If you’ve ever taken the 7 train or driven across the 59th Street Bridge, you’ve seen it. That massive, bluish-green obelisk sticking out of the Queens skyline like a thumb that’s both sore and incredibly proud. People call it One Court Square now, but let’s be real. To anyone who lived through the nineties or the early aughts, it’s just the Citigroup building Long Island City. It was the first "real" skyscraper outside of Manhattan. For a long time, it was the only one. It stood there alone for decades, a lonely sentinel of corporate ambition in a neighborhood that was mostly warehouses, taxi repair shops, and gravel yards.
Honestly, the building is a bit of a time capsule.
When it opened in 1989, it wasn't just another office tower. It was a statement of war against Manhattan's skyrocketing rents. Citibank (now Citigroup) decided they didn't need everyone in Midtown. They could jump across the East River. It was a gamble. At 673 feet, it became the tallest building in the state of New York outside of Manhattan, a title it held onto with an iron grip for thirty years until the recent luxury condo boom finally dethroned it.
The Citigroup Building Long Island City: A Monument to Suburban Flight and Urban Returns
The history of this place is kinda weird. Back in the late eighties, the "Greed is Good" era was peaking. Citigroup needed space. They tapped Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—the same heavy hitters who did the Sears Tower and later the Burj Khalifa—to design it. They wanted something that felt like Manhattan but lived in Queens. What they got was a 50-story giant with 1.4 million square feet of office space.
It changed everything.
Suddenly, LIC wasn't just where your car got towed. It was a "back-office" hub. Thousands of workers flooded the Court Square subway station every morning. But here’s the kicker: the building was almost too successful at being its own island. For years, employees would take the E or M train, walk through the underground tunnel directly into the lobby, work their eight hours, and leave without ever stepping foot on a Queens sidewalk. It was a skyscraper in LIC, but it wasn't really of LIC.
What happened to the logo?
You might remember the big, glowing red umbrellas. That iconic Travelers Insurance/Citigroup logo used to be visible from miles away. It was a navigation point for pilots and drunk Brooklynites alike. When Citigroup started downsizing its footprint and eventually sold the building to Savanna in 2011, the branding started to fade. They stayed on as a major tenant, but they weren't the only story anymore. By 2020, those logos were gone. It felt like the end of an era, honestly. The building looked naked.
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The Amazon HQ2 Fiasco and the Pivot to Tech
You can't talk about the Citigroup building Long Island City without mentioning the "Deal of the Century" that turned into a total disaster. In 2018, Amazon announced it was heading to LIC for its second headquarters. The plan? They were going to take over a massive chunk of One Court Square.
Savanna, the landlords, actually started clearing out tenants to make room for Jeff Bezos.
Then, the backlash hit. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and local activists pushed back hard against the subsidies. Amazon blinked. They pulled out. Suddenly, the tallest building in Queens had a giant, gaping hole in its rent roll. It was a crisis. But, in a weird twist of fate, that vacancy allowed the building to modernize. It stopped being just a "bank building" and started courting the tech and design sectors that were already flocking to renovated warehouses nearby.
- The building underwent a massive $85 million renovation.
- They added a 17,000-square-foot retail annex.
- The lobby, which used to feel like a 1990s bank vault, got a glass-heavy face-lift.
- New tenants like Altice USA moved in, taking over the top floors.
The pivot worked. Sorta. It’s still a corporate giant, but it feels less like a fortress now.
Why the Architecture Still Matters (Even if it Looks Dated)
Is it pretty? That’s debatable. Some people love the green glass. Others think it looks like a giant popsicle. But from an engineering standpoint, it was a pioneer. It was built with a steel frame and a curtain wall that was meant to withstand the heavy winds coming off the East River.
The floor plates are huge. We're talking 25,000 to 30,000 square feet. In Manhattan, that kind of horizontal space is hard to find without paying a fortune. That’s why Citigroup stayed so long. You could fit an entire department on one floor. It's efficient. It’s practical. It’s very "banking."
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The View from the 50th Floor
If you ever get the chance to go up there, do it. Because it’s set back from the primary Manhattan skyline, you get this panoramic, wide-angle view of the entire city. You see the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the new "Billionaire's Row" skinny towers all lined up like a trophy shelf. Because the Citigroup building Long Island City sits on a slight rise in the topography of Queens, it feels even taller than it actually is.
The Neighborhood Shift Around Court Square
For thirty years, this tower was the "North Star" of LIC. If you were lost, you looked for the green tower. Now? It’s surrounded.
The skyline has exploded. To the south, you have the Hunter’s Point towers. To the north, the "Queens Plaza" cluster. Buildings like Skyline Tower (the new height champion) and Sven (the curvy one with the LCD clock) have crowded the view. The Citigroup building isn't the lonely giant anymore. It’s the elder statesman.
This shift has changed the building's vibe. It used to be a ghost town after 5:00 PM. Now, there are Michelin-starred restaurants like Casa Enrique just a few blocks away. There are breweries. There are thousands of luxury apartments. The people working in the tower now actually live in the neighborhood. That’s a massive cultural shift from the 1990s commuter culture that birthed the project.
Myths and Misconceptions
People think the building is empty because of the Amazon pull-out. It's not. It's actually quite active. Another myth? That Citigroup owns it. They haven't owned the dirt since the 2000s. They are just a tenant now, albeit a famous one.
There's also this rumor that the building has a secret tunnel to Manhattan. Sadly, no. It has a very public, very crowded tunnel to the G and 7 trains, but nothing "Secret Service" style.
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What to Know if You’re Visiting or Doing Business
If you’re heading there for a meeting or just to check out the architecture, keep a few things in mind. The security is still "post-9/11 bank level." You aren't just wandering into the elevator banks without an invite.
- Transport: Use the Court Square-23rd St station. The E, M, 7, and G all converge right at the base. It is arguably the best-connected building in the entire city outside of Grand Central or Penn Station.
- Food: Skip the lobby cafe. Walk two blocks to Jackson Avenue. The food scene in LIC is currently one of the best in New York.
- The Park: There’s a small park right at the base of the tower. It’s one of the few places in the area with decent shade and seating if you need a breather.
The Future of One Court Square
What happens next? The building is currently leaning into the "hybrid work" era. They are building out more flexible spaces. They are trying to make it a destination, not just a cubicle farm. As Long Island City continues to transform from an industrial zone into a secondary "downtown," the Citigroup building Long Island City will remain its anchor.
It survived the 1990 recession. It survived 2008. It survived the Amazon heartbreak. It’s a survivor.
The tower represents the moment Queens decided it wanted to play in the big leagues. It proved that a major global corporation could thrive outside of the 212 area code. Even if it eventually loses its "Citigroup" name entirely, it will always be the building that started the Queens skyline revolution.
Actionable Takeaways for Real Estate and Business Observers
- Watch the Lease Spreads: Keep an eye on the "Class A" office vacancies in LIC versus Midtown. As Manhattan prices stay high, One Court Square remains the primary "pressure valve" for big firms.
- Infrastructure Matters: The building's success is 100% tied to the MTA. Any upgrades to the 7 or E lines directly impact the valuation of this tower.
- Residential Synergy: If you are looking at LIC real estate, the area around Court Square is the "Goldilocks" zone—it has the commercial stability of the tower and the residential amenities of the newer developments.
- Contextualize the History: When discussing LIC development, always start with 1989. Everything built in the last ten years is a direct descendant of the risk Citigroup took four decades ago.
Don't just look at it as a giant green box. It’s a piece of New York’s economic DNA. It’s the reason LIC is what it is today. Next time you see it from the taxi window, remember that for a long time, it was standing there all by itself, waiting for the rest of the city to catch up.