The Long Island City area was home to Algonquin-speaking Native Americans who navigated the East River by canoe and whose trails would later become roads like 20th Street in Astoria. In the 1640s Dutch colonists, part of the New Netherlands colony, settled in the area to farm the land. William Hallet, Sr, received a land grant in 1652 and purchased land from Native Americans in what is now Astoria. He is the namesake of Hallet's Cove and Hallet's Point, the promontory jetting out into the East River. Farming was the predominant industry until the 19th century.
 
  In the early 1800s rich New Yorkers came to the area and built mansions in the Astoria area. Stephen Halsey developed the area as a village, and named it Astoria, in honor of John Jacob Astor. In 1870 the villages and hamlets of Astoria, Ravenswood, Hunters Point, Steinway, voted to consolidate and become chartered as Long Island City. In 1898, Long Island City became an official part of New York City, as NYC expanded its borders to include what is now Queens.

Regular ferry service to Manhattan began in the 1800s, and expanded in 1861 when the LIRR opened up its main terminal in Hunters Point. The transportation links spurred commercial and industrial development, and soon factories lined the East River waterfront.

  In the early 20th century, Long Island City became even more accessible with the opening of the Queensboro Bridge (1909), the Hellgate Bridge (1916), and the subway tunnels, encouraging further industrial growth, defining the area for the rest of the century.

 By the 1970s, the decline of manufacturing in the United States was evident in Long Island City. Although Long Island City still remains a major industrial area in NYC, LIC's recent genesis as an artistic and cultural center started in 1970 with the opening of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in a former public school. This artistic infusion continued as more artists established themselves in the area.
 This influx of artists and art institutions has brought more residents and businesses into the area as indicated by Citibank's tower built in the 1980's and high rise residential towers

  Long Island City was once home to many factories and bakeries, some of which are finding new uses. The former Silvercup bakery is now home to Silvercup Studios, which produces notable film and television works such as HBO's The Sopranos. The Silvercup sign is visible from the 7 and N Trains going into and out of Queensboro Plaza. The former Sunshine Bakery is now one of the buildings housing LaGuardia Community College. Other buildings in the LaGuardia College complex originally served as the location of the Ford Instrument Company, at one time a major producer of precision machines and devices. High-rise housing is being built on a former Pepsi-Cola site, and from June 2002 to September 2004 the former Swingline Staplers plant was the temporary headquarters of the Museum of Modern Art. Other factories included Fisher Electronics and Chiclets Gum.

 
Gantry Park in Hunter's Point was used as background for the final scenes of Steven Spielberg's film Munich and The Interpreter (starring Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman). An opening scene in Spiderman 2 (2006) was also filmed in Gantry Park. Long Island City was featured more prominently in the 1997 film, Sunday, with David Suchet and Lisa Harrow, which was filmed on location. Long Island City is also the new home of independent film studio Troma Films.