What's the deal with crime in LIC?

On my culture hunt down 40th Ave near Fortune, I spoke to two different men about their opinions on the neighborhood. Their responses were such polar opposites that I wondered who was closer to the ‘truth’ about the safety of the area.

The first man I spoke to was working at an engineering/construction firm. He said the neighborhood was
“dangerous. It’s a commercial area. It’s hard to find parking. There are a lot of break-ins at night. Did I mention it’s hard to find parking?” By his tone of voice, I could tell that this neighborhood was not a place where he would be come nightfall.











Next, I spoke to an employee at the Verve Hotel down the street. His opinion of the area was quite different:

“It’s nice. It’s pretty safe. We get a lot of guests that worry because it looks kind of scary, but it’s safe here at night. I go to the restaurants in the area, we just ordered in. I do my shopping here. Sometimes I buy groceries here on the way home. I live in Astoria. I refer people to Astoria. When you work in a community, you get a good idea of the immediate area.”

So, which is it? Is 40th Ave a safe place to guide hotel-goers for a bite to eat at night, or someplace to avoid?

I consulted some outside sources to get a bigger picture on crime in Long Island City. First, I looked at a recent article from the Queens Gazette, where Police Precinct Commander Deputy Inspector Paul Vorbeck tells the Community Board 1 cabinet that there has been a decrease in crime in Long Island City in 2008. 1 Even though Vorbeck professes "I'm confident the best is yet to come" in terms of crime reduction, there are still issues in the neighborhood. For example, his detectives still haven’t located a male perpetrator of a street rape that they started looking for October 20th. Burglaries were up 17%, even though total crime occurrences declined by 10%. Grand larceny did decline by 19%, and there have been improvements in addressing domestic violence in the community as well. The Family Justice Center of Queens was established by the Mayor to combat domestic violence.

Despite those (partly) positive statistics, I was still unsure about the safety of the neighborhood. When I visited, it was very unclean, with trash and broken glass everywhere. Additionally, there were a number of open lots under construction, showing that the neighborhood is in flux.

An article from Outlook Magazine helped me make a connection between the neighborhood construction and perceptions of crime. In “Staying Alive; The Region Holds its Ground While NYC Surges Ahead”, Diane Greer gives a general overview about the rampant development in New York City. 2 She states “factors sited for fueling residential growth include strong demand, a healthy economy, and successful efforts by the city to keep crime in check and improve the quality of life.” It’s possible that some of these construction efforts were approved to go along with the Deputy Inspector’s story of crime reduction. But if crime reduction is linked to new condos and shiny hotels, what happens when the city runs out of money to complete those projects? We’re about to find out.

1.Cogan, Thomas. “Astoria-LIC Crime Declines, Vorbeck Tells Bd. 1 Cabinet.” The Queens Gazette. February 18th, 2009. Features.

2.Greer, Diane. “Staying Alive; The Region Holds its Ground While NYC Surges Ahead.” Outlook, January 1, 2008. Pg. 23 Vol. 55 No. 7