I Think I Can See Trump Tower From My Apartment, Ma!

It's All About the View

Lest we forget just how much a view matters to a big d Developer, the Q offers this evidence. Has Lefferts ever made a Downtown Brooklyn "Big Belly" trash bin before? I doubt it. The best way to sell the Parkline, a/k/a 626 Flatbush, or any of the other tall buildings soon to sprout north of Empire Blvd (and eventually all over the un-landmarked portion of the neighborhood) is to sell the view. Granted, many of the lower-floor apartments won't see much more than the sky and the Q train, with a frequent rumble as soundtrack.

Of course, building up is the only way to make way for growth, growth and jobs being an essential part of what makes this City so attractive in the first place. As it has for 150 years, NYC has grown around transit, from boats to bridges to subways. We're the "next stop" on an never-ending march towards the City's very finite border. Barring the occupation of Long Island, the eastern edge of the City remains the barely noticeable DMZ, with the only obvious changes being the DOT signage and alternate side parking regs.

Each day brings word of new purchases, plans and razings of 100+ year-old structures. We may, or rather we will PROBABLY, see a down-turn in the next year or so, which may once again require a radical rethink of policies and activism. The Q remains saddened by the inability of the powers-that-be and activists-that-are to recognize how we are missing the opportunity of a century to choose how and where we want to grow. The moneyed interests will continue to do the choosing, the buying of property and the influencing of politicians. And just as the billionaire oligarchs waltz into the seats of ultimate power, we seem willing to hand over whatever little negotiating rights we have. The moment has passed CB9 by...even the agencies aren't coming out to meet us anymore. We are a laughing stock. No, worse, we are being ignored. And who can blame them? We made them unwelcome and sullied their good names. And did we achieve anything for all the name-calling, race-baiting and chair-hurling?

Nope. What a world-class waste of my time were the years on the Board. I can point to not a single thing I, or we, accomplished. Except the one thing that I swore I would see before I died. The awakening of the Flatbush Trees at Empire and Flatbush. Thank you Pearl Miles, Jake Goldstein and David Eppley for helping make that corner just a little more hospitable. Oh, and Rudy and the Parkside Crew for the Plaza at my beloved Q at Parkside.

And now, off to Washington to add my fat-assed body to the resistance. I'm sure to have far more efficacy as one among 250,000 than I did as one among 50. Math, it appears, DOES lie on occasion.