EPIDEMIC BREAKS THE CITY: Nearly 70% of LIC Residents Now Living with “The Sweetness”

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS—October 25, 2042 – What began as a creeping health crisis has officially exploded into a civic catastrophe. A devastating new report released late last night confirms that the prevalence of diabetes among adults in Long Island City has reached an unimaginable 67%, confirming fears that this once-thriving waterfront district is now the global epicenter of “The Sweetness” epidemic.

The staggering figure means that for every ten adults encountered on the streets of Court Square or Hunters Point, nearly seven are fighting a daily, losing battle against dangerously elevated blood sugar levels.

Infrastructure Collapse Imminent

The sheer volume of patients has utterly crippled the local medical infrastructure. Hospitals across Western Queens are operating at 500% capacity, with emergency rooms converted into temporary dialysis wards. Sources within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) describe a state of total system failure, with vital resources—from insulin to diabetic footwear—reserved only for those with the most critical, life-threatening complications.

“We’re no longer treating a population; we’re managing a collapse,” stated Dr. Elena Vance, a former Chief of Medicine at an area clinic, who resigned this week to run an unauthorized community aid station in a decommissioned parking garage. “The economic engine of this neighborhood—the tech hubs, the studios—they’re hollowed out. Productivity is zero. Everyone is either sick or caring for the sick.”

The Silent Exodus

The crisis has triggered a sharp demographic shift. Families able to afford transit have fled, creating a desperate housing glut and leaving behind a disproportionately vulnerable and aging population. Reports from City Planning indicate that the demand for medical supplies now far outweighs the demand for basic consumer goods, transforming LIC’s high-rise landscape into a sprawling, vertical sick bay.

The report also highlights chilling statistics on the rise of related amputations and kidney failure, grim markers of a disease tearing through the community unchecked. The official government statement offered only a dire warning: without immediate, radical intervention, the remaining 33% of the population is expected to succumb to The Sweetness within five years.

The alarm is sounding, but for the residents of Long Island City, it may already be too late.