Feature Writing 3060 Spring 2013

Fitzgerald Pub, located on east Third Avenue is the ultimate “it” place for Baruch students. The pub gives a feeling of warmth in its cozy stools and tables. It’s a chilly Friday evening; students are all gathered in groups of two or more and fills the whole pub with chitchats. Two old men are attending the bar and serving the students. Many people are waiting on the bartenders to take their orders and the bartenders are working really fast making drinks. Students go and leave in groups throughout the night and once in a blue moon an old man is spotted drinking and sitting alone on a stool.

For years, I often wondered what was behind that door just below the Estonian flag near the corner of East 34^th Street and Second Avenue.

I had no idea there was a bar and a small kitchen in that building. I knew the place was private, but upon entering for the first time nearly 10 years ago with Estonian acquaintances, it had the feel of sitting at the bar of a VFW that could be located in small-town Iowa or a big cith such as Chicago or Denver.

It’s a classic building that stands out on a block where anything old is rapidly disapperaing in the name of  ’progress.’

Hopefully, that unique structure is landmarked.

There is no place like Loew’s King Theatre, located on Flatbush Avenue in Central Brooklyn.  Loew’s King Theatre opened in 1929 and housed forty seven years of performances until it came to a standstill in 1977.  But even after thirty six years of closure, the theatre is going to come back to life.

I would like to write a story covering this Theatre and its historical architecture as well as, the theatre’s influence on neighborhood members of the past, and the theatre’s influence on neighborhood members in present times.  Since this is a new time period, how will the theatre adapt to the current times and what is viewed as “ in”  What does the younger generation, have to look forward to with this reconstruction?  Also, if it is possible I would like to find the answer to two things.  I would like to find out and report on why the theatre is only now being restored? Why did the reconstruction process push back in terms of when the reconstruction was supposed to be start?

Sources: I would like  to interview people in the Flatbush community and people in Central Brooklyn, youths and senior citizens.  I also will include research.

Jamaica Station, built in 1913, is located in the downtown area of Jamaica, Queens. It is a hub for Long Island Rail Road trains that come and go from the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. In recent years, the station has been improved with the extension of a “futuristic” terminal that connects the LIRR and the AirTrain. The new terminal for JFK passengers was completed in 2002. It was just one of the major changes for this station. Recently, the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation has planned to have a “Station Plaza.” The work towards the project has already started by creating better lighting in the walkway beneath the LIRR where passengers walk throughout the day and dark nights. These lights have turned the dark and scary underpass into a colorful and bright place where passengers can feel safe as they transfer to their next destination. Another addition to the underpass is business spaces called, “Shops at Station Plaza,” made for retail shops and other amnesties that might be convenient for visitors of the station.

by Alex Goetzfried

It is 2 in the afternoon on a Tuesday in March and the Baker Street Pub is packed with ravenous soccer fans. The scene could easily be mistaken for a Saturday night if it wasn’t beautiful and sunny outside.

The match is a big one, Manchester United vs. Real Madrid. There is an order to the seating arrangements. Real Madrid fans are at the bar, Manchester United fans occupy the tables in the back.

The patrons are Albanian, Israeli, Irish, English, and some, the bartender Eileen, doesn’t know what they are and has no idea what they are saying, so she serves them whatever she feels like.  “Can you speak up! I can’t read lips back here!” Eileen yells at a patron with an indiscernible accent. “Some are alright, and some are cheap,” she says with a roll of her eyes.  It is what would normally be considered an off day, but she knows European soccer fans are her weekday bread and butter.

At most bars weekday lunch shifts are a death sentence or are reserved for training newbies, but not at the Baker Street Pub.  What happens on any given day, at any time revolves around soccer and rugby schedules.  An outsider couldn’t tell the difference between what is going on here and a Sunday afternoon of American football.

Artists rendering of proposed convention center.

My proposal is a story about the talks by New York Governor Cuomo to build a new convention center in Jamaica, Queens, as well as the newly built World Resorts Casino, the first casino in New York City. The convention center is far from being built, but I wanted to discuss the current state of negotiations, how if built, the convention center would effect the surrounding community, and lastly discuss the first Casino in New York City, and how its maintaining after a full year of business.

Artists rendering of interior of proposed convention center

The Aqueduct Racetrack  and newly built World Resorts Casino, built adjacent to the track, may have a new neighbor, with Governor Cuomo’s proposal for a convention center to be built on the race track’s site. According to Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, “The convention center in Queens becomes the biggest urban development project in the country.” No voting for whether or not the project will happen has taken place yet, however Cuomo has already publicly announced that he would open up the bidding process to others outside of The Genting Group, the parent company of the current operator of the Casino.

“Next stop Jamaica Station.” Tourist and commuters anxiously wait to exit the train doors of the Long Island Rail Road to catch the AirTran to JFK Airport or to connect another

subway train. In downtown Jamaica, Queens, you can find yourself at JFK in less than 5 minutes by taking the AirTrain. If you don’t have time to waste, take the LIRR and you will be in Midtown Manhattan in less than 30 minutes. Whether you are using aboveground or

underground trains, Jamaica Center has become the main connecting station for not only Queens natives but tourist alike.

Jamaica Station has received a lot of attention in that last few years. After the recent 3 billion dollar AirTrain system was completed, there had been a lot of changes in the downtown Jamaica area. The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation has expressed their vision for this busy port. “This will be New York’s only mass transit-accessible “Airport Village,” and will include a hotel, offices, retail, a wholesale merchandise mart, and housing.”

I am doing my place story on Jamaica station, in Queens, NY. In my article, I want to hit 3 different points.

• How Jamaica Station serves commuters that live in and outside the area of Queens
• The history of the Station: When and why Jamaica station was built
• Now and Later: What’s taking place today and what is the plan for tomorrow

I chose Jamaica Station because it is the main station in my neighborhood. I have witnessed the changes of the area throughout the years; as well the new buildings and projects, like the AirTrain. I plan to use my own experience as a reference as well as quotes from family and neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood for over 10 years.

My Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/nyregion/jamaica-queens-is-reborn-with-airtrain-riders-help.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

http://global.factiva.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9BAR002300&an=CNYB000020120726e87n0000j&cat=a&ep=ASI

http://global.factiva.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/redir/default.aspx?P=sa&NS=16&AID=9BAR002300&an=REWK000020120807e87400005&cat=a&ep=ASI

http://gjdc.org/

New York is a city of churches.  Sure, there are chapels like St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, who’s architecture and long history of faith make it renown, but in New York it goes beyond that.  In the financial district lies the New York Stock Exchange, the front adorned with Corinthian columns that hark back to the pagan temples of Ancient Greece.  Inside are men and women who have devout faith in a higher power – the stock market – making this building a church of capitalism.  Even the Empire State Building, with its antenna stretching toward the sky like a spire, is a church of industry, a testament to the will of the American industrialist.  But what about a church of the arts?

On the corner of 10^th Street and 2^nd Avenue lies the second oldest church in Manhattan.  St. Marks Church In-The-Bowery was originally a chapel built by Peter Stuyvesant in 1660, and is actually the oldest site of continuous worship in New York City.  Yet there is a quality other than the age of the building that makes it unique.  The church is a staple of the art scene, supporting art across all mediums.  It is home to the Poetry Project, holding readings and events every week.  The church also houses Danspace Project, a dance performance group, as well as Incubator Arts Project, a group that does live performances year round.  In an age where gentrification and big business is threatening the once thriving East Village art scene, St. Marks Church In-The-Bowery continues to provide a safe haven for poetry, dance, and theater as well as for the hundreds of artists and performers who work in those mediums.