Living in Long Island City: rent, commute and grades

Queens · Updated October 2026

Midtown skyline from the Gantry Plaza State Park pier, Long Island City.
Historic gantry at Gantry Plaza State Park with the skyline, Long Island City.
Boardwalk and benches facing the Midtown skyline at Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City.
East River and the Midtown skyline from Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City.
Gantry Plaza gantries and towers on the Long Island City waterfront.
Photo credits

This guide also covers Hunters Point, which shares Long Island City’s official city boundaries.

Rent in Long Island City

$3,249 a month

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

Long Island City is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in Long Island City
AOverall

Long Island City graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

  • B+Walkability

    The average home has 5 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 270 places to eat or shop.

    Residents: You can walk or run to most places. Resident, Mar 2026

    City data alone would give A-; what residents say in 6 Reddit threads moves it to B+.

  • BFood and shopping

    Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 97 places to eat, 30 kinds of cuisine, 3.4 large grocery stores and 157 open storefronts.

    Residents: Options for everyday needs like groceries have grown a lot since before COVID. Former resident, Dec 2025

    City data alone would give B+; what residents say in 10 Reddit threads moves it to B.

  • CParks and green space

    99% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 33 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 334 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

    Residents: A huge waterfront park with skyline views sits right outside the Hunters Point towers. New resident, Dec 2025

    City data alone would give D; what residents say in 11 Reddit threads moves it to C.

People

  • A+Community

    52% of households moved in since 2018, 18% are roommates sharing a home, 39% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 66 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: Near the waterfront it feels like a family neighborhood with kids, and families there build a close community. Former resident, Jun 2025

    City data and 6 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

  • BNightlife

    About 51 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: In Hunters Point South you have to travel to do anything fun. Hunters Point South resident, Jul 2024

    City data alone would give A-; what residents say in 9 Reddit threads moves it to B.

Home and safety

  • CSafety

    7.4 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (225 in all).

    Residents: Feels like it is going downhill and is no longer safe. Resident of 4 years, Jul 2024

    City data alone would give C-; what residents say in 6 Reddit threads moves it to C.

  • C+Quiet

    46 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.

    Residents: A quieter life than Downtown Brooklyn. Resident, Feb 2025

    City data alone would give C; what residents say in 9 Reddit threads moves it to C+.

  • A+Building upkeep

    2.7 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 1.7 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.

    Residents: New condo buildings offer spacious units with strong amenities. Resident of one year, Dec 2025

    City data and 6 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

Who lives there

  • Recent grads and young professionals
  • Lots of roommates

What residents say

Residents like

Residents don’t like

Show 24 moreShow less

Safety

Community

Food and shopping

Nightlife

Walkability

Quiet

Parks and green space

Building upkeep

Getting around from Long Island City

Map of New York City neighborhoods shaded by travel time by subway or bus from Long Island City
By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourLong Island City
  • 21 St G
  • Court Sq 7EFG
  • Hunters Point Av 7
  • Queensboro Plaza 7NW
  • Vernon Blvd-Jackson Av 7

Residents: The 7 train and the ferries make getting around easy. Resident, Feb 2025

Residents: Hunters Point is about 10 minutes from Manhattan. Hunters Point resident, parent, Mar 2026

What to know about Long Island City

  • Long Island City is a former manufacturing hub that NYC Tourism now calls Queens' artistic epicenter, with a lively nightlife scene, restaurants and contemporary art museums. Gantry Plaza State Park and Hunters Point South Park line its East River waterfront. Source
  • MoMA PS1, at 22-25 Jackson Avenue, is one of the oldest and largest nonprofit contemporary art institutions in the United States, known for showing emerging artists and new work. Source
  • Hunters Point South, a formerly industrial 30-acre stretch of the East River waterfront, is being rebuilt under a 2008 city plan for about 5,000 new homes, about 3,000 of them affordable and income-restricted. By June 2025 the plan had already created over 3,000 homes and two schools. Source
  • Hunter's Point South Park is an 11-acre park along the East River and Newtown Creek waterfront, with a central green space, playgrounds, sports facilities, a dog run and a pavilion with restrooms and concessions. Source
  • Jackson Avenue, a 100-foot-wide street running southwest from Queens Plaza into Hunters Point, is the area's main spine, mixing three- and four-story walk-ups, many with terra-cotta detail, with 8- to 12-story new apartment buildings over ground-floor shops. Source
  • The Hunters Point Historic District, designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1968, covers 45th Avenue between 21st and 23rd streets, a block chosen for its uniform rows of houses from the Civil War to the turn of the century. Source

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Sources

Facts about Long Island City:

Data behind the grades: