Last month I said a fond farewell to Inwood and moved to Flushing Queens, where the Korean restaurants are open 24 hours and the Cherry Valley Deli is a short distance away. I am making Double Satanic Deviled Eggs—listening to SLAYER makes them Double Satanic—to bring to a family gathering later.
Flushing is imbued with the Christmas spirit like other parts of the city. There are plenty of lights and other decorations about, though the decorations here cannot hold a plastic candle to some of the over-the-top light displays that have made some New York neighborhoods famous.
Queens is New York’s largest borough. Like The Bronx, Queens was a jumble of different towns and villages before it became part of New York City in 1898. It maintains that scattered identity, though people from Queens are proud of it and the borough has produced some of our most talented New Yorkers. Queens gave the world both The Ramones and Run DMC.
With the exception of Astoria and maybe Long Island City, the neighborhoods of Queens have not acquired the kind of cultural cachet that parts of Brooklyn have acquired. This is a great hidden blessing, as Queens has maintained much good New York character and not suffered from price-inflating gentrification that has eaten away the many once working-class neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
I miss Inwood and its many unique features but Flushing is an interesting place as well and there is a lot to discover here too. This has been an interesting year and 2012 promises to be interesting too.
I hope you are all taking the time to enjoy the holidays. Those of you in New York City, don’t forget to enjoy the holiday scenery and don’t be ashamed to be a tourist in your own city.
No comments:
Post a Comment