Want to see a big crowd? Wait for this one.

[Simeon Salus]

24. I can't think of a more inconvenient place in central NYC to draw a crowd

But I'll confess it's a brilliant place to put up security checkpoints, if that were a concern.

Only three ways of getting on the island:
A. Tramway, which carries 5,000 people every 24 hours in each direction.
B. Subway with only the F train running on the line these days (what's that NYCers? 10-11 cars at roughly 200 occupants per times 3-4 per hour from each direction=16,000 per hour at max capacity; during the time I lived in Queens that would be a very generous assessment)
C. the 36th Ave automobile bridge from Astoria, a mile away from the two closest subway stations. They'd certainly setup security on the bridge which would be impassable to normal auto traffic.

In order to get to and exit the announcement party, you'd have to be pretty dedicated, or be one of the 9500 people who already live there.