Pepsi-Cola stopped making its sugary drinks in Long Island City a decade ago, but the area is known for creating a different kind of fizz. Once an industrial wasteland, the Queens neighbourhood is New York's newest centre of cool.
Factories, among them the former Pepsi property, have given way to art galleries and other hubs of creative activity such as Silver Cup Studios, one of the largest studios outside California where much of Sex and the City was filmed.
Former landfills are now sculpture gardens. Warehouse loft conversions are drawing Manhattanites across the East River to take up residence. And rumour has it a new Marriott is moving into the neighbourhood, joining a handful of other hotels – both budget and boutique – that have recently been built in Long Island City in response to the growing tourist trade. Upgraded with sidewalks, lighting and bicycle lanes, streets are teeming with new restaurants, trendy boutiques and bars. Graffiti, which is maligned in Manhattan, is beloved in this neighbourhood where an entire city block is devoted to the art of urban scrawl on the walls of the five-storey, 200,000-square-foot 5Pointz, a former industrial building.
The owner of 5Pointz in Long Island City encourages graffiti artists to show their work on his building.
“Long Island City is experiencing a period of explosive growth,” says Jeffrey Travia of the Long Island City Business Improvement District. CUNY School of Law is moving in, JetBlue Airways is relocating to Queens Plaza North and New York's Department of Health will be moving into the 21-storey Gotham Center office building when it opens early next year.
This is where, in recessionary America, real estate is booming and new businesses are arriving. Twenty years after New York magazine first declared the area up-and-coming (after noticing New York artists flocking to the Queens neighbourhood in search of cheaper rent), Long Island City has definitely arrived.
ART LOVERS PARADISE Areas of Long Island City may still be covered with warehouses, but these days they’re producing pop art, not pop bottles. Galleries include MoMa PS 1, a contemporary outpost of the Museum of Modern Art (22-25 Jackson Ave., 718-784-2084; www.ps1.org) and the Socrates Sculpture Garden, an outdoor exhibition space with a view of Roosevelt Island (31-34 Vernon Blvd., 718-626-1533; www.socratessculpturepark.org). The Noguchi Museum, this year celebrating its 25th year in Long Island City, showcases the work of the late sculptor Isamu Noguchi. 9-01 33rd Rd., 718-721-2308; www.noguchi.org
A BEACH WITH A VIEW While just a stop from Midtown, the neighbourhood also has its own sandy beach with spectacular views of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Featuring 1,002 tons of sand spread over 44,000 square feet, Water Taxi Beach at Long Island City at night becomes a playground for the 21-and-over crowd with all-night dance parties taking place on the banks of the East River. A four-minute water-taxi ride from Manhattan, the beach can also be reached by subway. Open daily from June 7 until Oct. 10. Swimming not allowed. www.watertaxibeach.com
GREEN ACRES The Brooklyn Grange is a one-acre working rooftop farm that recently took root high at the top of the six-storey Standard Motor Products building, an old warehouse property. Consisting of a million pounds of soil and using a greenhouse infrastructure to grow vegetables, it is said to be the largest commercial rooftop farm in New York City. The urban farmers involved in the pioneering project plan to sell produce on-site one day a week and supply several local restaurants, including the popular Vesta Trattoria and Wine Bar in nearby Astoria. 37-18 Northern Blvd. www.brooklyngrangefarm.com
A unique bowl from the Vinylux collection at the Subdivision boutique in Long Island City.
