From a cruise ship to NYC.

Just got woken up by a phone call from DD (only 7am in New Zealand) who with her husband had just driven 9 hours from Columbus Ohio to look at a place to rent in Long Island City. They have signed it up already, it's on 43rd Road LIC. We have googled it on Google Earth looks to be in the middle of an industrial area, but it's a small apartment, attached to a bigger house, ground-floor, with a place to park their van which was one of their main criteria. Only paying $ 925.00 a month including electricity etc.

DD said it's a bit like the place they rented in Wellington New Zealand, (which isn't saying much) but they are happy, about to drive back to Columbus, for a gig tomorrow night..

Not sure if DH and I want to know if this is a safe area or not as it's too late, but just wondered if anyone in Fodors land knows the area and can tell us a bit about it.

I have commuted through the area by car and subway and would agree with the (Hunters Point) neighborhood profile (see Crime and Safety) given in the following (about.com) link:
http://tinyurl.com/yd76awr

Thanks for the link John, I think it will be an okay area for them, as they are on a limited budget being jazz musicians!!

You're welcome <blue>nelsonian<black>,
As mentioned in the lounge, they have great access to Manhattan with a lot of local activity.

That area is mainly industrial and there's one of the city universities close by as well. Especially since they have the van, I would think that they won't have a problem getting in and out and the subway is very close as well to communte into the city.

There are TONS of jazz spots in the city so they should have some good opportunites to play and if you let us know about any gigs, I'd love to go and hear them.

If they have any major problems or questions, I'd be happy to help if I can email me and I'll give you my phone number. g_tweedy@yahoo

The area is quite industrial with warehouses etc - but is not intrinsically dangerous - just very quiet at night. Being musicians they should be aware of their surroundings coming home late at night - but it's not an area with gangs or tons of street crime.

Thanks for the comments, it sounds as though it is a reasonable area for their budget. They won't be back there for another week or so as they have a few gigs in Columbus Ohio to do before they make the move.

Will keep you posted on their gigs travelbuff.

Please note on the other side of the bridge/subway is a housing project that can be tough. Additionally, there is a bus that let's off released prisoners from Riker's Island Detention Centre most mornings right by Queensboro Plaza.

Some idiosyncrasies:

Long Island City is part of Queens. When addressing mail, you can write Long Island City. The other boroughs do not use the "town" names in their addresses. Some of the other areas in Queens include Astoria, Flushing, Bayside, and Jackson heights.

Long Island City is on Long Island. Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island. Staten Island and Manhattan are each islands while the Bronx is atatched to the rest of the United States.

Whoever named the streets in Queens did so with a lack of imgaination. You will see there is a 43rd and 43rd Avenue.

In other parts of Queens there will 211 Street, 211 Road, 211 Avenue.

I have been reading in the Fodors New York book about street naming and house numbering in Queens. Apparently sequentially numbered avenue's are east/west, sequentially numbered streets are north/south and smaller roads between the avenues are numbered the same as the avenue but called roads. Yep I agree the planners didn't have much of an imagination.

Thanks for the information Aduchamp1.

Not to be alarmist, but living in a ground floor apartment can present increased opportunities for theft - and this is true anywhere, not just NYC. LIC is not particularly dangerous, although as others have said, it's a bit desolate at night.

Please advise your DD and SIL to exercise caution and discretion when moving their equipment/instruments in and out of their van. Never leave the van or the apartment unlocked, even for a "minute." Make sure all the windows in the apartment are secured. Purchase renters insurance. If they know any "experienced" NYers, maybe invite them over to consult with about safety concerns!

But it's extremely convenient neighborhood, and up by Queens Blvd it is quite lively - they are also really close to Astoria, which has some good and fun Greek restaurants.

Long Island City has been an industrial area but has been slowly gentrifying. New hotels and apartment buildings have been popping up for the last 5 years and the nywatertaxi.com created a beach area that became a summer destination (water taxi beach) in nice weather. There are some schools and colleges as mentioned, some decorating showrooms and even a museum or two. (Noguchi and Museum of the Moving Image). All that said, some streets/areas are better than others. I "walked" myself on 43 rd. on Google maps and while the photos are often not up to date, I don't see anything that comes close to being a "house".

The movie "Julie & Julia" currently playing in the US features a young couple living in a Long Island City apartment. If it's playing there, it might be fun to see it.

Sorry - didn;t note that this was a ground floor. If so, they need to get gates for each of the windows - otherwise you're just asking fo trouble. If they check out some locksmiths they can get info on gates which are more attractive - and don;t just look like black metal bars.

Mclaurie the place is at 11-01 43rd Road. We have googled it too think we have found it, there is a bigger building/house and then a small place in front of it, which is the one DD and SIL have rented. Everything around them seems to be industrial, ie no other houses, Not sure why this one is there all by itself. It's not the area we would have chosen, but they seem to think it will be okay. We will wait and see.

By the way

There is absolutely fabulous incredibly reasonably priced French Bistro in LIC

Tournesol

http://www.tournesolnyc.com/

Actually, looking at it on Google maps, and looking at all the Tom Cat Bakery trucks parked around there is kind of reassuring. The Bakery will probably be staffed at night, those trucks will be loading up around 4 or 5 in the AM - it's not residential, but it will most likely be fine. And who knows, they could be coming home from late gigs to the lovely smell of bread baking!

Interesting mp. It could be a bit noisy when they are trying to sleep after a gig. That's their problem I guess. They are very excited at the moment I won't burst their bubble.

They are staying about a 5 drive to the up and coming part of LIC, with restaurants including the French restaurant mentioned, luxury apt bldgs, the waters taxi beach as someone mentioned and a "whole foods" type supermarket. Citigroup also has an office building nearby. It is a mixed neighborhood. They also have a farmer's market on Saturdays near by. The area isn't as densely populated as other parts on NYC, but they should be fine. If they are staying on the ground floor, chances are the landlord has already installed the security gates on the windows.

Here's an article from today's NY Times about the area just a few blocks south of their address!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/ny...1&ref=nyregion

Lol, that's the area I tried to describe in my post. Shi is right on the water and has great views of the City.

Thanks for the information, I will check out the article in the NY Times.