
Butcher Juice Bar and Hookah Cafe, 49-16 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City
We got wind of a hookah bar opening above the Butcher Deli at 49-16 Vernon Blvd (corner of 50th St next to the parking lot) a while back, and didn’t hear anything again until recently, when signs have emerged announcing the Butcher Juice Bar & Hookah Cafe.

Sage General Store, 24-20 Jackson Ave, Court Square, LIC (718) 361-0707
This fall really boosted Long Island City’s supply of food. Just a quick recap of what’s opened since August: foodcellar, SHI, Duane Reade, Manducatis Rustica, and Sage General Store. Not to mention what’s in the works: MetFoods, Sushi Siam. Though it’s not very new, let’s throw Ion’s Corner Romanian Cafe into the mix as well, since it’s new to us. And Ihawan’s with us in spirit.

Sushi Siam, Vernon Blvd @ 48th Ave, LIC
The new Japanese/Thai fusion restaurant that’s been brewing at the corner of 48th Ave & Vernon (the old 5SL sales office) has some signage action. Sushi Siam will soft open sometime in the middle of November. According to the new owners, the restaurant will feature a full Thai menu, along with Sushi and traditional Japanese offerings.
The storefront right next door is also undergoing a transformation into a dentist’s office. Actually, that whole block on Vernon »

LIC Corner Deli is no more. Vernon Blvd, Hunters Point, LIC
In case you were wondering what happened to the LIC Corner Deli »

Sprint/Nextel opening on Jackson Ave between Vernon Blvd & 50th Ave, LIC
Fall marks the arrival of many things. In Long Island City, it seems to be wireless stores like Verizon which opened at the Echelon on Jackson Ave, and now Sprint/Nextel, which is opening up between Vernon Blvd & 50th St at the bottom of a brand spanking new Fedders building. woohoo.

Duane Reade opens Friday, corner of 5th St & 47th Rd, LIC
Queens West sprouts another soft opening this Friday, courtesy of Duane Reade, at the corner of 47th Rd & 5th St. (You can’t miss it. It’s shiny.) And this is no ordinary Duane Reade, mind you. It’s the LX model. Cosmetics counter, fancier appearance, etc. According to the store’s rep, more “high-end”.

Mainco building on 51st Ave to host MetFoods, Vernon/Jackson, LIC
Yes, the rumors about MetFoods coming to the old Mainco elevator building on 51st Ave between Vernon & 5th St are true »

Duane Reade manifesting on 47th Rd @ 5th St, Long Island City
Queens West continues with its late summer bloom, as Duane Reade catches up with its neighbor, foodcellar, which has been open since Wednesday and already starting to pick up a decent bustle. The store is still being stocked, and there is a lot of grumble »

Strata Tower - Abhu Dhabi, UAE
from the liQcity inbox:
“”I am happy to announce the arrival of Asymptote Architecture, to the corner of 46rd and Asymptote Architecture is representing the United States at the Venice Biennale in Italy this year and will have over 50 architects working at this new location. They are presently renovating the building to become a state of the art architecture office, The principals, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture are professors at Harvard School of Architecture and Columbia School of Architecture. This will represent new blood for the neighborhood and enliven culture in LIC.”*

foodcellar market, 47th Rd between 5th St & Center Blvd, Queens West, LIC
Happy Daze. The long awaited foodcellar (formerly known as and still owned by Amish Market) is opening TOMORROW at 7am. It’s a soft opening, but as you know soft ice cream is still ice cream, and if there is food on the shelves that we can buy, it’s a grocery store »

The Creek sans the cave, Jackson Ave @ the Pulaski Bridge, Long Island City
Business deals live and die like everything else in LIC (and the world) so it shouldn’t have come as any surprise (it didn’t) to liQcity to discover the following »

Verizon Wireless coming to LIC
Well, maybe some will sing a happy tune for Verizon Wireless in LIC, but at liQcity, we’re always hoping for more independent commerce to serve the needs of the exploding community. A liQcity tipster sent a photo of the Verizon Wireless sign in the right ground floor retail spot of the Echelon condos. (No word on what’s happening to the left retail spot.)

McReilly’s Bar closing down, 4642 Vernon Blvd @ 47th St, LIC
Dear liQcity readers,
If you’re noticing that comments are occasionally randomly being deleted, it’s because we’re manually deleting spam, and occasionally a real comment gets accidentally erased.
Spam sucks. It’s insidious. Terrible. Truly a virus. And it’s actually All Your Fault, liQcity readers, that we’re being bombarded with it now. When the blog launched six months ago, we truly thought we’d be talking to virtually no one for at least that long. But of course, we underestimated the fervor of LIC residents, and the diabolical power of Curbed.

New cafe opening on Vernon Blvd
The owners of the Manducati restaurant on Jackson Ave have been working on a cafe and small gourmet market on Vernon near 46th Ave. Peeking into the doorway, the cafe looks ready to pop any day now. Word on the street (literally) is that the gelato is to die for. Good timing.

