Times Square Gossip

Macy's 4th Of July    Even know the Coast Guard and other Government agencies released maps of the Macy's 4th of July being here, outside Hunters Point South and also Brooklyn, Macy's has made the final decision not to use Hunters Point South park this year. We were told they got permits for many locations and made the final decision the other day. MACY'S PRESS RELEASE: Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks expands for its 50th anniversary, illuminating the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, the lower East River and the lower Hudson River, creating an unforgettable celebration on the nation’s 250th birthday. NEW YORK -- This year, through “Celebrations Start at Macy’s,” Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® will mark its 50th anniversary with a milestone pyrotechnic display, captivating millions on Saturday, July 4. Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks will expand to both the lower East River in the Seaport District, the lower Hudson River in collaboration with Jersey City, and the iconic Brooklyn Bridge...

  Bay Melnick Virgolino Guitar Prodigy Bay Melnick Virgolino SHREDS "Born To Be Wild" By Steppenwolf, according to the America's Got Talent You Tube page.    Just amazing was last nights show Americas Got Talent with Long Island City's own Bay Melnick Virgolino tearing up the stage singing "Born To Be Wild".  If anyone was born to be a star, it is Bay.    Bay is a star. I have been watching him grow up here on the East River since he was a baby. From the very beginning he had talent and everyone on New York City's East River community of Hunters Point South knows it. We watched him practice with his band at Frank Ottomanelli's By The Water and we watched his concerts for the community in our performance space over looking Manhattan.  Talking to Bay you are just talking to a regular 10 year old kid. He loves to play soccer, he goes to school and he loves to ride his bike around the park. But man, when Bay takes the stage it is no longer a...

  Frank Ottomanelli On The Water Long Island City is set to gain the first-ever outdoor ice-skating rink on the waterfront. Set to launch this December 2023, F. Ottomanelli by The Water will open the one-of-a-kind venue that will face the stunning Manhattan skyline that sits on the East River. For the first time in history, the region and Hunter's Point South Park will be elevated with an ice-skating rink that will provide both recreation and joy in the neighborhood. In recent years, Long Island City has become one of the fastest growing communities in America. With both residents and tourists alike coming to the streets via subway, rideshare, bus and even ferry, the increased popularity has produced a massive growth that sets a perfect tone for a sparkling new sports venue.   Empire State Building View F. Ottomanelli by The Water, which sits at 52-10 Center Boulevard Queens, NY 11101, for years has provided the premier entertainment center in Long Island City. From hosting th...

  Revital Simmons New York City View From Hunters Point South Stunning photograph by Revital Simmons, Israeli-American living in New York City. A project manager by day with a passion for photography. Volunteering with the Imperial Court of New York and running the Long Island City French Bulldog meetup group. Favorite subjects to photograph are portraits, animals and landscape. Miss Simmons is a fixture in Hunters Point South on the East River, where she stuns residents with her eye for taking great photographs of the big city.  Photo Courtesy Of Revital Simmons

  New York City From Hunters Point South East River The past two days New York City has been hit by the smoke from the west coast fires. Wildfires that are burning out of control out west are now taking it's toll out on the whole country. The above photo is taken from Hunters Point South on New York's East River.

Raves In Hunters Point South Hunters Point South Park residents have started a GOFUNDME page to hire private security for our waterfront. The NYPD 108th have refused to enforce any law, they have refused to engage any criminal activity leaving residents with no options but to hire our own security. We have been terrorized this year almost every night. Drag racing in our streets, open drinking and drug use, raves being thrown in our park and the organizers try to charge residents to go into our own park. We have begged and pleaded with the NYPD 108th station house, we call 911, we beg and they just refuse to do their job. When we call 911, 2 minutes later we get a text saying they responded and no action needed, this while we sit there and wait for them. The 108th are filing false response reports which is a crime. Yes, they are doing this. We flag cops down on the rare occasion we see them in the neighborhood and we point out crimes happening and they back up, turn ar...

Hunters Point South Ferry Destroyed Television Once again we had the ghetto vandals do more destruction in our Hunters Point South Park. I heard the smashing last night. I knew something was going on around 2:30 am. I wanted to call the 108th precinct, but I knew the odds were as always, they would not show. I have given up on the NYPD  here. They are nice guys, but we just can not get any enforcement on any of our complaints.  We all love our community We have problems. Graffiti almost every single night is plastered everywhere. They turn over the flower pots, they smash bottles and they destroy park benches. I spent so much time calling the Parks Police and the 108th precinct the first two years only to wait for a response and then nothing. So I just gave up.  At night they come down here with gigantic bongs and smoke their weed and they drink like fish. Not the cheep alcohol either, not like when we were growing up and drinking Budweiser, they drink ...

James Edstrom On NBC About Macy's Fireworks Abuse GOOD RIDDANCE !   We are jumping for joy here in Hunters Point South now that Macy's will not be here this year. Every year they come into our neighborhood and abuse us. They lock us up like animals, they take away our freedom while they celebrate freedom. They ignore residents e mails asking for some kind of kindness from this corporate monster. They fight with us about everything and take everything and leave us with a empty holiday. We go on TV to complain, they do nothing but pass the buck around and every year we end up locked up like caged animals in our building. They blame Homeland Security, Homeland security blames Macy's and every year it is the same, locked up like caged animals. Our pets are terrified with all the fireworks blowing up, our air is polluted and they leave a mess that we have to deal with. Macy's entertains their employees, their best customers, their buyers and we are left footing th...

Chrysler Building & United Nations Empire State New York City Views Beautiful sunrise in Hunters Point South with a stunning view of the Empire State Building and the United Nations. Nothing beats waking up to this! Photo By: James Edstrom

Frank 'Turtle' Raffaele A festive evening in Hunters Point South at LIC Landing / Coffeed on the water. Time Out Magazine had their annual 'Battle Of The Burgers' on our waterfront with some of the best eats in New York City. We ran into our friends "The  Hooters Girls" serving tasty treats to LIC Landing / Coffeed owner Frank 'Turtle' Raffaele as we all enjoyed some wild tunes as we wined and dined with the most stunning view of Manhattan. Some of the restaurants serving up their feasts were: 5 Napkin Burger BarKogi The Baroness The Dram Shop Bar Eats on Lex Fry Guys GENUINE Roadside Harlem Shake Peter McManus Cafe PJ Clarke's Strip House If you were lucky enough to get a ticket you got: Unlimited burger tastings Complimentary Budweiser Side dish station brought to you by Hooters Dessert treats at the My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream Mochi Bar™ Refreshments from Broo...

****  "Even though my past was hard, I was blessed." -- ChaRtistic **** ChaRtistic We recently attended a great performance Of  Chavez Robinson AKA ChaRtistic at the waterfront restaurant LIC Landing By Coffeed.  Even with thunder storms, rain and lightning, the show went on. The show was fantastic. ChaRtistic sings with his heart and so many people stayed and endured the storms to listen to a great talent.  Talking with ChaRtistic, he said music is his dream. He talked about being able to pick up any instrument, play a few cords and then he knew how to play it. Amazing talent and a very special person with a very special family. I am very lucky to be able to walk out my front door with stunning views of Manhattan and to be able to see such talent right at my doorstep. CHAVEZ ROBINSON WRITES HIS BIO I am Chavez Robinson, I am Autistic, I was un-diagnosed until I was 22 years old. Autism alone is hard enough and is sti...

Hunters Point East River Route I am getting many complaints from residents in Hunters Point South that Hornblower Ferry is too packed and leaving them stranded at the docks. Several residents have come to us, saying that the rush hour Ferries are so packed, they are left standing on the dock and told to wait for the next Ferry. This is making residents late for work and making residents think twice about using the service. The boats arrive packed and just can not take anymore passengers. It would seem like a smart idea since the Ferries are catching on, that Hornblower adds extra rush hour boats to accommodate all the commuters that want to use the service, just like the MTA does in rush hours. And since it is now summer, extra boats all the time are needed because we now have all these tourists using the service.  The city keeps yelling that tourism is great for us, but at what cost? Our subways are packed, our Ferries are packed and getting on the bus...

Smoking Signs In Hunters Point South It is hard enough to live in a No Smoking Building. But residents on Center Blvd in Hunters Point South are taking their anti-smoking campaign to a whole new level. They are putting up signs everywhere. Most of the new buildings being built are no smoking. Being a smoker, it is hard. Us smokers are outside in thunder storms, blizzards and zero degree temperatures and the anti-smokers still are not happy.  They are now posting signs for residents who smoke to go across the street. That would be fine, but there is no smoking in Hunters Point South Park, there is no smoking next door as there is a school and you need to be 1000 feet away, there is no smoking just about anywhere. You know, If all of you want to take away smokers rights, why don't you just ban it and stop taking our almost 11 dollar a pack tax we pay in New York City.  And why we are at it, stop driving your cars, I have to inhale your fumes. Use Mass Tran...

**** COUNCILMAN IGNORES RESIDENTS & BLOCKS THEIR COMMENTS ON TWITTER **** Twitter Blocker Jimmy Van Bramer It is really sad when a politician puts his own needs against those in the community. Recently residents started complaining about conditions in the neighborhood to Jimmy Van Bramers Office and at Town Halls. Jimmy Van Bramer made promises and has kept none to the residents here in Hunters Point South. GARBAGE CANS Hunters Point Residents Homemade Garbage Pails There are no garbage cans from the City Of New York here on Borden Ave, 50th street and 51st street, 54th street and any of the cross streets. Phone calls to Jimmy Van Bramers only produced promises that his office would get them. A few months ago I ran into Van Bramer by the Woolworth building at my favorite Irish Restaurant there and I asked him and his staff about the Garbage Pails. They said soon, they were on their way, something his office has been saying for over ...

WABC NEWS REPORT WABC NEWS Four suspects were arrested in Queens and Brooklyn overnight Wednesday in what is being described as a major drug bust. The bust was the result of a long-running investigation that began with two overdose deaths involving fentanyl-laced heroin -- one in Bay Ridge in 2016 and one in Kew Gardens in May of 2017. The alleged ringleader was identified as 35-year-old Dionne Sharrow (AKA "Slay"), who was arrested at his apartment in a luxury high-rise on 51st Avenue in Long Island City. Among the property seized there was a loaded firearm, approximately $500,000 in cash and a Lamborghini parked in the building's garage. EDITORS NOTE: We saw the police raid the Powerhouse building. The Lamborghini is the car that raced up and down Center Blvd almost on a daily basis. I always wondered who the thug was driving that car, now I know. Courtesy Of: WABC NEWS NEW YORK

The Quiet Before The Storm Our Neighbor Photographer Rodrigo Salazar, took this great photo of the quiet before the storm in Hunters Point South on the water in New York City. Rodrigo always has the best shot from our neighborhood. Photo By: Rodrigo Salazar   

Hunters Point South Overlooking Manhattan Spring is coming as you can see from the photo I took today from our fantastic waterfront overlooking New York City. Hunters Point South is the new hot neighborhood to be living in NYC. Neighbors talk, children play all with stunning views of the United Nations, The Empire State Building and the World Trade Center, just to name a few. Photo By: James Edstrom

The View Of NYC From Hunters Point South I thought I would share this photograph I took a few minutes ago outside my building in Hunters Point South. The fog and rain over the east river has New York City almost blacked out.  Photo By: James Edstrom

Captain Ralph Forgione Living in a new community is hard. Living next to a brand new park is even harder because everyone wants the view of Manhattan.  This all comes with a price. Vandalism. The park is supposed to close at 10 pm, but the parks department refuses to enforce the rule. Every morning we find graffiti, broken bottles and some times even syringes. There was a rape by the Pepsi sign, someone tried to steal a child from a nanny last summer, which she did not report as she was illegal. A body washed up on the shores last week and for months now cars have been broken into up and down 50th street and 54th street as well as 2nd street. Today is was a horror while I went to walk my dog Stitch on 54th street, 6 cars smashed into. Vandalized cars 54th street I met with the Captain of the 108th Ralph Forgione around a month ago on the problems in the park and the problems with the park being allowed to stay open after the closing time. I...

Empire State Building From Hunters Point South The Empire State Building tonight for the red & green w/ a candy cane antenna for one final Christmas celebration! What a view from our park in Hunters Point South.