This does not really clarify anything, but I thought it was interesting.
This picture of the 36th Avenue subway station is from June, 2000:
http://wanderlic.com/2000/slides/000624_DSC00003.JPGThe sign pointing to the Ditmars-bound track indicates that "Astoria" is thattaway (north), suggesting that in 2000 the MTA did not consider 36th Avenue to be part of Astoria.
Fast forward to January, 2010, and a picture of the exact same spot shows "Astoria" gone from the signage:
http://www.payphone-project.com/news/archives/DSC04666.jpg…indicating, perhaps, that the MTA expanded its definition of Astoria to include 36th Ave., and maybe 39th Ave. as well -- proving nothing, but kinda interesting.
I don't regard anybody's designation of Astoria or LIC as official, be it the MTA, the USPS, or century-old maps. The USPS officially regards anything in the 1110# zip codes as "Long Island City," including a big chunk of what most people would consider Sunnyside. I don't regard their designation as altogether accurate, but I don't let it bother me, either.
As far what
is versus what
was Astoria or LIC, things change, but nostalgia can be fun. When friends and I meet at Gilbey's I like to say "Meet me at The Clover," since that bar was named The Clover for decades, up through the mid-1990s, before it was Gibney's, and then Gilbey's (it was actually "Gibley's" for one day).
If historical precedent was inviolable then some of us would be swimming in Sunswick Beach, swilling beers at the Clover, and getting Slurpees at the House of the Driver (now a 7-11) on Northern Boulevard.
If you ask me, I think we should call this area AsLIC.