In the early 21st century, Long Island City became known for its rapid and ongoing residential growth and gentrification, its waterfront parks, and its thriving arts community.

[3] Long Island City is the eastern terminus of the Queensboro Bridge, the only non-tolled automotive route connecting Queens and Manhattan.

[11] In the 1880s, Mayor De Bevoise nearly bankrupted the Long Island City government by embezzlement, of which he was convicted.

[29][30] A resident of nearby Woodside proposed establishing a Japantown in Long Island City in 2006, though this did not occur.

[32] In addition to the Hunters Point Historic District and Queensboro Bridge, the 45th Road – Court House Square Station (Dual System IRT), Long Island City Courthouse Complex, and United States Post Office are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[39] Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of the combined Queensbridge-Ravenswood-Long Island City neighborhood was 20,030, a decrease of 1,074 (5.1%) from the 21,104 counted in 2000.

Exceptionally however, the growing Asian population in NYCHA's Queensbridge Houses section of Long Island City at 11% are mostly from immigrant working-class backgrounds and largely have limited English skills, which has presented issues when residents are unable to find interpreters to communicate with NYCHA.

New York City Council member Julie Won, who represents the neighborhood, has spoken about the need for outreach to the area's Asian residents and businesses.

Other buildings on the campus originally served as the location of the Ford Instrument Company, which was at one time a major producer of precision machines and devices.

The Standard Motor Products headquarters, a manufacturing site producing items like distributor caps, was once located in the industrial neighborhood of Long Island City until purchased by Acuman Partners in 2008 for $40 million.

The Standard Motor Products Building was put on the market by Acuman in 2014 and acquired by RXR Realty, LLC for $110 million.

The former factory built in 1919 now houses the Jim Henson Company, Society Awards, and a commercial rooftop farm run by Brooklyn Grange.

[58] Yet another skyscraper, the 755-foot (230 m) tower named Sven, completed construction at Queens Plaza and became the third tallest building in the borough.

[66][67] Eagle Electric, now known as Cooper Wiring Devices, was one of the last major factories in the area, before it moved to China; Plant No.

Lucky numbers included on fortunes in the company's cookies led to 110 people across the United States winning $100,000 each in a May 2005 drawing for Powerball.

[73] Other companies headquartered in Long Island City include independent film studio Troma and Standard Motor Products.

In spring 2010, JetBlue Airways announced it was moving its headquarters from Forest Hills to Long Island City, also incorporating the jobs from its Darien, Connecticut, office.

[76] In November 2018, news media claimed that Amazon.com was in final talks with the government of New York State to construct one of two campuses for its proposed Amazon HQ2 at Queens West in Long Island City.

[79] In 1870, the villages of Astoria, Ravenswood, Hunters Point, Dutch Kills, Middletown, Sunnyside, Blissville, and Bowery Bay were incorporated into Long Island City.

[80] Dutch Kills was a hamlet, named for its navigable tributary of Newtown Creek, that occupied what today is Queens Plaza.

Dutch Kills was an important road hub during the American Revolutionary War, and the site of a British Army garrison from 1776 to 1783.

[80][81] Blissville, which has the ZIP Code 11101, is a neighborhood within Long Island City, located at 40°44′4.87″N 73°56′9.81″W / 40.7346861°N 73.9360583°W / 40.7346861; -73.9360583[82] and bordered by Calvary Cemetery to the east; the Long Island Expressway to the north; Newtown Creek to the south; and Dutch Kills, a tributary of Newtown Creek, to the west.

[33] The modern Queens West and Hunter's Point South developments are located on the East River waterfront.

Woodside, Sunnyside, and Long Island City are patrolled by the 108th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 5-47 50th Avenue.

[44]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, is 0.0078 milligrams per cubic metre (7.8×10−9 oz/cu ft) in northern Long Island City and 0.0093 milligrams per cubic metre (9.3×10−9 oz/cu ft) in southern Long Island City.

[146][147] The branch cost $40 million to construct because the site had to undergo pollution remediation, since it was previously used by a factory that processed asphalt and other bituminous products.

[148] The Hunters Point Library includes over 50,000 books with Spanish and Chinese language collections, as well as an environmental education center, a section for young children, and a teenagers' space equipped with a video game area.

[173] On May 1, 2017, that route became part of the NYC Ferry's East River route, which runs between Pier 11/Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District and the East 34th Street Ferry Landing in Murray Hill, Manhattan, with five intermediate stops in Brooklyn and Queens.

[177] There are plans to build the Brooklyn–Queens Connector (BQX), a light rail system that would run along the waterfront from Red Hook in Brooklyn through Long Island City to Astoria.

Seven Major League Baseball players were born in Long Island City (LIC), and two have died there: People raised in the Queensbridge Houses include hip-hop producer Marley Marl, and rappers MC Shan, Mobb Deep, Nas, and Roxanne Shante.