Looking west from 21st Street and 44th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens.[efn_note]Note for people who live elsewhere and for forgetful New Yorkers: there is absolutely no relationship between the numbered street grid in Queens and the numbered street grid in Manhattan. Not geographically, not cartographically, not philosophically.[/efn_note]
In short: the low-rise buildings are in the six blocks of Queens between 21st Street and the East River[efn_note]What? You thought there would be 21 blocks from the start to 21st Street? You don’t know the Queens “grid.”[/efn_note] and the high-rises are all on the other side of the river in Manhattan. Long Island City used to have a lot of small industry[efn_note] The most famous was the Swingline Stapler company.[/efn_note] but that’s mostly gone now, and the area around Court Square (a few blocks east of where I was standing) and Queens Plaza (northeast of where I was) has been heavily gentrified in the last few years. I expect that these buildings will be demolished either in the current boom or the next for more office and apartment towers.
