Out: Grimy Auto Repair Shops, Dingy Industrial Buildings And Dilapidated Private Houses; In: Glistening Office Buildings, Putting Greens And Super Bowl Parties

Bruce Ratner should have set his sights on Long Island City in Queens, where apparently they’ll build anything:

Changes are a-comin’ to the Long Island City skyline in the form of development that will transform neighborhoods once cluttered with grimy auto repair shops and underutilized industrial buildings into streets lined with towering residential units and glistening office buildings.

. . .

Dingy industrial buildings are being demolished or gutted to make way for glistening new condos or sprawling residential lofts, and recent groundbreaking ceremonies paved the way for construction of the $200 million, 15-story Citigroup Office Tower at Court Square Two, which will house the national headquarters for Citibank’s credit card division and branch banking business.

Some of the exciting new things planned include:

• “A 20-story tower with 120 condos, a running track and a swimming pool with a retractable dome at 45-56 Pearson St. on a site that housed the former Sternberger Warehouse parking lot and several dilapidated private houses.”
• “Four stories are being added to a century-old factory and former power plant at 50-09 Second Ave. which will boast 175 condos, a fitness center, a kids’ playroom and a screening room for Super Bowl parties and other affairs.”
• “A 17-story development dubbed the ‘Crescent Club,’ will rise at 41-17 Crescent St. just north of the Queensboro Bridge The development will feature 110 condos, a lap pool, a putting green and a landscaped back yard.”
• “Real estate mogul Jerry Speyer is coming to Queens. The city chose the owner of Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Building to build a mammoth tower of at least a million square feet on a site where the Queens Plaza Municipal Garage now stands.”

All this change and yet still no laundromat within short walking distance.