Thursday, September 27, 2012

Deadlines at work today and have to pay the bills, so will resume regular programming ASAP. In the meantime, if you see anything of interest, please email it in to the Edge of the City Central Compound at edgeofthecity@gmail.com.

Monday, September 24, 2012

FoHi Not Immune to iPhone 5 Lines

Some scenes from Friday at stores in our nabe...





Jack & Nellie's Menu

A reader was nice enough to snap this pic of their menu and send it in. If you're not familiar with it, Jack & Nellie's is the new wine bar/restaurant that opened on Ascan last week (across from Nick's Pizza).


Friday, September 21, 2012

More Details on New Gym

The new gym coming to Forest Hills, Title Boxing Club, will be located at 69-40 Austin Street, next to the Eddie Bauer. They predict it could take about 12 weeks for construction.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

More Pics of Zero Hour TV Shoot

A reader sent me these late today. In case you missed my earlier posts, this was for a new ABC show called Zero Hour. They filmed in Station Square yesterday, transforming the Jade restaurant and surroundings into early 20th Century Germany.








New Gym Coming to Austin St.

The name of the gym is Title Boxing Club.

Here's an excerpt from the email I received. I asked him where exactly on Austin it will be and when I find out, I'll let you all know:
We are very excited that we have found a home in Forest Hills on the famous Austin Street. Our grand opening date is still to be determined, but we have just signed the lease and are preparing the community of Forest Hills by reaching out to your blog to to offer some insight to our services.

Title Boxing Club is a fitness facility that incorporates the techniques of boxing. This is not one of your typical sweaty, smelly, male dominated boxing clubs. This actually is a female friendly state-of-the-art gym with a 54 bag station and professional instructors that lead the "Power Hour" classes. Once members pick their stations and glove up the energy and music takes them through a high level, intense, fun workout regimen that is second to none, burning between 850 - 1000 calories GUARANTEED! No other club offers this lifestyle change.

Our goal is simple, to help our members reach their personal mile-stones, lose weight, tone up and gain fitness levels they never thought they could achieve.

Please feel free to visit our corporate website for further information www.TitleBoxingClub.com

More on Zero Hour Filming

The Forest Hills Patch website has some really good photos of the shoot yesterday for the new ABC show Zero Hour. 

ABC Drama Turns Back the Clock in Forest Hills

I couldn't believe how many trailers they had lining up on Austin yesterday afternoon. We were transformed into a mini Hollywood for a day. Unfortunately, I had a dinner appointment I had to make in Manhattan so I didn't have time to stop and take my own pics as I was racing to get to the subway. But I came thiiis close! It's sometimes very hard to put down the blogger hat, even when running late for dinner.

As Patch reports, they were mostly using Station Square for the backdrop of the show which went back in time to early 20th Century Germany. Is that cool or what?

Commenting on this Blog

I just wanted to correct some misconceptions about this blog. I have no patience for negative people. Life is too short. This is my choice as a human being. So, if you think you are going to visit this blog and just post comments deriding our neighborhood for no specific reason, you'll find your comments will be deleted or, in the worst cases, you will eventually be blocked. I don't do this out of anger. There are a lot of important things to be angry about in this world and this is far from one of them. Here's an example: the fact that countries are now trying to mine the North Pole for the oil that has appeared there after they melted the ice by burning oil in the first place.

So, no, I do not do this out of anger. I do this for pretty selfish reasons actually. I find negativity overall and negative people terribly boring. And if there is one thing I hate it is being bored, and having to spend time with boring people. I don't do that in my personal life, why would I want to read the comments of boring people here?

Now, be careful and note I am not saying you cannot post a negative comment about something here. Just try to make it about something specific. Try to refrain from things like writing off Forest Hills as "a mediocre neighborhood," or worse, as one fool did this morning. As long-time readers of this blog know, I am no blog Nazi. I have better things to be doing with my life than spending all my time deleting comments. So you have to be a pretty consistent 'Debbie Downer' to raise my ire and inspire my wrath.

Well, that's about all I had to say this morning. Now enjoy the blog and a big thank you to everyone who has helped me with this blog by emailing in news tips or photos—and by writing thoughtful comments as the overwhelming majority of you usually do. All of you have really made this blog a great resource for our neighborhood. Thank you and keep it up!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

New Office Space Available

Here's the link for more information:
NEW LOFT STYLE BUILDING in FOREST HILLS
108-21 72nd Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375

New ABC Show Filming on Austin St.

A reader sent me this shot of the new TV show Zero Hour filming on Austin today.


Here's the description of the show from the website:
"To find his wife, one man will have to unravel one of the greatest conspiracies of all time. The countdown has begun!"

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Someone's Been Reading My Blog

Mitt Romney, Class Warrior
Turning the rich against the poor is Mr. Romney’s campaign tactic and his plan for governing.

Speaking of Class Warfare

Now tell me again, just who is practicing class warfare in this campaign?

I think this video reveals more about Mitt Romney than maybe anything we've seen so far. And the most important thing it reveals? His black and white, simplistic way of thinking. Sir, nothing is as black and white as you make it out to be. How dare you paint millions of your fellow Americans with a broad brush and not think of them as individuals. We are all much more complex than that. And if you can't see it, you do not deserve to get our vote.

Remembering The Forest Hills Tornado

Believe it or not, Sept. 16th marked the two-year anniversary of the Forest Hills Tornado.



















And here's a short clip I found.

Monday, September 17, 2012

News Update

Firstly, a very Happy New Year to all of the Jewish readers of the blog. Now, here's some news:

1) Today is opening day for the new wine bar/restaurant on Ascan, Jack and Nellie's.

2) Also, someone wrote in to tell me that the Quest Fitness property on Queens Blvd. has been seized by the NYS Marshall, leaving members who have already paid their memberships high and dry.



3) Brownies & Cream on Austin St. has reportedly shut its doors for good, with Sunday being its last day.




Friday, September 14, 2012

Newest Frozen Yogurt Place

This is coming to the space where Europan was. From what I hear, there's one in Astoria I believe. I haven't tried it though. (This is what happens when I get sick - supposedly this sign has been up on the store for a few days. So sorry for the delay! Thankfully, a reader sent this in.) Oh, and by the way, I don't know what a webside is either, in case you were wondering.



Does anyone not yet have this horrible cold that is going around? If you don't have it yet, I don't envy what you have to look forward to.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Full Lincoln Trailer

Just released this eve...

More Media Musings

The last time I dealt with CNN and Anderson Cooper, it was about their over-hyped coverage of Hurricane Isaac hitting New Orleans. Well, there's something else CNN and Anderson have been up to for quite a long time now that annoys me so much I just couldn't help but rant about it.

Has anyone else noticed that Anderson Cooper's 8 p.m. show on CNN is simply replayed in the 10 p.m. time slot and disguised to look like it's a new, live show?? ARGH!!! What kind of journalism is this??

Watch it next time you have a chance. At 10 p.m., Cooper comes on for like five seconds and says, "It's 10 p.m...." and then they immediately replay the show that he did at 8 p.m.! It would be hilarious if it wasn't so insulting to every viewer's intelligence!

While I am on the subject of Anderson Cooper, this person seems to have a HUGE problem with what the term "Live" means. His daytime show, which was rebranded as "Anderson Live" airs here in NYC at 12 p.m. and is actually recorded at 9 a.m. that morning. Um, how does this merit the word "Live" in the title? OY!

Getting back to CNN, I watched last night at 8 and then tuned back in at 10 and noticed that the live report from Cairo they aired at 8 p.m. was replayed in the 10p.m. show, with the word "Live" still on the screen! How do they freakin' get away with that?

I'm sorry, but if you are a news organization, you have one purpose, one job to do: To relay accurate information (FACTS) to your audience. If we can't even trust you with the most basic of facts – what is really being broadcast "live" — then how are we supposed to trust you when it comes to anything else you report?

It is not for you to decide what is reality, CNN. That power is beyond even you. And it shows the utmost arrogance to just assume your viewers are stupid and that facts are not important to them. At this point, what is the difference between you and simply an entertainment network? Walter Cronkite is probably rolling over in his grave.

Coincidence?

Kind of convenient for the Republicans, isn't it, that suddenly there's all this anti-American tumult in the Middle East. Also kind of convenient that it should suddenly happen right on the heels of President Obama's big post-convention bounce. Also, kind of interesting that it hits Obama at one of his strengths: foreign policy. Also, kind of interesting that it was all started by a trailer on youtube for a movie that doesn't seem to actually exist. Also, kind of interesting this trailer was made by some mystery man with what seems to be a false identity. Also, kind of interesting that the trailer appears to have been funded by right-wing activists. Hmmm, coincidence? More likely Mitt Romney's October Surprise come a month early, and meant to derail Obama's momentum after his awesome Convention, and Romney's disastrous one. 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

73-Year-Old Woman Raped in Central Park

What a horror. A 73-year-old bird watcher was raped in the Central Park Ramble in broad daylight just before noon today. She had taken photos of her attacker a week ago. They are included in the link below. Let's hope they catch this individual as soon as possible.
Woman, 73, Raped in Central Park in Broad Daylight The victim told the police she had a confrontation with her attacker about a week and half ago, when she took a photograph of him masturbating in the park.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Lincoln Movie Teaser

Soda Ban Explained

A very entertaining video tries to explain the soda ban proposal. The Board of Health is scheduled to vote on it this Thursday.
‘Soda Ban Explained’
The filmmaker’s guide to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal to restrict the sale of big, sugary drinks.

New Classifieds Section

Check it out here. To have your ad listed, email us at edgeofthecity@gmail.com, or just post it to the comments section on the page. It's a great way to reach the local community, and all listings are absolutely free. 

Homefront Closing

I've gotten a couple of emails about this and have been meaning to post something about it. Such a shame to see this charming little shop closing. It would be nice to see them re-open on Metropolitan Ave. where rents are cheaper and where smaller, independent stores seem to be doing well. By the way, along those lines, I was in Kew Gardens over the weekend. I don't know, but I think things are going to start happening in that 'hood. I think it's going to become a very "in" little NYC neighborhood.



Sunday, September 9, 2012

Local Yoga Groupon

A reader sent me this link to a Groupon for all you local yoga practitioners. She writes: "I am not an owner of the studio, but I do practice at this studio and think it is a wonderful place and deserves community support." Zen & Yoga – Forest Hills

Calm After The Storm

Truly was a gorgeous day today and a fittingly beautiful late summer evening to top it off.


A Slice of Heaven...

.... Nick's Pizza. Especially their pepperoni.


Saturday Storm Pics

A couple of photos readers sent in of Saturday's storm.


This amazing photo is looking south over the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium.

This shot is in the direction of the Walgreens on Queens Blvd., and 69th/Yellowstone. 
By the way, I find it kind of interesting that the Police Commissioner visited the areas affected by Saturday's tornado. If my memory serves me correctly, I don't remember him visiting Forest Hills when we we suffered a lot worse damage a couple of years ago from our tornado. Strange... The only thing I can conclude is this formula: Amazing Video of Tornado + Media Picking up That Amazing Video = Police Commissioner Visitation to Affected Area.

When our tornado hit, we didn't have video of the actual tornado hitting Forest Hills - only the aftermath of the damage. The closest thing was this footage shot in Park Slope just before it hit us here:


By the way, just to set the record straight, we here in Forest Hills had a tornado on September 16, 2010 and also a "macroburst." There were two tornados that day, one of which went over a portion of Forest Hills. How do I know for sure? Because I was in the tornado. It went right over my building while I was home. I didn't grow up on a farm in Kansas, but I've heard enough descriptions of a tornado to know what it was that went over my building. I heard the rumble approach, and it sounded like a freight train as it passed over my location and the entire building shook. I looked outside just as it was hitting and saw nothing but swirling debris and white. The whole experience lasted like about 45 seconds as it moved over my building and then subsided quickly. I've experienced straight line winds, which accompany a macroburst, and this was nothing like that. There isn't a loud rumbling associated with them and they hit with a sudden punch and then that's it, it's over in a second.
Read more here: Two Tornadoes, Macroburst Confirmed in New York City

This incredible video kind of captures what I am talking about. Listen as the tornado goes over the Georgia Dome and you'll hear that freight train sound.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Tornado in Queens

This is what happens when a tornado comes off the ocean and hits Queens... Unbelievable



Now, we stil have to get through this...

AT 319 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. BASED ON THEIR CURRENT MOTION...THESE STORMS SHOULD ENTER ORANGE COUNTY AROUND 430 PM...NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY...ROCKLAND AND PUTNAM COUNTIES AROUND 5 PM...AND NEW YORK CITY AND WESTCHESTER COUNTY AROUND 530 PM. THE STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS OVER SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA EAST OF READING...AND HEADED TOWARD NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK CITY. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...AND POSSIBLY A BRIEF TORNADO. KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY AND STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM.GOODMAN

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Chipotle Construction Commences


I can taste those burritos now.. Can't wait. It will be so nice to have 'em here whenever I so desire!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Local Restaurant for Sale

A reader sent me this tip... Biu Bella, the restaurant that moved from where Agora Taverna is now to the space right across from the Post Office, is up for sale:
Coffee Shop/Restaurant - $400000 (Forest Hills - NY)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Chipotle Getting Underway

I'm at the Edge of the City Mountain Compound for part of the long weekend. But one of my readers had sent this in. So thought I'd post it...this is on the storefront where they're building the new Chipotle, next to Martha's on Austin St.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

The Clint Eastwood Speech


Personally, I thought Clint's speech was probably the only interesting thing I saw in the convention. And I thought the 82-year Eastwood used a creative, and very memorable, way to drive home his point.

But, therein lies the problem.

It was too memorable, and as a result, a huge strategic blunder, on par with, for example, Mike Dukakis allowing himself to be photographed in that tank (see below).

Think about it — even the right-wing rag, the New York Post, which would love more than anything to see a Republican in the White House, couldn't resist putting Eastwood, not Romney, on its front page the day after what was supposed to be Romney's big night!

What a strategic blunder! And that is what I think is the most important thing to come from the Clint Eastwood speech. It says something not about Eastwood, but about Romney's decision-making capabilities and poor judgement. After all, Romney made the decision to have Eastwood speak right before he did. It also reveals Romney's poor judgment in choosing his campaign staff. Did not one of them think Eastwood might overshadow their candidate? So their misjudgment ended up probably costing their candidate all the positive exposure his biggest speech was supposed to give him.

These types of gaffes are probably more important than any speech in showing us the true capabilities of a candidate. It can be argued that the real value of our incredibly overly long presidential campaigns come in these moments. When mistakes in judgement reveal the real capabilities — or lack thereof in this case — of the candidates.