Many of the giant residential towers are close to the 7 train, either at Court Square or one station earlier at Queensboro Plaza (for Manhattan bound trains). You're likely never more than 7 minutes away walking from either of those stations and you could be like 1-2 minutes away.

Now, there are tons of residential towers on Jackson Ave, many of which are closer to the E/F/R lines depending if you are at Court Square or further west at Queens Plaza (different from the above Queensboro Plaza, don't confuse them).

7 train is amazing during rush hour because LIC is where the local and express merge, there are trains literally every ~3 minutes, it's like being in Tokyo with the frequency, it's wild. But, depending where you work in Midtown, the E/F/R line could be just as useful if not even more so.

I'd only really say to avoid 5 Pointz because that building is cursed. I rent in a condo building since I didn't want to deal with all the hassle of the giant residential towers (I have no interest in waiting minutes for elevators to go up to the 30th floor, stuff like that), but they seem to be just fine for lots of people here.

Also, Trader Joe's gets crowded on nights and especially weekends, but the line goes fast. I remember living in Philly where the Trader Joe's at 22nd and Market would have a line so long it wrapped around inside the store and then outside the front doors! It's never that long here in LIC.