Long Island City Renter's Guide: Housing and Transit

Renting in Long Island City mostly means renting in a new elevator tower: by city tax-lot data, about two out of three homes in LIC’s ZIP codes are in buildings finished in 2010 or later, and more than half are in buildings 20 floors or taller. That gives you doormen, gyms and in-unit laundry, but also amenity fees, rent-stabilized units that may have an end date, and newer buildings that Good Cause Eviction does not yet cover.

This guide uses the city’s PLUTO tax-lot dataset for ZIP codes 11101 and 11109 to describe the housing, then walks through transit and the checks worth doing before you sign a lease in a new LIC building.

How LIC got its towers

Much of Long Island City’s core was zoned for light manufacturing until two city rezonings opened it to housing:

• 2001, Long Island City core. On July 26, 2001 the City Council adopted the Department of City Planning’s plan to rezone 37 blocks between Court Square and Queens Plaza from light manufacturing to mixed-use districts. The plan was aimed mainly at offices: City Planning’s scenario projected about 5 million square feet of office space and only about 300 housing units.
• 2004, Hunters Point Subdistrict. City Planning started public review of a rezoning of about 43 blocks of Hunters Point on February 9, 2004, and the City Council approved it that August. It allowed new homes at moderately higher densities on wide streets near transit while keeping the three- and four-story scale of the midblocks.

Most of the large towers came later, along the waterfront and around Court Square. The tax-lot data shows the wave clearly: almost nothing was built between 1940 and 1999 (about 3% of today’s units), and most of what stands now went up after 2010.

Read the table as a rough timeline, not an exact count. PLUTO records one year built per tax lot, condo buildings are grouped under one billing lot, and the newest buildings can take a year or two to appear.

What the housing stock looks like

By share of residential units in the two ZIP codes:

• Elevator apartment buildings: 58.5%. Mostly the post-2010 rental towers.
• Condominiums: about 29%. Some condo owners rent their units out, so you may see condo listings.
• Walk-up apartment buildings: 7.8%. Older low-rise buildings on the side streets.
• One- to three-family houses: 3.0%. Rowhouses on the side streets, including the Hunters Point Historic District (designated in 1968).

ZIP 11101 covers more than the new towers. It also takes in older blocks inland, which is why about a fifth of units date from before 1940. NYC Housing Authority owns 3,149 of those units, on lots built in 1939.

Getting around

LIC is one or two stops from Midtown on several lines. Daytime routes below are from the MTA’s station data; service patterns change, so check the MTA before you count on a line.

• Long Island Rail Road: two LIRR stations in the City Terminal Zone, Long Island City and Hunterspoint Avenue. The MTA lists Hunterspoint Avenue as not accessible; Long Island City is accessible. Check LIRR timetables before relying on them for a daily commute.
• NYC Ferry: the East River route stops at Hunter’s Point South, and the Astoria route stops at Long Island City. Both run to East 34th Street and Wall Street/Pier 11.
• Parks: Hunter’s Point South Park (about 22.8 acres) and Queensbridge Park (about 20.9 acres) are city parks on the waterfront.

Before you sign in a new LIC building

1. 1

   Ask whether the unit is rent stabilized because of 421-a

   Many towers built with the 421-a tax break have stabilized units. HPD says the lease must then include a rider explaining this and giving the approximate date the 421-a benefits end. Ask for the rider and read the date.
2. 2

   Know which kind of 421-a unit it is

   HPD says income-restricted (affordable) 421-a units in buildings started from July 2008 on must stay affordable and stabilized for at least 35 years from completion. In buildings started before 2016, market-rate units can leave stabilization at the first renewal after the benefit expires, but only if every lease carried a notice giving the approximate date. Under the newer 421-a(16) program, market-rate units are stabilized only if their rent starts below the decontrol threshold.
3. 3

   Check whether Good Cause Eviction covers you

   HPD says homes built on or after January 1, 2009 are exempt from Good Cause Eviction until 30 years after their certificate of occupancy was issued. For a tower that got its CO in 2015, that means no Good Cause rent cap or renewal right until about 2045. Stabilized units are exempt because rent stabilization already protects them.
4. 4

   Get every fee in writing

   Under the FARE Act, all fees a tenant must pay have to be disclosed clearly in the listing, and the landlord or agent must give you an itemized written list of fees, which you sign before the lease. Ask whether gym, roof or package-room fees are mandatory and whether they can rise at renewal.
5. 5

   Compare gross rent, not the advertised one

   New LIC buildings often advertise net effective rent after free months. Your renewal will usually be based on the full lease rent.
6. 6

   Look up the building

   Search the address on Roofy to see HPD and DOB violations, complaints and the owner. A new building with a temporary certificate of occupancy or open elevator violations is worth asking about.

Older walk-ups and rowhouses

If you rent in one of LIC’s older buildings, the checks are different. A walk-up with six or more units built before 1974 may have rent-stabilized apartments (see the step-by-step test). In a two- or three-family rowhouse, ask whether you are renting a legal unit: the HPD and DOB records on the building page and the certificate of occupancy show how many apartments the building is allowed to have.

Common questions

Is LIC rent stabilized?

Some of it. The newest market-rate units often are not, and units that are stabilized only because of 421-a can have an end date written into the lease rider. Request your rent history from New York State Homes and Community Renewal if you are unsure.

Do I pay a broker fee in LIC?

Not if the landlord hired the broker. Since June 11, 2025 the party who hires the broker pays. Use the broker fee checker if a fee shows up.

How much should I budget?

Run the rent affordability calculator and the move-in cost calculator, and convert any concession with the net effective rent calculator.

Ready to look? Browse rentals on Roofy or look up any LIC building.