Part 1: Rufrano, M. (2014). “Domed” and Whited Out: Arts Gentrification and the Negotiation of Public Space in Long Island City, NY. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Part 2: Gentrification, Neighborhoods, Long Island City, displacement, social landscape, industrial, wasteland, public art.

Part 3: Queens, New York continues to be celebrated as one of the most ethnically diverse places in the nation. Historically, Long Island City (LIC), Queens was an industrial neighborhood and LIC’s image as an industrial wasteland has deterred developers from targeting LIC in the past. However, in the 1980’s, the city sought to revitalize LIC through the arts–a global strategy for urban renewal. The Long Island City Cultural Alliance (LICCA) is a key actor in LIC’s development and claims to stray from the art-to-gentrification model of urban growth. However, as new residents are lured to LIC by a variety of arts attractions, long-time residents of the neighborhood have been displaced. One of the spaces supported by LICCA is Socrates Sculpture Park–formerly a landfill that has since been transformed into a thriving, globally acknowledged sculpture park. In contrast, “graffiti mecca” 5POINTZ (unaffiliated with LICCA) has recently been sold to develop luxury housing. Socrates Sculpture Park and 5POINTZ, as public art spaces, influence how a neighborhood thinks of itself–its identity, and as shared landmarks, public art also helps to build a sense of community among residents. As such, it is my purpose to analyze the physical, cultural, and social landscape of LIC in order to showcase forms of inclusion and exclusion in LIC’s public arts spaces. I employ a historical analysis of LIC’s infrastructure as well as ethnographic research of both Socrates Sculpture Park and 5POINTZ.

Part 4: I think this article is very important in helping me narrow my research to Long Island City, NYC. I felt a bit lost on where specifically to zoom in, however, this article helps me focus on long island city. This article comes from the perspective of someone who grew up in LIC when it was an industrial neighborhood. They explain in details how they started seeing the changes in the neighborhood and how the gentrification of LIC occurred. It even explains gentrification in other parts of the world as well as specific places that were gentrified exactly like LIC.

Part 5: “As such, the LICCA and The Design Trust for Public Space have made it their mission to develop postindustrial LIC into an arts destination in order to promote cultural tourism and revitalization.”

“In 1950, Mobil Oil spilled 17 million gallons of petroleum into LIC’s groundwater—the largest oil spill in US history at the time.46 Since the 1950’s, major oil spills have occurred on the land and waters in Florida, Texas, New Orleans, and Alaska to name a few”

“The gentrification of LIC is most similar to that of Gateshead, England in that the
regeneration of these waterfront areas were arts-led, and transforming the neighborhood was planned and initiated by public-private partnerships.”