Deitch Studios

Photograph: Dave Sanders

A short walk on 41st Avenue away from the subway station—and the looming Citigroup Center—brings you to Vernon Avenue and the heart of Long Island City. Here, a smattering of modern restaurants and eclectic boutiques join local stalwarts in catering to the influx of middle-class professionals drawn by reasonable rents and the quick trip to midtown.

When I arrive, though, I’m pulled in by the sight of a smiling lady sweeping the threshold of colorful Astoria Florists, Ltd. (44-64 21st St at 44th Dr, Long Island City, Queens; 718-786-3062). Owner Tina Scarles points me west, recommending Water’s Edge (44th Dr at the East River; 718-482-0033, watersedgenyc.com). “It’s a beautiful spot,” she proudly declares. For 28 years, the romantic seafood restaurant has been the go-to place for marriage proposals, averaging four knee-drops a week; Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley had their wedding here—and you can’t blame the picturesque setting for their divorce.

Water’s Edge owner Marika Somerstein suggests well-known cultural institutions nearby—P.S.1, the Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park—but the gallery “for avant-garde artists” in the crazily illustrated building next door is too intriguing to pass over. The first show to be featured at Deitch Studios (4-40 44th Dr at the riverfront, deitch.com), an outpost of Deitch Projects that opened in May, is an explosion of larger-than-life sculptures, neon-light installations and miscellany from Assume Vivid Astro Focus, a collaborative artists group. In conjunction with P.S.1’s Warm Up series, Deitch Studios is hosting simultaneous dance parties among its colorful works.

Communitea

Photograph: Dave Sanders

Gallery assistant Gabby Shaw is well acquainted with the ’hood’s best venues for alcohol and caffeine, and I bump into her again at her suggested spot, Communitea (47-02 Vernon Blvd at 47th Ave, 718-729-7708). Locally roasted coffee satisfies the denizens here, but the afternoon tea service—a decadent three-tiered mini meal of sandwiches, scones, pastries and tea for two—makes the café a destination for farther-flung biscuit eaters, and, of course, Gossip Girl fans.

“There are unexpected pleasures in LIC,” says Communitea owner Kafia Saxe. “Restaurants with backyard patios, a shop with Czech items, an Italian food market and a boutique featuring local artists.” To be sure, her recommendation for shopping, Subdivision Art (48-18 Vernon Blvd at 48th Ave; 718-482-1899, subdivisionart.com), features clothing from mostly New York–based designers, as well as a gallery of works by local artists.

Next stop: LIC Bar (45-58 Vernon Blvd at 45th Rd; 718-786-5400, longislandcitybar.com), an old-timey spot talked up by the florist, the gallery assistant, the barista and the native son of two restaurateurs. It reopened in 2002 after a 40-year break, and now locals, office workers and nearby Silvercup Studio crews line the original wood bar or drink out back on the patio. Come on Sunday afternoons for a neighborly BBQ with live music, hamburgers and hot dogs; on any other day, bartender Daniella Zabojova encourages patrons to order delivery from family-owned Italian restaurant Bella Via (47-46 Vernon Blvd at 47th Rd; 718-361-7510, bellaviarestaurant.com). “Best in America,” she says of the coal-fired brick-oven pizza. “And I’ll let you eat it here.”

NEXT STOP: 7 to 61st St–Woodside