The first stop on the 7 from Grand Central will get you to a peak Queens block: vinyl-clad walk-ups, small apartment buildings, modest warehouses, a legacy punchclock supplier, and a trendy izakaya-style ramen place.

This street was once called Fourth Street, back when Long Island City was its own city. And this block is kind of a frontier zone: the high-rises and former waterfront industry are just a block or two west, and railyards and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel approach are to the south.

There aren’t a lot of grand stories that I can tell here. And the last couple of posts have gotten a little heavy. So let’s keep it tight, ok? Ok.

These photos were taken in April.

This brick walk-up has been vacant since a fire broke out here in October. A Reddit user believes it may have happened because of an ebike. Careful out there.

The classic headquarters of the 108th Precinct is the highlight of the block. Though the legacy of the precinct predates Long Island City’s 1898 absorption into greater New York City, the building itself is from 1905.

The coverage area includes the southern portion of the East River waterfront, and stretches as far east as Sunnyside, Woodside, and the cemetery belt.

In 1929, a 45-year-old patrolman died of a heart attack during an attack by a prisoner who’d been arrested for not paying his cab ride.

The next year, detectives here were tasked with solving an extortion case in which a 32-year-old railroad clerk who disappeared was held for ransom, according to the Hatching Cat of Gotham. The suspected kidnappers called his parents and instructed them to tie $500 to the legs of carrier pigeons near a local candy and cigar store.

The police dispatched a seaplane to follow the pigeons. The first one joined a larger flock and was lost. Then the second one became hard to track among the headstones of Calvary Cemetery, according to the website’s account. Officers did spot five men waiting in a car, but lost track of them. And unfortunately, the victim was found dead in the East River a few weeks later.

Speaking of pigeons, in 2014, the New York Times wrote about precinct commanders here warning patrol officers against “cooping.”

That is, catching a nap while on duty, particularly in unmonitored places like near the Newtown Creek, Sunnyside Railyards, or the three mega-sized cemeteries in the precinct.

“Sometimes guys were up for 32 hours at a time and sometimes your body would break down on you,” a former detective told the newspaper. The practice may have hit its peak in the 60s and 70s. With scheduling changes, crackdowns, increasing emergency calls over the decades, and the availability of places to nap inside the stationhouse, cooping is less common than it used to be.

Tell that to the cat though.

The precinct steps are often home to “Copper the Cat,” at least according to Google Maps, which awarded the cat an average of 5 stars. “Very professional,” one reviewer wrote. “Caught sleeping a couple of times though.”

I wasn’t the only person taking photos of Copper on the perch.

Copper can’t have all the fun. Lotsa dogs here.

Almost ready for some new residents is this new “thoughtfully designed” five-story apartment building. This was a vacant lot for more than 10 years, and before that it was a parking lot, according to Google Maps.

This building at the corner of 50th and Vernon hits the boozehound’s trifecta — Irish dive bar, trendy wine bar, and liquor store.

Looked cooler way back when.

This former industrial building at 5-18 50th Ave. is now home to the first Black Seed Bagels location in Queens.

That’s it! Nice and short for once. Don’t get used to it.

What’s Good: Great mishmash of different uses. Still humble after all these changes.

What’s Not: We’re a little light on showstoppers here. But if it’s good enough for Copper, it’s good enough for you.

Block Rating: 6.5/10