December 10, 2006
Neighborhood Smackdown: Long Island City Vs. Williamsburg
It was inevitable. The NY Times City section has a little feature about the Long Island City vs. Williamsburg as better place to live debate that emerged on the Queens West discussion board last month.
You can see a graphic pitting the different neighborhood's charms/cornerstones of gentrification, like upscale pizza joint/French restaurant/pet boutique/etc against each other, and by the looks of it, Williamsburg wins since there's no trendy boutique in Long Island City. Or maybe LIC wins because of the absence. Since Williamsburg residents don't know about Queens, much less the Queens West discussion board, Free Williamsburg's Robert Lanham (also author of "The Hipster Handbook") tells the Times, "I just feel like the tumbleweeds are blowing through whenever I walk through Long Island City."
At this point, like it or not, we'd have to say that Williamsburg is the benchmark for hipster cool, if only because there's better downtown accessibility and much more to criticize. But Billyburg is much closer to being "over," because LIC wasn't even on New York magazine's chart of hot neighborhoods! We can't wait for the SoBro vs. Jersey City as cool place to live debate in about 20 years.
And earlier this year, the debate was Williamburg hispters vs. Park Slope yuppies.
Photograph of couple walking in Long Island City by Bluejake
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What about subdivison?
http://subboutique.com/ ?
Just comparing restaurants, LIC beats Williamsburg hands down. Tournesol, Bella Villa, Cafe Henri and Manducatis are far better than anything in Williamsburg, save perhaps Luger. On the other notes, it's much more debatable, but ask any chowhounder, LIC takes the culinary crown.
If I could live in either rent-free, I'd decline.
But I have to say as a woman I don't think I'd feel comfortable coming home by myself late at night in LIC. At least in Williamsburg there is usually a lot of people around, LIC late at night is a ghost town. And say what you want about the L but 7 minutes to Union Square is a hell of a lot better than 30. Of course I work near there which is why I live in Williamsburg in the first place.
There is more than enough to lament in Williamsburg, but at least there is SOMETHING there. Most of LIC feels like a barren waste land. Perhaps I am missing certain populated pockets, but I find very little draw to the neighborhood other than the occasional trip to PS1.
Williamsburg kicks the shit out of LIC! Our Arugula is ten times more potent.
Can't make LIC-Williamsburg. I'll be at Flushing vs. Bayside.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Where are LIC and Williamsburg?
Are we talking about New Jersey?
A contest between LIC and Williamsburg: It's like watching the Special Olympics.
Greenpoint is where it's at.
Williamsburg's got some nice Italian and Polish restaurants, but that's the nicer part of the neighborhood where the original residents never really left.
Bushwick, obvs.
Astoria, bitches!
Astoria beats out either of those two hellholes
Jersey City #1
LIC is really ruined as a neighborhood by the LIRR railtracks. It divides the place, makes it difficult to navigate, and contributes to that strange deserted look. Also, gentrification there seems to have skipped the squatting artist/ bohemian phase and gone straight into the cute restaurants and condos for yuppies phase.
Williamsburg has been ruined, but at one time it was a pretty cool place. LIC doesn't even have the past going for it.
lets set the record straight here: there is a cool boutique in LIC, its called subdivision. second, LIC has been undergoiong the squattng artist phase... there is tons of community art space, free galleries and industrial workshops that display artistic works... and, we have no Starbucks! if that's not the definition of cool, i don't know what is.