Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with queens

King of Queens for $40 per diem

rabbitsnake — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:42:50 -0800

Any interesting stuff around Citi Field in Flushing, NY? My brother is stuck at the Holiday Inn LaGuardia across the highway from Citi Field until Monday. He will be working at the stadium, so he is there most of the days there aren't games and has already attended a couple baseball games. Otherwise, he is incredibly bored and doesn't have that much time to escape the neighborhood. Any good bars/restaurants or interesting things to do in the neighborhood when he has downtime?

Can you recommend a dentist in or around Astoria Queens?

JulianDay — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:16:30 -0800

Can you recommend a dentist in or around Astoria Queens? I live in Astoria but I can always take the train into Manhattan.

I don't have dental insurance so I'd prefer someone who isn't too pricey but that's not my primary concern.

I'm looking for a friendly dentist. I haven't been in a few years and while I don't have any pain, I wouldn't be shocked if I have some cavities, I'm afraid I've ground down a tooth, etc. so I'm probably looking a multiple visit situation and while I don't really mind going to the dentist, I do feel guilty about how long it's been and don't want to be scolded by some I'm-gonna-be-mean-to-you-for-your-own-sake dentist.

Archie Bunker lived in an Archie Bunker

SansPoint — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:13:16 -0800

Did the term "Archie Bunkers" for the detached houses in Queens, NY come from "All in the Family," or did Norman Lear name the character after the term?

Deco Dereliction

essexjan — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:45:28 -0800

From the 7 train in Queens/Long Island City, on the stretch from Court House Square to Queensboro Plaza, where the line doglegs round a bend, is a derelict art deco factory. It looks to date from the late 1920s, and it has some lovely lozenge-shaped tile detail on the facade. Google Earth tells me (if I have tracked it correctly) that it occupies the block between 23rd and 24th Streets, 42nd Road and Queens Plaza.

What did this building used to be?

It can be seen more clearly on this YT video, appearing at about 23 seconds, through to 40 seconds. Disregard the talk at the end of the YT link where they're talking about a different building - Eagle Electric - that's been turned into condos.

I love art deco and would love to know what this building used to be before it fell into disrepair. Does anybody know?

Tell me everything your know about the community of Elmhurst, NY.

DarwinianDan — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:21:21 -0800

What can you tell me about Elmhurst, NY? How long does it take to get there from the Upper West Side? I'm interviewing at an elementary school there and I'd like to know anything about the area. Is it a good area to teach in? Upper, middle, working class? Many immigrants and non-English speakers? Urban or suburban?

What's the best guide to Queens?

ocherdraco — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 09:38:18 -0800

What's the best guide to Queens for someone who lives there? I've tried Not for Tourists, and though I found their Brooklyn guide to be great when I lived in Brooklyn, the Queens guide seems strangely off the mark (like, well, neglecting to include my subway stop on my neighborhood map. If they can't get that right, what else are they missing?).

Anybody else live in Queens and have a guide they like? I'm in Astoria, near the intersection of Broadway and Steinway, so I'd like one that's particularly helpful here, but I'm also looking to expand my knowledge of the rest of the borough.

Moving from Manhattan to the Outer Boroughs, help requested

incomple — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:21:59 -0800

My roommate and I are planning on leaving our filthy, shitty East Village apartment, to find something nicer and larger in Brooklyn or Queens. How do we go about making this move? We're likely making this more complicated than it should be... Our current lease is up at the end of the summer, but we want to start looking for places as soon as possible. Obviously, no unit would stay vacant for six months, so we can't look at properties now, but is it at all possible to set up an arrangement with a broker, who might know what rental properties will be available in six months' time? Have any of you ever done this? We're thinking that by August, when our lease is up, our search will be complicated by the plethora of students looking for housing. Hence, we want to find something, and ideally have a lease, before then.

Neither of us have ever had to deal with a broker, having inherited leases from friends, so we don't really know how to go about making the first move. Do brokers deal with specific neighborhoods, or can I just call up any broker in the city and get what we're after? Can anyone recommend any brokers or agencies from personal experience?

(If it's of any relevance, we're looking at basically anywhere in Brooklyn, ideally "brownstone" Brooklyn, that's less than a half hour to the city. We'd prefer not to go past Prospect Park, though I lived in the Lefferts Gardens area before and found it to be quite nice. Failing that, Astoria or LIC in Queens.)

Where should I eat while doing jury duty in Jamaica, Queens?

jason's_planet — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 07:29:32 -0800

Where can I get a good cheap lunch in Jamaica, Queens while I'm on jury duty? I've got jury duty in the Jamaica section of Queens on Monday. The courthouse is located on Sutphin Boulevard just north of the LIRR station.

Where can I get a good, cheap lunch within walking distance? I'm very open-minded about food and love the various "ethnic" cuisines. The ideal would be a restaurant that:

*is not crazy crowded

*is cheap -- that is, $8 at the very most

*has good food

*does not have a drive-through window

Those are my criteria. If you know of a good place, please let me know.

Many thanks in advance.

Does direct bus/mass transit service from NJ to Brooklyn or Queens exist?

Ashley801 — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:51:50 -0800

Is there any *direct* bus/van/shared ride service between New Jersey and either Brooklyn or Queens? I'm wondering if there is any *direct* bus/van/shared ride service between New Jersey and either Brooklyn or Queens. Something that doesn't involve a switch in Manhattan (although it could make stops there).

I have this suspicion that there must be SOME sort of private bus company that offers this, but I can't find anything.

Barring that, I also would be interested in a bus from NJ to Manhattan, whose stop in Manhattan was somewhere above Canal St. and below 14th St. (like a local Chinatown bus).

As for originating points in NJ, I'm interested in Newark and anywhere else on the NJ Transit NE Corridor line (Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, Metuchen, Edison, New Brunswick, Princeton)

Another odd vehicle in Queens

Skorgu — Tue, 01 May 2007 08:22:15 -0800

About a month ago I happened to be outside my house in Queens at about midnight. I saw what looked like a cop car with license plate reading cameras drive by. Anyone have more info? I live on a very quiet residential street, no through traffic at all. The car was a late-model Impala, black with tinted windows. Mounted to the roof on the front corners were two cameras, Shrek-style. The car did a normal-speed cruise down my block, and turned the corner. It's brakes did the you-need-new-pads squeal at the stop sign on the corner.

The obvious conclusion is that it's a cop car recording license plates, what I'm assuming were cameras were aimed roughly where plates of parked cars would be visible, down and out. Has anyone heard of something like this? I've seen no-camera Crown Vics around the area looking for cars to tow for parking violations, but the midnight-dash style of this was a bit suspicious.

I'm interested in both the legal questions, who is doing it and for what purpose and the technical ones, are the cameras IR, are they automatically OCR'd or just reviewed later by humans. I suspect it's similar to this but the cameras were external and it looked like a parked-car scan rather than constant traffic monitoring.

Sisyphus Looks for a Hill

Oddly — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:31:02 -0800

In preparation for this event on Memorial Day weekend, I'm looking for a good hill or set of stairs to train on. Problem is, I live in Queens. I make it up to the Catskills as much as I can, but am really itching for something closer for evening runs. The best place I've found within the borough are the stairs/paths around Astoria Park. Any local MeFites know of other accessible/public options? Bonus points for map links. Thanks all.

Legalizing basement apartment in NYC?

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 03:11:20 -0800

Anyone have experience with legalizing an apartment in NYC? I inherited a basement apartment with my single-family Queens house. Have a great relationship with my tenant and do not want to evict. Recently, though, I've received notices from the city to discontinue "illegal use of space for living." In addition to evicting that would involve tearing out the tub, a wall, and other stuff. The previous owner received these notices too, but she ignored them and told the inspector to come back with a warrant (which never happened).

I'm willing to try this and risk the fines but would prefer to legalize the place. However, it has small windows and is probably not up to current code for light & air. Does anyone here know if there's a way around this? Any grandfather clauses for old places (the house is 120 yrs old, the apartment maybe 30)? Any recommendations for an attorney or expeditor who could help?

The DCE website offers little hope but I'm holding out for insider info if anyone can help. Thanks!

Help identify a very strange truck seen in Queens, NY.

Skorgu — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 18:13:29 -0800

Help identify a very strange truck seen in Queens, NY. Scanners, cameras and GPS Oh My! I hacked up a SketchUp model, see it here. It should be obvious at this point that I'm not a 3D modeler by trade :) The truck isn't mine, the big ugly white primitives, however, are.

The truck was a heavy-duty american (GMC or Dodge) pickup truck, painted white parked on the side of the road, off of Queens Blvd. The truck had fleet markings on the front right wheel well behind the wheel and was in general immaculate. Inside the cab was a laptop computer on a vehicle mount and a very worn 5 borough road atlas. The white slab on top of the cab represents an amber traffic-diverting signal. There were two rear-facing floodlights but my 3D modeling motivation expired before I got around to them.

The antanna-looking thing on the tailgate looked a lot like a GPS antenna. The two boxes facing out sidways were heavy-duty external camera housings, complete with little wipers.

The funky box thing hanging off the back doesn't do justice to the real box thing which was streamlined and made of smooth, shiny white plastic. The only identifying marks on it was the brand name Sarnoff and a model number something like D??-5???

First I thought it was an Amazon A9-esque storefront mapper, but that didn't explain the strange projection hanging off the back. I googled Sarnoff and they seem to be a GE-style company in that they make everything from cameras to bio-warfare detectors.

One of the first google hits on their name involved them (somehow) helping ConEd (electric company for NYC) synchronize two power plants using gps. Doesn't make sense to me either, but there you go, and there were blackouts just coming to a close around the time I saw it.

Does anyone know what on earth this thing is/does? The curiosity is killing me.

Does Verizon DSL still suck or have they cleaned up their act?

jason's_planet — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 08:55:29 -0800

I live in Queens, NY. I want to take the plunge into broadband. Verizon is offering a pretty good deal ($18.00 a month for as much bandwidth as I'll ever use) but I am a little leery. Four or five years ago, I was hearing nothing but complaints about Verizon's DSL offerings. So . . . does Verizon DSL still suck or have they cleaned up their act? I'd really love to hear from Verizon DSL customers who live in Woodside, Astoria or Sunnyside, if you're out there and have MeFi accounts.

Need help identifying a song from an old cartoon....

Anders Levant — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:07:53 -0800

Need help identifying a song from an old cartoon.... I'm doing this on behalf of someone else who is unable to remember much about this song, so apologies in advance for my vagueness. My friend remembers hearing it on an old Saturday morning cartoon, and remembers this snippet of lyrics:

Kings and Queens
Knights on white horses.
All these things
mean nothing to me.

Kings and Queens
living in castles
will never be
as lucky as me.

He thinks it might be the Groovie Goolies or the Archies, but he isn't sure. Definitely from that era, though. Google isn't turning up anything useful, so I'm asking for your help. Any of this ring a bell?

hawks in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York?

destro100 — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:58:07 -0800

What is the best way to see hawks in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York? I live near Flushing Meadows, a large green park, in Queens NY. I've seen hawks on two separate occassions quite by accident. I love watching the birds of prey and snapping some photos. Can anyone recommend some tips on best means of finding them in the area? I have no idea how to start looking. Where? When? Feed em?

Being a New NeighborFilter

softlord — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 16:53:31 -0800

Does anyone have any suggestions for a good way to get in good with my new neighbors? I'm about to sign my name to a lease on a brand new apartment in an area where I dont really know anyone (Queens, NYC).

I'm planning on having a housewarming fiesta to which they will be invited (I'm leaving the door open and posting signs), but is there anything in particular you would suggest to let them know that I'm not a psycho and that they should feel free to pop in for tea?

What would make you say "Hey thats pretty cool of him" when you have a new neighbor in your building?

Shiny, tiny new apartment in Manhattan or affordable charm in Brooklyn?

hsoltz — Wed, 19 May 2004 09:25:02 -0800

Another NYC Real Estate Question: the SO and I, who have always lived in charming smallish walk-ups with leaky tubs/peeling paint in Queens-like proximity to 'the big city,' have been seduced by the siren song of new construction downtown. With their pre-opening rent breaks, brand-new appliances, and convenience to both work and play, these "luxury buildings" appear to offer a whole new standard of living at an attractive price. However, ... [mi] ...we're slightly paralyzed by the thought that the same rent, or less, could land us a spacious yet locationally-challenged loft in Brooklyn. (Everything we're seen is far from a subway.) So which sounds better to you: "location, location, location," or the ability to inhabit opposite ends of an apartment without being able to hear each other?