Anthony DelMundo/New York Daily News
Michelle Arvin practiced her aerial fabric tricks at the Circus Warehouse. The circus arts training school is one of the many arts businesses and organizations that have moved into Long Island City in recent years. The neighborhood has become the borough’s top arts neighborhood.
A formerly industrial stretch of Queens that used to be known for its manufacturing plants and warehouses has become the borough’s hottest arts destination.
Long Island City is home to a growing number of theaters, galleries and dance companies — a feat that has local artists predicting it could be the next Soho or Williamsburg.
“It’s an area that’s becoming a mecca for artistic endeavors,” said Rich Ferraioli, co-artistic director of the Chain Theatre. “There’s a lot of development.”
Ferraioli’s group is the newest performing arts company on the block, officially opening its black box performance space last year. The theater’s latest production, “Hurlyburly,” opened Friday.
Fellow Long Island City theater companies include the Chocolate Factory Theater, established in 2003, and the Secret Theatre, founded in 2007.
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The community, just across the river from Manhattan, is anchored by a trio of heavyweight cultural institutions. They include MoMA PS1, a contemporary arts museum, the Noguchi Museum, a sculpture center, and the outdoor Socrates Sculpture Park.
The area also has a ceramics center, a holographic arts group and a circus arts training school.
People who have gravitated to the once-desolate stretches recount a familiar tale of attraction that hinges on the availability of affordable — and ample — space.
Suzi Winson, owner of the Circus Warehouse, said she chose Long Island City because it was the only place she could find — and afford — empty warehouses with 30-foot ceilings where her students could practice acrobatics.
“Now the neighborhood’s coming up around us,” said Winson, who opened three years ago.
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The growth of the neighborhood was precipitated by a 2001 rezoning that allowed old factories and warehouses to be replaced by gleaming residential towers on the waterfront.
Valerie Green created the Green Space, home to her company Dance Entropy, in 2005 to get ahead of the curve.
“I wanted to create a home here when it was still a developing area,” she said. “I was foreseeing how the market would change here because it’s so close to Manhattan.”
The appeal of the neighborhood lies in its close proximity to Manhattan, availability of inexpensive warehouse space and the growing local market for art generated by the area’s newest residents, said Rob MacKay, head of the Queens Tourism Council.
“You had a lot of empty manufacturing buildings, which are perfect for theaters, galleries and dance spaces,” he said. And the new residents “have more disposable income and an appreciation for the arts.”
The arts scene still isn’t as big as in Manhattan or Brooklyn, said Anne Dennin, co-chair of the New York City Arts Coalition. But it’s on the rise.
“It’s Long Island City’s turn,” Dennin said. “It’s coming into its own — fast and furiously.”
