Yes, you read that correctly. Long Island City in Queens does not want to be associated with the East End anymore.
Concerned businessmen in the area, most of whom are in the tourism industry, believe that they are losing out-of-town customers who assume that Long Island City is not conveniently located close to Manhattan. The name apparently lures would-be travelers to believe that the locale is either a sleepy suburb or out in the Hamptons.
So: The term Long Island City is leading people to believe that the city is located on Long Island. To remedy the, erm, discrepancy? officials have proposed changing the name of the area to “LIC”, an already popular abbreviation.
In other news, a campaign will soon be launched to let the same out-of-towners know that the city should be pronounced letter-by-letter. Otherwise, it maycome to be known as “lice” or “lick”, though those names are clearly more attractive than the thought of being associated with—gasp!—Long Island.
Share your thoughts and rename Long Island City in our comments below!
No one really confuses Long Island City with Long Island, and it’s already interchangeably called LIC where the post office is concerned. 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. At least not until they chase out the current residents.
Interesting. Thanks for the inside scoop!