Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)

A Times Square look-alike in the Liberty City district of Bedford Point, Staunton, as depicted in Grand Theft Auto III.

The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition of Liberty City features a more striking resemblance to New York City.

Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based on New York City. Three versions of the city have appeared in different generations of the series:

• The Grand Theft Auto rendition, as a level in the original Grand Theft Auto (1997/1998).
• The Grand Theft Auto III rendition, featured as the setting of Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Grand Theft Auto Advance (GBA, 2004), Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PSP, 2005), and featured briefly in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and a machinima based on the game, The Introduction.
• The Grand Theft Auto IV rendition, featured as the setting in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008).

In the Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto III renditions, Liberty City is primarily depicted as a large city with a sizable population (12 million in the Grand Theft Auto III rendition^[1]), featuring a complete transportation infrastructure of roads and railways, and is located on a geographical configuration of shorelines and islands, similar to that of New York City. The city has been described as one suffering from crime and corruption, with the presence of organized crime, feuding street gangs, petty criminals, and rampant misconduct among city officials and law enforcement. Parts of Liberty City have also suffered major damage and loss from bombings, which are depicted as being orchestrated by local criminals. Some of these damages, however, have been repaired or resulted in complete redevelopment of an entire area. Liberty City is the most used fictional setting in the GTA series: it is prominently featured in five of the nine stand-alone GTA games, with a cameo appearance in a further two. Liberty City is also located on the same fictional earth as Vice City, Carcer City and San Andreas in Grand Theft Auto. The same applies for the Grand Theft Auto III renditions and the locations from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (as well as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas prequels, although San Andreas was featured as a three-city state in San Andreas, as opposed to a single city.

Grand Theft Auto rendition

The map of Liberty City, as depicted in Grand Theft Auto.

Liberty City was first featured in the original Grand Theft Auto. The city's geography and alignment of districts was more true to that of New York City, featuring two major mainlands with a Manhattan-like central island (which contains a large park at the center, a reference to Central Park), and several smaller islands along a river of the city, with the mainlands and islands connected primarily by road bridges. Train services with lines running in the city were also present. Different neighborhoods of New York City and New Jersey were also spoofed, with naming similar to their real-life counterparts. The list of Liberty City's neighborhoods is as followed (north to south):

• West Shore
  • Eaglewood
  • Hackenslash
  • Fort Law
  • Schlechberg
  • Guernsey City
  • New Guernsey
• Central Island
  • Nolaw
  • Island Height
  • Park
  • Island City (Lower Manhattan or Midtown Manhattan)
• Minor Islands
  • Law Island (Ward's Island and Randall's Island)
  • Nixon Island
• East Shore
  • Estoria
  • Kings
  • Ardler
  • Brocklyn
  • Tellberg
  • Brocklyn Docks
• Northeast Shore
  • Brix
  • Island View

Grand Theft Auto III rendition

Overview

The map of Liberty City, as depicted in Grand Theft Auto III. Left to right: Shoreside Vale, Staunton Island, and Portland Island.

The second appearance of Liberty City is in Grand Theft Auto III, assuming a significantly different design from its original version. The location, circa late-autumn 2001, is often referred to as "the worst place in America" by in-game literature, for its rampant crime and corruption; gang wars, theft, and murder are endemic to everyday life to the point where police intervention has become nearly negligible.^[2][3] In addition to its appearance alongside Vice City and the state of San Andreas, the city is also located nearby Carcer City, which was featured in Manhunt, another video game developed by Rockstar Games. Little is known about Liberty City's early history, although dialog exists in GTA III claiming that the city was "a church, a cow pasture and three houses when the telephone was invented",^[4] and a map of the city provided in the packaging of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories claims that the city was celebrating its 200th anniversary in 1998,^[5] suggesting that the city was founded in 1798. The population of the city is given at 4 million, as stated in the game's manual.^[1] The GTA III website mentions that the city is twinned with Beirut. The mayor of Liberty City, as of 2001, is Miles O'Donovan,^[2] although his first name was not revealed until Liberty City Stories. O'Donovan was preceded by Roger C. Hole, who was assassinated whilst jogging in 1998 by Toni Cipriani in Liberty City Stories, under orders from local Mafia Don Salvatore Leone. The death of Hole forced an election that would eventually lead to O'Donovan's victory, although it was also revealed that media mogul Donald Love was campaigning (unfairly) as a candidate in the elections.

Boroughs

The city is divided into three areas, or "boroughs", which in turn are separated into districts and neighborhoods. While the boroughs are different from one another, each borough houses one hospital, one police station and one fire station, with the former two serving as local respawn points in an event the player dies or is arrested, respectively.

Portland Island

Portland Island consists of an island at the eastern end of the city limits, known as a primarily industrial portion of the city. Much of the island's industrial population is concentrated towards Trenton (based on the Chicago neighborhood of Bridgeport) at the south of the island, and is within a short driving distance to Portland Harbor and Atlantic Quays, which serve as seaports to the island and the city.^[6] Non-industrial properties tend to reside towards the north and west sides of the island. Portland also operates an elevated train service with three stations (Rothwell Station in Hepburn Heights, Kurowski Station in Chinatown, and Baille Station in Saint Mark's) Chinatown, located northwest from the industrial districts, consists of Chinese-owned properties, some of which are believed to be controlled by the local Triads. The Saint Mark's district is located on a steep terrain north from Portland Harbor, and is currently controlled by at least two Mafia families: the Leones and the Forellis. Other districts of interest include the Red Light District, just west of Saint Mark's, which serves as a location for prostitution, strip clubs and pornography-related businesses. Hepburn Heights, located north to the Red Light District, is home to several public apartment buildings, and is also home to the Hispanic Diablos street gang (based on the Latin Kings). Harwood, located on the northern end of the island, is mostly underdeveloped, with only a few buildings (including the Head Radio broadcasting station), a junkyard, and the Porter Tunnel's Portland entrance/exit. The remaining districts of Portland Island are sparsely inhabited: Callahan Point is located under and around the foot of the Callahan Bridge, which links Portland Island and Staunton Island; Portland Beach is an empty cliff-side beach located east of Saint Mark's; while Portland View consists of a tract of land and a stretch of road between Portland Harbor and Chinatown. Old platforms and train cars of a railway line are also found in eastern Harwood, as well as a tunnel running under the Saint Mark's district, which directly links Harwood with Portland Harbor. Portland Rock, a small island housing a lighthouse, may also be seen east of Portland Beach.

Staunton Island

The downtown skyline of Staunton Island, as seen from an airport runway in Shoreside Vale's Francis International Airport.

Located on an island between Portland Island and Shoreside Vale, Staunton Island is depicted as Liberty City's upscale central business district or city center (similar to New York City's Manhattan Island), housing the largest cluster of commercial and residential skyscrapers in the entire city. Taller skyscrapers are concentrated towards the south of the island, while low-rises and several of the city's major institutions (Staunton's hospital, sports stadium and university) are concentrated towards the north. The skyscraper core of the island is located within the south Staunton downtown district of Torrington (to the east) and Bedford Point (to the west). The tallest and largest building in Staunton (and the city) is depicted to be owned by the Jefferson St. Credit Union, which is connected to two other large commercial buildings owned by FCB Bank (which is the third tallest building in the city) and AMCO via skyways; all three buildings are located within the district of Torrington.^[2] In addition, a skyscraper resembling the Trump Tower is also present beside the Jefferson St. Credit Union building. Aside skyscrapers, Torrington also boasts a Yakuza-controlled casino at the southeast, and the Staunton branch and overall headquarters of the Liberty City Police Department (LCPD) complete with a helipad; Bedford Point houses the city's cathedral, opera house,^[7] art gallery,^[7] a Times Square-themed street, an Empire State Building look-alike (the second tallest building in the city) that dominates the district, and the Love Media building, the workplace and home of Donald Love. Several neoclassic-styled municipal buildings are also located within the two districts, which are nameless in-game, although one of the buildings located near the northern end of Torrington is suggested in the official GTA III website to be city hall,^[2] while another building on the northeast end of Bedford Point is described as "town hall"^[7] upon inspection of the game's internal data files. Based on the locations of the city's landmarks and spoofs within the both districts, both districts may be based on both Lower Manhattan and Midtown Manhattan. The Newport district, located north of Torrington, houses several apartments and businesses, boating docks, and a multistory car park; the district is also under the control of the local Jamaican Uptown Yardies. Bordering the west of Newport is the Belleville Park district, consisting of Belleville Park, a play of New York City's Central Park, and blocks of buildings surrounding the park, including a shopping mall. Fort Staunton, located north of Newport, is depicted as an area in the process of demolishing blocks of old buildings and re-developing the entire property with the construction of Staunton Plaza. Panlantic Construction, a division of an American-Colombian business conglomerate in charge of the area's development, is suspected by the LCPD to be one of the many fronts for the Colombian Cartel,^[2] and thus may explain the presence of Cartel members and gang cars in the area. The remaining districts towards the north house civic facilities and other structures: The Aspatria district in the northwest houses the "Liberty Memorial Coliseum" (or the Bush Stadium),^[2] completed in 1923 and serves as the playing field for the Liberty City Cocks Football team,^[2] and a waterfront park along its coastline; while the Liberty Campus district, located inland from the east of Aspatria, consists of campus blocks of the St. Matthias University (the facility was also dubbed Liberty City College).^[2] Rockford is primarily occupied by the Carson General Hospital, and an arms dealing business owned by Phil Cassidy, based on the northern tip of the district. Based on the commercial area of New York City, Staunton most resembles the tourist areas and central business districts of Manhattan as well as urban shopping areas in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The name is an obvious play on the real-life borough of the city Staten Island and business-oriented areas of urban New Jersey such as Newark, Hoboken, or Jersey City. "Aspatria" takes its inspiration from the Astoria section of Queens. "Liberty Campus" is a take-off on the typical Manhattan college campus, such as New York University (NYU) or Columbia University, while "Belleville Park" derives its name from the nearby Manhattan suburb of Belleville.

Shoreside Vale

Shoreside Vale is a hilly and more rural area of the city, located on the west-most side of Liberty City, and is the only part of the city located on the mainland, with the entire area attached to a large body of land that creeps towards the north of Portland Island. The area is the location of the Cedar Grove suburb (which takes its name directly from one of the Jersey suburbs) at the northeast, the Wichita Gardens housing projects at the east, which resembles the housing projects in the Bronx. The Pike Creek industrial district at the west, a dam (dubbed Cochrane Dam, named after Adam Cochrane, a designer working in Rockstar North^[8]) at the northwest and the city's airport, Francis International (featuring a structure based on the Los Angeles International's Theme Building). There is also a bridge linking Pike Creek to Cedar grove which resembles the Henry Hudson bridge over the Harlem River. Cedar Grove is controlled by the Colombian Cartel, and Wichita Gardens is home to the Southside Hoods, consisting of the African-American Red Jacks and Purple Nines street gangs. Shoreside Vale most resembles the farther away, more upper-class Long Island, Westchester, as well as suburban areas of New Jersey and the more affluent neighborhoods of New York City's Staten Island, which is relatively far from Manhattan. Francis International represents New York's three airports which are located on the outskirts of the urban city center and are closer to the suburbs than to the center of Manhattan.

"Ghost Town"

The Ghost Town featured in GTA III's intro movie, as seen when flying an airplane.

Although not technically part of the city, a "Ghost Town" seemingly located in Liberty City exists as a hidden sector of the game, used only once in the bank heist cutscene at the start of the game's storyline. The Ghost Town is located behind Shoreside Vale and floats above the sea. It is not solid (with the exception of two dumpsters behind the bank) and is reachable only by the Dodo airplane, cheats, or by third party modifications, including one that creates a bridge linking the Ghost Town with the rest of the city. It does not reappear in the Liberty City Stories rendition of the city. The Ghost Town is sometimes erroneously referred to as Carcer City due to that city being mentioned on one of the radio stations.^[9]

Landmarks

Liberty City is home to many landmarks, but many not echoing the real-life landmarks of New York City. There is an obvious attempt at making a Central Park in the game, dubbed "Belleville Park". The city is also home to a another tall hi-rise, under construction in Fort Staunton. The Staunton Plaza is supposed to be a large business office. When playing Grand Theft Auto III, you can see the entire site well under construction, yet life-less. Many gamers around websites claim that Rockstar has stated, fictionally, that the building will be completed in 2004 (since the game takes place in 2001). In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Fort Staunton was Little Italy, until 1998 when Toni destroyed the entire area for the Panlantic Organization. Other landmarks include the Empire State Building look-alike, in Downtown. It is nameless, yet many gamers claim it resembles more of the Chrysler Building. It also somewhat resembles the GE Building at Rockefeller Center, another famous New York landmark. Across from it lies the "Jefferson St. Credit Union Office Building", which is the tallest building in the game. Once again, many gamers refer to it as the World Trade Center, since the city is based on New York. Other false landmarks include the cities' main bridges, the "Callahan Bridge", which closely resembles the Manhattan Bridge, and the "Shoreside Vale Lift Bridge" which resembles the Harlem River Lift Bridge span of the Triborough Bridge. Although it has many New York counterparts, Liberty City does not echo the Statue of Liberty or other landmarks. There are also other lookalikes, such as in the Yakuza gang area, where two small towers are exact mirrors of each other, resembling the World Trade Center. Another one is the Lips 106 building, which has two identical twin towers. The towers can be seen coming off the Callahan Bridge. The buildings are white and circular, making them look like Marina City in Chicago.

Transportation

Like in the real-life New York metropolitan area and its surrounding communities, the three different boroughs of Liberty City are connected solely by tunnels and/or bridges, some of which were made unavailable for use during the duration of the storyline to prevent players from reaching other islands early.

Bridges

Liberty City has two major bridges, each linking two boroughs: Callahan Bridge (also known as the West Port Bridge^[10]) and the Shoreside Lift Bridge. Callahan Bridge is a four lane (two lanes of roads for each direction) suspension bridge, connecting southwestern Portland Island with east-central Staunton Island. The bridge was destroyed by a bomb in late-2001 by the Colombian Cartel, as they kidnapped a prisoner, possibly to prevent the police from pursuing them as they headed back to Staunton Island. The bridge is repaired during the events of the game and becomes operational.^[11] The second bridge, known as the Shoreside Lift Bridge, is a large four lane lift bridge connecting southeast Shoreside Vale with the west side of central Staunton Island. Before players unlock access to Shoreside Vale, the bridge was out of order when mechanical failure prevented the lift from functioning. Like the Callahan Bridge, the Shoreside Lift Bridge is repaired as the game's storyline progresses.

Road tunnels

Liberty City has one major road tunnel system, dubbed Porter Tunnel, possibly based on the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel or the Big Dig, located in Boston. The Porter Tunnel is a primarily four lane underground and underwater road tunnel (the Staunton Island tunnel exit consists of only one lane for each direction), which connects all boroughs in Liberty City: Portland via Harwood, Staunton via Rockford, and Shoreside Vale via Francis International and Wichita Gardens. The tunnel was initially inaccessible, citing that tunnel construction was still incomplete and had been delayed several times.^[12][13][2] The tunnel would then be opened in phases: first with the segment linking Portland and Staunton, then the segment linking the Portland-Staunton exits to the Shoreside Vale exits. In Shoreside Vale, entrances to two additional road tunnels may also be found north of Cedar Grove and Cochrane Dam, respectively. The tunnels were inaccessible in GTA III but the map indicated the tunnels led up north out of the city. In Liberty City Stories, it is revealed that the tunnels can be accessed and connect to each other at an underground T-junction. The tunnel that branches off is signposted as leading to "Upstate", but is inaccessible.

Mass transit systems

In addition to road transportation, Liberty City has two subway and elevated train systems that run within the city, bearing similarities to the New York City Subway. The inter-borough subway, an underground subway system that connects all three boroughs of the city, has stations at Portland (border between Chinatown, the Red Light District and Saint Mark's), Staunton (Rockford Station in Liberty Campus and Staunton South Station in Bedford Point) and Shorside Terminus in Shoreside Vale (Francis International). The Portland El, an elevated train service, runs its routes within Portland Island, with Rothwell Station in Hepburn Heights, Kurowski Station in Chinatown, and Baillie Station in Saint Mark's. The Portland El is claimed to have been introduced in 1930.^[2] Both systems are not directly connected to each other, and there is no transportation hub where both trains networks may intersect. The trains run their lines 24 hours a day and no fare is charged for riding the trains. An Unusable Subway system is under Liberty City and is used By Toni Cipriani to destroy Fort Staunton. The subway was most probably closed due to cave-ins. Only one subway station is seen for this line. The Porter Road Tunnel runs through it.

Gang control

Liberty City is controlled by various gangs. The Leone Crime Family control Portland, specifically the St. Marks area, and are led by Don Salvatore Leone. Other members include the Don's son Joey Leone, Toni Cipriani, Luigi Goterelli and his bodyguard Mickey Hamfists. The player will take jobs from this gang for the first third of the game. They are a typical Sicilian Mafia outfit, sporting black suits, black shades and their weapons include Uzis and Shotguns. Boroughs in Portland are also under the control of the Triads, who wear blue "Belly-Up" coveralls and blue leisurewear with Triad logos on the back, and are located in Chinatown,where there influence is weakened after their full-scale gang war with the Leone Family; and the Diablos, who wear bandanas, blue tracksuit tops and combat trousers. Their turf is that of the Hepburn Heights district. Their weapons include baseball bats and pistols. Staunton Island is controlled by the Yardies and Yakuza. The Yakuza feature most predominately in the story. They are located in the Torrington area. They are led by siblings Kenji and Asuka. They are sharp dressers, wearing red and blue expensive suits with open neck shirts. Their choice weapons are pistols and Uzis. The player will take jobs from this gang after the story shifts to Staunton Island, and late into the Shoreside Vale missions. The Yardies are also powerful in Staunton, and they are located in the centre of the island, close to Newport and Belleville Park. They wear light brown combat gear, black t-shirts, and their weapons are Uzis, pistols and baseball bats. The Colombian Cartels also have a presence in Staunton, and they are located in the construction area of Fort Staunton. They wear Hawaiian style shirts, boots and wide brimmed hats. Shoreside Vale is controlled by the Southside Hoods. The South Side Hoods actually consists of 2 opposing street gangs: The "Red Jacks" and the "Purple Nines". There is very little difference between them other than their gang colours, as shown in their names. They are located in Wichita Gardens. The Colombian Cartel presence in Shoreside Vale is located in Cedar Grove.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories rendition

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories takes places in the same Liberty City as in Grand Theft Auto III, but is set in 1998, three years before the events in GTA III. As such, the Liberty City Stories rendition of the city explains some of the city's characteristics in GTA III. At the time of Liberty City Stories, the city is officially declared "The least likely place to succeed in America" by an October 30, 1998 issue of the Liberty Tree being cited in the headline as the 'Worst place in America' and that it has been voted so 'again' showing that the city has been unpopular for some time.

Transportation

Callahan Bridge and Porter Tunnel

The Callahan Bridge, undergoing construction in 1998.

In 1998, the city is depicted undergoing major changes in inter-borough road links. Callahan Bridge, which is expected to connect Staunton Island and Portland Island, is under construction, and is due to be completed in May 1998.^[5] The Porter Tunnel is also seen as mostly under construction, but is revealed to have completed segments linking the Shoreside Vale exits. The segment linking Staunton is unfinished but still accessible, as shown when Toni Cipriani is seen driving a van through the area to reach Fort Staunton in Staunton. Construction of the Portland segment, however, had yet to begin, as the area is still in the process of excavating a tunnel. It is also shown that the tunnel leading to the Staunton exit had breached through an old abandoned subway tunnel. While no road links exist between Portland and the rest of Liberty City, the inter-borough subway system remains connected to all three boroughs, allowing pedestrians to travel between the areas with fewer restrictions.

Ferry services and strikes

Because road connections to Portland are unavailable in 1998, the island is initially accessible by car in ferries between Harwood, on the northwest end of Portland, and Rockford, on the northern end of Staunton. Two ferries travel alternately in opposite directions between the ferry terminals, and the service charges $25 for each one-way trip between the islands, as of 1998. Protest and industrial action by Liberty City transit workers occur in 1998 as a result of the bridge and tunnel construction, as their completion would more or less render ferry services obsolete and unnecessary.^[14] Strikers form picket lines outside Portland's ferry terminal and harbor while chanting "Hell no Tunnel no!", shutting down transit communication between boroughs for periods of time: Firstly between Portland Island and the rest of the city with the temporary closure of ferry services, and lastly between Shoreside Vale and the rest of the city after the Portland protests fail and ferries resume operation, when unsatisfied remains of the group protest at an exit of the Shoreside Lift Bridge instead, disrupting bridge operations. The protests finally ends after newly elected Mayor O'Donovan promised "there will always be a ferry service in Liberty City." Nevertheless, ferry services cease to exist by late-2001. While the Porter Tunnel is still unfinished at the time of GTA III, the completion of the Callahan Bridge suggestively put an end to ferries in the city. The Portland terminal would be the location of the Portland exit for the Porter tunnel by 2001, while Phil's arms dealing business, circa 2001, is located close to the former site of the Staunton terminal.

Landmarks

In Liberty City Stories, the city is in the process of constructing several buildings, including some of Liberty City's tallest. For example, the Jefferson St. Credit Union office building, which is the largest and tallest building in Liberty City in GTA III, is under construction in 1998 (with a large construction crane present at its top and only half the height it is in 2001), although it is indicated that it was simply an expansion over the building's existing structure as a few interiors of the building suggest the completed half of the building is operational. As such, the city's Empire State Building look-alike is the tallest tower in Liberty City during the game, and 3 Flatiron Building look a likes can be seen around Staunton Island. Other noticeable differences include the presence of scaffolding and a construction crane at the main entrance of the Liberty Memorial Coliseum, suggesting that the stadium is either under construction or under renovation. Also, the housing projects in Hepburn Heights are under construction. In Staunton Island, a large cemetery exists south beside the Bedford Point Cathedral in Staunton. By 2001, a giant, square-sided and modern building with a sloped roof is built in its place, completely dwarfing the cathedral itself. During a 1998 radio show, a Chatterbox listener phoned in to tell Lazlow he is campaigning to bulldoze the church garden and make way for a concrete square, which would house Internet terminals and foosball tables for parishioners. As with the eventual ban of motorcycles, a real estate company, Jimmy's Commercial Real Estate, is behind this campaign's eventual success, citing that the city's "sick love of death" should be put to a stop and that a building be built in place "for the health of everyone".^[14] The construction of the building left the Cathedral with only a thin strip of burial ground on the north side of the Cathedral by late-2001. In the cemetery, the people listed on the headstones; Vincenzo Cilli, Giovanni Casa, Dan Sucho, Mayor R.C. Hole, J.D. O'Toole, and Cedric "Wayne" Fotheringay, all except for Fotheringay are characters that are killed by Toni or a very close counterpart of Toni. In the duration of the game, several other buildings are destroyed or replaced by GTA III. Among them, the Doll House gambling den and brothel, and a Leone-owned factory at Callahan Point (replaced by a Triad fish factory by 2001, when it was also destroyed). Toni Cipriani's apartment in Saint Mark's, Portland would also be in the process of demolition by GTA III. Perhaps the most notable demolition work in the city was that on Fort Staunton in northeast Staunton Island, consisting of several blocks of business establishments (including a diner), apartments, an opera house and a museum housed within the old fortress that gives the area its name. In GTA III, the area is completely cleared away for the Staunton Plaza, which is under construction in 2001. Liberty City Stories revealed that the area is imploded voluntarily by Toni Cipriani in 1998 with explosives given by 8-Ball, planted underground in several old and disused subway station platforms, on orders from Donald Love, paving the way for a new property development project. The bombing coincidentally cripples activities of the rival Forelli family, which conducted much of their activities in the area. Following the destruction of the district, the local media blames the origin of the explosions on the Forelli's underground arms stores beneath the district. Fort Staunton's defunct subway stations, closed to the public, but accessible via the unfinished Porter Tunnel's Staunton exit is completely cut off from the rest of the subway line and contains older train cars.^[15] Seen in only one mission of the game, the stations are picked as prime locations to destroy Fort Staunton,^[16] and are located in three points beneath Fort Staunton. The stations are suggestively cleared away along with the remains of the devastated district by 2001. Although the bombing is made possible by Toni, Donald and explosives specialist 8-Ball, the plans for the area were originally conceived by Avery Carrington, whose plans are stolen by Toni and Donald, as Avery is killed by the two after he exits Francis International with Colombian Cartel bodyguards. After the bombing, development of the site is indicated to involve Panlantic Construction, which remains tied to the Cartel in GTA III. Donald is forced to flee the city after the Cartel attempted to ambush and kill him, leaving Fort Staunton in possession of the gang up to the time of GTA III, when the Yakuza seized the district from them.

Gang control

1998 Liberty City contains a large distribution of gang activity, particularly with the Leone family, the Forelli family and the Sindacco family of the Liberty City Mafia, all of which assume a larger control on districts in Portland and Staunton than in GTA III. At the time, the Three Families are at war with each other. Massimo Torini and Uncle Leone, the leaders of the Sicilian Mafia, seize the opportunity to exploit the gang warfare by planning to have the Families destroy each other, allowing the Sicilian Mafia to fill the void and control the city themselves. Their exploits end abruptly as they attempted to kidnap O'Donovan, the newly elected mayor of the city, to prevent him from dropping charges for Salvatore, who was released from prison on bail. The subsequent pursuit of the Sicilians by the Leone family leads to the death of Massimo Torini, and the Sicilian Mafia's retreat from the city. In addition to Saint Mark's, the Leone family have previously controlled at least the northern portion of Chinatown,^[17] which would eventually be under control of the Liberty City Triads by GTA III, as a result of Massimo Torini convincing the gang to seize control of the district to strain the Three Families' power. Despite Torini's death, the Leone family lose Chinatown to the Triads. Meanwhile, the Leone family had managed to seize the Red Light District and Hepburn Heights from the Sindacco family in 1998 before and then subsequently losing Hepburn Heights to the Diablos by GTA III, which are also under Massimo's influence. The Leone family's victory over the Forelli and Sindacco families has also allowed the Leone family to remain as the dominant Mafia family in the city. It is revealed that the Forelli family are previously a formidable force against the Leone family, with additional footholds in Fort Staunton, Newport, Belleville and Wichita Gardens in Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale. In the '80s, the Forelli family were the most powerful Mafia family in Liberty City, but the death of Don Sonny Forelli caused the organization to sink into decline. In 1998, Mayor Hole is on the payroll of the Forelli family, creating trouble for the Leone family. Yet the assassination of Hole, the loss of Newport to the Uptown Yardies, and the implosion and destruction of Fort Staunton that has largely destroyed much of the Forelli's businesses and assets, decimates the gang's influence in the city, and left them with only Marco's Bistro in Saint Mark's as their turf by GTA III. The Sindacco family conduct much of their activity in the Red Light District and Hepburn Heights, with additional drug dealing activities in Chinatown, Leone family territory. With the help of an inside man, the Leone family annex the Red Light District, Paulie's Revue Bar (which the Leone family would rename to Sex Club 7, however, the introduction DVD to San Andreas shows the club as 'Sex club 7' despite being set in 1992, 6 years before the events of Liberty City Stories.) and Hepburn Heights. This forces the Sindacco family to move operations to Staunton Island, where they faced conflict with the Forelli family, resulting in an attempted truce between the two Mafia families by Don Paulie Sindacco, the Don of the Sindacco family. The Leone family sabotage the Sindacco family's mediation efforts however, further souring relationships between the two factions and resulting in the death of Paulie. This deprives the Sindacco family of any more chances to establish control in the city, and they are forced to move to Las Venturas, their only other outpost. The Colombian Cartel, obviously affected by the status of Fort Staunton, also has a different set of turf in the city. The Uptown Yardies would acquire Newport as their turf from the Forelli family, with the aid of Toni Cipriani. The Liberty City Yakuza would acquire Torrington as their turf after Toni and Leon McAffrey kill the Sindacco family members in the area, and the Southside Hoods would acquire Wichita Gardens as their turf after helping Toni kill all the Forelli family members occupying the area.

Miscellaneous differences

Motorcycles are initially permitted in Liberty City. By GTA III, a citywide ban on the vehicle is imposed, explaining the absence of motorcycles in GTA III. The Maibatsu Corporation of America, known in GTA III for marketing the allegedly oversized Monstrosity SUV and is a staunch supporter for increased car use in Liberty City, is seen as a notable advocate and contributor to the ban, funding an organization dubbed "American Road Safety for Everyone" (ARSE) that has lobbied for the ban after "the successful banning of bicycles,"^[5] and presenting a petition for the ban. In an article in the Liberty Tree they mentioned that bikers are "evil and should be banned".^[14] Police cars in Liberty City Stories are depicted assuming a marking and paint scheme that resembles those of the NYPD during the 1990s, although the game's version used a black-and-white color scheme, instead of blue and white. This design was originally planned by the game developer to be used for GTA III (which was, in fact, using a blue-and-white NYPD paint scheme), but was redesigned into a common panda-like black-and-white color scheme around the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City.

Grand Theft Auto Advance rendition

Liberty City was also featured as the setting of Grand Theft Auto Advance for the Game Boy Advance, which was set roughly one year before the events in GTA III. In Advance, all three islands are featured, and the Callahan Bridge has been completed, but ferry services are absent. In Portland, an unusually long overpass exists spanning between one end of the Callahan Bridge to the blocked passage of the Porter Tunnel. However this is the road the bridge ends at with the allyway linking that road to the porter road tunnel road. The Alleyway that divided the road is now a road itself. The Cahallan Bridge passes the road it ends at in GTA 3 and continues a bit further into another road. At one point of the game, Liberty City is said to be affected by Bubonic plague. Because of the hardware limitation of the Game Boy Advance, the city assumed a classical top-down perspective, with roads running only horizontally and vertically, while the overall design and identity of the city remains similar to other GTA III-era renditions. Top-down gameplay meant that height-dependent or underground elements such as subway trains and tunnels (including the Porter Tunnel) could not be implemented into Advance. Slopes are also absent in the Advance rendition.

Minor role in other Grand Theft Auto-related games

Remaining Grand Theft Auto games set in Grand Theft Auto III-canon, while set in completely difference locales, still mention Liberty City in dialog or feature a part of the city for a short period of time. Also, protagonists featured in these games have prominent experiences with the city for a period of time.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Tommy Vercetti, having just been released from prison, was dispatched to Vice City in 1986 by Sonny Forelli, who was shown inside the Forelli-run Marco's Bistro at Saint Mark's, Portland, Liberty City. Tommy had also earned the nickname the "Harwood Butcher", since he had murdered eleven men when he only came to kill one, evidently in the Harwood district of Portland which resulted in his 15-year jail sentence.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The Saint Mark's district of Portland, Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, as Carl "CJ" Johnson rides a taxicab (lower left) to Marco's Bistro (upper right), during a cutscene of the Saint Mark's Bistro mission. Note also the presence of fallen snow.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Carl "CJ" Johnson returns to his childhood home in Los Santos, San Andreas after having spent five years in Liberty City, where he commits petty crime and worked for Don Salvatore Leone's son, Joey Leone. During the events of the game, Carl briefly returns to Liberty City to assassinate a high ranking Forelli Mafia member at Marco's Bistro, under orders from Salvatore Leone. The mission takes place in a section of southeast Saint Mark's, where Carl must fight through attacking Mafia members in Marco's Bistro and kill his target in the back lot of the restaurant. (The back lot of Saint Mark's is just empty space in GTAIII and GTA: LCS)^[18] Liberty City is also featured in The Introduction, a machinima prequel of San Andreas. Set immediately before the events of the game, The Introduction shows both Carl Johnson stealing cars and mugging people in Liberty City and Salvatore Leone's house at Portland Beach, where he makes arrangements for his participation in a casino venture in Las Venturas. It is possible for Carl to explore most of Portland Island, although only a small section is solid. The only way to explore most of Portland is to find Liberty City through the roof of Los Santos Gym with the jetpack cheat and fly around. The game refuses to let the player lift during the "Saint Mark's Bistro" mission. There is another way, by using the 'Super Jump' cheat during the Bistro mission by jumping over a wall near the end of the mission and jumping through a series of (unsolid, but graphically there) walls to reach the Bistro parking lot.

Grand Theft Auto IV rendition

This article or section contains information about an unreleased video game. The content may change substantially as more information becomes available. Please do not add speculation to this article, and remember to cite a published source for details.

Overview

The fifth appearance of Liberty City, 2008, is in Grand Theft Auto IV assuming a completely different design which is based much more closely on New York City than previous renditions. For one thing, the "new and improved" Liberty City will be the biggest city than any other in scope. Rockstar Games has added highly advanced detail, and a more realistic vibe to the city.

The Broker Bridge.

Landmarks such as the Statue of Happiness, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, Flatiron Building, the Staten Island Ferry and the GetaLife Building are present in the city, as well as Star Junction that features advertisements for familiar brands and companies such as the Liberty Tree newspaper, Sprunk, Cluckin' Bell, and Burger Shot fast food restaurants, and Middle Park. There is also a theme park which has a roller coaster called the "Screamer" (which appears to be based on the The Cyclone of Coney Island, the Liberty Eye ferris wheel and a ride called "The Corpse Ride". The elevated trains resemble the IND Culver Line in Brooklyn. The city's transportation includes the Broker and Algonquin Bridges and BOABO (Beneath the Offramp of the Algonquin Bridge Overpass). Each street in the city is individually named,^[19] with names including Chinatown, Presidents City, Lancet, Hatton Gardens, Middle Park East, Lancaster, Ruby Street, Calcium Street, Silicon Street, Washington Heights and Quartz Street. License plates also suggest that the city is located in "Liberty City State"^[20][21], leading some fans to speculate that Liberty City is in fact a city-state.

Boroughs

The Statue of Happiness

Note that at this stage of development it is currently unknown whether the three major islands from previous renditions (Portland Island, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale) will reappear in GTA IV and it is also unknown whether the boroughs from previous renditions will make a return either. The 5 boroughs in Liberty City in GTA IV are:

• Dukes (Queens)
• Algonquin (Manhattan)
• Bohan (Bronx)
• Alderney (New Jersey)
• Broker (Brooklyn)

The city appears to be arranged differently from the real-life New York, with the game's Algonquin (Manhattan) compressed in size (as seen with the Empire State Building's proximity to the Brooklyn Bridge.

See also

• Grand Theft Auto games where Liberty City is a primary setting:
  • Grand Theft Auto
  • Grand Theft Auto III
  • Grand Theft Auto Advance
  • Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
  • Grand Theft Auto IV
• List of radio stations and media in Liberty City:
  • Grand Theft Auto III rendition
  • Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories rendition
• Characters and residents featured in Liberty City:
  • List of characters in Grand Theft Auto III
  • List of characters in Grand Theft Auto Advance
  • List of characters in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
  • List of characters in Grand Theft Auto IV

Notes and references