Image source: MTA
We noticed that the buses are running, and heard on the radio that traffic is backed up on the BQE (yes, we are heading back to normalcy with that one). How are you getting around? Are you trying to get to work today? Or just around town? Leave us a comment here or via twitter at @queensnycity.
The Sunnyside Gardens area of Sunnyside is known for the large, beautiful trees that line its streets. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy found many of these trees last night and they were ripped out at the roots, wreaking havoc on cars, sidewalks, and yards. Most homeowners got lucky, though, and did not see any damage from the fallen trunks and branches.
On 47th Street, two huge trees and a lamppost lay across the road.
Between 47th and 48th Streets, a tree went down in someone’s backyard, and yanked the square edge of the yard up with it. (more…)
Hunters Point in in store for a pretty great library – dedication ceremony earlier today
Earlier this morning there was a dedication ceremony for the Hunterspoint Library. This $28 million, 21,500-square-foot library will feature large windows and a roof terrace. It will also join the emerging number of green buildings in LIC, and in particular it will use geothermal wells to cool the building (no a/c units on the roof), according to Queens Library CEO Thomas Galante. They are gunning for a pretty high LEED certification, too. In the words of Jimmy Van Bramer, the waterfront library will be “a landmark in future years.” Local children planted “trees of knowledge” that will grow near the site.
There’s a hole in Gantry Park
Soon you’ll be able to look through a 10 ft in diameter hole in the middle of the esplanade at Gantry State Park. Through it are views of the river underneath. It’s located at the northern tip of the park (GMAP), which isn’t yet open to the public. When it is open (next year sometime), they’ll light it from below and turn it into a viewing station with a safety railing installed.
Two restaurant weeks are coming to Queens
This month, Queens is home not just one, but two restaurant weeks. First, there’s ninth annual Queens Restaurant Week. Over 125 restaurants are expected participate. Most of the restaurants will offer a three-course, prix fixe meal for $25 from October 8-11 and October 15-18. Here is a list of participating restaurants.
Then there’s the inaugural 30th Avenue Restaurant Week, happening from Friday, October 12 through Sunday October 21. Restaurants along the avenue will offer discounted specials during the ten day celebration, such as a free appetizer with a meal. At this point, 23 restaurants have come on board for the restaurant week, including Flo Café, Sweet Afton, and newly opened LaBottega.
Bikes and cars and parking in Astoria
Streetsblog has summarized the current tension between bikes and cars that has come to light in Astoria. Conversations about the parking needs for both modes of transportation have been popping up in discussion forums and the blogosphere. In this case, it is focused on the request by popular cafe/restaurant The Queens Kickshaw by their request – through proper channels, AKA the city’s CityRacks application process - to get a bike corral in front of their place of business. CB 1 turned down their request because in their eyes the bike corral would ”take up a very valuable [car] parking space” according to Lucille Hartmann, CB 1 District Manager. Jennifer Lim and Ben Sandler have taken a new approach to state their case, with an online petition. It currently has 324 names and counting.
Woodside Cafe – home of crazy delicious Nepalese food
CitySpoonful published a review of Woodside Cafe, located in the former digs of deeply missed Spicy Mina’s. We were along for the ride during the meal reviewed and we can attest to the awesomeness of the dinner. Pictured at the start of the article is the potato achar, definitely one of our favorite dishes. Those steamed vegetable dumplings were also out of sight tasty. Check out the review for more mouthwatering content.
Most people imagine Vin Diesel racing fast cars on hot Los Angeles streets when they think about muscle cars, but Queens has a long history of street racing on par with SoCal. There have been several big police crackdowns in neighborhoods like Maspeth, where cars regularly race down Maurice Ave. But street racing is just the illegal side of Queens’ fierce car culture. People like Mike Musto in Astoria are passionate about the cars themselves.
Mike is a longtime pro-touring car aficionado from Astoria, and recently returned to his hometown to host a 2-part series called The Cars of Queens for his show BIG MUSCLE on The DRIVE network, a YouTube channel. “For me,” he says, “this is where the whole muscle car thing started. Back amongst the cracked concrete, barbed wire, graffiti, and padlocked garages were some of the baddest muscle cars you were ever likely to see. This is home. This is where these cars were built. This is where they were on the street on a daily basis.”
Whether you’re all about autos or not, these “bad-ass” videos are worth viewing.
“Just because you live in an urban environment,” explains Mike, “doesn’t mean you can’t build, use, and enjoy your dream car.”
Video source: The DRIVE Network
