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.

Hop in the elevator, take the tour

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

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled Monday that the destruction of work by 21 graffiti artists at the Long Island City complex known as 5Pointz had enough recognized stature to warrant legal protection–to the tune of $6.7 million, the New York Times reports. The judgement was awarded following a landmark Federal District Court trial in November, when a civil jury concluded that real estate developer Jerry Wolkoff of Wolkoff Group broke the law when he whitewashed the building of its colorful murals under cover of night. As 6sqft previously reported, the iconic graffiti-covered warehouse, visible from passing trains since its beginnings in the 1990s as an artists’ studio and exhibition space, was razed to replaced by rental apartments–using the name 5Pointz as a marketing angle–by Wolkoff, who has owned the building on Jackson Avenue since the 1970s. Wolkoff, who claims he cried when the building came down, now has further reason to weep: The judge’s ruling awarded the artists the maximum possible damages.

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Rendering of Jackson Park courtesy of Tishman Speyer

As the Long Island City skyline continues to grow, so does the list of amenities developments are offering residents in the booming Queens neighborhood. New renderings of the massive, three-tower, 1,871-unit rental complex, Jackson Park, reveal extravagant luxuries like two swimming pools, a gaming area, a full-size basketball/volleyball and squash court, and much more, as the New York Post reported. With move-ins expected in January, leasing has officially begun at the Tishman Speyer-complex, with net rents starting at $1,915 per month studios, $2,335 per month one-bedrooms, $3,555 per month for two-bedrooms, $4,745 per month for three-bedrooms and $7,310 per month for four-bedrooms.

Take a peek

Rendering of Hunters Point South courtesy of Handel Architects

Plans to redevelop Hunters Point South, a project first proposed by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is finally making some headway. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Housing Development Corp. on Thursday selected a proposal that will bring a 1,120-unit apartment complex, with 80 percent of them permanently affordable, to the southern tip of the Long Island City neighborhood. According to the Wall Street Journal, the $500 million, two-tower project is being developed by Gotham and RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc.

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Rendering courtesy of WXY architecture + urban design

The plastics company, Plaxall, announced on Tuesday a massive rezoning proposal to allow for a mixed-use district in Anable Basin, the area surrounding a 149-year-old inlet located in Long Island City. Since founding the company more than 70 years ago, the Plaxall family has purchased and rehabilitated properties in the neighborhood and currently manages over one million square feet of space. Achieved through rezoning, the proposal calls for 335,000 square feet for industrial uses, 4,955 housing units with 25 percent of them affordable, a 700+ seat public school and a new, elevated promenade. If the rezoning is approved, construction is anticipated to begin in 2020 with a completion date in 2034, but no official timeline has been set.

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