Long Island City: Has NYC’s Next Great Neighborhood Arrived?
Residents of Long Island City rental apartments have been hearing for years what they already know: this once-industrial, increasingly-residential neighborhood has just about fully come into its own, offering an appealing combination of local character, first-rate food and cultural offerings, and super-convenient transportation to both Midtown West and Midtown East in Manhattan and, thus, everywhere else.
Several reports on Long Island City these past few weeks only confirms that, if the far-west Queens neighborhood still has a bit of grit around the edges, it certainly is worth a look for an increasingly wide range of rental apartment seekers, from young professionals and creative types to more established families.
For example, in excellent news for Long Island City residents–as well as everyone who enjoys really, really good food–the New York Post confirmed last week that the Quebecois-American pair Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis are indeed planning on reopening a restaurant somewhere in Long Island City.
This after they had to close their hugely popular, critically beloved M. Wells–a diner in appearance; an adventure in fantastic flavors in execution–when their landlord hit them with a big rent increase after just one year of wowing Long Island City residents with their bold culinary creations.
No word yet on where M. Wells, The Sequel will land, exactly, though they’re looking in the Court Square/Queensboro Plaza area, which, as Eater points out, would put them right near the brand spanking-new Department of Health headquarters, the agency that many felt dealt with the unconventional Dufour and Obraitis in a capricious and unfair manner.
Of course, M. Wells II staying in the neighborhood is hardly the only sign that Long Island City rental apartments are becoming ever more popular. Some 1,600 new units are “in the pipeline” in the immediate Court Square vicinity, joining nearly 3,400 apartments in seven residential towers (such as Packard Square North and 4705 Center Boulevard) that have already been built or are in the works on the neighborhood’s waterfront area.
One reason for the recent surge in interest in Long Island City apartments is the neighborhood itself: in addition to more and more first-rate restaurant, bars and other nightlife options, the community also has an enviable concentration of art galleries (anchored by the MoMA’s superb PS1 contemporary art museum) and interesting boutiques, as well its previously-mentioned proximity to Midtown Manhattan.
Also: the price of Long Island City rental apartments remains a genuine bargain, especially as compared to their counterparts across the East River. Put one way, according to Jon McMillan of the developer TF Cornerstone, Long Island City rental apartments average about $45 per square foot, as opposed to $60 per square foot in Manhattan, an immediate savings to you of 20%.
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