One More Person Decides NOT to move to Long Island City!

I would move out of Manhattan if it made sense, as soon as the discount to live in LIC is there I would move in a heartbeat. I figure I would only be saving about 6000 a year to live there now. If it gets to 10,000 I would try it

When was the last time you were there? Personally I'd rather live in Riverdale.

If you work mid-town east like me, you might not prefer riverdale to LIC. Riverdale would be an hour for me, LIC as little as 10 minutes door to door. Conversely, if I worked in Fidi I might consider Brooklyn.

No offense to Ms Ardey, but she doesn't seem to be a spring chicken, and it gets that much tougher to consider change (even if it's largely psychological, as would be the case in moving across the river).

where is the part where she extols the virtues of the no man's land between Hell's Kitchen and the Upper West Side where you live, steve?

> where is the part where she extols the virtues of the no man's land between Hell's Kitchen and the
> Upper West Side

Lincoln Center?

Riverdale is nice if you are a safta but who the hell would want to live there in there 20's or 30's???

Notice that she didn't even give a moment's thought to living in a dumpy building on 52nd and 9th avenue . ..

ms. ardrey is all class. note that one benefit to LIC is that they do have a chuck e cheese there. however this does not apply to ms. ardreys better judgement.

"Notice that she didn't even give a moment's thought to living in a dumpy building on 52nd and 9th avenue . .. "

Exactly my point, LICC. Even a not-so-good building in Manhattan is better than the best LIC has to offer.

Because as the story makes clear, “It is not Manhattan."

older folks tend to have the mentality that you have to live in manhattan. her place is a dump.

This sweet older lady just needs a little perch for her last 20-30 years of life, and it's not surprising that she wants to stay in the same ballpark area of where she's always lived ............
If the same thing (forced displacement) had happened to her and she'd lived over where Steve lives, then you bet your life she'd be looking for a replacement place around there --- within a five block radius.
People who live decades in the same 'hoods generally like staying in those hoods ----- especially if jobs don't force them to travel to other boros or distant parts of Manhattan.
IMHO.

You know, glamma, I've never been to a Chuck E. Cheese.

don't go steve. it's awful. inmates running the asylum.

My sister had her 5th birthday part at a Chuck E. Cheese. Now she's 42. I guess they've been doing something - but there's something about a restaurant whose mascot is a rat that I find disturbing.

But it does make sense that they put one in LIC.

I'd rather live in NJ than LIC.

If a Chuck E. Cheese opens up uptown east 70s-90s, you bet your life the lady in the article will be going there with her grandchildren.
It could happen!

"Riverdale is nice if you are a safta but who the hell would want to live there in there 20's or 30's???"

People in *their* 20s and 30s who don't want to settle for a 350 square foot shitbox in "prime" Manhattan that hasn't been renovated since 1976 that would be the only type of apartment their budget could allow.

Not everyone can afford Manhattan, but that doesn't actually make New Jersey or Long Island City a proper substitute any more than Kansas.

sorry, meant "automatically", not actually

"Not everyone can afford Manhattan, but that doesn't actually make New Jersey or Long Island City a proper substitute any more than Kansas."

Actually, it does.

It's impossible to commute to your Manhattan job from Kansas. Thus, LIC or NJ would be a "proper substitute".

hence the word "automatic"....

of course, by your specific example, the south bronx would be as well.

Point is, just because something is cheaper than Manhattan doesn't mean the tradeoff is worth it.

Long Island City is a fine place to live and a great place to consider as soon as the prices reflect it actual location. LIC still thinks it's closer to Manhattan than it is. That Simple. There will be no vacancies as soon as THAT reality becomes common wisdom. Time is the ultimate educator. Sit back and watch as the Big Apple is transformed into a giant dirty Tokyo. A town where RE prices only go one way...DOWN for the next 10-20 years.

> LIC still thinks it's closer to Manhattan than it is.

I think you nailed it.

"Point is, just because something is cheaper than Manhattan doesn't mean the tradeoff is worth it."

It is, if you can only afford the cheaper alternative.

What does Chuck E Cheese have to do with LIC? steve is just getting more and more nutty.

I've said it before. LIC- great people living there, young, fun, mix of professions. Lots of good new restaurants and cafes. Great waterfront parks. Great views of the river and midtown Manhattan. PS1. 5 minutes away from Grand Central. You haters can try knocking it all you want, it just shows your ignorance.

"I've said it before. LIC- great people living there, young, fun, mix of professions. Lots of good new restaurants and cafes. Great waterfront parks. Great views of the river and midtown Manhattan. PS1. 5 minutes away from Grand Central. You haters can try knocking it all you want, it just shows your ignorance."

Agreed, LIC.

There IS much more to "New York City" than just Manhattan below 96th Street.

Long Island City is a LOVELY place. Take a look:

http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?ie=UTF8&moduleurl=http://maps.google.com/help/maps/local_search/mapplet.html&mapclient=google&f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=37.76108,-122.435589&spn=0.111961,0.175095&z=12&utm_campaign=en&utm_medium=ha&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-gns-ls&utm_term=google%20maps

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

Never mind - link didn't work.

Google it yourself!

stevejhx, it's definitely gotten much nicer than whatever you think it is (and San Fran is pretty nice too). Try again!

SF or LIC?

No question: Rice a Roni....

""I've said it before. LIC- great people living there, young, fun, mix of professions. Lots of good new restaurants and cafes. Great waterfront parks."

Sounds like 100 other places that aren't NYC... but also aren't anywhere near LIC prices.

> Great views of the river and midtown Manhattan.

just like jersey city!

No one is saying LIC is valueless. Some folks will like it. Some folks like riverdale. Or hoboken. Or jersey city.

The issue is, none of them are manhattan. And none of they are substitutes. That doesn't make them bad.

But it doesn't make them worth anywhere near Manhattan prices.

"No one is saying LIC is valueless"

I wouldn't take that leap of faith if I were you.

Um, LIC is certainly better than the toilet that WILLIAMSBURG is.

Let's get a grip here.

also, san fran averages under $500 psf...

"Um, LIC is certainly better than the toilet that WILLIAMSBURG is.
Let's get a grip here."

Matt, I know you lived there 38 years ago, but Williamsburg is actually a more established area than LIC at this point. I happen to like both. What's the matter? Did a hipster girl scorn your creepy advances?

"Matt, I know you lived there 38 years ago, but Williamsburg is actually a more established area than LIC at this point."

15 years ago, thank you.

And being "established" as a crappy industrial toilet isn't something to crow about.

Maybe you should actually visit sometime. Or don't, actually. Your attitude kind of stinks.

Williamsburg is trendier, AND it has a bridge named after it, which Long Island City doesn't.

Long Island City does, however, have rail yards, and Williamsburg doesn't.

And of course: Chuck E. Cheese.

but LIC is an entire city! and it has an island named after it!

there is a guitar center, too.

"Maybe you should actually visit sometime."

I was just there a couple months ago.

Still a toilet.

A guitar center? What about HSN's Esteban? I can have my guitar delivered.

I never thought about how they named Long Island after Long Island City. Probably the same as why they call dogs dogs: if you've ever watched them eat, there's no other way to describe them.

But are oranges "orange" because they're oranges, or is the color "orange" because it's the color of oranges?

> A guitar center? What about HSN's Esteban? I can have my guitar delivered.

I love that commercial. What a dud.

It has STRINGS, just like a $2,000 guitar.
It has WOOD, just like a $2,000 guitar.
It has FRETS just like a $2,000 guitar.
It has A PLACE TO HIT THE STRINGS, just like a $2,000 guitar.
It has A HOLE, just like a $2,000 guitar.
It has A RING AROUND THE HOLE, just like a $2,000 guitar.

how could i miss it...

it has BUILDINGS, just like Manhattan (or kansas).
it has STREETS, just like Manhattan (or kansas).
it has RESTAURANTS, just like Manhattan (or kansas).
it has PARKS, just like Manhattan (or kansas).
it has DUANE READE...

I think you mean, "It has A HOLE, just like a $200 hooker."

NYCM, oranges are orange because they come from Persia, where the word for oranges is narang.

The color must have come first, else red would be called apple.

i don't think the logic on colors/naming is sound. Apples might have come substantially later than oranges (they're from China), so they got the color word before the apple showed up.

In hebrew, the word for electricity is lightning....

Barak.

wait, no, its not. barak is thunder. can't remember the other word, but its lightning/electricity.
but you could see why i kept going there...

Paying more than $350/sq foot in LIC is just plain stupid!

You mean Johnny Appleseed was Chinese?!

GO FIGURE!

In Portuguese the word for "red" is "vermelho," which is "vermilion," which is a type of worm.

I wonder how Long Island City got to be called that? It's not named after Chuck E. Cheese. Queens is named after the Portuguese queen of England, Catharine of Bragança. I think Long Island City is Dutch for "This Place Sucks, Get Out Fast!"

"You mean Johnny Appleseed was Chinese?! "

No. sorry.

And, hate to disappoint you, but the burger king didn't invent the burger either. And he isn't really king of anything.

"the burger king didn't invent the burger either"

That can only mean one thing: that Chuck E. Cheese didn't invent cheese!

Mystery solved.

My parents call it Chunky Cheeses, even after I have tried to correct them. They are not doing it to be funny, they really think it is called Chunky Cheeses.

SF is the back of the wrong side of anus. Hate it.

tough choice... if I had to live in SF or LIC.... I really don't know.

"if I had to live in SF or LIC," I'd move to DC. I love DC, except the summers.

JM, I have to agree with your parents: Chunky Cheeses sounds better. And what do they think of the rat?

Not sure on the rat, but they bring my nieces and nephews there all the time and then tell me about how they went to Chunky Cheeses. Cracks me up every time.

"Reluctant yet resigned, Ms. Ardrey joked that she would never leave Manhattan, even if that meant “pitching a tent in Central Park.” Visiting friends at the Powerhouse, which she called “the most beautiful apartment in Long Island City,” in Queens, she asked herself, “What is wrong with you?” Why couldn’t she make a move across the river? And she answered, “It is not Manhattan."

Ms. Ardrey is a moron.

"Paying more than $350/sq foot in LIC is just plain stupid!"

You are stupid.

Apples are from one of the more obscure Stans. Maybe you meant oranges are from China ... correct. The usage as a color came much later, which raises the question of what they called a secondary color that probably occurred in nature in most places, before the import of the fruit ... I guess gold or sun or something like that.

From http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/orange :

Word Origin & History

orange
c.1300, from O.Fr. orenge (12c.), from M.L. pomum de orenge, from It. arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), alt. of Ar. naranj, from Pers. narang, from Skt. naranga-s "orange tree," of uncertain origin. Loss of initial n- probably due to confusion with definite article (e.g. une narange, una narancia), but perhaps infl. by Fr. or "gold." The tree's original range probably was northern India. The Persian orange, grown widely in southern Europe after its introduction in Italy 11c., was bitter; sweet oranges were brought to Europe 15c. from India by Portuguese traders and quickly displaced the bitter variety, but only Mod.Gk. still seems to distinguish the bitter (nerantzi) from the sweet (portokali "Portuguese") orange. Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy. On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to Haiti and the Caribbean. Introduced in Florida (along with lemons) in 1513 by Sp. explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Introduced to Hawaii 1792. Nobody would ever willingly choose to live in Long Island City. Not used as the name of a color until 1542.

hi CarolSt

Nice insert, AH!

There are no orange trees in Long Island City, hence the high incidence of scurvy, rickets, and toxic shock syndrome. LIC does, however, have a surfeit of idiots who bought overpriced apartments with views of where they REALLY want to live: Nassau.

I should have nested it 2/3 of the way through--it reformatted badly.

LIC ice-cream trucks probably sell novelty orange creamsicles. It's a ghetto thing.

"Visiting friends at the Powerhouse, which she called “the most beautiful apartment in Long Island City,” in Queens"

Interesting.

LIC is full of young and happy people...

...who apparently don't know any better.

Or they frequent the Chunky Cheeses.

Interesting? That she's a genteel Manhattanite who graciously excluded her friends' apartment before speaking the truth about LIC as a whole, knowing it would be published? Strictly dog bites man.

Dog bites LICComment.

"The most beautiful apartment in Long Island City" is much like saying the sexiest of Cinderella's stepsisters. Dog is as dog does.

> Maybe you meant oranges are from China ... correct

Nah, its apples. They're from asia, and China is still thr largest producer.

The interesting thing is last time I was in SF and went for dinner with friends, I realized that it is incredibly like Williamsburg (obviously not the downtown or even soma part, the neighborhoods for socializing). Very similar scale, similar types of spots, similar folks... and mediocre food.

Where have you eaten in Williamsburg? Or in SF for that matter?

I've never eaten in Williamsburg, but I have driven over its bridge.

Long Island City doesn't have its own bridge. Nor are there decent restaurants. However, there is a Duane Reade (which is robbing me of my accumulated shopping points as of tomorrow, because they're changing systems. The nerve.).

"Avenue J? I eat Avenue J"
--Lords of Flatbush

I concur with the lady. Great links to old TV commercials.

Never eaten in LIC either, but can't be that bad:
http://nymag.com/srch?t=restaurant&N=265+1288&No=0&q=Listing%20Type:Restaurants&Ns=nyml_critics_pick|1

"Where have you eaten in Williamsburg?"

Cono's, for one.

It's fun watching steve on this thread fall deeper and deeper into lunacy.

Yet again, Lord, good quotation, but Flatbush is in Brooklyn. Queensbridge Houses are in Queens. That's why they put the "Queens" part of it in the name. Had they been in, say, Staten Island, they probably wouldn't have been called that.

I forgot, what's the alternative name for Long Island City. It's not Queensbridge, although I'm sure the residents of that fine apartment complex make up the majority of LIC's residents.

It's an acronym ... I wish I could remember.

Tip of my tongue.

District of Overbuilt Underserviced Condo Housing Eyesores Between Astoria and Greenpoint?

I still like Hard-Ass Racist Landlords Evicting Many as well.

I'm sure i've heard this, but what exactly is the rationale for knocking LIC again? This article is not on the homebuyer market but the rental market, which I think is pretty good right now in LIC. It seems a little silly to compare one neighborhood in Queens to an entire borough of the city, no?

steve is obsessed with LIC because of its popularity with young, smart, happy, friendly people while he is old, cranky, slow and obnoxious.

Because, condojake, Long Island City is not only long, it is an island, and a city, capital of the world.

And it lends itself to that second highest of art forms (after puns), the limerick:

There once was an Island Named Long
Whose City had flats for a song.
Don't buy, it'll crash!
You'll be stuck with trash!
To Manhattan it doesn't belong!

:)

The variant is:

New York has an Island named Long
Where flats can be had for song....

Any and all improvements are welcome!

Well, the man can write limericks, I'll give him that.

And even answer in Italian.

You can see me at the Broadway Comedy Club next Friday the 22 @ 8 pm. I'm funny, too!

"steve is obsessed with LIC because of its popularity with young, smart, happy, friendly people while he is old, cranky, slow and obnoxious."

Old, cranky, slow and obnoxious? MOI?!

I write limericks, for god's sake:

There is a sad place named LIC
Where the Newtown Creek makes you sick.
It's an enchanted land
That no one can stand
And people with money don't pick.

How could an auteur such as moi, who writes such pretty verse, be "cranky"?

condojake, there's no reasonable rationale. What you have to understand is that this is a very public lovers' quarrel (though I think one party is clearly more infatuated than the other) and will all get sorted out when steve moves to LIC. Also, I sure hope his live act is better than his online "material."

Don't be certain of anything, bjw. Limericks are what they are!

"steve is obsessed with LIC because of its popularity with young, smart, happy, friendly people while he is old, cranky, slow and obnoxious."

yes, sounds like this LIC resident is VERY happy and friendly... and he's going to punch you if you don't believe him.
;-)

Hey, everybody: How about a sing-along? "Apple peaches pumpkin pie..." Alanhart: You sound like a guy who would remember that song. Fun reference to Lords Of Flatbush!

How about that Zombies song that's a reply to some chick who wants them to move to Long Island City?

all you zombies?

Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no

Long Island City is hip
So please, people, get a grip!
Not a mugger with a pistol
Nor a hooker with her crystal
Meth will stop my fancied trip!

:)

I have to stop now, lest I outdo myself.

steve moved to Times Sq and has been seen on the Toys R Us Ferris Wheel holding onto the Hello Kitty car. He can hardly make fun of other neighborhoods.......

JM, you seem frightfully conversant about the ferris wheel. maybe you were in the next car?

Not sure about that... when even tourists won't go to LIC...

What is a Hell Kitty car? Seriously. I don't have one, but I might want to buy one.

Second question: can I use it to drive through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, to get to LICC's place?