4 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 27, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
LIC home prices surge in wake of Amazon HQ2 deal: report
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@cnglocal.com
@QNS
In reaction to Amazon’s plans to build its
second headquarters (HQ2) in Long Island
City, it’s no surprise that home prices are
spiking in the neighborhood.
Real estate site StreetEasy released its
November 2018 Market Report with the number
of recorded sales in northwest Queens —
which includes Long Island City — rose 23
percent over the last year to the highest levels
since February. Boroughwide, the number of
recorded sales increased 10.5 percent.
Th e northwest Queens submarket includes
Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside and
Ditmars-Steinway.
In the fi ve weeks aft er Nov. 5, when the
Amazon HQ2 plans leaked, 35 listings in
Long Island City, or 18.8 percent of the total
number of homes for sale there, increased
their price, StreetEasy reported.
“In the fi ve weeks prior to the Amazon
announcement, not a single listing in Long
Island City had raised its price,” said Grant
Long, StreetEasy senior economist.
Rents in northwest Queens, the borough’s
most expensive submarket, increased the
most by 1.1 percent to $2,252, according to
the report.
Th e median monthly asking rent in Long
Island City was up 10.4 percent over last year
— reaching $3,124. Th e median in Astoria
was relatively stagnant — down just 0.8 percent
from last year to $2,183. In Sunnyside,
the rent remained the same from last year —
$1,975.
Yet despite the excitement among New York
City landlords and sellers about Amazon’s
plans, the current price increase are largely
confi ned to Long Island City, according to
StreetEasy. No other neighborhood has seen
a dramatic reversal in its price trend as Long
Island City, and some nearby neighborhoods
haven’t seen much change at all.
However, even some sellers outside of
neighboring areas have been alerting potential
buyers of the proximity to HQ2.
While Long Island City has only three
current listings to celebrate the incoming
Amazon campus, listing descriptions for
another 75 units for sale in 48 buildings across
Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn are alerting
home shoppers of the news, StreetEasy
said.
Long said the recent trend of Manhattan
listings touting their proximity to Queens
illustrating just how “upside down the New
York City real estate market has become
going into 2019.”
“With Manhattan prices down 2.5 percent
from the prior year as of October, and Queens
prices up 5.4 percent, developers are pinning
their hopes on Amazon,” said Long.
Overall, in Queens, the number of condos
on the market increased by 65.3 percent year
over year; there were 628 condos on the market
in November, according to StreetEasy.
Th e number of co-ops in Queens increased
by 16.4 percent with 996 in the market; and
single-family residences increased by 38.5
percent with 1,673 residences in the market,
according to the report.
In Queens, there were 35.1 percent more
homes on the market this November compared
to last year; in Nov. 2017, there were
2,418 homes on the market, and 2,418 this
year.
StreetEasy also reported earlier this week
that a number of property sellers in Long
Island City actually increased their asking
prices in the weeks following the announcement.
Airport worker planted cellphone camera in bathroom: DA
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
A College Point man who works at LaGuardia
Airport has been released without bail aft er
being charged with setting up his cellphone
inside a bathroom to record women using the
toilet.
Law enforcement sources said that Samuel
Rodriguez, 39, of 130th Street allegedly planted
his cellphone inside a LaGuardia Airport single
stall unisex bathroom on the night of Dec.
19. A woman observed Rodriguez exiting the
bathroom at about 9 p.m. that night just as she
was heading in.
While inside the rest-room , according to
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown,
the woman heard a beeping sound coming from
inside the restroom. Th e woman walked toward
the sound and spotted a cellphone within a paper
towel dispenser.
“Th e victim was literally saved by the bell when
the defendant’s cellphone alarm began to buzz,
and she spotted the hidden phone,” Brown said.
“Th is kind of depravity will not be tolerated in
Queens County, and Rodriguez now faces prison
time for his alleged actions.”
Prosecutors said that the woman looked at the
phone, then picked it up and played back the
most recent video clip — which allegedly showed
Rodriguez putting the phone into the dispenser.
Brown said Rodriguez deliberately angled the
camera to show anyone using the toilet.
Th e phone was reported to Port Authority
Police Department, which tracked down
Rodriguez a short time later. When questioned
about the phone, Rodriguez allegedly admitted
to planting device, allegedly stating that he did it
because he “was trying to video pretty girls” and
that he planned on masturbating to the video
at home.
Rodriguez was booked on a single charge of
second-degree unlawful surveillance. According
to court records, he was arraigned on Dec.
20 in Queens Criminal Court and released
under supervision. He must return to court
on Jan. 15.
More work at
Kew Gardens
interchange
BY EMILY
DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com
@QNS
Queens’ busiest interchange
will undergo construction
this winter on
fi ve ramps.
Th e state Department of
Transportation announced
that beginning next
week, ramps will be alternately
closed at the Kew
Gardens Interchange in
Queens. Th e repairs will
help facilitate removal of
the old southbound Van
Wyck Expressway viaduct,
as part of a $110 million
Phase III construction
project of the interchange.
Weather permitting,
repairs will begin on or
about the night of Dec. 26
and will continue through
February 2019. Repairs that
take place Mondays through
Th ursdays will begin at 10
p.m. and end at 5 a.m., and
weekend repairs will go
from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Drivers can expect closures
on any of the following
ramps during
construction:
• Ramp from westbound
Grand Central Parkway
(Exit 13W) to westbound
Jackie Robinson
Parkway
• Ramp from eastbound
Jackie Robinson
Parkway (Exit 8W)
to westbound Grand
Central Parkway
• Ramp from southbound
Van Wyck Expressway
(Exit 7) to westbound
Jackie Robinson
Parkway
• Ramp from eastbound
Jackie Robinson
Parkway (Exit 7) to
northbound Van Wyck
Expressway
Entrance Ramp from
westbound Union
Turnpike to westbound
Grand Central Parkway
Drivers can follow detour
signs while the ramps are
under construction.
For real-time travel
information, motorists
should check New York
State’s offi cial traffi c and
travel information source,
511NY, before traveling.
Call 511, visit www.511NY.
org or download the free
511NY mobile app on
iTunes or Google Play.
Photo via Shutterstock
Photo via Shutterstock
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