Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Count Basie Lives! Orchestra to Play at Broadway and 58th Street.

Check out preview here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKM9Q5nwTQw 



Tuesday, November 15, 2016

The Pink Turd. What? They Spent a Half Million Dollars on This Piece of Crap Which Now Befouls the Long Island City Landscape . . .

. . . whereas our beloved  "Triumph of Civic Virtue", for decades gracing Queens Boulevard by Borough Hall, was ignominiously removed to a cemetery in Brooklyn.

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Sunday, November 6, 2016

Steinway Mansion Unanswered Questions: Who Owns This Piece of Land Et Cetera?


Where's the survey of this NYC historic landmark?

Photo 1.  Note green construction fencing entering from the left - then reaching the center and next shooting upward.  For 19 months - since April 2015 - this fencing continued  zig-zagging rightward ALONG THE TOP OF THE INCLINE.  Red arrow indicates area in question.  (See next photo.)

Photo 2.  The 2015 first image continues showing the zig-zagging nature of the fencing separating the Mansion front lawn (upper right) from the untamed foliage on the incline.   If this property belonged to the Mansion per se, why was the green construction fencing not continued along at street level as seen in Photo 1 above?

Photo 3.   Do the owners of the Steinway Mansion property have legal ownership of this incline whereon now terraced landscaping procedes?

Photo 4.   Another view of this area - looking north with 41st Street  at left.   Red arrow indicates the property issue in question.   WHO LEGALLY DOES THIS BELONG TO - THE MANSION OWNERS OR THE CITY OF NEW YORK?  (Also note this dangerous thoroughfare is a two-way street with absolutely no traffic control signage or device present.   It is a virtual bottleneck with only a 12 foot wide measurement at the hill top.   An accident waiting to happen?   Also, no sidewalks present at Mansion vicinity on either side of this street.  Does the freshly-laid black-top seen in this photo legally indicate the extent of the mansion property?)

Where's the survey of this NYC historic landmark?

Who owns the incline?

Who's in charge here?

What's going on?

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

EXCLUSIVE. Last of the Weeds and Wild Foliage Removed from East Side of 41st Street and the Mansion Incline. (November 2, 2016)


Photo 1.  Weeds, foliage, and undergrowth being removed from the incline.

Photo 2.  The newly denuded landscape.

Photo 3.  Warehouses at left and the apex of the 41st Street hill at right.

Photo 4.  Looking north on 41st Street and its 12 foot width - a two-way thoroughfare!

Photo 5.  Newly applied black top entrance to the original Mansion gate.

Photo 6.  Looking north along 41st Street to Berrian Boulevard.

Photo 7.  Looking south along 41st Street.

Photo 8.  Another view of the freshly black-topped driveway while looking south with heavy truck traffic passing by the Mansion.

Photo 9.   Looking north along the two-way 41st Street with an obstructed view of oncoming traffic.  No traffic control signage present.

Photo 10.   What further development for this incline?

Photo 11.  Warehouse, Mansion, bouldered  hill, and a tiny waxing crescent moon (above the orange lights).

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

EXCLUSIVE. Vest-Pocket Park or Immense Bioswale? Getting Its Rocks "On": Area Between the Warehouses and Steinway Mansion Gets Landscaped. (November 1, 2016)




Photo 1.  Mysterious space between the warehouses and the Mansion indicated by the arrow.

Photo 2.   For over fourteen months, this short wall confounded blog readers as to its purpose.


Photo 3.   The beginning of the construction of the short wall.


Photo 4.   Landscaping boulders begin their appearance on the incline.


Photo 5.  Additional boulders await their turn to appear on the incline held back by the short wall..


Photo 6.  In addition to the boulders, perhaps seasonal plantings?   Perhaps a running water fountain?


Photo 7.   Meanwhile the lawn in front of the main entrance seems to have been grassed over completely.


Photo 8.   Former owner Mike Halberian's book collection still on the shelves - as he left it when he died almost 6 years ago this December.