Long Island City, in western Queens, just across the East River from Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East Side, is one of the most vibrant areas in Queens and all of New York City. Visitors come for its museums, artists for its cheap studio rentals, and residents for its neighborhoods and quality of life so close to Manhattan. A large geographic area of many neighborhoods, Long Island City has a different history from the rest of Queens and is in the midst of a major transformation.
Long Island City’s transformation, however, is told in the stories of its many neighborhoods, some affected by development, others overlooked. Once an independent city, Long Island City officially comprises a swath of western Queens that includes more than 250,000 residents and the neighborhoods of Hunters Point, Sunnyside, Astoria, and lesser known Ravenswood and Steinway.
Long Island City Boundaries and Definition
Long Island City stretches from the Queens East River shoreline east to 51st / Hobart Street, and from the Brooklyn border at Newtown Creek north again to the East River. Many New Yorkers know the area by two names: Long Island City or Astoria. You will often hear “Long Island City” when only Hunters Point and the Queens West development are understood.
Long Island City Real Estate
Real estate prices and residential availability vary widely between and within different neighborhoods. Astoria and Hunters Point have seen rapid appreciation. Others like Sunnyside are still a great value with great transportation options. Still, other neighborhoods, including Ravenswood and Dutch Kills, are still off the real estate radar.
Like any area in flux, housing is a mixed bag and can vary widely in price within a few blocks. One of the best ways to get an idea of home values is to check out a free service like Property Shark for recent sales.
Transport
Long Island City is about getting places and has been for over a century. Thousands upon thousands of commuters pass through it every day, and many residents value their 15-minute trips to Manhattan.
Queens Plaza is a major subway hub with the G, N, R, V and W trains. The 7 and F trains are blocks away.
The LIRR stops at Hunters Point only a few times a day, but below the surface, a tunnel carries thousands of commuters a day to Manhattan.
The beautiful Hell Gate Bridge connects Queens to Randall Island for freight trains going to Sunnyside Rail Yards.
The Queensboro or 59th Street Bridge is a free connection for cars and trucks going to Manhattan, but there is no freeway that goes to its ramps, only Queens Boulevard. The Long Island Expressway goes underground at the Midtown Tunnel at Hunters Point.
Long Island City neighborhoods
Hunters Point: Hunters Point is the neighborhood that most people mean when they say Long Island City. It is in the midst of transforming an industrial area into an upscale residential neighborhood, with home prices to match. Hunters Point is on the East River, directly across from the UN building, and home to the Queens West development.
Queens Plaza – The lower span of the Queensboro Bridge throws cars into Queens Plaza, the new “old Times Square.” Weekend nights it’s Bachelor Central with groups of guys going in and out of strip clubs. Almost underground beneath the bridge’s vast jungle metal gym, and known for prostitution and drugs, Queens Plaza is a sad introduction to Queens, though an upgrade seems inevitable as large corporations bring jobs to the area.
Queensbridge: Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing unit in New York City, houses 7,000 people in 3,101 apartments, in 26 six-story brick buildings. It was one of the first federal housing developments, opened by FDR and Mayor LaGuardia in 1939. Queensbridge is just north of Queens Plaza and runs into Queensbridge Park on the East River.
Dutch Kills – An old neighborhood, one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island, Dutch Kills is north of Queens Plaza, between Queensbridge / Ravenswood and Sunnyside Rail Yards. As real estate agents look to capitalize on Astoria’s popularity, Dutch Kills addresses are known in the classifieds as “Astoria / Long Island City.” The neighborhood is a mix of residential and industrial. Low rents predominate, but shabby blocks and lonely stretches make it a Long Island City border, despite excellent access to the N and W subways.
Blissville: Ah, Blissville! Despite its great name, the royal neighborhood is sure to disappoint. It is a small area south of the LIE, next to the Cavalry Cemetery and Newtown Creek, with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial properties. Blissville is named after the mid-19th century Greenpoint developer Neziah Bliss and continues its strong ties to Greenpoint, just above the JJ Byrne Memorial Bridge in Brooklyn.
Sunnyside – One of the best small neighborhoods in West Queens, Sunnyside has drawn families to affordable, quality housing with quick access to Manhattan along the 7 subway. The western edge is industrial with warehouses and taxi depots.
Ravenswood – Hard on the East River, Ravenswood stretches north from Queensbridge to Astoria. It is dominated by warehouses and Ravenswood Houses, a 31-building, six- and seven-story high public housing development that houses more than 4,000 people.
Astoria: Astoria, one of the best places to live in Long Island City, has transformed beyond New York’s largest Greek neighborhood into a polygothic, cosmopolitan and diverse neighborhood, home to recent immigrants and Brooklyn-style hipsters. Astoria has great restaurants and the last old school beer garden in New York City. Ditmars and Steinway are two sections of Astoria. Often times, landmarks and apartments in nearby neighborhoods are dubbed Astoria to capitalize on their reputation.
Steinway
Steinway is the home of the Steinway Piano Factory. In the 1870s, the area developed as the corporate town of the piano company. It comprises the quiet residential area north of Ditmars, between 31st Street and Hazen Street.
Ditmars: Another residential area of Astoria, Ditmars is the center of the Greek community and is primarily one and two-family homes around glorious Astoria Park.
Native Americans and colonial history
The area was home to Algonquian-speaking Native Americans who navigated the East River by canoe and whose trails would later become roads like 20th Street in Astoria.
In the 1640s, Dutch settlers, part of the colony of the Netherlands, settled in the area to cultivate the rich soil. William Hallet, Sr, received a land grant in 1652 and purchased land from Native Americans in what is now Astoria. It is the namesake of Hallet’s Cove and Hallet’s Point, the headland that juts out into the East River. Agriculture remained the norm until the 19th century.
19th century history
In the early 1800s, wealthy New Yorkers came to escape the city’s crowds and built mansions in the Astoria area. Stephen Halsey developed the area as a village, and named it Astoria, after John Jacob Astor.
In 1870, the towns and villages of Astoria, Ravenswood, Hunters Point, Steinway, voted to consolidate and become Long Island City. Twenty-eight years later, in 1898, Long Island City officially became part of New York City, as NYC expanded its borders to include what is now Queens.
Regular ferry service to Manhattan began in the 19th century and was expanded in 1861 when the LIRR opened its main terminal at Hunters Point. Transportation links spurred commercial and industrial development, and factories soon lined the East River shoreline.
20th century history
In the early 1900s, Long Island City became even more accessible with the opening of the Queensboro Bridge (1909), the Hellgate Bridge (1916), and the subway tunnels. These important transportation links encouraged further industrial growth, defining the area for the remainder of the century. Even residential Astoria did not escape industrial transformation when power plants opened along the northernmost bank of the East River.
In the 1970s, the decline in manufacturing in the United States was evident in Long Island City. Although still an important industrial area in New York, LIC’s recent genesis as an arts and cultural center began in 1970 with the opening of the PS1 Center for Contemporary Art in a former public school. Since then, artists escaping Manhattan prices and Brooklyn prices have set up studios in Long Island City.
Contemporary Long Island City
Businesses and more residents have slowly but increasingly followed the artists. The Citibank Tower, built in the 1980s, is a symbol of Long Island City’s change, and the Queens West residential towers at Hunters Point have brought life to this old neighborhood. Although still in transition, much of Long Island City has begun shedding industry for further residential and commercial development.
