Courtesy of TF Cornerstone
TF Cornerstone’s LIC master plan in from Arquitectonica.
The great 1960s New York City neighborhood activist Jane Jacobs called the movement on city sidewalks a “symphony.” She described a dance of people coming and going and waving and smiling. Children, adults and elderly were one for all. The sidewalks in her vision were happy.
Cities almost smiled.
On a Tuesday before 9 a.m., Long Island City seemed more cheery than the West Village, SoHo or upper West Side. Groups of people — families, couples, friends —moved in unison toward the No. 7 train, playgrounds, bike lanes, a supermarket, school and their jobs. An old man read a newspaper on a park bench. An Asian woman exercised under a tree.
It was as sweet an urban site on a New York City waterway since the Dutch settled lower Manhattan.
Well, maybe not that long, but it made you smile. In fact, the only people not happy were Manhattan-centric real estate agents.
PHOTOS: What to see in Long Island City
The success isn’t only on the streets. It’s in the leasing offices, too. TF Cornerstone, the developer of the 23-acre waterfront master plan known as East Coast, recently rented 220 apartments in six weeks at 4615 Center Blvd. The 367-unit building, the third of five in the master plan, is 70% leased since March 1. Across the street at 4540 Center Blvd., adjacent to the famous Pepsi-Cola sign, 20% of the 345 apartments have rented since May 26.
“The success even surprises us,” says executive vice president Sofia Estevez, who has worked with TF Cornerstone for over 20 years, holding virtually every job with the development group led by brothers Tom and Fred Elghanayan. (A third brother runs Rockrose Development Corp., a rental and condo real estate entity.)
“I was always a believer in this plan and our ability to build something that would attract young adults, families and empty nesters,” says Estevez. “We knew it would happen, but not this fast. This goes to show you what happens when you have an ownership committed to developing a neighborhood.”
Forget words like emerging or up-and-coming. Long Island City has arrived. It makes Murray Hill look unlivable. The retail on Vernon Boulevard, the waterfront, the local bar and restaurant scene and transportation to certain Manhattan neighborhoods are better than sections of the upper East Side, northern echelons of Harlem or parts of the lower East Side.
