beXnlog

Queens Represent

A big thanks to John Roleke, the About.com guide to Queens, New York for plugging beXnlog! (To read his post, scroll down to June 23rd.)

From John Roleke:

Too long has Queens lived in the shadow of Manhattan. We might not have its money (or attitude), but Queens has sights, tastes, and dreams all its own.

Over two million people live here: everyone from artists and hipsters to Wall Street types and immigrants with small businesses. Half of Queens is from another country, representing over 100 nations. It is the most diverse place in the world.

When i first moved to New York in early 1998, i slept on a friend's couch on the Upper East Side for a month. After that, my first real room was a 3-month share in Rego Park, Queens - a good fifteen minute walk from the Queens Mall in a little neighborhood abundant in quarter waters and plantains. From the summer of 1998 to the summer of 2002, i called Brooklyn home - back when 5th Ave in Park Slope didn't have wine shops and Atlantic Center was a sad beige thing. Ever since i hooked up with a Queens boy in 2001, it made sense to look to his home borough in an effort to escape escalating Brooklyn rents. I was a little hesitant at first; after all, i got to know New York through a sunny Brooklyn fire escape, and Queens was such a large, unknown world (besides the long walk from the Queens Mall to Lefrak City).

We settled in "Astoria," which i now learn is really Long Island City, right in the middle of a neighborhood where gourmet groceries, custom rims and wedding dresses are all equally, easily accessible. The bakeries abound! Fresh produce everywhere! Greek, Thai, Brazilian, Mexican, Italian, Bangladeshi and Chinese food - whatever you want, anytime, all the time. You can say hi to the mail carrier and sit on doorsteps chatting with neighbors OR step back into your own reclusive world.

We started exploring other neighborhoods in Queens, finding numerous shops, a certain empanada joint and beautiful, tree-lined streets everywhere. The Queens boy would recount stories. The Queens friends took me to eat. My love for Queens grew and grew.

It's been 3 years now, 3.25 if you count the Rego Park stint, and i'm happy to call myself a Queens girl even though i wasn't born here in the borough. But the great thing is - more than half of us weren't!

posted by beXn @ 12:45 AM