By Bill Parry
The 29th annual Long Island City Partnership business-to-business Trade Show and Luncheon drew more than 1,000 visitors to the Astoria Manor last week where more than 100 businesses took part. The event showcases businesses ranging from services and real estate, to hotels, health care and catering.
Exhibitors included a cross-section of Long Island City’s diverse community, including Bartleby & Sage, which has transitioned from a brick and mortar restaurant to an online catering company; Green Mountain Graphics; MoMA PS 1; Rosenwach Tank; RCN and the Z Hotel.
“LIC’s diverse business landscape — industrial, commercial, tech, cultural, tourism and residential sectors — is a microcosm of New York City,” LIC Partnership President Elizabeth Lusskin said. “The partnership is also excited to honor Werwaiss & Co. and Mount Sinai Queens for their pivotal roles in LIC’s renaissance and the health of our community.”
During the luncheon, which was attended by more than 350 guests, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Daniel Huttenlocher, the founding dean of Cornell Tech. The first phase of the Cornell Tech campus will be completed next summer and a new ferry stop will open on Roosevelt Island and provide a direct connection between the campus and LIC.
“Long Island City and western Queens are integral to the NYC tech ecosystem and we can’t wait for our new campus to help bolster and accelerate that community when it opens next year,” Huttenlocher said. “To be successful we need to be surrounded by a community of not only startups, but diverse business and local groups across sectors, and with the partnership’s leadership that community is blossoming here in Long Island City.”
Werwaiss & Co., a fourth-generation family-owned real estate concern based in Manhattan with commercial, industrial and retail properties in LIC, was also honored during the luncheon. Its redevelopment of the Lion Match Building has attracted marquee office tenants, while the repositioning of a former factory adjacent to Kaufman Astoria Studios has grown retail options in the neighborhood.
“The recent changes in Long Island City demonstrate what our family has long known: Long Island City is an ideally located, transportation-rich, mixed-use neighborhood and community,” Gretchen Werwaiss, a partner in the firm said. “We are excited to be a part of its successes and we are grateful to the LIC Partnership’s staff and members for all of their efforts in achieving them.”
The William D. Modell Community Service Award was presented to Mount Sinai Queens. The hospital’s recent multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion allows it to better serve the growing communities of Astoria and Long Island City and significantly expand its medical and surgical capacity.
“Having access to first-class health care is our commitment to helping make Long Island City and the Borough of Queens the best it can be,” Mount Sinai Queens Executive Director Caryn Schwab said. “With our new facilities, talented physicians, nurses and other staff, the residents of Queens can get great care right here in Queens.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
