waterfrontart

Long Island City: the waterfront and the art

The restored gantries, the PEPSI-COLA sign, and the whole Manhattan skyline straight across the river.

Photo: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Drafted by Claude — the editor hasn’t walked this one yet. We’ll update this notice once it’s been verified on the ground.

Distance

3.5 km

Time

~ 80 min

Difficulty

Easy

Start

Vernon Blvd–Jackson Av (7)

End

Court Sq (E/M/G)

Best at

evening

Right now

21°C· Clear

Open in Maps for turn-by-turn, or take it offline as GPX.

Long Island City is the closest Queens gets to Manhattan, and it has the best seat in the house: the whole Midtown skyline, straight across the East River, with nothing in the way. Three and a half kilometres from the water back to the trains, with the art that's quietly filled the old factories along the way.

Start at Gantry Plaza State Park, where the East River pulls right up to your feet and the black loading gantries — kept, repainted, lit — frame the view across to Midtown. Walk the railing north to the PEPSI-COLA sign, the red neon survivor of the bottling plant that used to stand behind it. The NYC Ferry pulls in along here; ride it later if you want the harbour. Then turn inland to where 5 Pointz used to be — the graffiti warehouse, whitewashed overnight and gone now, a glass tower in its place. MoMA PS1 is the payoff: contemporary art in an old schoolhouse, radiators and all.

End at Court Square, under the blue-green Citigroup tower, with three subway lines underneath. Do it towards evening, when the skyline you walked in on switches its lights on.

The route

On the map.

A soft dashed line, numbered stops. It’s a suggestion, not a turn-by-turn.

Elevation

↑ 19 m·↓ 20 m·3–11 m ASL

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

01
1
Gantry Plaza State Park
Start at the water. The black gantries that once loaded rail barges still stand at the river's edge, and across the East River the whole of Midtown lines itself up for you. Come towards sundown and the lights do the work.
01
Gantry Plaza State Park
Start at the water. The black gantries that once loaded rail barges still stand at the river's edge, and across the East River the whole of Midtown lines itself up for you. Come towards sundown and the lights do the work.
02
2
The PEPSI-COLA sign
Walk north along the railing to the old red neon sign, kept and landmarked when the bottling plant behind it came down. It's the one thing in this view older than the towers, and it still lights up at night.
02
The PEPSI-COLA sign
Walk north along the railing to the old red neon sign, kept and landmarked when the bottling plant behind it came down. It's the one thing in this view older than the towers, and it still lights up at night.
03
3
The NYC Ferry pier
The ferry stops here on the East River route. You don't have to take it, but it's a transit line in its own right — a cheap way to ride the harbour back to Midtown or down to Wall Street if you'd rather end on the water.
03
The NYC Ferry pier
The ferry stops here on the East River route. You don't have to take it, but it's a transit line in its own right — a cheap way to ride the harbour back to Midtown or down to Wall Street if you'd rather end on the water.
04
4
5 Pointz
Inland to the corner where the great graffiti warehouse stood until it was whitewashed overnight in 2013 and later demolished. A glass tower holds the spot now. Worth knowing what was here, even with nothing left to see.
04
5 Pointz
Inland to the corner where the great graffiti warehouse stood until it was whitewashed overnight in 2013 and later demolished. A glass tower holds the spot now. Worth knowing what was here, even with nothing left to see.
05
5
MoMA PS1
The contemporary wing of MoMA, in an old public school building with the radiators left in. Heavier and stranger than the Midtown branch; the summer courtyard parties are the thing people come back for.
05
MoMA PS1
The contemporary wing of MoMA, in an old public school building with the radiators left in. Heavier and stranger than the Midtown branch; the summer courtyard parties are the thing people come back for.
06
6
Court Square
End under the Citigroup tower — the tall blue-green one you've been using to navigate all afternoon. The E, M and G trains are here; the 7 is a block back if you want the elevated ride west.
06
Court Square
End under the Citigroup tower — the tall blue-green one you've been using to navigate all afternoon. The E, M and G trains are here; the 7 is a block back if you want the elevated ride west.

Long Island City: the waterfront and the art

On the map.

Things to notice.

Gantry Plaza State Park

Gantry Plaza State Park

The PEPSI-COLA sign

The PEPSI-COLA sign

The NYC Ferry pier

The NYC Ferry pier

5 Pointz

5 Pointz

MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1

Court Square

Court Square

Two more, on similar days.

Chelsea: the white-box galleries and the river

Hell's Kitchen: Ninth Avenue and the Hudson