From LIC Post:
More than a dozen restaurants—fed up by the way the media portrays Long Island City as well as the adversarial nature of the Health Department—have come together and formed an association to promote the neighborhood and tackle a range of issues from the health department grading system to sanitation problems.
The group, called the Long Island City Restaurant Association, held its first meeting at the Creek and the Cave, located at 10-93 Jackson Ave., last Tuesday. The owners/managers of several well-known establishments participated, including: Alobar, Masso, Alewife, Manducatis Rustica, Riverview Restaurant & Lounge and LIC Market.
Rebecca Trent, the owner of the ‘Creek and the Cave’ and the association’s chief organizer, said the members all have similar concerns.
Trent said they are frustrated by the how some members of the media try to compare Long Island City to Williamsburg. “We are not a hipster haven,” she said. “This is a neighborhood of young professionals and children– not men with handlebar moustaches.”
“Some of the older journalists—who are not tapped in– think that anyone who is in their 20s/early 30s is a hipster,” Trent said. Furthermore, “many of these same reporters haven’t even spent any time here.”
Another issue is that some media outlets pitch Long Island City like it’s a hotel.
“Some people promote the area as a cool place to live given how close it is to the city—but fail to say what a great place it is to hang out in,” said Jeff Blath, the owner of Alobar.
Therefore, the restaurant owners say, the underlying message can easily be interpreted to mean: hang out in the Manhattan, sleep in Long Island City.
The organization aims to speak with one voice, where its members refute the hipster and hotel generalizations–and promote the Long Island City restaurant and bar scene as a destination for visitors.
10 comments:
Let the comments fly on THIS one!
Wah, wah, wah.
This will do more harm than good to LIC
Not as bad as Roosevelt Island but not much better.
They are tearing down any fabric that would make for quaint dining and gathering places - besides after the toxic soup and sewage from the hurricanes does anyone really believe that you you need is some soap and cleanser and the metals, bugs and toxic hydrocarbons are gone?
You can't put the whole building into an autoclave.
And yes, since they are making every mistake in the book in urban design - coupled with the low caliber of local leadership (there are no adults you can really talk to in local politics or on that community board) the developers pretty much have a free hand to build next to scenic bridge ramps, elevated lines and train yards.
So sure, the place is pretty much a dorm - not for young professionals but for techie drones. Makes for fun a night life.
Besides, does anyone really want to live under Queens politics and services if they can live in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Jersey?
Stonewall Van Bramer went out of his way to support the Dutch Kills Civic and Mr. George S in bringing hotels into the area and this is what is it known for.
Not bad when the only thing the locals wanted was to have families move into their community.
They will, in the long run, get their wish.
When the hotels wear out (and buildings like that do very quickly) Section 8 and immigrants families that can live in an SRO room will be in residence in abundance - just a hop skip and jump from sweeping floors and scrubbing pans for the Manhattan elites.
The irony is that on the odd occasion when Queens politicians come through for you - it is just by accident and you are usually better if they just but out.
Trent said they are frustrated by the how some members of the media try to compare Long Island City to Williamsburg. “We are not a hipster haven,” she said. “This is a neighborhood of young professionals and children– not men with handlebar moustaches.”
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And yet they held their first meeting at Creek and Cave???? AWWKWARRRRRRRRDDDDD!!!!!
Not a big hipster fan, but I would be hard pressed to welcome those "young professionals with children" or the snooty eurotrash visitors over them.
Well that embarrassing for Colin Quinn.. doing free standup in queens...
Born and raised in Astoria / LIC.
DON'T KNOW ANYONE I GREW UP WITH THAT MOVED TO THE QUEENS WEST AREA OR EVEN WANTS TO, IF INDEED, THEY COULD AFFORD IT.
The place is a dorm for transplanted hedge fund scum and their nannie culture. It looks like a dorm due to poor urban planning and will get worse with the continued lack of foresight in urban planning. This is what happens when you let a fascist like Bloomberg gets his whining way for his real estate buddies.
Roosevelt Island has more character than Queens West and people wouldn't be caught dead moving there. But the most offensive thing I find with that neighborhood is the people who have moved there in the last 10 years. They all seem they feel entitled to tell others what that neighborhood is or should be.
It sucks. That's what it is. You pushed out the working class that lived there for generations and you don't care. You wouldn't frequent their deli's and stores because they weren't 'Connecticut' enough for you, so they went out of business. Shame on all of you. You deserve the brownfield toxins you're all breathing in.
But the most offensive thing I find with that neighborhood is the people who have moved there in the last 10 years. They all seem they feel entitled to tell others what that neighborhood is or should be.
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AMEN! This couldn't have been put any more perfectly! Thank you for so beautifully expressing what we are all feeling!
Always reminded me more of the gentrification of Jersey City than Williamsburg.
Any of the times I have been to the long standing bars in the area, they don't seem to be experiencing the influx of people relative to the influx of people in the area in general.
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