August 4th 2007, Afternoon and Evening:
Following an over indulgent meal at the Jackson Diner we walked around a little more through Little India. Supposedly there are some Bollywood theaters in the area. I think that would have been sort of a cool activity had we more time. Perhaps on another trip when the weather isn’t calling us to explore the streets. We walked up to 35th avenue and then took a right onto it. This was a bustling road, filled with businesses, restaurants, grocery stores and tons of people. This neighborhood was really great to visit. It is a cultural melting pot combining Asian and Latin cultures. It was clean, it seemed safe, and it was vibrant. There was just a real sense that you were a tiny part of a vast living colony of humanity. I felt as though I were a cell in an organism that ebbed and flowed through concrete and mortar with a steady, collective heart beat. This is the sort of excitement that you anticipate one might find in a bustling mega-tropolis. Jackson Heights definitely boasts its own identity, a community within a community. This neighborhood is personalized and warm, while maintaining a visually frantic pace and providing residence and commerce for countless many. When we got to 90th St. we then walked to Roosevelt Avenue where the elevated Subway was. Here we boarded the train again for Flushing.
On the way to Flushing we passed by Shea Stadium and Flushing Meadows, the latter, we would visit on the way back.
Flushing is largely considered to be the “New Chinatown” in NYC. We had considered staying here had I driven in instead of taking the bus down from South Station in Boston. It would have definitely been a fun neighborhood to stay in, although I imagine our quaint location in Chelsea is much quieter at night. Much like Jackson Heights, Flushing is bustling. This area has much more of a corporate commercial element near the train stations. It includes many of the large retail
chains (Macys, Best Buy etc.). Once you get away from the center of action, the name brands give way to signs in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, as well as various other Asian ethnicities/nationalities. I would assume that the area is predominantly Chinese. Chinatown in Manhattan has been largely over-run with con artists, and merchants selling imitation or stolen merchandise. While I imagine some of this still exists in this neighborhood as well, the “in your face” assault that is received in Chinatown, is absent here. I didn’t see one little old lady yelling “Turtles Turtles Turtles!!” or one shifty eyed man trying to sell me the new Bourne Ultimatum movie on DVD. (The street scape picture is an off the beaten track side road, still inundated with Asian signs for local businesses)
The Flushing Mall was mentioned in the Lonely Planet as having a “Grand Entrance” and being something to see. Well, typical of Lonely Planet’s pattern of exaggerating, the entrance was more pathetic than grand; however this attraction definitely was something to see. The food court was simply amazing; it was like being in a foreign country simply put. No Orange Julius, no Mrs. Fields, and no Sbarro’s were present in this food adventurer’s dream. Unfortunately Kate and I were still recovering from Indian buffet. The tables in one section had what appeared to be built in heaters for soup, etc. I wasn’t clear on exactly what they were honestly and Kate and I looked at them with scrunched foreheads. The Mall additionally has no Gap, no Express, and instead is filled with stores selling fine Asian silks and linens. There were some beautiful antique shops, and some furniture vendors selling enormous Chinese vases and large statues of Buddha amongst other various Asian figures. These beautiful pieces were often piled right in the center hall where merchants haggled with shoppers. In other areas Haier and Daewoo appliances were piled high and were being sold at great prices. There were several electronics stores, and a handful of grocery stores. Realizing we could be hypnotized by the fluorescent lighting in an Asian market, perhaps even easier than we could be at Wal-Mart, we managed to escape.
Back onto the streets of Flushing we followed a historical trail outlined by periodic signs. The majority of the sights on this trail were former Quaker related sites. One of the sites on the trail was the Flushing Quaker Meeting House which was amazing to see amongst the modern cinderblock structures and the ethnic melting pot that this community currently is.
Flushing once had a strong Quaker presence, and several buildings remain from those times. We ended up making a long journey through Flushing streets looking for a Willow tree that no longer exists. I’m not quite sure what was even special about the willow at this point, all that I know is that it wasn’t there, and we were seriously bummed out. A stone that appeared to be an obelisk of some sort (on the trail signs throughout Flushing) was also a great disappointment. It was supposed to be the remnant of another historical estate however it turned out to be a rock underneath a tree on a side street. Oh… the rock had a plaque on it that said something or other. Kate and I were pretty tired at this point having walked a long distance outside of the main area of attraction. We regrouped, drank some water from Kate’s Nalgene bottle, and decided to scout out the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough library. It is the largest “branch” library in NYC. It is amazingly right in the middle of the hustle of "downtown" of Flushing on Main St. We were there shortly before closing, and probably managed to walk around fifteen minutes before they gave us the boot. Supposedly there are galleries to see there unfortunately we did not have the time. While we had barely tapped many things to see and do and Flushing, we wanted to see Flushing Meadows as well, and we were quickly approaching the evening. So after exiting the library, we once again boarded the Metro and headed to the Shea Stadium exit.
It was a little disappointing there was no game going on. I would have liked to see throngs of Mets fans on the trains and vendors selling goods once I got off the train. Instead we were greeted by a large ghostly station. I will say, getting off in the middle of this giant city park, was probably the first time I felt a little uneasy (as though I didn’t belong, and was somewhere I should not be) since I’d been in Queens. A vast boardwalk led over some commuter rail tracks from the station into the green, somewhat overgrown, Flushing Meadow. A tennis stadium is located there in addition to the baseball field. Everything was empty and somehow a little sad. After we were a few hundred yards into the park portion, further from the stadiums, an open area emerged near the end of the boardwalk. A handful of vendors sold various junk food items. Kate had been craving a Snow Cone which she managed to find, and I had a lemon-lime Gatorade to quench my thirst. We lounged around on some benches and watched the locals.
The people enjoying the park were predominantly Latino. This was evident by several busy makeshift soccer fields set up. There were crowds of people watching what appeared to be league games. Many of them were dressed in Brazilian colors. In this regard, the festive summer activities reminded me of my time living in Lowell, MA. The Brazilians and Cambodians alike would flood even small city parks often to play soccer.
Continuing to take in our surroundings we saw teenagers practicing soccer in some empty fountain pools, (cement painted blue) occasionally exiting them to run the ball by us on the path. Some children were selling Poland Spring bottles out of a cooler. Several makeshift food carts were selling burritos and other food items. Some skewers of meat I noticed made me seriously consider trying to force feed myself more.
Flushing Meadows is home to some relics dating back to two World’s Fairs. The most prominent are the towers which I believe were featured in Men In Black (what the roach tries to fly off in at the end of the film), and a giant steel globe called the Unisphere.
The towers are in horrible disrepair. They are attached to an outside theater which is essentially in ruins. It looks like it will have to be condemned before it could be potentially repaired. Pretty sad because it looks like it must have been pretty nice years ago. There is a playhouse attached to this mess which actually appears newer, or that it was at least recently renovated. Shows were currently being staged and it appeared to be still functional. Nearby was the Queens Museum of Art which Kate & I decided against exploring. There was a couple who had just gotten married there (inside I hope). The bride and some of the party was getting photographed in front of the museum.
On the way to Flushing we passed by Shea Stadium and Flushing Meadows, the latter, we would visit on the way back.
Flushing is largely considered to be the “New Chinatown” in NYC. We had considered staying here had I driven in instead of taking the bus down from South Station in Boston. It would have definitely been a fun neighborhood to stay in, although I imagine our quaint location in Chelsea is much quieter at night. Much like Jackson Heights, Flushing is bustling. This area has much more of a corporate commercial element near the train stations. It includes many of the large retail
chains (Macys, Best Buy etc.). Once you get away from the center of action, the name brands give way to signs in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, as well as various other Asian ethnicities/nationalities. I would assume that the area is predominantly Chinese. Chinatown in Manhattan has been largely over-run with con artists, and merchants selling imitation or stolen merchandise. While I imagine some of this still exists in this neighborhood as well, the “in your face” assault that is received in Chinatown, is absent here. I didn’t see one little old lady yelling “Turtles Turtles Turtles!!” or one shifty eyed man trying to sell me the new Bourne Ultimatum movie on DVD. (The street scape picture is an off the beaten track side road, still inundated with Asian signs for local businesses)The Flushing Mall was mentioned in the Lonely Planet as having a “Grand Entrance” and being something to see. Well, typical of Lonely Planet’s pattern of exaggerating, the entrance was more pathetic than grand; however this attraction definitely was something to see. The food court was simply amazing; it was like being in a foreign country simply put. No Orange Julius, no Mrs. Fields, and no Sbarro’s were present in this food adventurer’s dream. Unfortunately Kate and I were still recovering from Indian buffet. The tables in one section had what appeared to be built in heaters for soup, etc. I wasn’t clear on exactly what they were honestly and Kate and I looked at them with scrunched foreheads. The Mall additionally has no Gap, no Express, and instead is filled with stores selling fine Asian silks and linens. There were some beautiful antique shops, and some furniture vendors selling enormous Chinese vases and large statues of Buddha amongst other various Asian figures. These beautiful pieces were often piled right in the center hall where merchants haggled with shoppers. In other areas Haier and Daewoo appliances were piled high and were being sold at great prices. There were several electronics stores, and a handful of grocery stores. Realizing we could be hypnotized by the fluorescent lighting in an Asian market, perhaps even easier than we could be at Wal-Mart, we managed to escape.
Back onto the streets of Flushing we followed a historical trail outlined by periodic signs. The majority of the sights on this trail were former Quaker related sites. One of the sites on the trail was the Flushing Quaker Meeting House which was amazing to see amongst the modern cinderblock structures and the ethnic melting pot that this community currently is.
Flushing once had a strong Quaker presence, and several buildings remain from those times. We ended up making a long journey through Flushing streets looking for a Willow tree that no longer exists. I’m not quite sure what was even special about the willow at this point, all that I know is that it wasn’t there, and we were seriously bummed out. A stone that appeared to be an obelisk of some sort (on the trail signs throughout Flushing) was also a great disappointment. It was supposed to be the remnant of another historical estate however it turned out to be a rock underneath a tree on a side street. Oh… the rock had a plaque on it that said something or other. Kate and I were pretty tired at this point having walked a long distance outside of the main area of attraction. We regrouped, drank some water from Kate’s Nalgene bottle, and decided to scout out the Flushing branch of the Queens Borough library. It is the largest “branch” library in NYC. It is amazingly right in the middle of the hustle of "downtown" of Flushing on Main St. We were there shortly before closing, and probably managed to walk around fifteen minutes before they gave us the boot. Supposedly there are galleries to see there unfortunately we did not have the time. While we had barely tapped many things to see and do and Flushing, we wanted to see Flushing Meadows as well, and we were quickly approaching the evening. So after exiting the library, we once again boarded the Metro and headed to the Shea Stadium exit.It was a little disappointing there was no game going on. I would have liked to see throngs of Mets fans on the trains and vendors selling goods once I got off the train. Instead we were greeted by a large ghostly station. I will say, getting off in the middle of this giant city park, was probably the first time I felt a little uneasy (as though I didn’t belong, and was somewhere I should not be) since I’d been in Queens. A vast boardwalk led over some commuter rail tracks from the station into the green, somewhat overgrown, Flushing Meadow. A tennis stadium is located there in addition to the baseball field. Everything was empty and somehow a little sad. After we were a few hundred yards into the park portion, further from the stadiums, an open area emerged near the end of the boardwalk. A handful of vendors sold various junk food items. Kate had been craving a Snow Cone which she managed to find, and I had a lemon-lime Gatorade to quench my thirst. We lounged around on some benches and watched the locals.
The people enjoying the park were predominantly Latino. This was evident by several busy makeshift soccer fields set up. There were crowds of people watching what appeared to be league games. Many of them were dressed in Brazilian colors. In this regard, the festive summer activities reminded me of my time living in Lowell, MA. The Brazilians and Cambodians alike would flood even small city parks often to play soccer.
Continuing to take in our surroundings we saw teenagers practicing soccer in some empty fountain pools, (cement painted blue) occasionally exiting them to run the ball by us on the path. Some children were selling Poland Spring bottles out of a cooler. Several makeshift food carts were selling burritos and other food items. Some skewers of meat I noticed made me seriously consider trying to force feed myself more.
Flushing Meadows is home to some relics dating back to two World’s Fairs. The most prominent are the towers which I believe were featured in Men In Black (what the roach tries to fly off in at the end of the film), and a giant steel globe called the Unisphere.
The towers are in horrible disrepair. They are attached to an outside theater which is essentially in ruins. It looks like it will have to be condemned before it could be potentially repaired. Pretty sad because it looks like it must have been pretty nice years ago. There is a playhouse attached to this mess which actually appears newer, or that it was at least recently renovated. Shows were currently being staged and it appeared to be still functional. Nearby was the Queens Museum of Art which Kate & I decided against exploring. There was a couple who had just gotten married there (inside I hope). The bride and some of the party was getting photographed in front of the museum. The Unisphere (globe) was still very cool. (see picture) The pool and fountains beneath it were not functioning any longer (cement also painted blue). This didn’t detract from the impressive sculpture. The area around the globe was being utilized primarily by skate boarders and a couple of weird guys (think "Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons) operating remote controlled cars- the professional kind. I was a little nervous at the chance of getting taken out by one of these beastly gasoline-fueled demons.
It was getting to be time to head back into Midtown. I think I’m going to wrap part five here and continue the remainder of the fourth, and likely the fifth of August on into part 6 of the NYC trip.
It was getting to be time to head back into Midtown. I think I’m going to wrap part five here and continue the remainder of the fourth, and likely the fifth of August on into part 6 of the NYC trip.
1 comment:
Hey George,
Great post! I think the reason we were so into finding that tree in Flushing is that it was the first tree of its kind brought over from Belgium and every other willow tree of that kind desended from it.
Later,
Kate
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