LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS

'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. ^[1]

Contents

History

Redevelopment

Community

Education

Trivia

Transportation

References

External links

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.
Mayors of Long Island City:^[2]
#Abram D. Ditmars (1870-72)
#Henry S. DeBevoise (1872-75)
#Abram D. Ditmars (1875)
#John Quinn (1876)
#Henry S. DeBevoise (1876-83)
#George Petry (1883-86)
#Patrick J. Gleason (1887-92)
#Horatio S. Sanford (1893-95)
#Patrick J. Gleason (1896-97)

Redevelopment

In recent years, Long Island City has become an increasingly popular place of residence for commuters working in Manhattan. Because of this newfound reputation, the neighborhood has begun to attract a number of real estate development projects, including the construction of Avalon Riverview North, a luxury apartment complex opened by AvalonBay Communities in 2007. Avalon Riverview was developed six years prior in 2001.

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 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.^[3]
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.
Long Island City was featured in Steven Spielberg's film ''Munich''. The final scene was shot on location in 2005 at the East River pier at Gantry Park in Hunter's Point. The pier and Pepsi-Cola sign are visible in this scene.
Long Island City was featured in The Interpreter (starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman). It is the final scene where Nicole's character says goodbye to Sean Penn's character, who is sitting on a fence by Gantry Park. The Pepsi-Cola sign is visible in the scene as well.
Long Island City was also featured 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.

Education

Long Island City is served by the New York City Department of Education.

Long Island City is zoned to:

★ P.S. 17 Henry David Thoreau School

★ P.S. 70

★ P.S. 76 William Hallet School

★ P.S. 78

★ P.S. 80 Judge Charles Vallone

★ P.S. 111 Jacob Blackwell School

★ P.S. 112 Dutch Kills School

★ P.S. 150

★ P.S. 166 Henry Gradstein School

★ P.S. 171 Peter G. Van Alst School

★ P.S. 199 Maurice A. Fitzgerald School

Long Island City is zoned to:

★ I.S. 10 H. Greeley School

★ I.S. 141 The Steinway School

★ I.S. 204 Oliver W. Holmes

★ I.S. 126 Albert Shanker School For Visual And Performing Arts
A 7-12 school called Baccalaureate School Of Global Education is in LIC.
9-12 high schools include:

★ Long Island City High School

★ Frank Sinatra School of the Arts

★ International High School At Laguardia

★ High School For Information Technology

★ Middle College High School

★ Aviation Career And Technical High School

★ Academy of American Studies

★ Newcomers High School - Academy for New Americans

★ Queens Vocational High School

★ Robert F. Wagner Jr. Institute For Arts & Technology

★ William Cullen Bryant High School

Trivia

★ Seven Major League Baseball players were born in Long Island City...Gus Sandberg (1895), Billy Zitzmann (1895), Joe Benes (1901), Tony Cuccinello (1907), Ed Boland (1908), Al Cuccinello (1914), and Billy Loes (1929).

★ Only two Major League Baseball players have died in Long Island City...John Hatfield (1909) and Dike Varney (1950).

★ Ron Artest (NBA) is also from Long Island City

Transportation

Long Island City is served by the New York City Subway , , , , , and 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.

References

1. Queens Community Boards, New York City. Accessed September 3, 2007.
2. ''The Encyclopedia of New York City'', p. 690, column 3.
3. Citicorp Building, accessed January 6, 2007

External links

★ Greater Astoria Historical Society

★ Long Island City Business Development Corporation

★ LIC Community Boathouse

★ LIC Cultural Alliance

★ P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center

★ SculptureCenter

★ Forgotten NY: Long Island City

★ 1911 Britannica article

★ 108th and 114th Precincts of the NYC Police, including weekly crime statistics

★ Cookies contain fortunes for Powerball winners, a May 2005 article from CNN

★ Cookie Master, a June 2005 article from ''The New Yorker''

★ LICNYC, site about culture and events in Long Island City

★ Queens West & Long Island City Community

★ Queensbridge Houses, NYCHA project

★ Long Island City and Astoria NY Community Events Calendar and Discussion Board

★ New York Photography - Long Island City Photographs of Long Island City

★ Water Taxi Beach