One of the larger concerns the Long Island City area has had is lack of a primary care medical facility. A neighborhood that has quickly accommodated many new residents has yet to catch up with health issues. With the area only increasing in population, residents have had to look elsewhere for medical care. “We’re going through a population explosion but there’s not any new medical facilities being planned as of now’, says Joseph Conley, chairman of the Community Board District 2. He also claims that the only available hospitals for LIC residents are Elmhurst Hospital and Mount Sinai hospital in Astoria. However, with overcrowdedness in those hospitals, many patients wait until an emergency to seek medical care, and in some cases it is too late. Dr. Jason Park, a physician and medical director at the Department of Internal Medicine Primary Care Faculty Practice, claims that a lot of diseases and medical issues can be prevented with a primary care physician. “You will have more sick people, and they don’t even know it. By the time they find out, some of these people will be in emergency rooms with heart attacks, and failed kidneys. This can all prevented with primary care physician,” says Park. The lack of primary care physicans is not only a problem for patients but also for Elmhurst Hospital which is extremely overcrowded and losing money because of it.
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According to an article posted on Curbed.com, there have been more questions regarding whether the Hunters Point Project really qualifies as affordable housing. The project was originally supposed to include 5000 units of housing, increased to 6500. and is now planned for 6,650. According to the Queens Chronicle Community Board Chairman Joe Conley, affordable housing still remains a major concern. Conley told the Querens Chronicle that, “He would like to see different tiers of affordability, as well as proposals to create housing for seniors and city workers.” There is another community meeting scheduled for the last Thursday in May where this is will be discussed. It will also be addressed by the Borough President and the mayor.
On the corner of 47th Street, and Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City, stands a cafe known as Communitea. This low-key, contemporary space, filled with tranquil ambiance has become a home to many locals, and nearby small business owners. However, Communitea is slowly becoming appealing to people all over the city. Communitea is a cafe that clearly distinguishes itself from any other place in the LIC area, with ambient music playing in the background, and the delicious and rather refreshing smell of Chai Lattes. Though Communitea is a small unpretentious cafe in a newly gentrified neighborhood, it has not only been successful in drawing locals, but even appealing to big time sitcoms like CW’s Gossip Girl. Employees at the cafe claim that the show has even helped quite a bit in promoting the cafe. “People come in and they are like, this is the same spot, oh that’s so cool,” says Michael Richter, an employee at Communitea. “And I believe in the episode someone was drinking tea, and that’s an important thing, because though we serve other things, we were initially a Tea House,” he says. The sitcom is filming their next episode at the cafe this Thursday, March 27th, 2008.
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