Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInBLOOMINGDALE (WTOC) - The City of Bloomingdale recently signed a contract with Reeves Construction to resurface Little Neck Road The road is being resurfaced towards the Chatham County Line a small section of Little Neck Road from John Carter going south will be reduced to one lane during pavement milling in the road the same section of Little Neck Road will be reduced to one lane due to paving and shoulder operations Drivers are asked to seek alternate routes to lessen the impacts on traffic MARION — The Buzzards Bay Coalition of Marion is interested in purchasing 70 acres of land in the Little Neck area off Hermitage Road with the property estimated to be worth approximately $7.6 million of assessed value The coalition sees that it is within the town’s best interest to conserve the land considering rising sea levels and other environmental factors according to information provided by Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman from the coalition at a Marion Select Board meeting on Monday Little Neck is projected to turn into a salt marsh due to rising sea levels “Little Neck’s preservation as open space protects all of Sippican Harbor and Marion Village,” said the Buzzards Bay Coalition a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation of the bay’s natural resources They are seeking $2.75 million from private donations $2.25 from the Massachusetts Vulnerability Program Grant and $750,000 from Community Preservation Act funds Marion Select Board Chair Norman Hills opposed the proposed purchase calling it a potential “self-inflicted wound” to the town considering the tax burden it could possibly put on residents Select member Randy Parker stated that he was in favor of allowing the voters to decide if the purchase will be finalized I don’t have a problem with the taxpayers making the decision,” said Parker stated that “it depends on how much people in town want a new park.” the Select Board motioned to move the allowance of the coalition’s potential purchase forward The coalition will now be able to apply for grant funding for the purchase but decisions will not be finalized until spring 2026 Little Neck Road in west Chatham County is slated to serve as a major arterial for the county's booming growth. Already is is a main road to development in New Hampstead and future planned projects Under an Intergovernmental Agreement between the city of Savannah and Chatham County a new large-scale residential development is planned for the corridor and the two governing bodies are collaborating to ensure the roadway can support the corridor's growth The IGA states the city and county will do a 50/50 cost share to widen Little Neck Road to four lanes from the Interstate 95 bridge to Interstate 16 The agreement also outlines a future annexation petition for property along Little Neck Road into the city of Savannah for a planned residential development The property planned for the annexation petition encompass the same parcels, near Bush Road and L. Scott Stell Park, petitioned for annexation and industrial use in October 2023 That petition was opposed by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners at the time the Board of Commissioners rescinded its opposition to annexation "This (agreement) here has a major positive effect for the Bush Road area," said District 7 Commissioner Dean Kicklighter who opposed the previous annexation request "This area in question was once an area where people wanted to put huge warehouses everyone with Savannah and the developers." Background: Recent annexation request raises concerns of industrial creep in Chatham's rural outskirts The developer of the planned residential project is expected to be Northpoint Industrial XVI LLC which is the developer of Rockingham Farms industrial park Northpoint is under contract to purchase the property from owner Spier Property LLC which made the previous annexation petition tied to industrial use The approved IGA states that upon annexation the property will be rezoned to a planned development If the annexation is approved by Savannah City Council the developer will submit a master plan of the development through the standard review processes of the Metropolitan Planning Commission and Savannah City Council The property in question contains two separate parcels along Little Neck Road near Bush Road The two parcels sit parallel to each other across Little Neck Road The IGA outlines the developer will allow water and sewer connection to the county-run park which will aid in future recreational improvements "We're getting ready to do a lot of recreational improvements out there and it'll save us pretty substantial sum of money," said Chatham County Attorney R co-founder and leader of West Chatham County Community Watch said the group is relieved the project will no longer be used for industrial purposes Bieber said plans for the IGA were not communicated with the residents Bieber hopes leaders will engage the community as the project moves forward "This project will greatly impact the surrounding neighborhoods and we welcome the opportunity to be involved in current and future discussions along with exploring the community benefits related to this project," Bieber said in an email a resident of a nearby community called Cypress Creek previously opposed the annexation due to concerns of industrial creep and that the annexation would make Cypress Creek an "unincorporated island." State law prohibits annexations that create unincorporated islands which Sheehan said will still occur if the properties are annexed "If Savannah is allowed to annex this property then our development becomes an island of unincorporated Chatham County parcels," Sheehan said Evan Lasseter is the city of Savannah and Chatham County reporter for the Savannah Morning News You can reach him at ELasseter@savannahnow.com recently took over as the anchor of “News All Day” on Spectrum News NY1 When Shannan Ferry was growing up in Little Neck NY1 was just the channel she and her family got their news from But whatever the station meant to her back then It’s the station where she rose from an intern the lead anchor on one of its flagship newscasts who first started with Spectrum News NY1 in 2012 recently took over as the anchor of “News All Day,” the station’s weekday afternoon newscast The Queens-native now leads the four-hour broadcast five days of the week from the station’s studio in Manhattan Ferry said she felt “really honored” to report the day’s biggest news in New York City to her neighbors and family some of whom still pitch her stories from her old neighborhood “My mom will text me and tell me about what all the tennis girls are talking about,” Ferry said adding that when a pitch doesn’t quite work out Ferry says that growing up in Queens has helped her better understand the news that she now reports on Around a year after she first joined NY1 as a full-time reporter Ferry began covering the 2016 murder of Karina Vetrano in Howard Beach While the neighborhood is a little south of where she grew up the two areas share the same suburban feel and Ferry said residents in both neighborhoods know what it’s like to play second fiddle to some of the more bustling areas of the city Ferry said she felt she had a unique insight into how Vetrano’s family and friends were feeling “I think just knowing people who knew her was a little bit of an eye opener,” Ferry said so that kind of brought things in perspective.” Ferry kept that perspective when she was promoted to co-anchor NY1’s weekend morning program “Weekends on 1,” alongside Rocco Vertuccio and also when she began to fill in as the host of “News All Day” while the show’s former host That’s when Ferry became one of several interim hosts before becoming the full-time host in recent weeks Ferry said that she doesn’t take her new job lightly given that her position in the anchor’s chair comes after the untimely death of her friend “Ruschell should still be here,” Ferry said “I'm honored that I get to sit in it after her and I just hope that she would be proud of me.” and kind to me as a friend and a mentor,” Ferry added Ferry said she has no grand plans and is “open to seeing how the show develops.” Her predecessor left the desk in good shape “It already has a great foundation,” she said Home / Law / Crime / Politics / Communities / Voices / All Stories / Who We Are / Terms and Conditions Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInCHATHAM COUNTY (WTOC) - UPDATE: According to the Chatham County Police Department all lanes of Little Neck Road are now open UPDATE: Chatham County officials say the roadway is expected to remain closed until at least 6 p.m Officials say the road will not re-open until cleanup is complete The city of Savannah has confirmed a biowaste spill across Little Neck Road near Ogeechee Road Officials say a dump truck contractor working for the city was transporting a load of sewage sludge to the landfill (per the Georgia Environmental Protect Department regulations) and experienced a malfunction in the tailgate of the truck which resulted in the spill Crews are currently onsite performing clean-up and remediation Savannah Police and the City of Savannah crews will close portions of Little Neck Road near Al Henderson Blvd MARION — The Buzzards Bay Coalition is putting their potential $7.6 million purchase of Little Neck land that extends across the coast of Sippican Harbor along Hermitage Road in Marion on hold after failing to reach an agreement with landowners in the area The coalition has now missed this year’s deadline for grant applications putting the conservation project on pause until further notice “They were unable to get an agreement with the family and so that project is put on hold,” Town Administrator Geoffrey Gorman said at a Marion Select Board meeting on Tuesday It is unclear at this time what the next course of action is for the coalition The purchase was intended to "permanently preserve the scenic water quality and climate resilience benefits of Little Neck,” according to the coalition The area is projected to become a salt marsh in coming decades due to rising sea levels causing the coalition to attempt to take action to preserve its resources Little Neck’s preservation would help protect Sippican Harbor and Marion Village from the impact of storms and flood waters Select Board Chair Norman Hills opposed the proposed purchase at a meeting on Monday calling it a potential “self-inflicted wound” due to the tax burden it would pose on Marion residents Hills was the only dissenting vote of the three Select Board members regarding the coalition’s proposed plans MD Mandoo pork dumplings are the most popular appetizer at Myungdong Noodle House in Little Neck We've all got a hankering for Korean food right now, perhaps because of Netflix's "Squid Game" or "Korean Cold Noodle Rhapsody," which showcase eye-catching restaurants that make their own noodles from scratch. While Long Island has some great KBBQ spots you can now find a specialized Korean noodle house within easy striking distance in Little Neck Myungdong (MD) Noodle House has ties to a famous noodle and dumpling shop from Seoul The loosely-based franchise operation gets many of its recipes from Myeongdong Kyoja a Michelin Bib Gourmand pick that's been in the Myeong-dong shopping neighborhood of Seoul since 1966 plus a separate franchise in Los Angeles' Koreatown The new spot in Little Neck has a much larger menu than the original served in a homestyle restaurant with a diner vibe within a former Chase bank building with a sizable parking lot Servers mill around the brightly-lit space with carts of bubbling soups and the signature MD Mandoo pork dumplings ($15.95) which feature a diaphanous steamed wrapper that crinkles around the pork like a brain fierce brew of sour garlicky ferment gussied up with a boatload of chili powder It's about three times spicier than regular New York kimchi — and 10 times better a knife-cut wheat noodle soup at Myungdong Noodle House in Little Neck a knife-cut variety of wheat noodle that's typically served in a clear chicken broth soup on rainy windy days This noodle was originally an upper-class luxury item but is widely accessible across Korea today MD Noodle House prepares kalguksu noodles in the New Jersey location rolling the wheat dough into puffy ribbons that are cut with a knife There's not much tooth to these noodles; they're more about wispy The long white ribbons slip around the mild chicken broth which is peppered with ground meat and more of those porky dumplings By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy There's also a North Korean variety of buckwheat noodles called naengmyeon the spicy amazing ones seen on "Korean Cold Noodle Rhapsody." These too are a destination dish at MD Noodle House which serves them with toppings like raw skate fish doused in chili paste ($19.95) But although these cold noodles were historically eaten during the winter most people will find them more satisfying in the summer The always-busy restaurant also offers a large menu of homestyle dishes like soft tofu soups and less common samgye-tang a whole chicken in an herbal broth enriched with jujube fruits and black sesame seeds ($32.90) is a winter special at Myungdong Noodle House in Little Neck The most epic winter menu item is a mountainous pile of braised short ribs ($36.95) still on their bones The crocket of galbi-jjim arrives at the table steaming and carefully stacked with fat mushrooms and carrots brimming from the top with a leafy green herb Scissors are provided to cut the meat from the bone you'll probably don a plastic glove and wrangle it with your fingers Myungdong Noodle House, 56-21 Marathon Pkwy., Little Neck, Queens; 718-819-8178, mdnoodle.com The Newsday app makes it easier to access content without having to log in Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months The bay scallop’s multiple blue eyes are easily seen in this close-up look Bay scallops in a basket ready to be shucked Serpent-skinned brittle stars are among the marine life on the harbor floor with Nantucket bay scallops Sunset over Little Neck on the island’s west end The waves of Madaket Harbor lap the intertidal zone with a calming repetition I feel a rising desire to ditch work early and gear up for one of my favorite island activities Scallop season begins with a flurry of dive flags floating baskets and the jovial laughter of push rakers as they scour the sandy bottom in search of sea candy patches of eel grass sway with gentle currents and scuttling crabs you immerse yourself in the underwater world where you can appreciate the diversity of life among the eel grass Schools of minnows dart around together while slender pipefish independently wriggle like tiny dragons through the tangle of aquatic vegetation spider crabs and other creatures are frequent encounters when you don the goggles and enter their world below the surface Blue-eyed beauties wait in little indentations on the sandy bottom Carefully filtering and trying to remain hidden bay scallops sense light with their dazzling array of sapphire eyes enough to know which way is up and when to shut their ridged shells together easy enough for a simple dive without a wetsuit on a sunny day grasping for a palm-sized scallop and feeling it squirm As I draw it out of the water to check the size and look for the annual growth ring I bob gently in the water and hold the scallop close to admire its color in the October sun The scallop spot is as coveted as the best blueberry bushes When I see someone picking at my regular blueberry harvesting locations I feel a little like I am intruding on someone else’s peace We both share a secret place and there is plenty to go around Seeing people haul their baskets up on shore filled to the brim with clacking and squirting bivalves makes me so excited I make sure to encourage anyone arriving while I am packing up with a “they are waiting out there for ya” or a friendly “enjoy the harbor.” The island hosts the last wild recreational bay scallop fishery in the world and we get the chance to harvest this ocean candy and share it with our families and friends What a supreme gift that warrants our most devoted protection and respect It is an entire year focus and effort from the incredible team at the Town of Nantucket’s Brant Point shellfish hatchery and Natural Resources Department From raising seed and dozens of dive surveys to the careful attention to water quality or winter strandings these folks at the town are the backbone of our scallop season Further support and attention to the habitat and eel grass comes courtesy of the Land & Water Council not to mention the consideration and spotlight on Nantucket’s commercial scallop and oyster industry thanks to the Nantucket Shellfish Association It takes a whole town to come together in reverence for this incredible resource and we should be grateful for their continued efforts Walking the water’s edge can make you think about the unseen forces and storied history of Nantucket’s evolving shoreline When I put on my wetsuit and wade into the water I make a toast to the men and women who have lived their lives in service of these near-shore waters It is an important reverence before I venture out to benefit from their collective dedication to life 30 miles out to sea When you get the chance to go out this scallop season hold that respect in mind and celebrate the bounty of the sea that continues thanks to their historic actions Neil Foley is the interpretive education coordinator and ecologist at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Have the latest local news delivered every morning so you don't miss out on updates Receive our newspaper electronically with the e-Edition email Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account This work, Honored in a Hometown, by SSgt Heather Atherton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright From left: Andy Curtin and Aaron Lefkove (All photos courtesy Aaron Lefkove) By The seed for Littleneck germinated sometime in early summer 2010 and entered this world after no small amount of labor pains on October 26 It was a collaboration between myself and a business partner I thought of the name while we were doing a tequila shot at Clem’s everything else came easy — which makes you wonder what other ideas in bars should have been followed up on ‘We built the place ourselves’ When we first found the space where the original Littleneck sat it was a decrepit storefront a few doors down from one of the last remaining social clubs in Gowanus The previous tenant sold chess sets and manufactured trophies on the side the roof (or what was left of it) had to be replaced which sat on top and was precariously close to crashing through the rotten ceiling joists By the time we sold the place in early 2020 the deck remained unfinished If you are thinking of opening up a restaurant of your own please leave those jobs to professional tradesmen — trust me on this one Enter Alan Harding — a down-on-his-luck journeyman chef who showed up to our job site with a paper copy of a resume that listed the restaurants he’d opened on Smith Street (they were numerous) and that he was once an in-house chef at MTV It might’ve glossed over his time spent under a fledgling Thomas Keller at Rakel by his own admission “box office poison” (his words Andy and I provided the space and whatever cash we could scrape together Alan provided a basic opening menu fashioned around our loose criteria of what a New England style clam shack should be as well as an antique punchbowl allegedly a wedding gift from his ex-father in law For the next nine years we used it to keep our by-the-glass selections chilled It’s the only thing I regret leaving behind when we eventually sold the place Maybe too well — the three subsequent kitchen managers under our tenure as well as the next owners more or less adhered to his original vision with only minor tweaks chowder and takes on the lobster and full belly clam rolls remained on the menu until the end Andy and I never made him a partner — and in fact we later fired him unceremoniously — but the place was always partly his even long after we parted ways it remained so for the next seven or eight years A year in and high on our own success we partnered with Alan and his friend who was a local handyman to take over a former bagel shop two doors down and open The Pines The details of our involvement in that restaurant are inconsequential to this story except to say that by the time the first Friday night service rolled around we were all sitting across from each other in a downtown Brooklyn courtroom and the eventual settlement paid for our next venture It should however be stated that the pasta in that restaurant was sublime The cash-only Gowanus restaurant might’ve been used like an ATM to finance our growth but Greenpoint — the longest running and most lucrative and successful of any of our ventures — was always the most viable location In 2013 we signed the lease on a space on Franklin Street in Greenpoint that had been vacant since 1980 and got what I still believe was the last great real estate deal in town the landlords — a retired teacher in Connecticut and her brother a local drunk who lived in a house around the corner — used it as a clubhouse When we first set foot in the place it was filled floor-to-ceiling with junk: disassembled slot machines a toilet connected to no form of plumbing below save for a 33-year-old puddle of piss It’s miraculous a place like that could’ve existed in such disarray in a prime locale for three decades and honestly it was a slice of eccentricity that has long since been pushed out of New York I have enough self awareness to know in this case I am partially to blame.) The neighborhood exploded with growth as soon as we opened If Gowanus’ timing and locale was dumb luck then lightning struck a second time when Outpost arrived 131 Grand Street had a long affiliation with the freak scene that was once prevalent in Williamsburg It’s hard to believe there was once a free store run by anarchists on the corner of Grand and Berry And after that there was Passout Records — a record store in name only — run by a legend who still haunts the East Village If you wanna talk about New York’s hottest club This place had it all: regular Saturday matinee punk shows held in the shop on a day she knew the Hassidic landlord couldn’t be reached via phone; hourly rehearsal studios in the basement; junkies living in a room under the stairs shooting dope and freebasing coke; an art gallery that actually showed some really decent stuff (I still regret that they were too fucked up to figure out how to sell me a couple pieces from the Mike Diana show but that’s neither here nor there) For a time the place ran like a well oiled squat At some point Pee Wee had the bright idea to turn it into a burger version of San Loco and when the 24-hour restaurant in the former record shop squat didn’t pan out we entered the picture Littleneck Grand was the first domino to fall and possibly one of the more expensive lessons in the sunk-cost fallacy The place should have never existed — something Williamsburg diners It would’ve been much more enjoyable had we just piled all that money in the middle of the street and lit it on fire And honestly with the 10-year affiliation I had with the space under its previous incarnations I really should’ve known better But greed is often a more powerful motivator than fear The ways in which the curse of Passout haunted this money pit unmitigated shitshow could fill volumes but I will leave you with the following anecdote it’s a supercharged French food processor from the same people who brought you the guillotine and it’s just as effective at severing whatever limbs have the misfortune of passing through I once scooped a prep cook’s fingers out from under the ice machine where the Robot Coupe had spit them threw them in a quart container with some ice from the same machine I found them under — the fingers were no longer attached to the hand at this point if that wasn’t already clear — and off we went in a yellow cab to Bellevue to see if they could be sewn back on (they could) Some calamity like that seemed to befall that restaurant every day Our earnest attempts were as anachronistic as the bygone venues I just outlined above When it was evident that the concept had fallen in deaf ears and it was time to pull the plug I was persuaded to give it one more quarter that ultimately sent us into an additional $76,000 of debt We finally finished paying it down in the summer of 2022 we rented the space out as a location in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and got to watch the place get blown up onscreen the place was yet again a money suck helped along by our cash only Gowanus restaurant and when we finally came to terms with the landlord to exit the lease at the two year mark it could not have been more of a relief Wonders of Nature was the most nihilistic venture I’ve ever been a part of and it was also the most enjoyable The final night of Wonders of Nature was a solo acoustic set by Evan Dando of the Lemonheads He played every song off of “It’s a Shame About Ray” I walked back home to my place after the gig fell asleep and as far as I can recollect had a nightmare around 4 a.m that I got a call from the landlord in Connecticut that the building was on fire “Damn I must be buggin’ out.” I thought until I looked at the phone again and sprinted the 20 blocks from my apartment on McGolrick Park to Franklin Street just in time to catch the FDNY and NYPD who had kicked our doors down There had been a small fire in the backyard where someone had piled a bunch of scrap wood and aerosols “We were about to come over to Russell Street to get you out of bed.” Real estate in New York City — especially in its more neighborhoody enclaves like Greenpoint — can be a relationship game My Russell Street landlords were like if you could imagine Patty and Selma from the Simpsons living in Grey Gardens wakeup call from the cops on a month-to-month lease should’ve spelled certain disaster 2018 and it was the day the initial term of the Outpost lease was set to expire Because as we approached the renewal option period on the lease for Outpost the landlord had unilaterally decided not to grant it and a legal arms escalation ensued until they finally relented If there’s one lesson to take from the restaurant business it’s that you can skimp on everything else but always pay for top-shelf legal representation no matter the cost because otherwise life’ll kill ya And it was the day the landlord’s who we’d been beefing with us over picking up the five-year option wanted us gone “I guess the landlord lived on the block but he died earlier this week,” the cop told me A landlord’s final fuck you from beyond the grave in the form of a trash fire There’s no feeling in the pit of your stomach quite like the feeling in the pit of your stomach when the audit letter arrives from New York State Before you even open the envelope you know exactly what it is because it doesn’t look like any correspondence you’ve received before — and at this stage in the game you’ve received a lot from the tax man The feeling is only compounded when you receive two in the same day Being on the business end of one of the more efficient and well-funded government agencies in the country ain’t fun but in this instance it was a saving grace The viciousness of the inspectors from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene They are the angriest and most foul people you’ll ever do business with and in a city where money talks they have the ability to deploy arcane codes that will make or break even the mightiest of operators all on a whim and a civil servant’s salary While most of the city got to sit home and watch the hospitality industry incinerate in real time during the Covid lockdown there were at least a few operators out there who felt no small amount of schadenfreude watching the agency first neutered in the lawless early days and then gutted during the social upheaval and “labor shortages” of peak pandemic It was a bright spot of an otherwise particularly bleak era I tell you all of this because in late 2019 Littleneck Outpost received the dreaded yellow sticker when it was shut down over mouse droppings in the basement among other lesser infractions Mice are a reality in New York and when you’re working in hundred-plus-year-old buildings you can’t totally build them out — and I spent over a decade trying The November 2019 closure — the second DOH closure in as many years for a problem that could never properly be remedied and didn’t seem to be going away unless the landlords pitched in on their side of the basement — coupled with the final bill from the taxman’s audit and a nine-year-old seafood restaurant whose expenses were rapidly beginning to eclipse its revenues was a breaking point We had no idea that a once-in-a-century pandemic was coming down the pike just a few months later We just knew it was a tight spot to be caught up in On a cold December afternoon in 2019 in that liminal week between Christmas and New Years I walked into to the Williamsburg Cinema for a weekday matinee of “Uncut Gems,” the Safdie Brothers’ Adam Sandler vehicle about a diamond district hustler’s attempts to stay one step ahead of creditors I walked out of the theater thinking I had just watched a documentary Lefkove with Erin ‘Sniff’ Norris an early employee (and current proprietor of OurHaus) we couldn’t have found better stewards to keep our dream alive than the couple that worked as bartenders and would eventually step up and guide the restaurant through a turbulent four years from 2020 until its recent demise I can’t comment on the pandemic era down there so respect for making it out of the hard times The recent news they were planning on closing the original Littleneck came as both sad but also not a total surprise The pandemic was not kind to restaurants in general nor was the rising cost of food the wildly inflated costs of utilities and insurance and the unpredictable habits of a population collectively shook Andy and I soldiered on through the pandemic with Littleneck Outpost and the East Williamsburg offshoot with the newer location trying its hand as a prep kitchen catering kitchen and ultimately storage space At one point we even had another group lined up to take over the lease who went as far as giving us a deposit before getting in a fight and punching each other in the face and ultimately scattering from New York completely Finally the East Williamsburg location succumbed to Covid-related complications — a lack of viable revenue — and quietly passed on Greenpoint made it to the end of the 10 year lease but in the process the building changed hands By the end Outpost was busier than it had ever been and was somehow still losing a couple grand a week even running with skeleton crew and skeleton menu The new corporate management company graciously offered a 60 percent rent hike which wasn’t the cure-all I’d hoped for and Littleneck Outpost left this world in late 2023 The pandemic and its long tail effect was a mass extinction event for restaurants no matter your knife skills or how you slice it Those that survived learned to navigate a new and truly hellacious landscape Restaurants are New York’s great equalizer There is no other industry where people from every socioeconomic strata play side-by-side as equals — if you can throw down in the kitchen or on the floor you can play ball The diversity that exists in hospitality — at least in the rank and file — exists in no other business not any of the city’s other glamor industries I’ve seen shifts where PhD candidates work alongside guys that 48 hours prior were in a safehouse and 48 hours prior to that were running across the southern border Each of those people play an equally crucial role because when you’re in the shit there’s no one that’s gonna tell you one job is any more important than another Everyone’s gotta work in harmony or the whole thing crashes down It is often people’s first stop on the way to a new life and new opportunities as well as people’s last stop before departing to the next stage — post-graduate a bar or restaurant of their own…you name it It’s a place where people who exist in the margins of society can get a leg up in the world In New York City only the exceptionally wealthy or the exceptionally well trust-funded can entertain at home so restaurants — the proverbial third space — become our homes Instead of dinner and a show oftentimes dinner we sell escapism; we sell experiences the way the pornographer’s thin plot lines sell viewers on an attainable reality something they can feel in on and maybe be a part of even for a fleeting night And as New Yorkers we have a divine right to eat in the dopest restaurants in the world and to gloat about it with pride because we don’t live in a backwater here Aaron Lefkove is a vagabond who spends his days bouncing between Greenpoint Image Details Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge Closes Little Neck Run For Nesting Bald EaglesDec 21 2022 The staff of Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge continue to monitor the pair of bald eagles that are nesting at the refuge Recent observations of the eagles at the nest site prompt a seasonal closure of Little Neck Run to public access The closure will help reduce disturbance to the birds and help protect the nest location during this very sensitive time they tend to use it for the rest of their lives.     Bald eagles reach sexual maturity at five years of age and obtain the characteristic white head and tail They build large nests in tall trees and prefer undisturbed areas along the shorelines of rivers eagles generally initiate nest building in December - January Egg laying and incubation (33-35 days) can start in February and chick hatching and rearing takes place in March – May Eaglets make their first unsteady flights 10-12 weeks after hatching and begin fledging in June – August.  Refuge staff conduct bi-weekly observations of the Wertheim nest and will re-open Little Neck Run after chick fledging With the use of a spotting scope or binoculars some favorable locations for visitors to view eagles and other wildlife include the Black Tupelo trail Indian Landing and refuge overlooks along the Carmans River Visitors are reminded to obey closed area boundary signs and to adhere to refuge regulations Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 but are still federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act These acts help to ensure the safety of eagles and their parts (feathers harassment and other harmful actions.           Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1947 to preserve habitat for migratory birds The refuge is located along the Carmans River in Suffolk County and protects one of the last undeveloped estuaries on Long Island.  Refuge management programs have expanded to also include the protection of federally-listed endangered and threatened species the conservation of native flora and fauna and opportunities for wildlife-dependent public uses For further information, please contact us at 631-286-0485 or visit www.fws.gov/refuge/wertheim plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people At the corner of Little Neck Road and Highway 17 sits some 275 acres of open fields Powerlines sprawl over portions of the vast greenspace known as the Keller Property Under a planned development that recently received MPC approval the open space could transform into rows of retail multifamily housing and community greenspace the MPC's approval did not come without concerns from residents who say the road infrastructure bordering the property is not prepared to support a development of this scale the development would put 534 multifamily housing units and 308 senior living housing units on the property over an eight-year phased implementation timeline That's an estimated 1,500 in added population at the end of it according to a phasing plan done by Miles Hansford Attorneys at Law although some MPC members expressed the imperative to tackle road capacity in the area The item will now go to city council for final approval The site's southwest corner is planned for commercial and retail pods along Little Neck Road and Highway 17 with the residential complexes sitting just behind it to the north Preliminary visions for the retail village include "Lowcountry architecture" and a "pedestrian-friendly atmosphere," according to a presentation on the development Potential commercial uses mentioned in the MPC staff report include self-storage facilities a variety of restaurants ranging from "high-turnover sitdown" to drive-thru fast food The convenience store is expected to be an Enmarket according to property owner Charles Roberts with Hopeton South Land Trust LLC "We understand it's got to be easy to get to whether it's on a bike There will also be a 2-acre "town green" that could be used for a range of entertainment options such as concerts and movie nights to farmers' markets and birthday parties The property also runs up against 64 acres of salt marsh The current design aims to preserve the marshland and another 97 acres of open greenspace which would comprise about 60% of the total property The developer is keeping the array of greenspace to alleviate concerns of wildlife and habitat conservation Some known plants or animals with high conservation status known on the site include the Georgia Indigo Bush and the Hooded Pitcherplant The MPC report details the petitioners response to those concerns: “The Applicant and Developer will follow all federal and local regulations regarding the protection of certain species applicable to the Subject Property The Applicant is mitigating the impact of the proposed development through open space and salt marsh that will protect wildlife and be utilized by the public for recreational activities,” needed road improvementsJust across the street from the planned development sits Bethel Missionary Baptist Church off Ogeechee Road said throughout the meeting that the phased approach would reduce the traffic burden But Hunt said that the church has already moved service times back an hour and a half due to congestion making it hard for people to arrive at services A traffic study by A&R Engineering found that level of service along nearly all future entry points are likely to operate at a "D" grade or better during peak hours. Level of service is the metric traffic engineers use to determine the quality of roadway traffic Others expressed concerns about potholes and poor surface conditions along Little Neck Road The MPC's recommendation was made under the condition the developer contribute pro-rata costs towards improvements recommended on the traffic study most of which include the installation of traffic signals The concerns in public comment about the quality of roads in the area also prompted members of the MPC to question city and county leaders on what solutions may come to the area Savannah City Manager Jay Melder said he recently met with county officials do discuss potential improvements Melder said part of the issue is identifying funding sources to address improvements one of which could be a Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax previously shot down by voters Chatham County owns the rights of way surrounding the development and widening Little Neck Road could be one path forward "We have been in discussion to go about how to solve that problem," said Chatham County Manager Michael Kaigler Evan Lasseter is the city and county government reporter for the Savannah Morning News You can reach him at ELasseter@gannett.com Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) marked Earth Day by announcing that work is under way to restore tidal wetlands at Alley Creek in Bayside The $1.8 million project will restore approximately 1.9 acres of critical tidal salt marsh and maritime grassland habitat and includes the removal of debris and invasive common reed grass The restoration effort aims to re-establish natural tidal flushing to improve the health of the waterway and support a diverse and complex salt marsh habitat As part of the design for this wetland restoration project progressively smaller tributary channels will provide even greater water quality benefits which lies to the north of Northern Boulevard builds upon the 16 acres of wetland restoration DEP completed on the south side of the Boulevard “Wetlands play a critical and substantial role in a healthy marine environment as they naturally filter impurities and provide valuable wildlife habitat,” said DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza and to our more than 70 Bluebelts across Staten Island we are creating the conditions that allow wetlands to naturally improve New York City’s environment.” “I welcome news of the Alley Creek tidal restoration project which will go a long way to foster the growth of marine life improve water quality and reduce area flooding,” said Council Member Paul Vallone “Wetlands are a critical part of our natural environment and I commend DEP for its work to ensure the environmental stability of northeast Queens.” “As advocates for the environmental health of the estuary the Alley Pond Environmental Center can only be extremely gratified by the continued support of DEP in effecting the improvements that will ensure cleaner water in Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay and we look forward to this and additional projects,” said APEC Board Member Tom McGlinchey “Our estuary here reflects the potential for diversity of environment that provide crucial benefits to plant and marine life in this unique area of New York City and where so many urban students and adults are able to come to our Environmental Center to learn about ecology and what must be done to protect the area.” The first phase of the work includes the excavation of historic fill material as well as the removal of invasive reed grass Approximately 2,500 cubic yards of clean sand will be used to backfill the site and carve out the tidal channels which have been designed to maximize the area of vital low marsh vegetation approximately 27,400 plants will be installed as 2” plugs including a variety of native wetland species such as smooth cordgrass The upland portions of the site will be seeded with a diverse mix of at least 15 species native to local maritime grassland habitats the project will re-plant 13 woody shrubs and approximately 500 square yards of original salt marsh vegetation that were salvaged before excavation work began which are transitional lands between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems provide a wide variety of beneficial functions Nearly half the nation’s threatened and endangered species rely on wetlands to survive Attention has recently been focused on the ability of wetlands to sequester pathogens natural and constructed wetlands have been widely utilized for water quality enhancement The flooding and ebbing of tidal waters through a wetland can increase the mortality and subsequently decrease pathogens by sequestering them within the marsh sediments and increasing their exposure to harmful Ultraviolet light The presence of vegetation within wetlands provides a source of oxygen into surface waters to help improve water quality within coastal ecosystems Dissolved Oxygen improvements can be attributed to both the roots and the stems of wetland plants In 2011, DEP completed the $130 million Alley Creek Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Facility which sits opposite the current wetlands restoration site The facility collects up to five million gallons of combined sewage every time it rains that was previously discharged into Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay The completion of this retention facility has resulted in water quality improvements in Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay including increased dissolved oxygen concentrations and fewer floatables and settleable solids within the creek and bay As part of the construction of the Alley Creek CSO facility, in 2010 DEP completed a $20 million environmental restoration of the northern portion of Alley Pond Park which restored wetlands and reintroduced local plant life to a 16-acre section of the park was part of the overall effort to improve the ecology and water quality of Alley Creek as the restored wetlands will oxygenate the water and attract new animal species Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay are tidally connected to the East River During the mid-1800s there was a thriving commercial shellfishery in Little Neck Bay which was particularly known for the harvest of small hard shell clams that became known as Little Neck clams the developing suburban population in the adjacent watershed placed pollution pressures on the resource and the condemnation of the shellfish beds due to pollution took place in 1909 Development of the area as a commuter suburb of New York City had significant physical impacts on the waterbody particularly in terms of biological habitat built in the late 1930s along the western shoreline of the Bay radically transformed the previous natural shoreline habitat Northern Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway running along the east-west corridor disrupted wetland areas along either side of Alley Creek at the southern end of Little Neck Bay The 1.9-acre wetland restoration was undertaken by DEP as part of the resolution of an enforcement matter brought by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a violation of New York State law NYC is a trademark and service mark of the City of New York Privacy Policy. Terms of Use.  Access to affordable and nutritious food is one of the cornerstones of good health individuals—and communities—are at a higher risk of food insecurity and serious chronic diseases we must recognize that each neighborhood has a distinct food environment These Foodscape reports provide a community-level snapshot of a community’s food environment including data on healthy and unhealthy food consumption the reports detail a comprehensive guide of the many food-related resources available to residents within their neighborhoods to support them in eating healthier The Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center has compiled this information from various sources presenting it in a user-friendly format to help NYC residents and communities better understand their local foodscapes these three resources provide a comprehensive food-related guide to each New York City neighborhood To view information on Bayside/Little Neck Community Gardens https://web.archive.org/web/20230608061615/https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/foodscape-bayside-little-neck/ Article Image: “New York City (NYC) Neighborhood Maps – By Borough – Queens.” NYCdata https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/population-geography/maps-boroughs.htm Write for The New York City Food Policy Center is always on the look out for innovative, intelligent writers who can produce high-quality, research-based content. Read more here: https://nycfoodpolicy.org/write-nyc-food-policy-center/ Copyright © 2021 Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center Looking at a panorama that encompasses everything from the mouth of the Ipswich River to the west end of Crane Beach it’s no secret why a husband and wife would buy a timeworn cottage on Little Neck “We bought it for the view,” the wife says “We didn’t buy it for the cottage itself.”  After purchasing the early 20th-century fishing shack in 1999 she and her husband—whose family has summered in the Ipswich enclave for several generations—tinkered with the home never satisfied with how the awkward roofline and ancient plumbing and electrical systems meshed with their family of five is this ever going to be what we want it to be?” the homeowner says but it was important for us to keep the charm and for our new home to feel like it belonged here in the community we fell in love with.”  principal at the Manchester-by-the-Sea–based firm OLSON LEWIS + Architects envisioning a beach house suited for year-round living that seized on the views with additional space for their growing family and entertaining visitors But Little Neck—a private association that’s still primarily a summer cottage community—has strict building constraints: among them the new home had to stick within the original footprint and roofline “It was very challenging to create the space an active family wants without building up or expanding the envelope,” says Dioli himself a Little Neck resident who lives a few doors down The siting of the property—at the forefront of a cluster of other homes—was particularly challenging “Everything was scrutinized because of the location and we had to be very cognizant of not blocking their views.” Dioli and the homeowners allayed neighbors’ concerns by proffering designs showing that their views would either stay the same or improve with the new structure As for finding more space in the same footprint the new home relied on developing the underutilized lower level of the house adding egress windows to relocate two new bedrooms and fill a den area with light “It provides a lot of living space within a very small footprint,” Dioli says estimating that the expansion in the lower level increased the total square footage by almost 50 percent latticed-in space below the deck was completely reimagined with a patio and fire table a four-season hot tub hidden behind café doors flanked by a retaining wall and a set of granite steps The main level of the house now has an open floor plan suited for entertaining guests with wide-plank French oak floors unifying the dining room Walls of windows across the front and side capture every bit of the view transom windows and a small dormer above the main west-facing glass bring in extra light The approach to the interior hews to a coastal aesthetic with shiplapped walls and ceilings and a few one-of-a-kind nautical accents: a handmade oyster shell chandelier in the main bathroom nods to the family’s affinity for shellfishing; the mantel above the stone fireplace was sourced from driftwood that the homeowner discovered after a Nor’easter but we wanted it to feel custom and special,” she says The home maximizes every inch of available space from the storage underneath the built-in window seats to the second-floor office nook near the primary bedroom because during Covid we had five people living and working in this house,” she says an expansive deck incorporates cable railings to emphasize the views out to sea; from a smaller sibling deck attached to the primary bedroom you can see all the way to Gloucester and view incredible sunrises The home incorporates a litany of low-maintenance materials—weathered gray composite deck boards that don’t require sanding and refinishing a metal roof—to make the most of every moment “We want to be able to live here year-round without continuously doing projects,” the wife says there are fewer projects and a lot more free time.” the cottage on Little Neck is a gathering place for holiday celebrations a getaway for an ever-changing cast of houseguests the kind of lifestyle that the previous home offered as a possibility is now a waking reality “We wanted a place where we could relax and entertain and now we’re able to do that,” the homeowner says “Everybody has a place that brings them joy olsonlewis.com Subscribe Purchase Back Issues Digital Edition Newsletter Sign Up 2023 - 10:00AM This 1955 Cape Cod-style house has three bedrooms Keller Williams Realty of Nassau County The northeastern Queens community of Little Neck where legendary Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford once lived is a suburban-style area on the border of Long Island family-oriented community is popular with commuters In this week’s Buy Curious, David Esposito, an agent at Century Homes Realty Group, and Cathy Moran, an agent at Arash Real Estate, give us the inside story on Little Neck I was told that buying a house in Little Neck might be cheaper than getting one right over the border in Long Island “It’s possible to buy a property in Little Neck that could be $100,000 to $200,000 less expensive than one in neighboring Great Neck,” Esposito says adding that the property taxes in Little Neck would be lower He notes that Little Neck prices are comparable to those in adjacent Douglaston.  Little Neck is bounded by Little Neck Bay on the north “Little Neck is popular because it’s diverse and it’s just over the Nassau border,” Esposito says “Many of the buyers come for the school district and investors like it because in some parts of the community the zoning allows them to tear down a single-family house and replace it with a two- or three-family house.” Moran notes that the community tends to attract New York City municipal workers and other professionals as well as business owners and retirees “Residents enjoy the suburban landscape of a quiet neighborhood yet have the convenience of nearby schools in the district It’s a less than a 30-minute commute to Penn Station on the LIRR and an easy walk to Northern Boulevard and shopping.” She adds that “many old-timers are still here because they could never find a place with more ‘community’ than Little Neck.” There are three subsections in Little Neck which comprises four east-west streets and about seven north-south streets runs north of Northern Boulevard to the LIRR road and east of Little Neck Parkway to the city line Little Neck Hills has the same types of housing and pricing as the rest of Little Neck but I still consider it a buyer’s market,” Esposito says noting that “a lot of sellers are holding out for higher prices.” Inventory is scarce: According to StreetEasy prices of single-family houses start at around $950,000 and multi-families command $1.2 million and higher Of properties on the Multiple Listing Service a one-bedroom condo is listed for $400,000 and a two-bedroom unit for $759,000 “Prices depend on the area of the community the development is in as well as the amenities,” he says He points out that the listing service shows a studio co-op for $150,000 and a two-bedroom unit for $450,000 Rentals are available in either a multi-family house or a building and three bedrooms for $2,450 to $4,000 (for a whole house) There’s not a lot of large residential development in the works an investor acquires three or four adjacent lots and builds an eight-family house.” but the Q12 goes to Flushing and connects to the No The Long Island Rail Road stops in the community and QM35 buses run through the neighborhood The Nassau County Inter-county Express (NICE) n20G bus runs straight to neighboring Great Neck Drivers have easy access to the major highways The Long Island Expressway and the Cross Island Parkway run through Little Neck and the Grand Central Parkway is on the southern boundary The 655-acre Alley Pond Park is the second largest in the borough Queens County Farm Museum, a historic working farm offers a variety of experiences and events ranging from a sheep shearing festival to a corn maize and pumpkin patch The Tannenbaum Family Pool is an outdoor pool club with a basketball and volleyball court The highlight of the year, Moran says, is The Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade. “It’s the largest of its kind,” she says “and it’s a hometown tradition that was started in 1927 and has been going strong ever since.” Little Neck offers everything from takeouts to fine-dining restaurants serving a variety of foods from around the world What's more, “Chef Joe’s Marathon Deli has been in business for more than 50 years and has consistently been the place to go for the best food around,” Moran says He notes that at one time there were a half dozen bars, but now there's only one: Good Company Tavern. Little Neck Supermarket and Nature Farm Supermarket are the main grocery stores Residents also shop at Food Bazaar in Douglaston and North Shore Farms in Great Neck 57-30 Little Neck ParkwayThis 1,351-square-foot 244-08 57 Dr. #1This two-bedroom one-bath co-op 254-10 39th Ave.Originally listed for $1.050 million this Cape Cod-style house has been reduced to $988,000 the 2,730-square-foot house that dates to 1955 has three bedrooms 245-49 62nd Ave. #2Listed for $289,000 242-44 Horace Harding Blvd. #E6This one-bedroom one-bath co-op is listed for $224,000. The unit has two air conditioners, hardwood floors, a free parking spot, and a washer/dryer. The building has a playground and spray park for children, a laundry, a community room, a garage, a bike-storage room, and private security. Nancy A. Ruhling is a freelance writer based in New York City. *By signing up you agree to receive occasional emails on behalf of our sponsors Copyright 2009-2024 by BND Ventures Inc | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Ad Choices | Login Littleneck in the pandemic era (Courtesy Littleneck) By a Gowanus favorite New England-style seafood shack The restaurant recently announced with “heavy hearts” that it’s serving up its final meals for the first couple of weeks of March with an official closing date yet to be determined Taking over Littleneck after working here as employees was a dream come true in so many ways,” the team wrote on Instagram and we are completely gutted to be closing our doors here on 3rd Ave.” As with so many other restaurant closures operating in a post-Covid environment with rising rents has made running the business “most challenging,” the trio said “With the unbelievable density of new construction surrounding us since the rezoning of Gowanus it’s become impossible to continue operating in our favorite NYC neighborhood.” They said while this is the end of the Gowanus location, which opened in 2011 it’s also an “exciting time for us to think about what our next chapter will be.” Its Instagram page will remain active for “future catering events and new endeavors.” Fans of the establishment were upset by the news Gowanus will not be the same without you,” one person wrote on the Instagram post Another added: “You’re my favorite restaurant in NYC and the home of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had (and I’m a native New Englander).” A post shared by Littleneckbrooklyn.com (@littleneckbrooklyn)