Long Island City
Feb 19, 2013

LIC vs Long Island City

(Image via New York Mag) We recently stumbled upon this New York Post article that claims some in Long Island City want the neighborhood name permanently changed to LIC. Officials (…)

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(Image via New York Mag)

We recently stumbled upon this New York Post article that claims some in Long Island City want the neighborhood name permanently changed to LIC.

Officials and business leaders want to change the name of Queens neighborhood Long Island City to the trendier “LIC” — so as not to be confused with Long Island.

“It’s bad for hotels, it’s bad for real estate, and it’s bad for morale,” explained Rob MacKay, head of the Queens Local Development Corp. Tourism Council and a Long Island City resident.

“It puts us out on Long Island, and that’s inaccurate — we are urban and hip.”

 What do you think? LIC or Long Island City?

10 Comments

sharkfeeder

No one really confuses Long Island City with Long Island, and it’s already interchangeably called LIC where the post office is concerned. And it was never confusing to those of us who grew up and continue to live there. This is a scheme by developers and others who have financial interests in the Hunter’s Point waterfront area. They just want an address with more panache in order to attract more interlopers and carpetbaggers, because those of us who remember the good old bad days would never pay a million dollars to live there. I wonder if the new name would extend down to Queensbridge Houses and Ravenswood Houses, which are also part of Long Island City. I suspect not.

Reply
Phillip

I say officially keep it as Long Island City, and if residents want to tell others they live in “LIC” let them. The city needs more money, and re-branding a neighborhood will cost a pretty penny, I imagine. (Changing the Tri-Borough Bridge to the RFK Bridge cost $4 Million, according to the NY Times.)

Harris Graber had a great point too. To echo his points and perhaps dilate the concept a bit….Is the East New York section of Brooklyn confusing too? Do people think it mean the east side of Manhattan?

Reply
JD

In this era of digital maps, people are somehow confused about the location of Long Island City? Keep the full name. “LIC” is just silly. Let’s not become another DUMBO or RAMBO (yes it’s real…a newly developed area of Brooklyn). Or totally rename it to Queens City if people are that confused.

Reply
Jenn

This just opens the door to that abomination of a combo name for LIC and astoria-AsLIC. Ugh. Can we please stop renaming/dumbing down the names of our neighborhoods for the sake of being “trendy” or “hip.” These real estate people need to get over themselves. It’s Long Island City, renaming it to just it’s abbreviation is waaaay the hell more confusing than calling something in Queens Long Island City. What’s next, taking down the gantries that say Long Island on them lest someone think they’re in Nassau county?

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Harris Graber

Long Island City! That’s it’s name. LIC is its abbreviation. It’s on the island of Long Island as is all of Queens and Brooklyn. Let people learn their geography. Don’t support ignorance.

Reply
Donald Kemp

““It puts us out on Long Island, and that’s inaccurate — we are urban and hip.”

Aren’t we technically on Long Island?

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