Flushing VS Chinatown

This is an interesting article from the Times that I recently found (although it was published a couple years ago), that talks about the differences in culture, food, and shopping between Chinatown Manhattan, and our beloved Flushing. Pretty cool read. Here's an excerpt:

Where Chinatown is shrouded in history, Flushing is bright and contemporary. The broad, flat cityscape of Queens is spiced up with the shiny metal-and-mirror aesthetic popular in industrial East Asia. "In Chinatown, everything is right in front of you," [the author's friend] said, putting her hand right in front of her face. "In Flushing, you can breathe."

City Acquires Landmark Bowne House

I'd been wanting to post about this. Slightly old news now, but still exciting none the less. I'll try to post updates as they come. Here's a blurb from the City Room blog:

New York City has taken ownership of the Bowne House, a 17th-century Anglo-Dutch structure in Flushing, Queens, that is a major symbol of the growth of religious freedom in America. The change in ownership, announced on Wednesday, clears the way for the wood-framed building, which has been closed for some time because of its poor condition, to undergo a major renovation and to be reopened by 2012.

The Solid and The Sublime at Crossing Art

I just discovered Crossing Art, the relatively new art gallery located right in the heart of Flushing. Actually, it's in the new Queens Crossing Mall on 39th and Roosevelt. I have to say, I'm pretty excited about seeing what they're all about. Right now it's showing The Solid and The Sublime, featuring the work of Takeshi Hamanaka, Lin Shih Pao, Zhao Yi, and Liu Yonggong. The show is only through the 22nd, so make haste:

The Solid and The Sublime

Works by: Takeshi Hamanaka, Lin Shih Pao, Zhao Yi, and Liu Yonggong

Exhibition Dates: Friday, October 9 – Tuesday November 22, 2009

(Flushing, NY – September, 2009) Crossing Art is pleased to present The Solid and The Sublime, Works by Takeshi Hamanaka, Lin Shih Pao, Zhao Yi, and Liu Yonggong. The exhibition brings together the work of four Asian Contemporary artists using solid materials that inform interpretations of the sublime.

Read more about the artists: click here.

Crossing Art
136-20 38th Avenue (Main Street & 39th Ave)
4th Floor
Flushing, NY 11354

Phone: +1-212-359-4333
Fax: +1-212-359-4321
Email: info@crossingart.com

Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday, 11am-6pm
Also by appointment

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Take Care During this 4th of July Weekend

Enjoy your weekend but remember to take care and stay safe. The Gothamist reports that this past Thursday night a hit-and-run claimed the life of a man in Flushing. Read more here. My condolences go out to the family of the victim.

City of New York Giving More Tickets?

Has anyone else noticed more ticket-giving lately? I mean, we all know that NYC meter maids are like mosquitoes in the amazon lurking in the shadows anxious to suck us dry. But more recently, I'm starting to wonder if it's getting out of hand. The City seems desperate for money in these "recessionary times."
Some people might argue that there's a limit to how much revenue the City can generate from traffic tickets, but how about other forms of ticketing? Two things lead me to believe that this is getting out of hand. One of them affected me directly.
1) For the first time ever, I saw a street vendor getting written up in Flushing! One evening a couple of weeks ago on the busy corner of Main and Roosevelt. It was kind of shocking. After all, it's Flushing not Manhattan. Everyone looks the other way around here. Downtown Main Street looks like a market in China--street vendors galore.
2) About a week ago in Woodside, I got a $68.00 ticket on my car for having "an improperly displayed plate." So, was it being displayed improperly, you ask? No. Did it have neon signs around it, or some other flickering lights or coverage? No. It simply had a license plate frame around it! You know, the kind that cars come with when you drive them off the dealership. I looked around at the cars on my block and just about every other one had a license plate frame, but alas no ticket.

Has anyone else noticed this kind of infuriating taxation? That's ridiculous.

Dedicated to Heroes Among Us.

We all know that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. This might have been hard to grasp when we were young. I know I was disappointed when I found out that real heroes don't look like Superman. But then as we mature, the true beauty of a hero can be appreciated, simply by the fact that heroism shines through from ordinary people -- like our parents or siblings.

One day here in Flushing, I was witness to truly a great act of heroism. I was going into the Urban Terrain / Athlete's Foot on the corner of Roosevelt and Union St. to check out the sneakers. Coming out of the store immediately as I was entering, was a big guy huffing and puffing, and muttering something under his breath, that amounted to "if they don't gimme service I'mma take the damn thing."

Not really paying too much attention to it or the security system alarm going off, I thought "I wouldn't want to get in that dude's way," and continued into the store. This is where I first see the hero of this story. He's an average looking guy, average height, etc, standing around with a girl. I realized that they were communicating in sign language, and next that this average looking guy was trying to gesture to the store owner, a short, tough, old lady. He was trying to gesture that he witnessed the aforementioned tough-looking guy taking a shirt off the rack and sticking it down his pants before taking off out the door.

Due perhaps to the lack of verbal communication, the store clerk was ignoring our hero and even giving him a funny look. Giving up in frustration at the lack of results from the clerk, our hero bolted out the door, leaving his friend behind in the store. I poked my head out the door after him to see him racing down the block and whipping around the corner--apparently after the thief who left only minutes before.

I sat there in contemplation and a bit of worry crossed my mind. After all, our hero is a simple guy; an average chap. Who knows what he was about to get himself into. And after two minutes went by, and then three and four, I actually started to become concerned. Eventually, my concern/curiosity/nosiness got the best of me, and I too took off down the road and around the corner of Union, too. About a minute or so later, the hero was running back in my direction, waving a brand-new, flannel shirt in the air triumphantly. As he came towards me I felt a sense of relief seeing him in one piece. He was dripping with sweat, smiling like he'd just won an Olympic medal and zipped right past me back to the store.

By the time I got back to the store, he was already signing and gesturing the details to both his friend and to the store clerk, who by now was taking him a little more seriously. As a reward, the clerk allowed him to pick out a pair of shorts from the rack that had a sign that said "SALE: $5." Not exactly justice for such a heroic act, at least in this observer's eyes, but he was gleefully happy just the same, and that for sure is part of what being a hero is all about.

I'll never know what transpired over that few minutes when our hero was out of view and confronting that scary looking guy. And I probably won't ever know the hero's name. But at least I am able to capture the event here for others to ponder.

Native Speaker

Anyone ever read Chang-rae Lee's Native Speaker? I keep hearing good things about it. Apparently it takes place in Flushing.

Early-Morning Fire Damages Flushing Buildings

"Eyewitness News is told the wind-whipped blaze broke out inside the buildings on Roosevelt Avenue, near Main Street, just after 2:30 a.m.

Heavy flames were seen shooting through the windows and roof of the structures, destroying six businesses.

Firefighters tried to battle the blaze from inside but were forced back. Heavy winds are said to have helped spread the fire."

Read more here.

Water that was used to put out the fire leaked onto the tracks of the 7 train, interrupting service. It has since resumed, although buses were still being rerouted as late as 7:30 this morning. Check out the MTA's Service Alerts for updates.

Lucia's Pizzeria on Roosevelt

Pizza and pizzerias. Shoot, who doesn't love them. There's at least two pizzerias in the downtown Flushing area. And not too long ago (less than a year ago), there was a third, which got shut down for violations of some sort, located where Oh My Chicken is now--not replaced by anything the better.

Of the two remaining, Lucia's Pizza takes my vote all the way. Quick, hot and tasty, this place specializes in basic, thin crust cheese slices. At two and some change, it's not that bad. They have a few stools for seating, but it's not a big place, so you might just take it to go. Or have it delivered. Located at 136-55 Roosevelt Ave ('tween Main and Union). 718-445-1313

The other pizzeria, Barone's Pizzeria, is located on the east-side of Main St, near where the LIRR crosses overhead (40-27 Main St). There stuff never really impressed me, so I won't go into further detail.

HOT BAGEL

Bagels. You know they're good. You can't live in NYC and not love bagels. It's just a given. With so many dope spots around, it's hard to know which is the best. Flushing's clearly no different.

I mentioned at least twice before that my spot is Hot Bagel, located on Northern Blvd. I knocked on it once, though, because I wasn't a fan of the new ownership it went under back a couple of months ago. But I gotta be honest, I couldn't stay away. But the reason I didn't switch to a different spot is b/c they're the only ones that can give me my fix of whitefish. This is a delicious topping on a toasted everything-bagel. But it's not available just anywhere.

Whitefish salad (this isn't tunafish).

Anywho, as it turns out, Hot Bagel has exchanged hands more than just that once. Incredibly, it's changed ownership two more times since that first changeover! That's four different owners in less than six months! Something's gotta be up. Is the establishment haunted? I dunno but I like my whitefish bagels so I keep on coming back. The newest proprietor seems extremely slow moving in preparing orders, but she's nice enough. Plus, I'm not too worried, b/c at Hot Bagel's turnover, chances aren't high she won't be around very long.

Chusok 2008: Beautiful Weather & the Paraguayan Prez

All in all, with beautiful weather, a good crowd, dope entertainment and plenty of food, the Korean Thanksgiving/Harvest Festival/Chusok celebration at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NYC, was awesome. I'll definitely hit it up again next year. They don't even celebrate it like that in Korea! It's usually a stay at home w/ the fam kinda of holiday. But here in the NYC, it's big!

And, what made this day even cooler was that when I was heading back to the train, I came across a small gathering of people with Paraguayan flags. They were waiting to hear the president of Paraguay speak! What a crazy, cool coincidence. This is exactly why I love New York, Queens, and Flushing!

So, here's a few pics of the beautiful weather that day, and then a few more of the President Lugo of Paraguay.

Chusok 2008 Pics (part 6)

Wrestling. WWF. WCW. WWE. Sumo. Greco-Roman. Whatever kind, it's all cool.

Korean wrestling, called Ssireum 씨름, is also pretty damn cool.

And at the Chusok festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park I saw Ssireum in person for the very first time.

I took a few pics of the event to share with you.

Have a look and let me know what you think. According to my friends, it's not as big as it used to be in Korea. But these guys were doing a great job of keeping the tradition alive and having a fun at the same time.

Chusok 2008 Pics (part 1)

These buses, picking up in Flushing, were taking people to Flushing Meadows Park for the 2008 Korean Thanksgiving Festival. I thought it would be faster than taking the train. Man, was I ever wrong. It took about 40 minutes for the first bus to come. There were so many people that it quickly filled up and took off. I wasn't about to wait another 40 mins, but then, right behind the first shiny blue bus, pulls up a shiny, white bus. Just my luck, the bus is filled to capacity by the time I get to the front of the line.


"Okay. I've waited this long and there will probably be another bus directly after this one," I think to myself. Another 30 minutes goes by and instead of heading for the almighty 7-train, I wait it out, as after all, once you've waited that long, you've crossed the point of no return. Finally, I make it onto a Flushing Meadows Park bound bus!


I finally made it to the park! There was already a sizable crowd. And on stage there was a sick Taekwondo demonstration.

Chusok 2008

More pics to come!

Korean Harvest Festival @ Flushing Meadows Park

2008's Chusok, aka, Korean Harvest Festival, aka Korean Thanksgiving, taking place today and tomorrow in Flushing Meadows Corona Park is going to be big. Some estimate that as many as 30,000 people will show.
The food is going to be off the meter. This is a pic from 2007's festival (from over at Eating in Translation).

The official park website only reflects today's goings on, but according to John over at his About Queens blog, it's going on both today and tomorrow (09.20-21.08). Today's the rehearsal for the performers, while tomorrow's the real deal. Supposed to be some famous Korean performers. According to Last.fm, "Park Jin Young and the Wonder Girls are going to be the main highlights with appearances also by G-Soul, J Lim and Min." I'm not a huge fan of K-Pop (hope I don't offend anyone), but I have heard the Wonder Girls are getting big. There's a blog dediacted to them, here.

My Flushing pt. 2

Take a walk around my neighborhood: Flushing, NYC (pt. 2).



Main Street, downtown Flushing. This is center of the largest Chinese community in New York City, and the second largest in the United States (after San Francisco).^[*]










The old Caldor building on Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street. Apparently the chain of discount stores went bankrupt in the late '90s. Just a couple of years ago Wal-Mart was scoping out the place, but fortunately, eventually backed down.










This place on 39th, past the Flushing Mall, looks like a cool, little lounge. I've never been here , but I love the simplicity of the sign.










This guy is some of Flushing's wildlife.


















Check out more of My Flushing (part 1) here.

Pho Hoang: Vietnamese Cuisine & BBQ on Kissena

I veered from my usual Vietnamese favorite, Pho Bang, to eat at Pho Hoang, the other Vietnamese spot right next door (on Kissena Blvd across from the Flushing Library).

I never really liked Pho Hoang all that much, despite the cleaner and more spacious interior than Pho Bang. The food has always taken way too long and the wait-staff has always been curt and unfriendly. Additionally, I get the impression that Pho Hoang is Chinese-owned, where as I'm sure Pho Bang is authentically Vietnamese (just a hunch).

But, as I love to continuously update my knowledge of the surrounding environs, I said "what the hey," and gave it another shot. And this time, the waiter was way friendlier making all the difference in the world!

After looking at the menu for a while, since I hadn't been in probably a year, I finally ordered what I thought was my Vietnamese favorite: vermicelli noodles with greens, topped with your choice of meat (I don't know the Vietnamese name, but Vietnamese Cold Noodle Salad works).

But when the order arrived (albeit, after a good,long wait), I realized that I goofed. In this case, the goof turned out quite nice in the form of greens on one plate and marinated, barbecue pork on top of "rice stick," which was like thinner, stringier vermicelli noodles stuck together in sheets, on the other. Then there's a side of pickled radish. The greens are used to wrap up the barbecue/rice stick in, much like Korean BBQ (Samkyopsal or Kalbi). This dish is #163 on the menu, under the heading "Vietnamese Cuisine."

As an aside, I must confess that above all else, I love Vietnamese iced tea and coffee. Unfortunately, it seems like I'm always eating Vietnamese for dinner, and since I'm sensitive to caffeine, I try to avoid these treats that late in the day. Instead, I just enjoy the quintessential, complimentary pot of hot jasmine tea found in just about all Vietnamese places.

All in all, my dining experience at Pho Hoang left a far superior impression on me than that of times past. I'll try it again sooner than later.

Pho Hoang
41-01 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 762-6151

Price: $5-10 / person
Service: C+
Interior: B-
Food: B+
Recommended: Yes

*notice* Vietnamese dishes often make plenty of use of cilantro. If you don't like cilantro, make sure to let the watier know before hand, when placing your order. Otherwise, check out Pho 32 & Shabu, which I reviewed here, where they always put the cilantro on the side for you to use if you please.


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My Flushing

Take a walk around my neighborhood: Flushing, New York.







Looking west on 39th Ave. towards Shea Stadium.

Heavenward from the LIRR, Main St. Flushing stop. (BTW, City Ticket, available only on the weekends, is a LIRR ticket that lets you go anywhere in the city for just $3.25, not bad!)

Finding Beijing in Flushing

"Everything tastes different in Flushing, Queens, the best neighborhood in New York for tasting the true and dazzling flavors of China. The dumplings are juicier here, the noodles springier..." -Julia Moskin, "Let the Meals Begin: Finding Beijing in Flushing." (07.30.08)

With the Beijing Olympics only days away (08/08/08 at 8:08 pm), the NY Times ran this excellent article on the extremely rich and diverse Chinese food scene here in Flushing .

I particularly love the interactive (2nd image down the page). It show's you a picture of dishes from specific restaurants as you mouse over different places on the map. There's even an audio pronunciation guide and when you click on a eatery you get even more photos. It's the perfect tool for food lovers in their exploration through the oftentimes intimidating labyrinth of Chinese restaurants here.

The printable version of the interactive map is quite nice because, in addition to the neighborhood map, it puts all the restaurants and their info, along with corresponding pictures of dishes, on one handydandy little sheet that you can carry around with you. The pictures are crucial when you need to convey what scrumptious little concoction you'd like but quite possibly would otherwise be hindered by linguistic barriers.

There's also some interesting stuff in the comments following the article. A few people point out that the sweet beans over shaved ice isn't Chinese. I don't know, but I've enjoyed it on many an occasion in the Philippines (called "halo halo") and in Korea (where it's called "bat bin su"), with slight differences between the two. One commenter mentions a commuter van from Chinatown to Flushing... I didn't even realize there were vans connecting the two spots. So the next day, I went and checked it out for myself. Sure enough, for $2.50, a speedy 25 seater shuttled me and 24 other commuters from Division St. to right in front of the Flushing Library in approximately 30 minutes.

The article comes right on the heels of another Times article about Flushing; this one about the incredible diversity of places of worship in the Flushing area. Some of these houses of worship are truly incredible. Another interesting article about Flushing's incredible religious diversity can be found here.

Added a pic of Ju Gaek Restaurant

Here's a pic of Ju Gaek Restaraunt (주객천하) next to the bagel place that I used to love (called Hot Bagel). I recently discovered that the bagel spot is under new management. They've kept the same staff, and honestly I haven't detected a difference in taste or price, but the new managers haven't gone out of there way to make customers feel at home like the other folks, who did such a great job at it.

This photo is a bit outdated, and Ju Gaek Restaurant has a different sign than the one pictured here (this one is that of the former establishment). This is standing directly in front of Staples on Northern Blvd.