Little LA in NYC — Long Island City
Little LA in NYC — Long Island City
Harrison Jiang
Oct.14.2019
There is an area in NYC that looks nothing like NYC. It is called Long Island City.
A lot of people are quite confused with “Long Island” and “Long Island City”.
To be clear, Long Island is the long and narrow island in the east part of New York State. Its called “Long Island” because it is long. While Long Island City is a small but various neighborhood locates in Queens. Long Island City is a vibrant and livable city in New York City. More and more young people, celebrities, and bankers are moving to this neighborhood.
With the great process of gentrification, Long Island City has changed entirely. It used to be an undeveloped neighborhood and not a lot of people are living in this area. Most people live there were poor people and unemployed families. But now it is totally different. There are so many upsides to move to Long Island City cause it gives people a different experience in NYC.
Nowadays, Long Island City is a neighborhood combined with both new and old cultures. Mainstream and minor community cultures. There are also a lot of companies that set their headquarters in Long Island City such as JetBlue, Citi, Brooks Brothers and so on. And there is a piece of big news saying that Amazon is going to set their second headquarters in Long Island City but this plan failed at the end. But it still shows the power and how attractive Long Island City is now.
It is pretty convenient to go whether Manhattan or Brooklyn or Queens, there are a bunch of metro stations in Long Island City. It takes you 15 mins driving to Times square. About 30 mins of driving to the financial district. And 15mins to LGA and 30Mins to JFK. There are even Long Island Rail Road and the fast ferry.
The traffic in Long Island City is so much lighter than it is in Manhattan. Mainly because there is much more space in Long Island City. Driving in Long Island City is a comfortable thing to do than it is in Manhattan. It is so easy to find a parking spot. A lot of restaurants have their own parking lot or drive-thru. The gas stations, auto shops, and other shops are totally different from those in Manhattan. So I like to call Long Island City little LA. Because there are so many places look like Los Angles.
But what fascinates me the most is how you can experience both new york city life and Los angels life simultaneously. Mainly because Long Island City is only 1 mile away from Manhattan.
Another cool thing about Long Island City is that you can actually get an incredible view from those skyscrapers in Long Island City. You can see all the buildings and lights in Manhattan. That’s no normal view that you can see in Manhattan. In the meantime, the north side of Long Island City is a plane terrain, so you can see all the way to the upstate of New York, including mountains and bridges. Just like those views in downtown Los Angels. Lying on the sofa and see those beautiful views are so decompression. What I suffered the most living in Manhattan is that I can’t see the broad sky. All those skyscrapers are covering me up. When I look up to the sky, there is only one line of sky with many buildings on the side. It really makes you depressed. When I go out to shoot pictures I also feel this way. People are nicer in Long Island City than people in Manhattan. They are walking at a slower speed. They are quite and patient. I guess the environment can do this amazing job for people.
I personally also moved to Long Island City. I used to live in Brooklyn. The vibes are a little different. Long Island City is even quieter than Brooklyn. But it is not as convenient as Brooklyn, especially shopping. Most people live in Brooklyn don’t have a car so there are more stories on the street in Brooklyn. But there are a lot of people who have cars in Long Island City, so people always drive to but grocery on the weekend in Costco or Market.
Overall, Long Island City is a comfortable and livable neighborhood for people who wants to get out of New York City but don’t want to be so far away from the city.