A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

Recent entries:
“You’re legally allowed to park in a handicap spot if you get back with your ex more than twice” (3/18)
“You can legally park in a handicap spot if you get back with your ex more than 2 times” (3/18)
Entry in progress—BP2 (3/18)
“It’s hard to save money when food is always flirting with me” (3/18)
“Don’t use a big word when a singularly unloquacious and diminutive linguistic expression…” (3/18)
More new entries...

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z


Entry from August 07, 2005
Gateway to Queens (Queens Plaza)
Queens Plaza has been called "the Gateway to Queens." A transportation redesign of Queens Plaza was approved in 2002-2003.

http://www.classic.archined.nl/offline/agenda/prijsvragen-gesloten.html
Queens Plaza

In the early part of the 20th Century, with its wide, tree-lined streets, Queens Plaza, in Long Island City, fulfilled its role as the gateway to Queens and as a significant departure point to Manhattan. With the construction of the elevated subway tracks and an ever-increasing volume of traffic, however, Queens Plaza's built form has lost its emblematic role.

First prize is won by Surachai Akekapobyotin and Juthathip Techachumreon from New York. Best Dutch Honorable mention: Maarten van Tuijl and Naoko Hikami from Amsterdam

http://www.vanalen.org/competitions/queens_plaza/projects.htm
"Queens Plaza, as the gateway between Manhattan and Queens, is the most significant commercial district and focus for cultural activity in the area. Our project attempts to develop the area and further the potential of the site as a transit hub by connecting the different modes of transportation, in combination with various communication technologies, for all types of users. The media corridor, the main construct in our design, is partly a connecting device and partly an attempt to create a focus point for the program. The media corridor will serve as the connection between disparate elements: major subway stations, pedestrian ways, medians and public spaces. Walking through this corridor, a variety of users can interact with different programs embedded inside and wrapped around the skin of this passageway. The corridor will also link to traffic medians making them much more accessible and to the plaza at the JFK Commuter Triangle, which can become the main center of the area. Our design encourages a wide range of possibilities. It can accommodate everyday uses such as parking and also, through simple manipulation, can be turned into an exhibition or installation site, market or fair, and can accommodate multiple activities at the same time."

Surachai Akekapobyotin works at Meltzer/Mandl Architects in New York City and also works as a freelance architect in Bangkok. Juthathip Techachumreon works at Meridian Design Associates Architects in New York City and also works as a freelance architect in Bangkok.

http://www.qgazette.com/News/2003/0226/Feature_Stories/011.html
Queens Plaza Gets $2.5M Fed Funding For Major Makeover

Gazette photo The lawmakers hailed the funding and the project to transform the 250-foot-wide plaza at the foot of the Queensborough Bridge.

by John Toscano

Congressmembers Joseph Crowley and Carolyn Maloney have announced the securing of a $2.5 million federal allocation to redesign Queens Plaza in Long Island City and transform it into what they termed "a completely new gateway to Queens county."

The lawmakers hailed the funding and the project to transform the 250-foot-wide plaza at the foot of the Queensborough Bridge into an expanse move accommodating to traffic and friendlier to the environment.

The new improvement plan, called the Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilding Project, comes on the heels of a much broader plan to develop Long Island City as a major regional business district.

http://www.newyorkbiz.com/About_Us/getPressReleasePreview2002_detail.cfm?id=145
NYC Economic Development Corporation and Department of City Planning Announce RFP for Urban Design Services for Queens Plaza (8/12/2002)

Development of Streetscape and Landscape Design for Long Island City

New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Andrew M. Alper and New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Amanda M. Burden today announced the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for professional design services to assist in the development of a streetscape and landscape design plan for Queens Plaza's public spaces and parkland, including public art, lighting, street furniture, and crosswalk designs.

"Queens Plaza is the gateway to Queens," said EDC President Alper. "As the City moves forward with initiatives to create new central business districts in Long Island City, Downtown Brooklyn and the Far West Side of Manhattan, projects like this have a very high priority. Improving the public spaces and traffic flow of Queens Plaza is important to the millions of people who live or work in the area, or pass through daily on foot, in cars, busses and subways."

http://www.house.gov/maloney/issues/transportation/queensplaza.htm
Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilding Project
The Queens Plaza Roadway Rebuilding Project would implement the first phase of a CMAQ-funded initiative proposed by the NYC Department of City Planning: the Queens Plaza Bike and Pedestrian Improvement Project. Its goal is to redesign Queens Plaza, a 250-foot wide roadway that serves as the gateway to Queens and Manhattan.

Queens Plaza runs from the foot of the Queensboro Bridge to the junction of Northern and Queens Blvds. The plaza also is served by a number of subway lines - aboveground by the 7, N and W lines and below by the E, V, G and R lines. The F stops nearby, near 21st Street and the Queensbridge Houses.

The Project's principal objectives are to transform the existing forbidding character of Queens Plaza into a welcoming gateway for Long Island City and the Borough of Queens and to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality conditions along Queens Plaza by encouraging mass transit and other alternative forms of transportation, such as bicycling and walking. These objectives would be achieved through improvements to the pedestrian environment, the creation of dedicated bike lanes, reorganized traffic lanes between Crescent Street and Queens Plaza East, and streetscape improvements such as landscaping, public art, lighting, crosswalks, street furniture, directional signs and artistic banners.

http://www.licnyc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=246

Political round up: smells and Feds
Posted on Sunday, April 24 @ 21:11:48 EDT
Topic: Subways and Transportation
10.6M for Queens Plaza
Massive face-lift planned

BY DONALD BERTRAND
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Queens Plaza, the gateway to Queens, will get a $10.6 million federal shot in the arm to improve the roadway and provide a system of bike paths and pedestrian walkways at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge.

"What is happening today is a movement forward to make this the next important business district in New York," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who took to the roof of the Long Island City municipal garage at the corner of Queens Plaza South

Posted by Barry Popik
Streets • Sunday, August 07, 2005 • Permalink


Commenting is not available in this channel entry.