We get it, but the term ‘Long Island’ shouldn’t carry this much of a stigma. Because it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
Over the weekend, the Post reported that the powers that be in Queen’s newest “New Williamsburg” are a bit ticked off by the fact that Long Island City . . . is called Long Island City. With more and more business on its way to the up-and-coming tech-centric neighborhood, business owners and officials have complained that the name hints to visitors who are unable to search on Google that Long Island City is nowhere near Manhattan.
Side note: Long Island City is one of the closest neighborhoods to the island fortress.
And, because of this, the municipality is losing money — one hotel owner said 5 percent (give or take) of the hospitality business there is lost to misidentification. So, the proposal: change Long Island City officially to “LIC” — it’s three letters, it’s hip, it’s catchy and, hey, who doesn’t love a good real estate nickname change? ProCro, TriBeCa, DUMBO — why not LIC?
Well, you can’t really change the name of a neighborhood through City Hall. Those aforementioned nicknames are started by hasty brokers and then filtered into the public sphere via Robert De Niro or the way-too-trendy. That means that Long Island City is here to stay; you can call it “LIC” to your clients on the phone. Or just tell them to buy a map before they come.
(Disclaimer: John Surico lives in Brooklyn but hails from Long Island. He’s very sensitive about his location.)
[[email protected]/@JSuricz]
