Neighborhoods of Queens
Last Stop on the Line
Sunday, August 24th, 2008I love the NYC subway system. You pay one fare to go anywhere in the city, unlike Philadelphia or London (the only other cities whose public transportation I know about) which charges you based on how long you ride.
Here’s a fascinating story by Andy Newman in the Aug 22, 2008 New York Times called The [...]
My Summer in Queens
Saturday, June 7th, 2008More photos from 2005 when I was a new employee at RDNY.com and learning about Queens for the first time.
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Flushing: The World’s Biggest Model
Thursday, May 15th, 2008This is not an aerial photo of New York. It’s the largest architectural model in the world. It was built at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet and has every building in the City of New York. It was built for the 1964 World’s Fair held in Flushing Meadow, and is now on [...]
Good News for Queens Subway Riders
Sunday, April 6th, 2008The Straphangers Campaign has done a survey about the cleanliness of the trains and found that the L and the 7 are the cleanest in the city.
The number of clean subway cars improved slightly since 2005, according to the ninth annual “subway shmutz” survey by the Straphangers Campaign, released today.
The best performing line was the [...]
Yup, Hipsters Have Invaded Queens
Sunday, April 6th, 2008From the New York Observer comes this great photo and more proof that things are happening in Queens:
Adopting the slogan “Downtown Has Moved to Queens,” the former Lower East Side stalwart [Robert Pritchard] is partnering with developer Michael Waldman to open what he called a “rock ’n’ roll supper club, similar to a Bowery Ballroom [...]
The People Behind the Traffic Report
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008When I listen to the traffic reports, I always hear the same names: Major Deegan, Van Wike, the Kozkewsko, etc. I’ve always wondered who those people were and how people get big things named after them. I found out that knowing someone helps (no surprise there), and sometimes it helps to be a hero.
Major [...]
You Can Live in a Basement But You Can’t Live in a Cellar
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008Queens, more than any of NYC’s boroughs, has a lot of basement apartments but if the apartment is in the cellar, it’s not legal. In our city, no one is allowed to live in the cellar.
A cellar has less than 1/2 of its space above ground as measured by the curb level. In this photo [...]
Queens: Woodside in the Movies
Thursday, March 6th, 2008I love Parker Posey. Love her in Dazed and Confused and in the Christopher Guest movies. She’s always fun to watch. Too bad about her sitcom on Fox.
You might have missed two of her lesser-known movies, both set in Woodside, Queens: Henry Fool (1997) and Fay Grim (2007). These are low budget satires with a [...]
Where Your TV Friends Live in NYC
Monday, February 18th, 2008When you’ve lived in NYC long enough, you’ll know the addresses of the buildings you see on TV as the homes of the characters. RDNY.com’s Listings Manager, Clay, is a whiz at this game. I count on him telling me the address of most buildings in the establishing shots (come people call them [...]
New Orleans, Kansas City, Chicago . . . and Corona!
Monday, February 18th, 2008Jazz music is uniquely American, a blend of all the music immigrants brought to this country. New Orleans, Kansas City, and Chicago are the cities that are most identified with jazz, and now — yay! — I can add Corona to this list. Louis Armstrong moved to 34-56 107th St in Corona, Queens (that’s his [...]
Queens: Hipsters Invade Astoria?
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008I didn’t know Astoria was happenin’ until I read this in the Daily News:
Change is hard for everyone. In the 1960s, Astoria was a totally Greek neighborhood and at one time had the largest Greek population outside of Athens. My parents’ generation grew up when Astoria = Greeks. These days, Brazilians, Bosnians, Bangladeshis, and Arabs [...]
NYC is Really a Dutch Town
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008This town we love was first settled by the Iroquis and Alaconquin tribes, and later (1625) was invaded by Dutch members of the West India Trading Company — businessmen! Isn’t that soooo New York?
Our town was called New Amsterdam until the English took over and re-named it New York. Here is a list of words [...]