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About Long Island City
Long Island City (often abbreviated L.I.C.) is the western-most neighborhood
of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded on the north and west
by the East River; on the east by Hazen Street, 49th Street, and New Calvary
Cemetery, and on the south by Newtown Creek which separates Queens from
Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It originally was the seat of government of Newtown
Township, and remains the largest neighborhood in Queens Borough. The area is
part of Queens Community Board 1 north of the Queensboro Bridge and Queens
Community Board 2 south of the Bridge.
History
Long Island City was created in 1870 from the communities of Astoria, Hunters
Point, Blissville, Ravenswood, Dutch Kills, Bowery Bay, Steinway, and Sunnyside,
all in the western part of the Town of Newtown, westernmost township in Queens
County. The neighborhood of Middleton was dissolved because the U.S. Post Office
refused to recognize two locations with that name in the same state, and there
existed a town of that name in Orange County. The heavily industrialized Long
Island City was one of the three cities whose approval was necessary to create
the City of Greater New York in 1898.
The term LIC is now mostly used for the south-western part of the former city
(ZIP code 11101). The border with Astoria is very vague; in ZIP codes 11106,
11102 and 11105 some locals prefer the term "Astoria" (for the convenience or
the status), while others (esp. long-time residents and artists) prefer to be
associated with the long history of Long Island City.
Redevelopment
In recent years, Long Island City has become an increasingly popular place of
residence for commuters working in Manhattan.Starting with a master plan for
what is now called Queens West in the 1980s, the first building, called
Citylights was completed in 1997 along with a waterfront park shortly
thereafter. Since the completion of Citylights the neighborhood began to attract
a number of real estate development projects, including two projects by Avalon
Bay Communities and a six building development on the former site of a Pepsi
Cola Bottling plant by Rockrose Development Corp. Since the adoption of a zoning
change in 2001, a number of residential developments have sprouted around Long
Island City, outside of the Queens West development.The southern portion of the
Queens West, is now being developed by the city of New York and has been re-nenamed
Hunters Point South. This project will include affordable housing, a school,
retail and community facilities.
Community
Long Island City surrendered its independence in 1898 to become part of New York
City. However, Long Island City is still one of the four main post offices in
Queens (ZIP Code 11101 and 11109) and was formerly a Sectional center facility
(SCF). It is the eastern terminus of the Queensboro Bridge, also known as the
59th Street Bridge, which is the only non-toll automotive route connecting
Queens and Manhattan.
Northwest of the bridge terminus are the Queensbridge development of the New
York City Housing Authority. Major thoroughfares include Vernon Boulevard, 21st
Street, which is mostly industrial and commercial; Queens Boulevard, which leads
westward to the bridge and eastward follows New York State Route 25 through Long
Island; and the western-most portion of Northern Boulevard, which becomes
Jackson Avenue (the former name of Northern Boulevard) west of Queens Plaza. The
most prominent feature aside from the bridge is the community's green
skyscraper, the 658-foot Citicorp Building built in 1989 on Courthouse Square,
which is the tallest building on Long Island and in New York City outside
Manhattan.
Long Island City was once home to many factories and bakeries, some of which are
finding new uses. The former Silvercup bakery is now home to Silvercup Studios,
which produces notable works such as HBO's The Sopranos. The Silvercup sign is
visible from the 7 Train going into and out of Queensboro Plaza. The former
Sunshine Bakery is now one of the buildings housing LaGuardia Community College.
Other buildings in the LaGuardia College complex originally served as the
location of the Ford Instrument Company, at one time a major producer of
precision machines and devices. Artist Isamu Noguchi converted a photo-engraving
plant into a workshop; the site is now a museum dedicated to his work. High-rise
housing is being built on a former Pepsi-Cola site, and from June 2002 to
September 2004 the former Swingline Staplers plant was the temporary
headquarters of the Museum of Modern Art. Other factories included Fisher
Electronics and Chiclets Gum.
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, an affiliate of the Museum of Modern Art, is the
oldest and second-largest non-profit arts center in the United States solely
devoted to contemporary art. It is named after the former public school in which
it is housed.
SculptureCenter is New York City's only non-profit exhibition space dedicated to
contemporary and innovative sculpture. SculptureCenter re-located from
Manhattan's Upper East Side to a former trolley repair shop in Long Island City,
Queens renovated by artist/designer Maya Lin in 2002. Founded by artists in
1928, SculptureCenter has undergone much evolution and growth, and continues to
expand and challenge the definition of sculpture. SculptureCenter commissions
new work and presents exhibits by emerging and established, national and
international artists. The museum also hosts a diverse range of public programs
including lectures, dialogues, and performances.
Long Island City is also home to several special high schools: Academy of
American Studies (a history high school), Aviation High School, Information
Technology, International High School, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Middle
College High School, Newcomers High School, and Robert F. Wagner HS. Not to be
confused with SHSAT-based high schools, these schools offer programs that are
included at those schools.
Eagle Electric, now known as Cooper Wiring Devices, was one of the last major
factories in the area. They have moved production to the People's Republic of
China, and Plant #1, which was the largest of their factories and housed their
corporate offices, is being converted to residential luxury lofts.
Long Island City is currently home to the largest fortune cookie factory in the
United States, owned by Wonton Foods and producing four million fortune cookies
a day. Lucky numbers included on fortunes in the company's cookies led to 110
people across the United States winning $100,000 each in a May 2005 drawing for
Powerball.
Gantry Park in Hunter's Point was used as background for the final scenes of
Steven Spielberg's film Munich and The Interpreter (starring Sean Penn and
Nicole Kidman).
Long Island City was featured more prominently in the 1997 film, Sunday, with
David Suchet and Lisa Harrow, which was filmed on location.
Long Island City is the home of 5 Pointz, a building housing artists' studios,
which has been (legally) painted by a number of graffiti artists and is visible
near the Court House Square station on the 7 train.
Long Island City is home to Water Taxi Beach, NYC's first urban beach, located
within Queens West on the East River Wharf. NYC plans to build 5,000 moderate
income apartments in this area.
Transportation
Long Island City is served by the New York City Subway 7, E, F, G, N, W and R
trains. The Long Island City Long Island Rail Road station is here, and a
commuter ferry service operated by NY Water Taxi at the East River Wharf. Cars
enter by way of the Queensboro Bridge, the Queens Midtown Tunnel and the Pulaski
Bridge. The Roosevelt Island Bridge also connects Long Island City to Roosevelt
Island. Queens Boulevard, Northern Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway all
pass through the area.