First things first: Long Island City is NOT–I repeat, NOT–part of Long Island.*

One other detail that we need to get out of the way: You CAN cross the river. Really, you can.

I promise.

It doesn’t hurt and you can go home again. (This point is directed to Manhattanites who swear they’ll melt or turn into some sort of country hick if they cross the East River, and to unsuspecting city visitors they try to corrupt with this odious opinion).

Long Island City, home to CollazoProjects for the past five years, is “is one of the most vibrant areas in Queens and all of New York City,” according to About.com’s John Roleke.

We agree.

Though LIC’s suddenly become the next “IT” neighborhood in NYC, many New Yorkers still haven’t made the trip across the river (we’re one stop from Midtown Manhattan!), which is their loss, really.

Here’s what they’re missing!

*Gantry Park: You won’t find a better place for photos in all of NYC. Gantry has four piers that jut out into the East River and a local development plan has the park extending considerably each year. The gantries, which have been preserved, were lifts that loaded and unloaded cargo brought into LIC back in the days when the area was predominantly industrial. Picnic on the piers or in the nearby grassy area during the day, but be sure to stay for sunset, which is often spectacular. The park is just a few blocks west of the Vernon/Jackson subway station on the 7 line.

*Water Taxi Beach: Personally, I’m not about to sit in traffic for five hours to get to the Hamptons, which in my humble opinion, don’t exactly qualify as ideal beachfront in any case. If I feel like getting sand in my shoes, I’ll take the train to Vernon/Jackson and walk to Water Taxi Beach. Open every day except Tuesday and open til 2 AM on Saturdays, WTB is a fun urban oasis. There’s no swimming, but who cares? There’s food, music, movies, beer, and cool people. Better than riding home in a wet bathing suit anyway.

*Chocolate Factory: The Chocolate Factory doesn’t pump out my favorite sweet temptation, but it does serve forth some seriously good art by emerging creatives in theater, dance, music, multimedia and the visual arts, and the organization is all about community building. For a schedule of events, click here.

*Socrates Sculpture Park: A bit of a stone’s throw from our picks so far, Socrates is worth the detour. A sculpture park located alongside the East River, Socrates is great to visit any time of the year, but especially during the summer, when the park hosts an outdoor film fest in July and August. This is a great alternative to the Bryant Park Film Series, where people sit on top of each other to see cheesy films they don’t really like anyway.

*Steinway Piano Factory: Ok, so the Steinway factory isn’t in LIC, technically speaking, but if you’ve made it over to Socrates, go the extra mile for this fabulous free tour of the famous piano factory. Led by docents from the Greater Astoria Historical Society, the Steinway tour is interesting and… I’ll say it again… free. It’s also incredibly popular, so call a couple weeks in advance to make a reservation.

Hungry?

Visit our favorite neighborhood restaurants: Bella Via, which has been rated by Zagat as one of the top 50 pizzas in the entire city, and Tuk Tuk, a newer restaurant serving Thai food.

*For a concise but comprehensive overview of LIC history, check out this summary provided by the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

Photos: CollazoProjects