[Music] Long Island City in Queens is bounded by Astoria Sunnyside Green Point and the East River
don't confuse Long Island City with Long Island which is a larger Island that queens and Brooklyn
belong to as a side note if someone says they're from Long Island they mean either one of these two
counties Long Island City also known as LIC is a stone's throw away from Manhattan formerly an
industrial neighborhood but now highly gentrified and today we're going to talk about this
neighborhood we're going to talk about its history why it became gentrified transportation and what
it has to offer in terms of culture entertainment welcome to Urban caffeine my name is Thea and
you're watching a channel that's slowly going through all the neighborhoods in New York City
and last week I checked the analytics and did you know that half of you watching this video right
now are not subscribed so if you want to support this channel so that we can make more videos make
sure you're subscribed because a Channel's growth ensures its longevity before LIC was Lac it was
originally made up of several smaller communities to include Hunter's Point Ravenswood and Dutch
kills we still use these names today especially Dutch kills in Hunter's Point boundaries of New
York City neighborhoods are not always official and can be fuzzy sometimes neighborhood boundaries
are complex and difficult to pin down that's because a lot of these are cultural boundaries
that change over time but say you're in Hunter's Point you can say you're in Hunter's Point or in
Lac or in Queens all three are correct answers although if you're in Dutch kills it's more
common to say Dutch kills than LIC and that Dutch kills area is kind of fuzzy because it's
borderline Astoria anyway these small communities were Consolidated to create Long Island City an
LIC was the seat of government for Queens County until it was moved in 1898 it was moved to Kew
Gardens right smack in the middle of Queens but even before it was the seat of government for
Queens LIC had always been industrial up until the last couple of decades it's had a lot of
Manufacturers and a lot of warehouses it was just a really heavy industrial Zone and we'll cover
more about the industrial decline of this area later but being an industrial made sense because
of its location it was on the East River close to Manhattan cargo vessels could easily drop off
Goods here and trains and ferries can pick them up for a distribution in fact if you go by the
water you can see an original Gantry which was restored and preserved as well as the original
Pepsi Cola sign because the Pepsi Cola factory was originally here so it made sense that this
area has a lot of warehouses and Manufacturing facilities however today it's a very different
story Alexi used to be a very dangerous place to be because it was industrial there weren't
a lot of pedestrians and not a lot of people used the streets and according to our Idol Jane Jacobs
then unused street is a shady Street needless to say this neighborhood was known for Crime there
was one time I read the story on Reddit how they knew of someone trying to sell a shop in LIC way
back when they were selling in the shop for two thousand dollars but nobody would take it
just because the area was so dangerous today Long Island City is one of the most expensive places to
live in Queens a two-bedroom condominium by the water is rented out for about sixty five hundred
dollars I'm guessing that two thousand dollar shop that they were trying to sell is probably in the
millions by now but it depends on the location in LIC starting from the 90s LIC has quickly become
more residential and Commercial former factories became residential Lofts a new high-rise apartment
buildings are popping up like mushrooms but why why is LIC all of a sudden gentrified here
are five reasons one the obvious it's so close to Manhattan people can live here and enjoy Manhattan
without the Manhattan rent but I don't know in 10 years it might as well be the same price as
Manhattan secondly manufacturing declined in the 90s so buildings were considered for repurposing
there are still industrial warehouses and Manufacturing and operation but not a lot
especially near the waterfront so the closer you are to the Waterfront the more residential areas
and new buildings that you'll see the further away you are the more you'll see warehouses
and other Industries third very important zoning came into play the city rezone parts
of Long Island City this allowed for high density residential and mixed-use buildings
if you've watched urbanism channels and other videos you'd know that zoning is a major key
in creating walkable communities fourth a lot of investment was made in transit and a waterfront
after all people love Green Space and easy access to places I'll talk more about the
different Transportation options available in this area which is quite diverse and lastly
which I'll also cover later is the presence of cultural institutions and creative Industries
a lot of artists are in LIC it makes sense because warehouses convert well into Lofts
that make for great artist Studios but there's something else that makes LIC highly appealing
actually two things these two things are up there on a new yorker's wish list side by side
by in-unit washer and dryer and centralized air these two things are Trader Joe's and a
Target if you don't live in New York City let me put it this way if living in New York wear ice
cream great public transit in your neighborhood would be the cherry on top having a Trader Joe's
would be like syrup and Target would be sprinkles all I see is what I would call a New York sundae
foreign if you look at the subway system in New York City the New York City subway is not
a centralized transit system meaning there's no single station where most stations meet up unlike
Zurich which has the Zurich HB which is short for Hauptbahnhof so if you get lost try to make
your way to Zurich HB so you can find the train that you're looking for but not being centralized
doesn't mean there aren't any major train hubs in NYC these are areas where you'll find major
train lines converge examples are Times Square and this area of lower Manhattan downtown area
of Brooklyn and in Queens you have Long Island City LIC is well connected by having the EMG
7 and rnw trains from LIC you can easily get to Manhattan Brooklyn and other parts of Queens if
you checked out my G train video you'll know that getting to and from the other boroughs without
involving Manhattan is a pain but in Lac you at least have easy access to three boroughs not
only does it have have excellent Subway access but it also has two Ferry ports and the Long
Island Railroad Station although the Hunter's Point LIRR is a bit limited with its service
in the last decade the Waterfront of LIC has been developed it consists of Gantry Plaza
State Park and Hunters Point South Park but both blend together as one unified Waterfront
this green space has boardwalks playgrounds dog parks and even a sand volleyball pit
in terms of art LIC is home to MoMA PS1 which is a satellite of the Museum
of Modern Art in Manhattan this Museum exhibits Innovative and experimental art
LIC also has the culture lab that offers free concerts in the summer
all I can say is that while LIC is Bomb just because it has great Transit option a great
Waterfront and has a Trader Joe's in Target what I'm more concerned about is the possibility of a
lot of people being priced out while there are low income housing options available in LIC for
those that qualify it's still a lottery but I do know people who actually win these lotteries so
it's real affordable and low-income housing does exist in New York and it's integrated
into these newer buildings A lot of these newer apartment buildings have a certain percentage
allotted for either affordable housing and or low-income housing but these units are
a lottery but there's a very real chance of getting one if you qualify but still
not everybody can win a lottery and so a lot of people are being priced out of LIC that's
my two cents let me know what you think in the comments down below and if you want to
take part of this Channel's growth consider a patreon membership not only will you be helping
out this channel but you also gain access to exclusive videos where I talk about things as
a Creator and what I'm up to in New York City thank you to all the lovely current patreon
members and thank you everyone for watching this video until next time happy new yorking