Located just over the Ed Koch (aka Queensboro or 59th Street) Bridge, Long Island City (LIC) is a thriving cultural center with the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutes and studio space of any New York City neighborhood. Pink Pavilions shares their take on the Far East Side!
History
LIC, with its close proximity to Manhattan, began to flourish in the 1800’s. In 1839, Stephen Halsey chose to develop one of LIC’s neighborhoods, Hallets Cove. Searching for funds to complete his project and hoping to procure a $2,000 investment, Halsey invited John Jacob Astor to tour the new village. With the promise of renaming the neighborhood Astoria, Halsey hoped for a sizeable contribution. In the end, Astor, too ill to make the trip, made a $500 donation, and Halsey named the neighborhood after him anyway.
LIC became a city in 1870. That same year, William Steinway moved the Steinway piano factory to Astoria, developing a piece of farmland into Steinway Village. This new community included homes, churches, a kindergarten, library, post office and trolley line for factory workers. Other companies that grew up in LIC were Swingline Staples, Hellmanns Mayonnaise, Ronzoni Macaroni and Silvercup Bakery.
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