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Daily News – April 2008

Art factory still in Flux about move

Tuesday, April 29th 2008, 4:00 AM

Pierre  deSanctis holds his son, Luca, in front of a wrestling head lock photo, as mom, Sophie, looks on at the Flux Factory. Noonan for News

Pierre deSanctis holds his son, Luca, in front of a wrestling head lock photo, as mom, Sophie, looks on at the Flux Factory.

A massive yellow piñata wearing a MetroCard and a fluorescent safety vest hangs in the Flux Factory’s Long Island City home.

The piece, created by artists Cassandra Ferland and Kate Watson, is called “Tough Love.”

It’s a playful, yet pointed, reminder of a looming deadline imposed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the art gallery.

The MTA acquired the building by eminent domain and plans to demolish it to make way for the East Side Access project, which will connect the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Terminal.

“We still don’t have a date from the MTA,” said Stefany Anne Goldberg, executive director of the Flux Factory. “We want to stay in Queens, particularly Long Island City. We are talking to everyone we can.”

City Councilman Eric Gioia, whose district includes Long Island City, Woodside and Sunnyside, said he would like the Flux Factory to stay local.

“Its rich cultural and artistic community is part of what makes Long Island City such a special place, and the Flux Factory has been a part of that,” he said. “My office is on the lookout for other locations that might be appropriate for them.”

The Flux Factory, which started in 1994, moved to Queens in 2002 after gentrification priced it out of its home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Goldberg said she was thrilled to sign a 15-year lease for the 7,500-square-foot space at 38-38 43rd St. and settle in.

But the building stands in the path of the MTA’s $6.3 billion megaproject. The agency used eminent domain to acquire the building and informed the tenants – several business owners and the Flux Factory – that it will be leveling the building.

Flux Factory’s final show – aptly titled “Everything Must Go” – ended last weekend with a party.

Golberg said the popular artists’ collective will continue holding shows throughout the year, even if they have to move out by the end of the summer.

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

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