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Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved the estimated $2.1 billion LaGuardia AirTrain, an initiative to connect New York’s LaGuardia Airport with Manhattan. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will now be able to pursue federal funding for the project... View full entry
As September is wrapping up, we look forward to Archtober 2020 kicking off tomorrow. Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the month-long celebration of architecture and design is presented as a hybrid virtual and in-person festival this year — allowing visitors to join events and activities... View full entry
ODA Architecture designed a proposal to build a mixed-use district in Queens that would encompass five blocks. Dubbed “Innovation QNS,” the $2 billion project would bring 2,700 units of mixed-income housing, 250,000 square feet of creative office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, a new school, two acres of public open space, and new neighborhood amenities to Astoria. — 6sqft
The iconic New York State Pavilion observation towers in Flushing, Queens are being restored. The New York City Parks Department broke ground on the project this week. Designed by Philip Johnson and Lev Zetlin, the two flying saucer-topped observation towers as well as an adjacent pavilion will... View full entry
In the weeks following the much-anticipated opening of the Steven Holl Architects-designed Hunters Point Library in Queens, New York City, much of the public discourse regarding the structure has focused on a collection of accessibility and design oversights embodied by the library's design... View full entry
In New York, hope sometimes comes at the price of the sun.
The city welcomes poor immigrants, but its housing does not. Most rents are far beyond the means of people like Amado, who arrive looking for a better life or to make money to send back home.
So they turn to the basements of Queens.
— The New York Times
The New York Times has produced an interactive photo essay profiling New York City residents in the borough of Queens who live in some of the city's windowless basement apartments. The arrangement, derived out of economic necessity and rooted in a desire to stay out of sight, provides newly... View full entry
It's been 95 years since passenger trains rumbled down the tracks of the Bay Ridge Branch.
The MTA has decided to study whether it makes sense to restore passenger service to the line, which is owned by the Long Island Rail Road, runs from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Ridgewood, Queens, and is only used by freight trains now.
"We first proposed this in the '90s," says Kate Slevin, of the Regional Plan Association.
— Spectrum News NYC
If built, the proposed Triboro Line could eventually run for 24 miles and connect the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. Describing the plan, Kate Slevin of the Regional Plan Association tells Spectrum News, "We don't have unlimited resources here in New York City, as we know, so... View full entry
“I think it looks really beautiful," said Frank Wu, the president of Court Square Civic Association, a group in Long Island City that tries to encourage smart development. [...]
“There are a ton of stairs but only a single elevator,” he said, adding that accessibility has long been an issue in Long Island City, which has seen the number of young families with strollers balloon in recent years.
— Gothamist
A much-lauded new library in New York City's Long Island City district designed by Steven Holl Architects might have serious shortcomings when it comes to accessibility and universal design. The library's fiction collections are organized along a set of tiered levels that can only be accessed... View full entry
Archtober 2019, New York City's month-long festival of architecture & design, is only days away now. As in previous years, the festival calendar also features exclusive tours and events again at nearly 30 Buildings of the Day in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island... View full entry
The star power involved with Robert de Niro’s planned production studio in Astoria, Queens continues to grow. The development group has just revealed a first look at the 650,000-square-foot facility designed by Bjarke Ingels Group. The $400 million project, called Wildflower Studios, will establish a hub for the creation of film, television, and other forms of entertainment, including augmented reality and virtual reality. The facility is expected to create more than 1,000 daily union jobs. — 6sqft
Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group and Wildflower Ltd. Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group and Wildflower Ltd. Renderings courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group and Wildflower Ltd. View full entry
The Hunters Point Community Library is one of the finest public buildings New York has produced this century. But it cost more than $40 million, took a decade and almost died. — The New York Times
NYT architecture critic Michael Kimmelman is full of praise for the Steven Holl Architects-designed Hunters Point Community Library in Queens which will finally be opening to the public next week Tuesday, September 24th. Impression of the under-construction library building in November... View full entry
[...] the restoration on the observation towers of the New York State Pavilion is beginning soon. A project update on the Parks’ capital project tracker states that there is an estimated start date of September 2019, and that a date has been set for construction to begin, an update first noticed by the People for the Pavilion. — Untapped Cities
Untapped Cities reports that the restoration work of the three New York State Pavilion observation towers, designed by Philip Johnson, Richard Foster and structural engineer Lev Zetlin for the 1964 World’s Fair, will include "reconstruction of the stairways, replace deteriorated suspension... View full entry
Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from some lawmakers and unions, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives.
The company, as part of its extensive search for a new headquarters, had chosen Long Island City, Queens, as one of two winning sites, saying that it would create more than 25,000 jobs in the city.
— The New York Times
Amazon announced the change of course for its hotly contested New York City HQ2 aspirations in a statement this morning: After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the... View full entry
All eyes have been on Long Island City since its partial triumph in Amazon’s urban beauty pageant. [...]
Queens native Kris Graves has kept his eye on Long Island City continuously since moving there ten years ago. Photographing what presents itself outside his door in Hunters Point South and as he walks around the neighborhood, Graves never intended to create a record of a vanishing scene (RIP 5Pointz notwithstanding). Instead, his photos, accumulating over time, represent an additive process.
— Urban Omnibus
Also check out Kris Graves's other fascinating photographic explorations of New York City we've featured on Archinect:Civic beacon or bunker? Photographer Kris Graves documents all of New York City’s 77 police precincts.How the Bronx breaks New York's grid View full entry
Skyline Tower, the Hill West Architects-designed, 778-foot-tall tower became the first in Queens to pass $1 billion in total sell out. Plus, the property sits across from One Court Square, where Amazon is leasing one million square feet of office space before moving to its new HQ2 complex on the waterfront. Now, there are new renderings of Skyline Tower, showing off the interiors, views, and new subway entrance at the future tallest tower in Queens. — 6sqft