Long Island City, Queens

Encyclopedia : L : LO : LON : Long Island City, Queens

Long Island City (often abbreviated L.I.C.) is a region of the borough of Queens in New York City. It was created in 1870 from the communities of Astoria, Hunters Point, Blissville, Ravenswood, Dutch Kills and Bowery Bay. It is located in the northwest part of Long Island, adjoining the east bank of the East River. Locals now use the term only for the area south of Astoria.

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 1110x). It is also 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 Housing Projects. Major thoroughfares include 21st Street, which is mostly industrial and commercial; Queens Boulevard, which leads westward to the bridge and eastward follows NY 25 through Long Island; and the western-most portion of Northern Boulevard, which beomes Jackson Avenue (the former name of Northern Boulevard) west of Queens Plaza. The most prominent feature aside from the bridge is the community's lone skyscraper, the Citibank building, the tallest building on Long Island, which was built in 1989.

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 work 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 now being built on the former Pepsi-Cola site, and from June 2002 to September 2004 the former Swingline Staplers (moved to Mexico) plant was the temporary headquarters of the Museum of Modern Art. Other factories included Fisher Electronics and Chiclet 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.

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 few major factories left in the area. They have since moved production to 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 is the home of 5 Pointz, a building which has been (legally) painted by a number of graffiti artists, and is visible near the Court House Square station on the 7 train.

Education

• 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

• 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

9-12 high schools include:

• Long Island City High School
• Frank Sinatra High 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 High School
• Newcomers High School-Academy American Studies
• Queens Vocational High School
• Robert F. Wagner Jr. Institute For Arts & Technology
• William Cullen Bryant High School

External links

• [Greater Astoria Historical Society]\
• [Long Island City Business Development Corporation]
• [LIC Community Boathouse]
• [LIC Cultural Alliance]
• [P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center]
• [Forgotten NY: Long Island City]
• [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]

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.