Living in New York means you live
near something interesting, even if you don’t think you do. For two years I
lived on 101st Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens and I thought the most
interesting thing about it was that John Gotti’s old headquarters was just a
few streets away. Really, the site of a former public library where Jack
Kerouac planned his journeys that became the inspiration for On the Road was just a few doors away,
and the apartment where he wrote his first novel was a half mile down the
street just past where Woodhaven Boulevard becomes Cross Bay Boulevard.
Back in
Queens after living in Inwood (upstate Manhattan—and I really do miss that
neighborhood dearly), I am now in North Queens in the neighborhood of Flushing.
Only a half a mile away in Whitestone, there was a killer punk rock show last
night and I could walk there.
The wife
and I set out only a few minutes before show time and got there with time to
spare. The first band, Weird
and Pissed Off, takes its name from the classic film John Carpenter’s The Thing, and sounded excellent, even though
their singer had been with the band less than a week. Seizure Crypt brought their brand of
dual-vocal insanity to a boil, with one of their singers remaining in a
wrestling mask for their whole performance and playing guitar. The Blame is one of the tightest punk
bands ever and rocks excellently, and managed to pull off Dead Kennedys and Men
Without Hats covers without losing their punk edge.
The last
band of the night was Endangered
Feces. I am happy to report that I will be taking over bass duties for
Endangered Feces in a few months’ time. Since starting my own band, Blackout
Shoppers, a few years ago, I have had the honor of playing on the same bill as the
Queens-based punk band that likes to play songs about going to the bathroom. I
have also been given the honor of serving as the band’s “interior defecator,”
and throwing toilet paper at the audience while the band plays. I did my duty
with the help of some fellow fans and the band ripped through their fast set.
Once the
show was over, the wife and I had not eaten for a while, so we said our
goodbyes and walked home. We jumped in the truck and headed to Taco Bell. Taco
Bell was the compromise location since I normally want to go to White Castle,
but the wife doesn’t like the Castle (yet) and I’m fine with Taco Bell.
However, we ran into problems as we made a run for the border. The dining room
was closed and our full-sized pickup truck, Big Bertha, was too large to get
through the drive-through lane, which makes an awkward turn.
So we
headed to Whitestone’s Cherry Valley
Deli & Grill. The Cherry Valley Deli is a 24-hour deli that makes some
of the most delicious sandwiches imaginable. For years I had heard about this
deli from the members of Endangered Feces and the good people of the band
D.U.I. later brought me a TCS (The Chicken Sandwich: chicken cutlet with brown
gravy and American cheese on a toasted roll) so I could sample some of this
deli’s goodness for myself. I was an instant covert and I have made several
pilgrimages to this excellent place since moving back to Queens.
Cherry
Valley Deli’s sandwiches are a staple for the residents of Northern Queens. A
trip there at 4 a.m. on a Saturday or Sunday morning will find a small crowd of
recovering drinkers or late night workers waiting for their delicious
sandwiches that will come wrapped in aluminum foil like flavored torpedoes.
Their
sandwiches have interesting names. For example, their Macho Man features grilled
roast beef with fried onions, Mozzarella cheese and brown gravy on a toasted garlic
hero or roll. The Bomb is grilled steak with bacon, cheddar cheese, onion rings
and brown gravy on a toasted garlic hero. The Beast is chicken cutlet with
bacon, Swiss cheese, onion rings and brown gravy on a toasted garlic hero.
There was
no debate or discussion, both my wife Emily and I know that Cherry Valley is
delicious and we’ve enjoyed a number of trips there as a married couple. We
drove through the dark and silent streets of Queens and got to Whitestone
quickly.
As we
thought, the area around the Cherry Valley Deli was filled with cars parked on
the street and there was a small crowd inside. Among the crowd when we arrived
were the members of Endangered Feces. They had not mentioned to me that they
were going there, we did not plan to meet, but it was a good omen that we ran
into them there.
2 comments:
I think you should've wrote "bass doodies"
We should hit this joint next time I'm in NYC.
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