New gray block building shines blue in the night

For months I watched men lay bricks at 12-02 37th Avenue, creating a gray block building in the middle of the Ravenswood industrial business zone. It is so gray and blocky it looked like they were building a castle or a fort. Now with the exterior done, the building is totally more flamboyant at night, its surface illuminated by blue lights, giving it a jazzy, almost night-club like appearance in the industrial area. Most of the buildings that have gone up in the zone lately are hotels. I’m not sure yet if this is a hotel. And guess what, this is also a hotel! Of course it is. It took me a minute to call the wrong architect to find I had the wrong address and wrong paperwork to find a proper link explaining. And that architect? Also building a hotel in the Ravenswood IBZ (at 11-02 37th Ave.) Of course. ***Another update: Google Maps has this place listed as Hotel Nirvana! Well, nevermind. I like the way New York YIMBY described the 12-02 37th Ave development plan 2.5 years ago:

“The development would rise 100 feet into the air on a vacant lot between 12th and 13th Streets, in a sleepy commercial no-man’s land near Ravenswood Generating Station and the Roosevelt Island Bridge… In fact, it seems like an odd place for a hotel. The surrounding blocks are dotted with low-slung warehouses, two-family homes, and the large Ravenwood Houses public housing project.”

But we know now that the Ravenswood IBZ, intended to preserve industrial business space, is a small forest of hotels surrounded by the tall grass of warehouses and small factories. So anyway, this hotel definitely has a stubby shape in comparison to the others. I’ll just say it again. It’s a gray block thing. But at night, that’s when it lets its freak flag fly.

(This post was adjusted to conform to learned information.)

A few notes:

• Rep. Carolyn Maloney is getting re-election support from her 2010 primary rival and Girls Who Code founder, Reshma Saujani. Maloney is facing Millennial challenger Suraj Patel.
• A jazz trio that began jamming at the Blackbird’s Bar on 30th Ave in 2010 now has a debut album.
• Prince Tea House, Chip NYC and other Astoria joints are listed by NY Metro Parents as places to eat with your kids.
• The Central Astoria Local Development Coalition will hold its second multicultural celebration at the Secret Theatre 3/8.
• This Women’s History Month, Astoria Bookshop has a bunch of cool sounding stuff going on like a talk with Abby Norman, author of “Ask Me About My Uterus.”