And Paving!

It's hard to believe the ground floor of this Queensboro Plaza building is available, what with its spectacular view of Dutch Kills Green, not to mention proximity to the N and Q trains.

According to the developer, New York City Economic Development Corporation's site, Dutch Kills Green is: [A] sustainably-designed 1.5 acre open space ... part of the $45 million Queens Plaza roadway, pedestrian, and bicycle improvement project that has transformed the primary entry point into Queens. The former John F. Kennedy commuter parking lot has been transformed into a green space that features wetlands, native plantings, artist-designed benches and paving."

(Photo: Finnian Allen)

I'm not exactly sure where the standing stones fit in. The place reminds me a bit of Jewish cemeteries I saw in central Europe. Welcome to Queens!

Elmhurst Noir

Just 17 miles on the Gowanus and Brooklyn-Queens Expressways separate Todt Hill, Staten Island, from the temples and bodegas of Elmhurst.

No turns indeed.

S.I. Noir

Harold Street is my preferred back route from the College to the SI Expressway. With plenty of twists and turns, hills and dales, it dumps you onto the expressway less than a mile from the bridge. A few lights, a few stop signs, a foggy night.

Bag and Cab

LIE onramp, Maspeth.

Lanes and Lines

The SI Expressway seen from Bradley Avenue overpass.

Get Your Bridge On

As you can see, the Research Bureau has been busy. The question is, what are they doing on the Brooklyn side?

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge: A Round Table Discussion from a Staten Island Perspective

Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 2:30-4:00pm

College of Staten Island

Library Archives, 1L-216

Join us for this fiftieth anniversary observance of the opening of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as three College of Staten Island faculty members present observations and lead a discussion of the meaning of the bridge for Staten Islanders.

Staten Island and the Art of Disappearing

Prof. David Allen, School of Education

This talk explores the representation of Staten Island before the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the novels of Jane Bowles and Dawn Powell. In their works, the Island serves as contrast to, even a hiding place from, the social and artistic milieu of Manhattan—a possibility all but eliminated by the opening of the Bridge.

The Demographic Impact of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Prof. Alan Benimoff, Department of Engineering Science and Physics

Utilizing historic maps and GIS mapping techniques, Prof. Benimoff will illustrate the impact the bridge and its network of roads had on populations and land use. Did grass-roots environmental victories lead to traffic and zoning snafus? What would Staten Island look like today had Robert Moses’ vision been enacted?

The Politics of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Prof. Richard Flanagan, Chair, Department of Political Science and Global Affairs

Why was Staten Island and Brooklyn joined by a bridge and not a tunnel? Why did earlier plans to build a bridge fail? What was Robert Moses’ role in the decision to build the bridge? What underlies the bridge toll policy as it applies to Staten Island residents? Prof. Flanagan will explore these and other topics from the perspective of a political scientist. 

Choose Your Rainbow

Giovanni di Paolo, The Creation and Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (1445). Metropolitan Museum.

Saul Steinberg, Rainbow Reflected (1974). Sculpture Center, Long Island City.

Varujan Boghosian, Goodbye to All That (2006). Detail from cover illustration, The Monster Loves His Labyrinth: Notebooks (Charles Simic)

Goodyear Rubber Company, Untitled. Gowanus Expressway (n.d.).