Amazing aerial footage of NYC

First featured by WPIX:

They’re awe-inspiring sights of New York City that rival any video game or Hollywood blockbuster out there, and they were captured by Bronx photographer and drone enthusiast Victor Chu.

From over the iconic Brooklyn Bridge to the famed Pepsi-Cola sign in Long Island City with of course, a pit stop at Yankees Stadium.

The sights in Chu’s “Ultimate Aerial Video of NYC! (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island) – DJI Phantom 2” on YouTube, will give any New Yorker goose bumps.

The extreme project took several months of shooting and editing this past summer with what Chu says were plenty of close calls.

In what’s considered the most incredible shot, Chu flew his drone through the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, all while complying with drone rules and regulations issued in the City of New York.

Happy Friday!

Curtis and Melinda star in Miss Heather's latest snowglobe

This just in from Miss Heather. Her latest snowglobe is dedicated to our lovely borough. You will notice Miss Katz is taking a crap on Queens while Curtis watches in horror. No word if the woman standing next to him is the ex-Mrs. Sliwa. I'm proud to have at least partially inspired this assemblage.

This is actually for sale. I propose that a Queens civic organization purchase it and present it to her at their next event. Would make for a great centerfold photo in the local weeklies!

And while we're on the subject, why is "Queens Borough President" Melinda Katz headlining/hosting a Jewish function after giving a city chaplain the boot from borough hall, citing "separation of church and state"? Even a Jewish news organization said that was wrong.

What's left of the 1964 World's Fair

From the NY Times:

All paths once led to the Unisphere, a magnet for the masses.

As the symbolic center of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, the 140-foot-tall globe drew 51 million people to its fountains in 12 bustling months over two years.

Visitors came there on honeymoons or first dates. Some found their way in through well-worn holes in the fence, or rode the subway alone for the first time. Others came to work, or came to protest.

Fifty years ago on April 22, the first fairgoers arrived to see the future. Little did they know, then, how one trip to the fair — or dozens — would affect their own lives.

Few of the physical structures remain. The renovated Queens Museum occupies the cavernous New York City Pavilion, first built for the 1939 World’s Fair and still housing the diorama of New York created for the ’64-’65 one. The Philip Johnson-designed New York State Pavilion is rusting with neglect. The Singer Bowl has morphed into Louis Armstrong Stadium, where United States Open tennis matches are played every summer.

Only the 700,000-pound, stainless-steel globe stands untarnished by time and enhanced by memory.

History of the Unisphere

From Alan Gross on Facebook:

I'm posting this video to celebrate 6,000,000 visitors to my friend Queens Crap's blogsite page. I've lived in Flushing, Queens all my life and came alive during the 1964/1965 World's Fair. The international exposition also was the reason 2 Goodyear blimps spent their summers in Flushing. Having the fair in my backyard enabled me to visit often. The symbol of the World's Fair was the iconic Unisphere, the huge stainless steel globe. I remember it being built! This short documentary shows the challenges and triumphs of its construction.

The Queens Crap blogsite provides its readers with in depth news stories about the borough of Queens. More importantly, readers' comments provide inside knowledge and truth not found anywhere else. While some may feel the site is controversial, I admit that it's one of my daily addictions. Over the years, I've posted stories and comments and am happy that such a forum was created.

The Unisphere is also part of the Crapper's logo so I thought it fitting that on this auspicious occasion of the 6 millionth visit, I post the story of the Unisphere's birth.

Here's something funny and blog-related...




Heh.


In other words, "Don't tread on me!"

Baby hawk returned to Unisphere

Interesting photos:

Hawk baby rescued and returned to Unisphere facebook.com/media/set/?set…
— Save FlushingMeadows (@SaveFMCP) June 10, 2013

WINORR was threatened with eviction from its HQ on Long Island until the town changed it's mind, so it's a good thing they were around. It's also nice to see someone working to protect the wildlife in the park instead of selling their habitat to the highest bidder.

Unisphere suffers damage

Hi Crappy,

Thought you'd be interested in this: The other day at Flushing Meadows park, I noticed a couple of the wires that hold the orbital rings on the Unisphere were broken and hanging down. It's on the lower ring opposite the NYC building/Queens Museum of Art. Not good.

I sent an e-mail to Parks Dept. to let them know about this, got an automated response that this will be forwarded to the appropriate agency with a service request # so let's see what they do.

Don Cavaioli

Hawks are everywhere

From the Daily News:

A group of amateur bird watchers was treated to a spectacular air show last Sunday, courtesy of a hawk couple that calls Astoria home.

The red-tailed hawks, named Atlas and Andromeda by their faithful fans, soared through the air, snacked on a bird and fed their hungry chicks. The pair make their home along the side of the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge.

"Hawks exist all over the city, but many people just don't know they are there," said Urban Park Ranger Eric Handy, who led the program for the city Parks Department. "They are just a beautiful sight to see."

They are also a natural form of rodent control, feasting on rats and mice.

With the help of a spotting scope, participants were able to get a bird's-eye view of the feathered couple as they went about their daily business.

While many New Yorkers may only be familiar with the city's omnipresent pigeon and sparrow population, the five boroughs are full of wildlife. Red-tailed hawks and falcons make their nests among buildings, trees and other tall structures, including bridges and even the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

How they built the Unisphere

Unisphere fountains back on

From the Times Ledger:

The Unisphere and its magnificent fountains have been returned to their full glory for the first time since the 1964 World’s Fair, city Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said at the ribbon-cutting of the newly restored fountains Thursday morning.

Dozens of streams of water shot high into the air around the iconic landmark in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, delighting the community leaders, politicians and parkgoers who gathered there to see the fountains spray once again.

Many of the gathered luminaries had attended the fair, and Borough President Helen Marshall said she had even attended the 1939 World’s Fair as a young girl. For Marshall and Benepe, the event was the culmination of a diligent effort to get $1.9 million designated for the fountain work.

Marshall said she was proud to see the beloved construction brought back to life for the first time in years, a testament to the diversity of Queens and a shining beacon to immigrants looking to move to the borough.

...after a countdown from ten, and those in attendance could not keep their eyes off the most famous structure in Queens, which is no longer dry and neglected.

I guess it's almost time for the U.S. Open again.

Baby hawks ready to leave Unisphere

From 10000 Birds:

The two surviving eyasses at the Unisphere in Corona Flushing Meadows Park are doing well. They look ready to fledge. For information about what happened earlier this season, see Peter Richer's Queens Raptor blog.

And a pair of Peregrine Falcons were relocated from Queens to the Verrazano Bridge.

Fountain fixed; to stay turned off

From the Queens Chronicle:

Just in time for summer, the fountain surrounding the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Park is scheduled to be turned on at the end of May, following $1.4 million in repairs.

The site has been closed since September to repair underground pumps that have been problematic for years. Dorothy Lewandowski, Queens Parks commissioner, said the aim is to fix the problem and make the fountain fully functional.
The current plan also calls for restoring the pipes and fixing the fountain heads. Funds are being supplied through the Mayor’s Office and Queens Borough President’s Office.

In the last few years, the fountain has been turned on only sporadically, partly as a water conservation measure but primarily due to the leaking. Lewandowski said it is costly to keep it on, but it definitely will be activated for special events.

So we spent $1.4M to fix it and it will still only be turned on during the U.S. Open? You've got to be fucking kidding.

Unisphere sprouts some greenery

From the Daily News:

Global warming recently hit the South Pole on the Unisphere, where blades of grass sprouted through cracks in the steel around Antarctica.

City officials suspect that bird droppings and leaves collected in the base of the 12-story landmark, providing the perfect conditions for germination when seeds blew in and feasted on rain water.

"I've never seen such growth coming out of the Unisphere," marveled Queens Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski.

The Parks Department, which learned about the vegetation when the Daily News inquired on Wednesday, had uprooted all the greenery by Thursday morning.

But locals who recalled the Unisphere as the gleaming centerpiece of the 1964 World's Fair wondered how the city let the unofficial symbol of Queens become a plant pot from May to August.

"If this was in Manhattan, the Unisphere would be pristine and it'd be polished every year," said Karyn Karmin, 46, of Forest Hills. "It's really sad."

Unisphere hawks released

From City Birder:

Bobby Horvath released the two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in Flushing Meadow Park where they were reunited with their family. He sent a few photos of the event.

Queens hawk hatchlings thriving

Video of the Unisphere hawk nest from Urban Hawks:



Video of the Triboro hawk nest from Urban Hawks:

Hawks nesting again on the Unisphere

According to Urban Hawks, the Red-tailed hawks are back in Flushing Meadows and nesting on the Unisphere.