Liberty City

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Liberty City redirects here. For the games which feature this city, see Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Algonquin island skyline as it appears in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Liberty City is a fictional urban metropolis based on the American city of New York, and has now appeared in the Grand Theft Auto series a total of six times, and mentioned in almost every game to date. The map was originally based very strictly on New York city, but in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was very loose, recognizable mainly from the distinct New York landmarks, such as Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge and John F Kennedy International Airport. In Grand Theft Auto IV, whilst the map of the city it not geographically identical to that of New York, it features many more highly detailed landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building and Times Square.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto III Rendition

Map of Liberty City as it appears in Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

In Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, Liberty City is made up of three main islands. There is Portland, which is the eastern island and where the industry of the city is located, and is the starting point for the main protagonist, Claude Speed. The central island, Staunton, is the main metropolis where all the big and important landmarks of the city are located, and the western island is Shoreside Vale, which is more of a suburban area and is home to Francis International Airport. Unfortunately, there are no motorcycles available in the game, as they were banned by A.R.S.E somewhere between the year 1998 and 2001.

[edit] Portland

Primarily made up of industrial complexes and run down factories, Portland is an area dominated by the Italian Mafia and the Triads. Whilst these gangs are by no means the only ones in the city, they are two of the most powerful and have a strong ongoing rivalry which means a lot of death and destruction in this part of the city. The main areas of the island are Chinatown, ran by the Triads, and Saint Mark's, ran by the Leone Family Mafia, but these are by no means the only areas, as Portland is home to the city's Red Light District.

[edit] Staunton Island

Staunton Island is the heart and soul of Liberty City, and is home to all sorts of corrupt cops, corrupt politicians and criminals. It is the central of the three islands and bears no geographical resemblance to the real New York city, except for a few landmarks, and is an area controlled primarily by the Yakuza and the Colombian Cartel. The main areas of Staunton are Aspartia, Bedford Point, Belleville Park, Fort Staunton, Liberty Campus, Newport, Rockford and Torrington, all of which are built up areas with high crime rates.

[edit] Shoreside Vale

Shoreside Vale is a relatively quiet residential area controlled mainly by the Colombian Cartel, and doesn't have many places of interest except for the dam and the airport. Security is a lot more loose here, but still prominent, and the area can be accessed by either the elevating bridge, which is originally closed, or the tunnel.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Rendition

The skyline of Staunton Island as it is in Liberty City Stories.

The map of Liberty City in this game is geographically identical to the one used in Grand Theft Auto III, the only visible differences being with some of the landmarks. The Callahan bridge, for example, was undergoing construction in 1998 and did not appear completed during the course of the game, and the construction site down the road from the Liberty Cocks stadium is not visible in this game. During the course of the game, a mission takes place which involves using large amounts of explosives in the tunnel (which is still under construction in Liberty City Stories), and the majority of Fort Staunton and a lot of the north of Staunton Island is destroyed as a result. Gang control is very much prominent in the city, with mafia families such as the Leone Family and other gangs such as the Triads and the Yakuza all very powerful.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto IV Rendition

In Grand Theft Auto IV, Liberty City saw a complete makeover, with the islands being completely geographically shaped and then renamed, and was based a lot more strictly on New York, including more of the major landmarks. Taxis were a lot more prominent in the city and the landmarks and streets finally had names which we could compare to the real life ones.

[edit] Broker

Based on Brooklyn, New York, Broker is the area of Liberty City where Niko Bellic makes his start and originally lives with cousin Roman Bellic and meets his best friends Little Jacob, Brucie Kibbutz and Packie McCreary. Brooklyn is mainly a residential district, although it has some other places such as factories, parks, amusement parks and many forms of entertainment. It is connected to Algonquin via the Broker Bridge, and is located south of Dukes and east of Algonquin (which is named after the Algonquin language, where Manhattan got its name from).

Broker as it appears in Grand Theft Auto IV.

[edit] Dukes

Based on the New York district Queens, Dukes is another area of Liberty City which is primarily residential, and which is accessible from the start of the game. It is made up of several areas, and is home to many criminals and drug dealers, and has security levels almost identical to that of Broker.

[edit] Bohan

Bohan is a small island to the North East of the Liberty City map and is home to drug dealer Elizabeta Torres and star Manny Escuela, who is bent on cleaning up the streets. It is the smallest of the five districts, and is based on The Bronx, New York, and consists mainly of blocks of apartments and industrial areas, with a relatively low security level, but it is originally locked off and isolated, like the rest of the city, due to high level terrorist alerts.

[edit] Algonquin

This is Rockstar's answer to Manhattan island and is the main area of Liberty City. To the north of the island is mainly residential areas, but from Middle Park down it is a lot more commerce-orientated, featuring landmarks such as Star Junction (Times Square), Rotterdam Tower (Empire State Building), the Zirconium Building (Chrysler Building) and the GetaLife Building (MetLife Building). The streets of Algonquin are packed with cars and pedestrians virtually round the clock, and there are plenty of places such as Cluckin' Bell to replenish health. One highly noticeable thing is a large LCPD presence in the area due to the recent terrorism threats in the city. Just off to the south-west of Algonquin is Happiness Island, where the Statue of Happiness (Statue of Liberty) can be found.

A speedboat sailing past Happiness Island.

[edit] Alderney

Based on the city of New Jersey, Alderney is found to the west of Algonquin island and is exactly what it is advertised as - a city full of soccer moms and SUVs. Connected to Liberty City by bridge and the Booth Tunnel, Alderney is a relatively quiet and peaceful place in comparison to Liberty City, and naturally security is much lower. There's a lot of industry in Alderney, and it is also home to the state prison.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

The game is set in the GTA IV version of Liberty City minus Alderney. Not much else is known.

[edit] Other Grand Theft Auto Games

[edit] Grand Theft Auto

Liberty City first appeared in the original Grand Theft Auto game, geographically based quite strictly on New York city, but due to the game being top-down, the landmarks of the city were difficult to make out, so in game it can be difficult to tell that it is Liberty City.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Although Liberty City did not make an actual appearance in this game, the main protagonist Tommy Vercetti had just finished a fifteen year jail sentence in the state prison, and had been given the nickname "The Harwood Butcher", in reference to the fact that he had murdered multiple people in the district of Harwood, Liberty City, when he had been sent to kill one.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the main protagonist Carl Johnson must fly over to Liberty City in a Shamal, where a mission takes place inside Saint Mark's Bistro, which could not be entered by Claude Speed or Toni Cipriani.

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Major portions of this page were written by: Tom