Bill Clinton in the Rockaways and more in the QNYC Evening Edition for Monday November 19, 2012

Social media and Hurricane Sandy

It’s become clear that social media has played an important role in Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook have all been tools used to find out information, learn how to help, and organize groups of people. Smartphones have also been an important element before, during, and especially after the hurricane – we know numerous people that were without power at home, but were able to access the internet and social media via their phone. And because social media is easy to command and manipulate, even one person could make a difference – case in point, Sandy Sucks.

Bill Clinton in the Rockaways

Gothamist reported on former President Bill Clinton helping out with relief efforts in the Rockaways, and more specifically, “his Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative organized a Day of Action to bring volunteers to storm-struck communities.” Clinton felt really good about what he and his volunteers did that day and we expect the locals appreciated their help. Check out the video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgVV5zjacZ0]

Eat these loukoumades now

Cafe Boulis, a small cafe on 31st Ave around the corner from 31st Street in Astoria, is home to amazing loukoumades. These are deep fried rings of dough that arrive warm, traditionally topped with powdered sugar and honey. Cafe Boulis offers a range of other toppings – we think the sour cherry syrup and chocolate syrup would be a nice combination. You may have seen loukoumades as balls of dough, but the ring shape is apparently more traditional in Greece. Get a coffee with it, too – it’s nice and strong and goes very well with sweet things.

Jamaica in 52 Suburbs

This project 52 Suburbs is run by Louise Hawson, and started this year. It’s a fascinating project – started when she realized she really didn’t know her home city of Sydney, so she went exploring. More on the concept and execution of the project:

I’m going to explore and photograph the ‘unfamous’ side of some of the world’s most famous cities – their suburbs/neighbourhoods – and share what I discover in weekly posts on this blog. My eight year old daughter, Coco, will be coming along for the ride, as will you I hope, in a virtual, vicarious kind of way.

In August she visited Jamaica as “suburb number 30.” She checked out the food, talked to locals, including a Bangladeshi woman named Sultana – a new immigrant and nail salon employee, and Kainath and Nova, two local Muslim young ladies who invited her to experience Eid Mubarak. She also got to know the Carribbean/West Indian part of Jamaica, which was very different, comparatively speaking. There are many other stories – definitely check it out.

Book set in Queens – there are quite a few

We’ve put together a list of books set in Queens – anthologies about life in the borough; novels and short stories about immigrants, natives, as well as thrillers and mysteries; and memoirs and autobiographies about growing up in Queens. It’s fascinating to see Queens come into focus through these books.