Long Island City is on the Verge of Transformation, Again

In a city struggling with a persistent affordable housing shortage, Long Island City has been building—a lot. And the city is now looking to spur even more growth with a proposed rezoning that would allow for more than 14,000 new homes.

A stretch of the Long Island City waterfront, pictured here in 2018. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

This story was produced as part of a capstone reporting project at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, with editing by Professor Donna Borak.

The horizon of Long Island City has already been transformed. A few decades ago, you could see right over the neighborhood sitting on the bank of the East River and across to the iconic Manhattan skyline. Today, a new skyline has been constructed in front of the old one. 

High rise condos and rentals are still rising amongst the dozens that did not exist just a generation ago. They include a luxury tower, The Orchard, which opened in November standing at 823 feet, now the tallest building in the borough. It joins other buildings near Court Square, such as the Corte and The Prime, which offer landscaped gardens, private terraces, lounges, and private gyms. 

A Dept. of City Planning map of the proposed rezoning area.

In a city struggling with a persistent affordability and housing shortage crisis, Long Island City is building—a lot. Of the 206,000 new housing units the city saw between 2010 and 2020, 20,000 were in LIC alone, according to the Department of City Planning (DCP). The neighborhood ranked behind only Riverside South, home to Chelsea in Manhattan, for greatest rate of construction in that period, and pulled ahead of the famously hip Williamsburg. 

But the city is now looking to spur even more growth for LIC. Last week, the Adams administration kicked off public review for a proposed rezoning of the area, dubbed the Long Island City Neighborhood Plan. It would apply to roughly 54 blocks to allow for more than 14,000 new homes, 4,000 of which would be income-restricted.

“This plan updates zoning in parts of the neighborhood still limited by outdated and restrictive rules, allowing more housing and jobs while creating a more accessible and resilient waterfront,” City Planning Commissioner Dan Garodnick said in a statement Monday.

But the recent growth of LIC has led some locals to question the need for more development, saying that now is the time to offer other amenities for the community.

“There was one high rise building here when we moved in and then there [were] like two more built and now it’s everywhere,” said Ellen Day, owner and founder of Brick House Ceramic Arts Center on 44th Drive. “It’s nice that we have new buildings, but I think we’ve had enough.”

A history of change

Long Island City (LIC) was incorporated formally into the city of New York at just around the beginning of the 20th century. Supported by a railroad terminus and ferry connecting it to Manhattan, the location was crucial to its development as a manufacturing hub, up until a decline in industrial activity following the end of the second World War.

Companies such as Plaxall, which got its start as a plastic manufacturer in the area 70 years ago, have since branched out into property development. Their factory, which was based in LIC, shut down in 2022 and is sitting dormant as the company turns to focus on real estate. Another reminder of the neighborhood’s past includes the Paragon Paint Factory, which after operating for decades has been sitting abandoned and dilapidated since going under in the early 2000s. 

The proximity to Manhattan which attracted factories also brought a predominantly Latin American and Asian population, residents who could commute to work quickly and enjoy significantly lower rents than in the city center. These communities endure to this day, with 30 percent of the neighborhood’s population being of Asian descent and 21 percent being Hispanic, according to DCP. 

In the mid 1980s, cohorts of artists who could no longer afford to live in Manhattan also moved in. Artist Adele Shtern came to LIC over 40 years ago, searching for low rents and places to exhibit her work. She moved into a rent controlled building with a starting rate of $175 a month, a short walk from the subway to Manhattan and to the East River. 

Artists would showcase their work in “any space that was available, like, an empty storefront or a loft building with a lot of violations and a leaky roof,” said Shtern, laughing to herself. “Maybe it is a romantic artist’s vision,” she mused on how her cohort scraped together a living in the industrial waterfront landscape. 

Images of Long Island City from the March 1985 issue of City Limits, which notes its history as an area targeted for residential and commercial growth.

A seismic shift came to the neighborhood in 2001, when the city introduced mixed-use zoning, allowing for density increases near transit. 

Other rezoning plans unfurled in the following years to Hunter’s Point, Dutch Kills, and Sunnyside Gardens, all neighborhoods surrounding LIC. Mayor Bill de Blasio also eyed Long Island City for another possible rezoning during his time in office, though those plans fizzled out. 

Still, in the last two decades, the transformation of LIC has been staggering. The neighborhood’s population has increased by 78 percent over roughly the last decade, with a current count of 63,000 residents. The median income has also surged by 85 percent over the same time period. In 2021, the median household income was $96,948, contrasted to the $52,421 average in 2010. 

Average rents have ballooned as well. In 2022, a two-bedroom apartment cost an average of $5,300 in LIC as compared to $2,600 in Queens and $3,500 in the city overall, according to DCP. 

The goal of the neighborhood’s 2001 rezoning was to capitalize on Long Island City’s “significant potential for office, retail and residential development,” officials said at the time. But there have been consequences to its rapid growth. 

Shtern said rising costs have forced friends and colleagues to move to different neighborhoods or even out of state while businesses serving their field have shut down.

Today, “artists can’t afford to live here unless they have a silver spoon or they’ve been here for a long time,” she said.

Density vs. open space 

Queens Community Board 2, which has jurisdiction over neighborhoods stretching from LIC and Hunter’s Point to Sunnyside and Woodside, noted in its 2025 Statement of Community Needs that the city “poorly anticipated the residential boom” in the area, and that “the pressure this has placed on every aspect of the community’s needs.” In particular, community board members have pointed to a lack of open space and affordable housing. 

“The lack of green space is pretty huge in the CB2 district specifically. I would say compared to Woodside and Sunnyside, LIC has more green space, but compared to the population in LIC, that’s not enough, right? It’s a drop in the bucket,” says Community Board Chair Anatole Ashraf. 

The presence of green space in urban environments has been linked to improvements in residents’ mental and physical health. One study published in 2016 concluded that “as green space in the neighbourhood increased, levels of perceived stress decreased. The frequency of visits to green space, particularly in winter months, and views of green space from the home were significant predictors of general health.” 

Though much of LIC is now higher income, Chairman Ashraf notes that two of the largest parks there, Gantry State Park and Hunter’s Point Park, attract residents from less wealthy areas, such as Sunnyside and Woodside. There is also NYCHA’s Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing development in the country, which would benefit from greater investment in their nearby parks. 

LIC’s existing parks are core community building spaces for the affluent and non-affluent alike. Queensbridge Park, which sits just north of the Queensboro Bridge, is frequently used for community cookouts and events, in addition to fields that are used by local softball leagues. 

Elliott Maltby, professor of architecture, landscape and urban design at Pratt University, specializes in the intersection of natural ecologies with the urban landscape. She has recently spoken about Gantry State Park and Hunter’s Point Park, both of which sit on the waterfront in LIC, in a class on the subject of green spaces. 

“I think those parks are amazing,” she said, calling the developed waterfront a space that “balances human and ecological spaces pretty elegantly.” 

Gantry in particular has been designed to evoke a sense of the area’s industrial history, including multiple large restored gantries.  “These industrial monuments were once used to load and unload rail car floats and barges; today they are striking reminders of our waterfront’s past,” according to the official website. 

“It’s just evocative, it’s exciting. And I think that excitement is important for park and open space advocacy,” said Maltby. 

There is often a tension between housing and green space that runs into any housing proposal in the city. Jess Watchler, a representative from the Department of Parks and Recreation, spoke on this topic at a waterfront workshop related to the rezoning organized by DCP in October.

“In my opinion, it kind of seems like the public is more excited about building or protecting open space than building housing,” Watchler said at the time. “So I would anticipate more problems with building new residential buildings, than protecting existing public or open space, or building new open space. I feel like people kind of have a bias against a new tall building going up near them rather than a park.”

Public feedback

With the aim of addressing resident concerns and promoting economic growth, DCP  has launched a community engagement process for the Long Island City Neighborhood Plan. 

It promises to reshape the context area on a scale rivaling that of the early 2000s, though guided by the wants and needs of those who live there, officials say. 

The proposal includes zoning changes to help spur the construction of 14,000 new homes, which would be subject to the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing rules, meaning 20 to 30 percent of units in new residential buildings would need to be income-restricted. 

Officials have also proposed the development of a continuous public open space along the waterfront, connecting Gantry Plaza State Park to Queensbridge Park.

“These thoughtful changes, along with significant neighborhood investments, can set Long Island City on the path towards a more affordable, equitable, and prosperous future,” City Planning Commissioner Garodnick said in a statement last week as the city kicked off the public review process. 

In the coming months, local community boards and the Queens borough president will hold public hearings and then weigh in on the plan, before it heads to the City Planning Commission and then the City Council for a final vote. This comes after more than a year of public planning, which included a series of town halls, workshops and walking tours.

The community engagement process in LIC has followed that of other neighborhoods that were recently rezoned for growth. City Planning cites the Gowanus Neighborhood Plan, approved by the City Council in 2021, as a point of reference for how the LIC neighborhood plan could play out. 

The stated goals for Gowanus included greater affordable housing and green space in the area surrounding the Gowanus Canal, a creek that reaches nearly two miles into Brooklyn.

Maltby, who has worked with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting open space in the area, said they have also had to grapple with questions of density and population change, similar to the debate playing out around LIC now. 

“Those concerns about affordability, concerns about density, concerns about loss of character which have been borne out by the process in Gowanus are very much in the forefront of people’s minds,” she said. 

Edjo Wheeler, founder and executive director of Culture Lab LIC, was among those who attended a One LIC public planning workshop last fall. 

The non-profit supports local artists and provides free community programming, and is located in Long Island City within the area that is set to be rezoned. 

Wheeler said he attended the public event to “make sure whatever plan moves forward has a very strong arts and culture element to it.” 

Charles Yu, vice president of the Long Island City Partnership, an organization that champions economic development in LIC, said the planning process so far affirmed “some of the things that the community has been asking for, like access to the waterfront, open space, dock runs, bike lanes and things like that.” 

DCP says it received more than 5,750 public comments on the plan during the community engagement process, including 791 related to housing, 771 about open space and 1,278 about the waterfront.  

City Planning shared several quotes from participants who attended those community events, which included requests such as: 

“I want access to the water for kayaking, getting down to the water at multiple points.” 

“Folks in the condos view the Gantry and waterfront parks as their own front yard; how will this plan ensure equitable, safe access?”

“I don’t mind adding density to the waterfront, but I’m concerned about the lack of groceries, restaurants, and transit for the increasing population.”

“Seasonal activities and spaces to enjoy LIC’s dynamic arts scene, like floating stages on the Anable Basin and outdoor performance venues along the waterfront.”

“I want low density at the waterfront so everyone can enjoy the views.”

“Housing development continues as of right now, need rezoning for affordability.”

At the October waterfront meeting, attendees were given the opportunity to share their wishes on sticky notes. 

Public comments during a city-hosted planning workshop in October. (Photo by Justin Martinez)

One post-it requests simply “Green Space” with a “+1”  and a “+100” added by other contributors to indicate support. Several called for additional free parking by the waterfront, while one person called for less parking in exchange for greater pedestrian space. Many mentioned wanting additional social spaces such as libraries, restaurants, and markets. 

City Councilmember Julie Won, who represents the rezoning district, is a strong proponent of the Long Island City Neighborhood Plan and will play a leading role in final negotiations during the public review process.

During an update on the plan on April 7, Won said the extensive public engagement around the proposal is “to make sure that we are providing a case study to the city of what it’s like to invest in upfront planning and comprehensive study and engagement of feedback.”

“To make sure that anything that comes out of this is really reflective [of the community],” she added, “and we have quantitative data to back it up on the decisions that we’re making.”

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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