The boundaries of many NYC neighborhoods are frequently contested, perhaps none more so than Long Island City, Queens. This sprawling area along Queens' western edge is in fact made up of multiple smaller neighborhoods like Hunters Point, Ravenswood and Dutch Kills, with a bit of spillover into Astoria and Sunnyside. Formerly its own bucolic city, LIC became an industrial hub in the 20th century, filled with factories and commercial bakeries. Over the past 15 years, the area has undergone another major transformation into a thriving arts community and now many of those old buildings serve as TV and movie studios, galleries, restaurants and, of course, fancy condos.
While kid-specific businesses are still sparse here, many families are making their home in LIC (just check out the area's lively family Meetup Group Little in the City), and there are plenty of family-friendly attractions worth making a special trip for, including cultural institutions like Socrates Sculpture Park, the Noguchi Museum and MoMA PS1, cool children's classes at Circus Warehouse and LIC Kids, and indoor ice-skating rink City Ice Pavilion. And since the neighborhood is located along the East River, there are several waterfront green spaces, notably Gantry Plaza State Park.
Throughout August we'll be spotlighting our favorite places to eat, play and visit in Long Island City. For the purposes of our posts, our boundaries are the East River to Jackson Avenue from East to West, and 36th to 54th Avenues from North to South, with a few exceptions further North and East (see, we told you no one could agree on LIC's borders!). Yes, everything is a little spread out, but don’t let that stop you from tackling our list of the top 35 things to do with kids in Long Island City, Queens.
Submitted by Jeff on 
