No Angels At The Laughing Devil

New Comedy Club Opens Doors To Press & LIC

January 18, 2012 / Long Island City LIC / Performing Arts / Queens Buzz. I attended the Grand Opening night of the Laughing Devil Comedy Club in Long Island City Queens tonight. They had a full line up of comedians, who they had charged with lightening up the Queens NYC press corps, which wasn’t exactly a roomful of jokesters. Steve Hofstetter, one of the club owners, is shown in the photo to your left.

Steve was the first comedian on stage. I arrived shortly before he walked off stage and the next comedian, Moody McCarthy, quipped how Steve hadn’t exactly set the house on fire. But the night was young and the time soon began to fly as we were treated to a full barrage of laughing gas, some of which was delivered by comedians from Queens. Steve returned to do a second set, which turned out to be one of the more entertaining performances of the night.

Click here to view our full report about the Laughing Devil Comedy Club in LIC.

Photos - NYC Marathon Queens 2011

November 7, 2011 / Long Island City / Queens Buzz. It was a beautiful day for a marathon. The temperatures were in the low 60's and it was sunny and dry. About 47,438 runners came through Long Island City and we photographed quite a few of them, along with the crowd that gathered outside to greet them.

We plan to add quite a few more photos, but we thought you might be interested in browsing through over 100 photos we selected in a slide show.

Slick here to view our report and see the slide show containing photos of the NYC Marathon in Queens 2011. And have a nice week.

The Astoria LIC Film Festival

Film Festival Showcases Local Film & Musical Talent

October 16, 2011 / Long Island City Neighborhood / Fashion, Film & Music / Queens Buzz. I attended some of the weekend long second annual Astoria LIC Film Festival. The Astoria LIC Film Festival presented 54 new films, including documentaries, comedies, shorts and super shorts; and thirteen music videos. Dennis Cieri and Bonnie Rush are the founders and driving forces behind the event.

The opening and closing parties were held at the Z Hotel, which is one of the new hotels in Long Island City offering both a subterranean bar downstairs from the lobby, and a rooftop bar with a panoramic view of the city.

The films were shown several blocks away, at the Secret Theatre and the E-garage, which are in the same complex; as well as at the Variety Boys & Girls Club of LIC. I attended the music videos segment of the festival, which was curated and hosted by an LIC musician, Gus Rodriguez, Sunday night at the E-garage.

Click here to read the rest of our report on the second annual Astoria LIC Film Festival, including a review of many of the music videos, and excerpts from interviews with founder, Dennis Cieri and some of the festival producers, directors and actors.

Remediation Of Newtown Creek Begins In Queens & Brooklyn

After 150 Years Of Environmental Destruction, Remediation Of Newtown Creek Begins

January 21, 2012 / Long Island City, Sunnyside, Maspeth & Brooklyn / Green in Queens / Queens Buzz. Every good process begins with information gathering, so that the decision makers have all of the relevant information they need to make sound decisions. After the information gathering / research is done, and the decisions are made, then the actual execution of the [clean up] process begins.

And so it was that on October 27, 2011, I visited the Newtown Creek Superfund Public Meeting – Queens at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City. There were more than ten representatives, largely from various departments within the EPA, on hand to answer questions and provide information to the public about how the federal government process to clean up Newtown Creek.

Click here to learn more about the history and EPA clean up of Newtown Creek which shapes the border between Queens and Brooklyn.

Maids – Final Installment

Mutation From Original Themes, Into Exploration Of Time

November 5, 2011 / Long Island City / Theater in Queens / Queens Buzz. I just returned from watching the final installment of Maids. Maids was a four production work put on by the LaGuardia College Performing Arts Center [hereafter referred to as LPAC] in Long Island City. While the germ of the work was based on a Jean Genet play, the play only served as the starting point for what was an experimental work created by Handan Ozbilgin, Assistant Artistic Director of LPAC.

It’s been said, that “art should make one feel uncomfortable”. One of the goals of art is to challenge one’s perspective, move one out of their comfort zone, get one to see things in a different light and make one think about things. And so it was tonight that … click here to read the rest of our review of the final installment of Maids – experimental theater in LIC Queens.

Long Island City LIC Maps - Overview

Click to view three maps of Long Island City LIC: 1) Map of Shopping Districts In Long Island City LIC with links to shop home pages on this site, 2) Map of Long Island City LIC Restaurants that have been reviewed on this site, and 3) Map of cultural attractions in Long Island City LIC most for which there are reports about them to be found on this site.

Click here to view Long Island City LIC Maps - Maps of Shops, Restaurants and Cultural Attractions in Long Island City LIC Queens.

A Taste Of LIC 2011

Story & Photos Of Taste Of LIC

June 7, 2011 / Long Island City LIC / Queens Restaurants / Queens Buzz. It was a warm breezy evening as I made my way to the western most edge of Queens. There underneath the twin cranes overlooking Gantry Park were the festive white tents of the 6th annual Taste Of LIC. I was early and the 50 or so participating restaurants and food and beverage suppliers were busy preparing for the big feast. I walked around underneath the tent photographing and talking to those who would accommodate me.

The offerings looked delectable and the people staffing the booths were both knowledgeable and hospitable. There were a number of new entrants in the mix, making their debut on the Long Island City culinary scene. Click here to read our report with photos of Taste Of LIC 2011.

Restaurants In Long Island City

Manducatis Italian Restaurant In LIC

Long Island City Neighborhood / LIC Restaurants / Restaurants In Queens / Queens Buzz. This is a review of Manducatis Italian restaurant in the LIC / Long Island City neighborhood of Queens NY. The Italian restaurant has a wide selection of authentic Italian appetizers, main entrees and desserts. It has spacious dining rooms with a warm atmosphere.

Click here to read a restaurant review of Manducatis Restaurant in Long Island City LIC.

Chiropractors In Queens

Long Island City LIC / Queens Buzz. This is a report about chiropractic care in Queens, including Astoria, LIC, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Corona, Flushing and Jamaica. This report talks about the chiropractic care, its origins and related bodily care and health.  The photo is of a chart created by Thomas W. Myers and published by Churchill Livingstone.

Click here to read our report about Chiropractic Care In Queens.

Organic Food / Supermarkets In Queens

Long Island City LIC / Queens Buzz. This is a report about organic, all natural food and locally produced food in Queens. This report includes coverage of what constitutes organic and why it has important health implications.

This report also includes a bit of the history of organic food and how organic and all natural foods are making their way into Queens in a big way. Click here to read our report about organic food / all natural food in Queens.

Hotels In Queens - Long Island City

Dutch Kills LIC Real Estate "On The Rise"

March 21, 2011 / Long Island City LIC / Long Island City Real Estate / Queens Buzz. Over the past year I’ve watched the rapid growth of eleven hotels in the Dutch Kills neighborhood of Long Island City. They’re located within an eight block area, near the N / Q subway lines in LIC.

Construction on many of these Long Island City hotels appears to have been completed. Although there are at least a couple of them which appear to have quite a bit more work to do. Six of the new Dutch Kills Long Island City Hotels are already in operation.

Click here to read the rest of our report about new hotels in Long Island City - in the Dutch Kills neighborhood of LIC.

Real Estate Development - Long Island City

Hunters Point Development Continues In LIC

April 11, 2011 / Long Island City Real Estate / Queens Real Estate / Queens Buzz. This winter I attended the state of the borough address given by Helen Marshall and a presentation about Queens economic development given by NYC deputy mayor of economic development, Robert K. Steel.

This report captures some of the comments they made about the large-scale real estate development project at Hunters Point South which will include a large condominium complex and retail space in Long Island City. I supplemented what I heard with considerable additional research and investigation.

Hunters Point South will take several years to erect, but work will begin this year to prepare the site with city infrastructure to support it. Click here to read more about Hunters Point Development in Long Island City Queens.