Long Island City

by Greater Astoria Historical Society, Matt LaRose, Stephen Leone, Richard Melnick

Overview

Between the 1890s and the 1930s, new bridges and trains made access to Long Island City quicker and easier than ever before. The community grew as people and industry moved into the neighborhood. These changes were captured in postcard images that served as an inexpensive, mass-produced means of communication. Long Island City features hundreds of postcards that provide a unique chronicle of Long Island City and its communities, including Old Astoria Village, Steinway, Ravenswood, Dutch Kills, Hunters Point, and Blissville/Sunnyside. This book offers a rare glimpse into the soul of a once and future city of promise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738555430
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	12/05/2007
Series:	Postcard History Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

The Greater Astoria Historical Society, author of Long Island City and The East River and coauthor of The Queensboro Bridge, is known for its vigorous efforts in community preservation, imaginative programming, and numerous articles on local history. It is the historical society for Long Island City, a once independent city that has retained its unique identity within the metropolis of Greater New York.

Editorial Reviews

Title: 'Long Island City' tells a story

Author: Pam Robinson

Publisher: Long Island Literature Examiner

Date: 1/14/2010



Before the Great Consolidation that unified the parts of New York City, several villages and cities operated independently. One of the more vibrant communities is featured in "Long Island City," part of the Postcard History Series from Arcadia Publishing.



Home to the eastern terminus of the 59th Street Bridge, Long Island City has long held an industrial feel. But there's much more to the area. What the Greater Astoria Historical Society has done in this book is preserve and show dozens of picture postcards dating back to about 1905 that capture images of the life, natural environment and people of the community. Along with many cards showing the schools, churches, firehouses and commercial buildings of the area, we also see those showing the trolley cars of the famous Steinway piano company, farms, aerial views of the Triborough Bridge, the el in Astoria, a sanitarium that specialized in treating alcohol and other drug addiction and many more.



One particularly interesting photo shows people standing at the edge of "New York Municipal Airport/La Guardia Field" as planes taxi nearby, an eye-catching difference from the wretched condition of airports these days. The caption notes that children in the 1950s were able to bicycle up to the parked planes and get cookies from the crew.



Long Island City often feels like a place to pass through quickly on the way home to Nassau or Suffolk County but what this book succeeds in doing is pointing out the distinct sense of community LIC has by telling its history.



This particular book is packed with black and white photos, in a serious effort to show life in earlier years and how the area has both remained the same and changed over the decades. It's quite a contribution and a help to those who want to learn more about the community. Authors are Matt LaRose, Stephen Leone and Richard Melnick.

From the Publisher