Queens as an under-the-radar gem

[David Paul Appell]

 

For most visitors to New York City, perhaps understandably it’s all about Manhattan, with most of Gotham’s big attractions, dining, shopping, and entertainment. But those back for another visit, or who have time for an excursion beyond Manhattan, it’s well worth hopping the subway (underground) to other of its five boroughs. This blog has taken us to Brooklyn and the Bronx, and now we move across the East River to NYC’s largest and second most populous borough, Queens.

Originally established in 1683, today Queens is one of the most diverse corners of the Big Apple, with more cultural institutions than you might expect, as well as neighbourhoods that provide visitors with fascinating microcosms of literally the entire world, especially when it comes to truly authentic dining along with a burgeoning microbrewery scene (these neighborhoods include Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, and especially Astoria, particularly near and dear to me as the place where my own immigrant Czech grandparents made their lives, and later became NYC's Greektown). And by the way, if you’re arriving from abroad, Queens is actually the first bit of NYC you’ll experience, as it’s the location of John F. Kennedy International Airport (along with the mostly domestic LaGuardia Airport, long a mess and now thankfully undergoing much needed modernization).

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