All’s beautiful on the waterfront, LIC – photo by Andy Grobengieser

Thanks to our logistical situation, Long Island City is home to the view of some gorgeous skyline sunsets, but the post Irene skies were ones for the books. Er, rather the blogs. Our favorite people in LIC, the liQcity readers, have contributed a few glorious shots of the beauty left in Hurricane Tropical Storm Irene’s wake »

Flooding in Hunters Point at the Gantry Park, LIC. – photo by Jesse Winter

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• UPDATE Sun 8/28 1:30pm: Tropical Storm Irene is drizzle & wind gusts. Long Island City is mostly intact save for some debris strewn about and flooding at the waterfront. Many businesses are opening ahead of schedule. The MTA is assessing the condition of trains & tracks – there was severe flooding in some of the rail yards – and are still anticipating a rough commute tomorrow as service has to be tested before it can be opened to the public. There was severe flooding & damage to the Metro North Rail, but overall MTA service restoration will be staggered and probably slower than expected.

• UPDATE Sun 8/28 9:30am: Hurricane Irene is now Tropical Storm Irene. Here’s a shot of some flooding in Long Island City (Hunters Point) Zone A:

Flooding in Long Island City Zone A, sent in by a non-evacuee

Flooding in Hunters Point at Queens West, LIC. – photo by Jesse Winter

• UPDATE Sat 8/27 9pm: The 5 boroughs of NYC are now officially under a tornado watch on top of the existing hurricane watch. ConEd is preparing for power outages in low-lying flood zones. If you lose power you can report it by calling 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633) or reporting it online. If you experience any flooding, call 311 to report it.

• SHELTER: For those in Zone A who are mandatorily evacuated, and anyone else in Long Island City who wants/needs to evacuate, the nearest emergency shelters are: Newcomers High School @ 28-01 41st Ave, Aviation High School @ 45-30 36th St, and W.C. Bryant High School @ 48-10 31st Ave.

Pre-hurricane clouds gather over Long Island City – photo by Ciprian Toma

• UPDATE: Friday 8/26 5:25pm: We have received a general update document via CB2 regarding NYC city services, resources & precautions for the weekend. It’s a good one, check it out. Download pdf.

• UPDATE: Friday 8/26 3pm: Mandatory evacuation of Zone A ordered which includes the entire waterfront of Hunters Point – west of 5th St in Long Island City. Queens West high-rises this means YOU too. Oh we forgot to mention: SYSTEM-WIDE SHUTDOWN OF MASS TRANSIT BEGINS TOMORROW SAT 8/27 @ NOON. Also, the nyc.gov site is fully back online.

Sweetleaf in LIC has a message for Irene – photo by Ciprian Toma

The original post & more photos »

A tree dies in Queens. – Queensboro Plaza, Long Island City

Imagine you’re a tree. And you decide you’re going to leave the forest and come make the city a better and healthy place for humans. You might not want to come to Long Island City, lest you want to face neglect and imminent death in Queensboro Plaza, or being hacked to pieces in Hickory Park so drivers at the Midtown Tunnel can see a billboard more clearly.

Or, imagine that you are resident of LIC, and it’s a hundred degrees outside (really stretch your mind here) and you would like to find a nice tree to catch some shade in because you can’t find the nearest cooling center and your A/C has exploded due to overuse.

Ok, that’s enough of the far-fetched scenarios. Unfortunately (and fortunately), two liQcity readers who care about trees have written in and provided documentation of the reality that trees (and us) in LIC face »

NYC Hurricane Evacuation Map

With all of the recent hurricane activity, looks like analysts are calculating the risk for NYC in the unfortunate case that we get hit by a CAT3 or worse. It looks like the first to go under would be lower Manhattan, followed by riverfront neighborhoods heading northward… which includes our little town, especially Hunters Point. In fact, according to the hurricane evacuation map, all of Hunters Point is either Zone A or B, meaning we’re the first to have to evacuate in the case of hurricane.

“Several recent studies have suggested »

Kayaking with LIC Boathouse

Have you ever noticed that LIC is on the water? Taking full advantage of our waterfront location is the LIC Boathouse, a sponsored community group that gets you out onto the East River kayaking until your heart’s content. Unless, you happen to be slightly unsavvy and ignore the instructions of your gracious guides. Anyway, don’t let that get in the way of experiencing a gem that very few NYC neighborhoods possess.

Remarkably active this summer »

Greenmarket, Union Sq

Since the Greenmarket isn’t starting until July this year, we thought it might be a good idea to alert LIC dwellers about the CSA program starting next month. This when you purchase a “share” of a local farm’s harvest, and then once a week during the season, you go and pick up a huge box full of their bounty.

Now is the time to sign up »

A high school in Dutch Kills, Long Island City

We’ve been noticing in LIC lately, there definitely seems to be a huge baby boom. Don’t freak out – it’s not Park Slope, it’s not even Williamsburg… but our little friends in LIC are certainly growing in number. Well at some point, the tater tots are going to have to go to school…and coincidentally, here’s some bad news about the NYC Public School System:

After the Blend bloodbath ensued, we contacted Joe Conley, the chairperson of the Community Board (CB2), in order to gain some clarification and address concerns about businesses and residents living amongst each other on Vernon Blvd. He’s agreed to hold a Q&A with concerned LIC’ers residents, and we will announce the date and location of the Public Hearing when it’s been coordinated. In the meantime, Chairman Conley did pass along a response he wrote to a liQcity commenter who sent him an email regarding the Blend liquor license denial:

Dear LIC Resident »

Lots of good conversation going on these days. The Vernon rumors delivered yesterday, and an older post about the CUNY dorm building, has inadvertently created an informal LIC wish list. So we’ve decided to tally the requests, and present them to the vast sea of enterprising entrepreneurs out there; some of whom might understand what it is to live and start a business now in LIC.

There seems to be a general preference amongst the actual residents for the independent, local chain, and mom/pop type retail amenity, over national brands. Save for probably a decent pharmacy (which is delivering in Queenswest in the form of a Duane Reade). Brokers and developers are more interested in the national brands of course, as they can pay high premiums on the new GF retail emerging with the residential development.

The list so far, in no particular order »

C-town grocery store on 21st St, Hunters Point, LIC

We at liQcity have enjoyed lamenting about the lack of grocery store in Hunters Point. As it turns out, we were wrong – as has been frequently pointed out by a regular commenter. (You know who you are.) We were in denial! Or we just actually never visited the C-town at the corner of 44th Drive and 21st St, in Courthouse Sq, which as we all know, is a part of Hunters Point.

All that’s changed now. We went there. It’s a bona-fide grocery store folks. It’s small, but they have all the basics. The produce section is decent. There are both yuppy and hipster vittles, though somewhat limited. Mostly mainstream, commercial products. But it was decently clean, and much more gently priced than the E & I Deli on Vernon Blvd.

It’s located right next to a subway entrance for the E,V,G trains, which is convenient, but it sort of serves a limited geography. It’s still not very accessible for Vernon-Jackson residents, and Queenswesters might as well go to Astoria or Greenpoint for fancier stores that are just as far. Courthouse Square residents who are off Jackson Ave also are probably more easily served by Greenpoint. Oh yeah, and the hours are relatively limited. Didn’t see any officially posted, but they don’t seem to be open past 8pm or so.

Overall, C-town in Hunters Point gets a B/B-. The hours could be longer, some of the buying could be improved, but the prices are reasonable, and it’s relatively clean and maintained. So, we’ll be busy modifying our battle-cry for a grocery store in Vernon-Jackson and Queenswest. Long Island City and it’s subneighborhoods! Sheesh.

[For more of a peek inside C-town »]( http://www.liqcity.com/life/hunters-point-actually-does-have-a-grocery-store-albeit-a-small-one.php#full)

Hey there liQcity readers. There comes a time in all blogs (maybe) where the blogger has to make some decisions about editing comments. In general, I’m opposed to editing comments as I believe in free speech yada yada yada. However, in a circumstance such as a neighborhood blog where the community is very small-town like, and the real estate community even smaller – there are other factors to consider. Thereby, liQcity is crafting an editorial policy which shall soon be posted. In the meantime, please refer to the following:

liQcity will not pre-screen comments. All comments posted will display live immediately. liQcity will remove comments that are blatantly homophobic, racist or personally attack a LIC community member by name (or clear description). All other comments are welcome and appreciated, cranky or happy. We seem to have some happy hipsters and even happier yuppies commenting on the site, so bring it.

As a side note, liQcity welcomes dissent as it is a critical component of what we hold near and dear to our hearts(?) in the democratic(?) process. Dissent away.

Dutch Master Rembrandt on 5Pointz

Here’s a couple of events in LIC this weekend listed in the NY Daily News.

Hey LIC orgs, galleries, and other establishments: send us your events and we will post them!

Thursday, February 7th

Duck Walls: A critical examination of the country’s insurance companies and health care industry performed on stage. The play “Duck Walls” is based on the true story of five teens suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, who are admitted to Clarksdale Memorial Recovery Unit. The play examines the plight of the teens and the staff entrusted to protect them, revealing the controversial dynamics of health and wealth in our society. 8 p.m. Tickets: $5. LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Little Theater, 47th Ave. and Van Dam St., Long Island City. (718) 482-5151 or visit www.laguardiaperformingarts.com

Friday, February 8th

Jazz jam: A talented group of young musicians from the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts will perform at the jazz jam session assisted by the LPAC house band. 8 p.m. $13 general admission; $10 students and musicians. LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, 47th Ave. and Van Dam St., Long Island City. (718) 482-5151.

Oy. As if things weren’t bad enough. (They’re not actually.) The news broke yesterday (thanks Eater) -the Amish Market is delayed until at least May.

Where is our @&*%(#&%@# grocery store?? I understand that Hunters Point is making the jump straight to high-end, but we are also simple, humble humans who are willing to shop at a Gristedes or a Food Emporium. Or better yet, an unbranded mom & pop with a savvy buyer. That’s all we need. Some organic options. Decent produce. A butcher who’ll do the dirty work. A cookie aisle.

Is there anyone awake out there? Why are so many people missing this amazing business opportunity? There are industrial spaces available in Hunters Point that are perfect for a grocery store. I mean it’s not like I have to drink my coffee black every morning or anything…people have lived in this hood for decades without a grocery store. But it’s become a nice shtick to chronically lament about the lack of grocery store, so I’m sticking with it. Maybe if I got off my keister, I might open a grocery store myself. Aah, no. I’d lose my shtick and my keister would miss my office chair too much. I think I’ll go buy a condo in DoBro instead.

The weekends are usually a chill time in LIC. The area is still pretty commercial, especially if you count the buildings in progress as sites of commercial activity, which I do. So from 7am to about 4pm on weekdays the neighborhood is packed to the gills with people, and then at night and on the weekends it thins out and quiets down.

Not anymore.

This weekend the hood was PACKED with people filing into the sales offices for the Foundry LIC, Powerhouse, 5SL… everything! Usually on nights and weekends, one can park with ease – FORGET about trying to park in LIC during business hours. All spots are usually taken by 6am. It’s worse than the Upper West Side. On nights and weekends, the commercial people aren’t around so much, so it’s much easier. But this Sunday, I thought twice about taking my car out for a spin after eyeing several Long Island-y types driving around stalker style.

At least all the new developments come with parking spots. That should help a bit. But in the meantime, we’re losing our weekend parking. It’ll be a nice day when those little blocks off of Vernon get resident parking. Who knows if that will happen, but those of us who don’t live in the high-rises with parking need to be protected. Right?

Don’t worry. I’m not holding my breath.

Ok kids. It’s been a great first couple weeks of blogging. Thanks for the great response… I feel so warm and fuzzy.

I received an email or a comment from a resident of the gray matter between LIC and Astoria… which technically I think it’s Dutch Kills right up until it becomes Astoria. But if ever there was a no-man’s-land so greatly named, this is the one: ASLIC. The commenter referred to it as ASTLIC, but we at liQcity are not afraid of ASLIC.

Have you ever been to ASLIC? Trust me, the name fits. At least until the hotels arrive…

I’ve been reading the Streeteasy message boards about LIC. Interesting stuff. One thread was a throwdown between LIC and Downtown Brooklyn (newly dubbed as DoBro). DoBro won on the amenities, since LIC’s $/sqft for luxury condos seems to be in about the same range. YES. DoBro should win on the amenities, but is that all a neighborhood comes down to? LIC never was, will be, or wants to be Downtown Brooklyn. LIC’s an industrial neighborhood that’s been heavily rezoned and is beginning to introduce the largest influx of residents in its history. DoBro, while it was and is a major commercial district, was not primarily an industrial hub and has a totally different aesthetic. It also has the Fulton Mall.

Bottom-line. If you don’t like an industrial aesthetic, don’t move to LIC. Even though, as some message board posters stated, the look of the new condos conjures up visions of Hoboken or Houston (?), the existing and surrounding aesthetic is primarily INDUSTRIAL. These were factories, people. Big, gigantic, fuel dumping factories. (Is there residual toxic pollution? YES. But that’s for another post.)

LIC’s amenities are lacking if you consider the $/sqft on a lot of the new luxury condos. Most of the marketing seems to be aimed at the convenience of Manhattan commuting, which is wise since it’s LIC’s strong point as a marketable neighborhood for new development. But amenities will always show up if the people do. Look at any neighborhood where there was a major influx of residents into a primarily industrial neighborhood. SoHo. Tribeca. Are there amenities there? I’ll let you answer that for yourself.

I found this video buried in a LICNYC forum. Great personal short about what kind of hood LIC is, including a few profiles of local business owners and residents. Visually focused on the Hunters Point section, especially Vernon/Jackson & Courthouse Square. Interviewed are the purveyors of Communitea & Mario’s Deli, both located on Vernon Blvd.

The actual video is from this great site featuring short videos of various NYC neighborhoods. Interesting that LIC represents Queens, but I guess to the rest of the world, that seems to be the general consensus. It’s NOT true of course, Queens is so much more than LIC – in fact, LIC is a bit of an anomaly in the mix of neighborhoods.

liQcity is Long Island City, Queens. Aka LIC. liQcity emerged as an accident – we were hanging on the roof of 5pointz (a LONG time ago – before the million no trespassing signs… or maybe we didn’t notice them?) and instead of saying LI City, by accident Lick City was uttered. Lick City so represents what LIC could be, but probably won’t. The multitude of high-rise developments definitely brings a generic vibe, but there is still an underbelly underdog and that is liQcity. Q for Queens, of course.

I live in this neighborhood and have a special interest in NYC real estate—which is a lucky combo. In the last 4 years since I moved here, LIC (specifically Hunters Point) has changed significantly, but in a sleepy kind of a way. A number of storefronts have opened up on Vernon Blvd, and some much needed eateries. Still no grocery store, though there is that rumor about the Amish Market coming to Queens West. There was a time Fresh Direct wouldn’t deliver to us… even though they’re headquartered on Borden Ave.

Anyway, we’re eating now. »