China: Road Built Around Couple’s Home

Sky News ^ | 6:25pm UK, Thursday 22 November 2012

[Olog-hai]

A Chinese couple have found themselves living in the fast lane after refusing to move out for a new road.

Construction workers in the country’s Zhejiang province surrounded their five-story building with asphalt, leaving motorists to navigate an unlikely obstacle. …

[Olog-hai]

Not successfully, though. You can bet Red China would laugh their heads off at them if they tried.

[Mr. Jeeves]

You can see why this is a big problem for the two people in China who own cars.

[COBOL2Java]

Source: gothamist.com

In The 1960s, One Queens Resident Refused To Sell Land To Macy's

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Here's a story about how one Queens resident held out from selling her plot of land to Macy's when they wanted to build a store in the borough in the mid-1960s. Places No More tells Mary Sendek's story pretty comprehensively, noting that she was the only resident who refused the company's offer, and lived in her home on Queens Boulevard until her death.

"The story of Mrs. Sendek and her refusal to sell may have made her a local hero at the time, but up until 1965 there was really nothing unusual about her and her family. Mary and her husband Joseph were Hungarian immigrants, both families having come over around 1898. The Sendeks bought the small house on Queens Boulevard in 1922 for $4,000.

Macy’s set its sights on the Elmhust plot between 55th and 56th avenues for a new store in the early 1960′s. It was large, open, and had fairly few houses on it. It was centrally located, just a couple blocks west of Woodhaven Boulevard."

While Macy's moved forward with their planning, they ran into an obstacle when Sendek refused to sell, despite their offer of $200,000. They made adjustments to their circular design to work around her plot, and when Sendek died in 1980, "her children then sold the house to Diplomat Enterprises who elected to destroy it and put a strip mall in its place." Those ungrateful little...!

In 1996 Macy’s ended up moving over to a new spot down the street, and their old building is now Queens Place, while an HSBC Bank was built on Sendek's land—Forgotten-NY visited the area a few years ago.

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I went to high school nearby this location back in the late 60's. I remember seeing her house. She had to surround it with high chain-link fencing to keep the teenagers away.

[Navy Patriot]

But San Francisco progressives would never be ignored, they are so important, just ask ‘em, they’ll tell you so.

[Slings and Arrows]

Theme music!

[Thanks to Brad's Gramma for the ping!]

[Slings and Arrows]

Theme music!

[Thanks to Brad's Gramma for the ping!]

[Squawk 8888]

Must be a trend.

[KoRn]

I like their appreciation for private property rights at least. This seems odd to me being a Communist country and all.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

All I can say is Lol and Ungh. Wouldn’t want to be living in that house and have some crazy drunk come crashing in....

[fredhead]

Hey, it worked for Bugs Bunny....

[Daffynition]

Bye-bye house. So much for resistance.

China demolishes lone home, resistance symbol as duck farmer agrees to accept compensation

[dfwgator]

Where’s Ford Prefect when you need him?

[Daffynition]

He’s off looking for Zaphod Beeblebrox and one of his mothers for advice.

[Olog-hai]

Figured that would eventually happen. The state does not brook dissent over there.