Corona Plaza to actually become a plaza

From the Queens Courier:

Before 2012, Corona Plaza, located on Roosevelt Avenue between National and 104th Street, was a busy area filled with trucks, traffic and no open space. After the Queens Economic Development Corporation (EDC) partnered with the Queens Museum, Councilmember Julissa Ferreras and other local groups, the plaza became an open public space allowing residents and visitors to sit down and relax.

Although the public space was expected to be temporary, in March the Department of Transportation (DOT) met with the community to introduce first plans and designs for keeping and improving Corona Plaza as a public space.

During this meeting the public gave its input as to what they wanted to add to the plaza and picked the best initial design from three options.

Some of the ideas that were included in the renderings were plaza seating, bicycle racks and corrals, a stage for cultural performances, green area, benches, additional trash cans, signage, improved lighting for security, utilizing the space under the No. 7 train for storage, an information/storage kiosk and a drinking fountain.

Well, if it's going to actually look like a park as depicted in this rendering, I'm all for it. But why do other neighborhoods get nothing more than concrete blocks and folding chairs?

Read More

Big school opening in Corona

From the Queens Courier:

A new school in Corona is set to ease the burden of overcrowded classrooms in the area.

According to the Department of Education (DOE), P.S. 330, currently located within a building at 86-37 53rd Avenue in Elmhurst, will move into a brand new location at 111-08 Northern Boulevard just in time for the beginning of the school year next week.

“This is a fantastic new building, and we’re confident that P.S. 330 will deliver well for its students there,” said DOE spokesperson Devon Puglia.

P.S. 330 opened at the initial building in 2010 in order to lighten overcrowding in District 24 elementary schools. The school currently serves 220 students in kindergarten and first grade, but is expected to open more than 400 seats once it makes the move.

The new building will continue to alleviate overcrowding in Corona and is also located in an area closer to where 84 percent of the students currently live, the DOE said.

Once P.S. 330, at its new location, completes its expansion and reaches its full capacity in the 2015-2016 school year, it will serve 570 to 630 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

According to the DOE, it will work with the community to figure out the best use for P.S. 330’s original building.

What does that mean? Since this is the most crowded school district in the city, I'd hope they'd keep the old building (the former Ascension Catholic School) as a school?

Read More

The mother of all Fedders?

Forgotten New York found "The Perfect Fedders" in Corona:

I was stopped on the railroad on Tuesday right in front of what may be the most iconic, emblematic Fedders building I’ve seen in Queens, on 44th Avenue in Corona facing the LIRR embankment.

It’s all here… the concrete lawn with sport utility vehicle parking, the Fedders AC cutouts, the meters front and center, the bland blond brick, the rusted fire escapes. The only nod to any design at all is a little flourish in the brickwork. Bars on the windows just add to the whole package.

We call this look "prison moderne".

Read More

Illegal street parties at the Point

From the Times Ledger:

Residents of a serene North Flushing block spent six weeks tracking down the elusive source of blaring music — and were shocked to find it across a river and more than a mile away.

Peter Condiles lives in the leafy section of Flushing north of downtown where lawns, driveways and carefully manicured bushes are the norm.

It was a quiet place to grow up and live.

“At least it use to be,” he said.

On May 11, Condiles was awakened by loud music pulsating through the walls of his home.

When the racket returned the following weekend, he began walking around the neighborhood, thinking someone might be throwing a party.

But the sound seemed to be playing tricks on him.

Main Street? Linden Place?

Just when the lifelong Flushing resident thought he had cornered the source of his sleepless nights, the sound would vanish.

Condiles had been in contact with another neighbor also seeking the source of the pumping bass, Flushing activist Paul Graziano, and the two spent several evenings driving around, ears tuned to the night air. They went as far as College Point Boulevard before they agreed the sound must be coming from farther away, across the Flushing River.

After another unsuccessful venture into Corona, on June 21 Condiles stumbled upon hundreds of people congregated in Willets Point, a gritty area of junk yards and auto shops across from Citi Field and more than 1 1/2 miles from his house.

“There were between three and five cars or vans. Each one had its trunk or back doors open and maybe 20 or 30 speakers on the doors,” he said. “They were all playing the same thing.”

Condiles and Graziano believe the combined amplification power of the souped-up speakers had sent sound waves bouncing across the Flushing River, off of building facades and into their quiet enclave — and they want the parties, which have been driving neighbors nuts, to stop.

Deputy Inspector Ronald Leyson, commanding officer at the 110th Precinct, said police had already driven the pop-up parties — which may be organized through social media — from around Meadow Lake inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park several months ago.

Now that they have migrated to Willets Point, the precinct has started to do patrols and issue summonses.

Last Friday, officers confiscated a car, he said.

Read More