the Long Island City property for $173.5 million in 2016, the Durst Organization released this week the first rendering of its massive mixed-use building planned for 29-37 41st Avenue. Dubbed Queens Plaza Park, the 978,000-square-foot tower will hold 958 rental residences, as well as retail and office space. The rendering reveals a concave-shaped building which will wrap around the 90-year old landmarked Clock Tower, which is being saved and restored, as CityRealty reported.

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Rendering: MoMA PS1 courtyard featuring ‘Hide & Seek’ by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream The Combine.

The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 have announced that the 2018 winner of their annual Young Architects Program is ‘Hide & Seek’ by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream The Combine, in collaboration with Clayton Binkley of ARUP. Opening in June, the winning construction, a “responsive, kinetic environment that features nine intersecting elements arrayed across the entirety of the MoMA PS1 courtyard” will serve as a backdrop for the 21st season of Warm Up, MoMA PS1’s outdoor seasonal music series.

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Photo by David Lloyd/SWA

Long Island City is getting five more glorious acres of waterfront park space, with the city expected to complete Hunters Point South Park in the coming months. The second phase of the park, which stretches below 54th Avenue and wraps around Newtown Creek, is nearing completion after three years under construction, according to LIC Post. The city’s Economic Development Corporation says the opening date will come by late spring or early summer, so New Yorkers will have a whole new outdoor amenity to enjoy when the weather warms up.

The park has tons of cool features