Space Outrage

Full Moons? New York plans to house precious space shuttle next to a strip clubin brazen switcheroo

Is this what NASA did in mind when it handed over a space shuttle to New York?
Flight deck of USS Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum. Looks nice, no? But notwhere the Enterprise is headed after all.
Think more along the lines of this ...

Bless their hearts, those New Yorkers just can't help themselves. Just five months after NASA gifted the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum with the right to house Enterprise, one of four decommissioned space shuttles, and they're already treating it like it fell off the back of a truck.

The original plans submitted to NASA to house Enterprise involved "a glass enclosure on the end of Pier 86," next to the aircraft carrier that houses the current museum space — officials even cited the aircraft carrier's role in retrieving astronauts during the Mercury rocket program.

But The New York Times is reporting on new plans that would put the space shuttle on the other side of the West Side Highway in a Hell's Kitchen lot that's currently surrounded by "H & H Bagels, a car wash, storage warehouses and a strip club."

(To be fair, a museum, a bagel shop and a strip club comprise the full New York experience.)

The revised plans have opened a new round of criticism from Texas Rep. Ted Poe, who is still annoyed that New York, with its tenuous link to the space program, was selected as a site over Houston's Johnson Space Center. NASA officials say the changes will not affect their plans, but there may be other barriers to putting the space shuttle at the proposed site:

Aesthetics aside, the plan has several obstacles to clear. One problem is that the Intrepid does not own the parking lot; the State Department of Transportation does. Another is that the property, in Hell’s Kitchen, is zoned for manufacturing, not a museum. And perhaps the biggest hurdle is the many millions of dollars that would have to be raised to build this new home for the Enterprise."

Are you still mad about New York getting the shuttle? What do you think of the new plans? Should they just rename the strip club Venus Envy/Stardust/Full Moons and go with it?

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This Week's Hot Headlines

New Memorial City development leads Houston's top 5 stories this week

Courtesy of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture

Greenside will feature a one-acre greenspace.

Editor's note:It's time to recap the top stories on CultureMap from this past week. The top Houston news includes a family-friendly Memorial City development, a Montrose pizzeria closure, and a stylish new lounge for Upper Kirby. Get the details below, and find fun stuff do in town this weekend here.

1. New development with 1-acre green space coming to Memorial City area. The rapidly growing area will soon be home to Greenside, boasting a mix of restaurant, retail, and other family-friendly businesses, designed by the Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.

2. Creative Montrose pizzeria will shutter after only a year-and-a-half. ElRo Pizza & Crudo will close at the end of the year, due to a steady decline in business.

3. Stylish new lounge shakes up Houston with art-inspired drinks and caviar. Cheers to this new nightlife spot, which is now open in Upper Kirby.

Sante cocktail lounge Sante's Garden Room is decorated with two olive trees. Photo by Chris Furia

4. These are the 6 most affordable ZIP codes for Houston renters. One of these ZIPs is also among the 10 most affordable in the U.S.

5. 15 Houston restaurants crafting nostalgic and decadent ice cream sundaes. The classic ice cream sundae is having a moment, and these restaurants are serving up decadent versions.