Greek Independence Day Parade TODAY!

While the official parade is happening in Manhattan, you can't be surprised that I immediately learned that today was the Greek Independence Day parade as soon as I walked out of my apartment this morning.  Halfway down the block I noticed that there were many more Greek flags hanging than usual... I kept walking another block and all of a sudden was surrounded by throngs of people getting on yellow school buses heading to the parade.  Not only were there hundred of people lined up, but many of them in full costume and carrying drums and Greek flags.  I quickly learned that the parade was happening in Manhattan today and while I was sad that it wouldn't be in Astoria I truly enjoyed all of the pre-festivities going on!

I also have to point out how great it is that not only the greek diners, but also restaurants that cater to an American cuisine show off their Greek pride as evidenced below:

 

Walters Hardware Store and Family History

I've invited  J to guest post this one as he has a family connection to this store, which sadly closed recently.

A former Astoria institution, Walters Hardware was opened many decades ago by my great-great Uncle, Marty Walters. Fortunately, the store was still up and running as a hardware store when we moved to the neighborhood last summer. At that time, I had the chance to talk to then owner, Tommy, who was excited to meet me and tell me about patrons who had been coming to the store for many, many years since Marty was running the place. Despite having changed hands several times over the years, the store retained its original name up until its recent closing (November 2011). In fact, according to Tommy, little had changed since my uncle ran the place; many interior displays -- and of course the outdoor signage -- remained unchanged (including the tagline above the door "If we don't have it, you don't need it"). While Astoria retains so many other locally run, character-filled businesses, Walters Hardware will surely be missed.

~hope to be back with more guest posts in the future...-J

Coffee heaven

After reading a really enticing New Yorker article on authentic coffee and proper preparation, we began to seek out locally roasted and pour over coffee to try it out for ourselves.  One of the nearby Astoria coffee shops/restaurants, Queens Kickshaw, fits the bill and has quickly become a favorite of ours.  In addition to great coffee (which really is in a class of its own), they have unbelievable grilled cheese sandwiches and a great ambiance.  It's definitely worth a check out and, if coffee isn't your thing, they also have a wide selection of teas, homemade sodas, craft beers, and wine.

For those intrigued by pour over coffee, the gist is that by pouring hot (but not boiling) water slowly over freshly ground beans, you'll extract more flavor than traditional brewing allows.  True believers treat it like different wines and describe the flavors that way too (e.g. chocolate, different fruits, leather, etc.).  I'm not quite sure I taste these different flavors, but it's definitely a great cup each time I have it! 

Old school hobby shop

Astoria shops offer the full array of stores -- from modern and hip boutiques and organic markets to shops that literally take you back in time as they probably haven't changed in at least 40 years.  Rudy's Hobby & Art Store (35-16 30th Ave) is one of these time capsule shops and is definitely worth a visit! From hundreds of model train sets and parts to kits for building wooden planes, ships, and cars, this store has all the old school hobbies you would want and more (including the standard art supplies and puzzle sets)!  Streaming along the ceiling you'll also find completed model airplanes, which really adds to the atmosphere of the shop.  I can only hope that shops like this one will stick around even as Astoria continues to transform as a neighborhood.

Christmas Day Tradition

As tradition goes, Christmas Day for me consists of a movie and chinese food.  This year things didn't go quite as planned as the movie we trekked into Manhattan to see was sold out when we got there ("The Artist" at the Paris Theater).  But we turned around and came back to Astoria to at least follow-through on the dinner portion of the tradition.  We decided to watch a movie at home (to at least keep with some of the movie tradition) so we ordered delivery from a nearby chinese restaurant.  It was our first venture into chinese food in the neighborhood (usually we make the trek to Flushing, Queens which has a huge china town), but I'm happy to report that we now have our chinese go-to place in Astoria!

Fatima's Halal Kitchen Authentic Chinese Cuisine (25-25 Broadway): You can't go wrong with this restaurant -- all of the favorites and more are found on this huge menu.  Plus the meat was very tender and very high quality (which unfortunately isn't always the case with chinese restaurants in nyc).  We had the kung pao chicken and garlic shrimp, both were delicious and very well priced.  We will definitely be back for more from Fatima's, perhaps next time going there for dine-in.

And as for the movie half of the tradition, we watched "A Serious Man," which is a very dark comedy by the Coen brothers (we liked it and thought it was very well-made and interesting).  We'll catch "The Artist" in the coming weeks as well!

Holidays are coming

Despite the warmer weather this week, Astoria knows the holiday season is around the corner!

Holiday lights along 30th Ave (for as far as the eye can see!)

Socrates Sculpture Park

Socrates Sculpture Park, located at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Blvd, is an amazing outdoor exhibition space and neighborhood park.  Located along the east river with breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, the park exhibits rotating large-scale outdoor sculptures and offers many community programs throughout the year (like the Halloween Harvest Festival and a weekly farmer's market).  The park was transformed from a landfill and illegal dump site into its current park and artist space in 1986 and is now a neighborhood institution.

Some pictures below from the current exhibition of emerging artists from the park's artist residency program:

Here's a shot of the farmer's market in full swing:

Snow in October?!

Yes indeed.  An early winter storm graced its presence on the east coast yesterday and we had snow falling all day (albeit a very wet slushy snow).  We got about 2 inches here in Astoria as you can see in the image below. Hopefully this isn't a sign of an early winter and is just a fluke storm!

An afternoon at the Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving Image is a definite stop on any Astoria tour.  The museum, which is located at 36-01 35th Ave, is dedicated to all things film, television and visual media.  The permanent collection walks you through the history of the medium and where it stands today with lots of interactive and hands-on components.  For instance, a praxinoscope, which is a series of images placed inside a cylinder that you can spin to see move, arcade games from the 80s, including Frogger(!), and really old TVs where the screen is about the size of an iPad but the body it sits in is as large as a china cabinent!  Times have definitely changed.

In addition to their interesting permanent collection, the museum is currently exhibiting Jim Henson's Fantastic World, which is running until January 16. It's a great exhibition that details the life and creative geniusness of Jim Henson. From doodles to muppets to interesting clips and interviews with Henson, the exhibit gives you a great sense of the man behind the puppets. They also have a 9 minute video that Henson made called Time Piece (only running until November 16), which is a really funny/quirky surrealist short film that Henson made and is a really fun clip to watch.

Be sure to check out the museum next time you are in the area!

Astoria's own beach!

Who knew there was a beach in Astoria?!!  Yes, it is on the east river and there is a sign posted stating that you shouldn't swim, bath, or have bare feet (not your typical beach rules), but it's a fun little find nevertheless!  And it boasts great views of the Manhattan skyline, which can't be beat!

Halloween Harvest Festival

We went to nearby park favorite Socrates Sculpture Park (full post on the park to come) yesterday for the Halloween Harvest Festival.  It was quite an event!  Lots of cute kids and dogs(!) in costume and halloween games/events to keep everyone entertained.  While we were there, we heard some poetry reading and music performances from a local youth organization called Urban Art Beat NYC, which is a great organization that helps underserved youth explore and understand art and host many programs in the area and around NYC.  We also witnessed the canine halloween costume contest, which was definitely a unique experience :)  Overall a fun event in the park and definitely got us in the halloween spirit!

Watching a local teen express himself through poetry

Waterfront Bike Lanes

The bike lanes along the east river on Vernon Blvd are so nice!  They follow the contour of the water and offer stunning views of the Manhattan skyline.  J and I took advantage this weekend and rode our bikes all the way to Prospect Park in Brooklyn and pretty much followed the waterfront the whole way thanks to the great bike lanes.  The views helped make up for the fact that a 20 mile bike ride may have been a bit ambitious for us, but we had a great time nonetheless and look forward to future rides along the river!

Astoria's "Unforgettable" Night in the Spotlight

Last week no parking signs went up on each of 4 street blocks near our apartment for the filming of project: Unforgettable.  Living in New York, I'm definitely used to seeing these bright multi-colored signs posted around, but never on more than 2 blocks or in Astoria.  Needless to say, it peaked my interest (not so much J, who not only isn't so much into celebrities, but also not into 4 blocks worth of parking being taken!) so I ventured over after work last night to check out what all the commotion was about.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that the majority of the blocked streets were solely being used for trailers and electrical hookups - not surprising as this is often the case and typically all you see of a movie set.  But I did see them filming and illuminating the night sky into what appeared to be broad daylight (I'm always amazed by that).  And lots of NYPD cars with their emergency lights blinking.  Turns out "Unforgettable" is a police homicide TV show!

Guess I'll have to check out this new show in a few months and see my neighborhood on camera :)  Hopefully it's depicting Astoria in a good light!

Raising chickens indoors... in Astoria...

I'm going out of town to visit my family this weekend so there will be a slight lull in posts for a few days; however, for non-Jewish (or non-fasting at least) Astorians looking for a very unique experience on Saturday, you should definitely head to the Broadway branch of the Queens Library in Astoria for what has to be a fascinating and obscure lecture by a couple who are raising chickens in their Astoria apartment for fresh eggs.

Source: Nicholas Fevelo from NY Daily News Article (listed below)

The three hens apparently have the run of their one bedroom apartment excluding the bedroom and lay two eggs per week, not too shabby for them!  But the couple does admit that the hens poop everywhere... Not sure how smart that is given the size of NYC apartments...!

Apparently the couple, Robert McMinn and Jules Corkery, give lectures on city chicken-keeping at local libraries and urban gardens so hopefully I can catch a future talk of theirs as it is definitely a unique idea!  To read the full news article, click here.

For those keeping Yom Kippur, hope you have an easy fast.  Look out for a new post Monday when I return!

Welling Court Mural Project

This past May and June, the Welling Court community partnered with Ad Hoc Art (a Brooklyn based organization for artists, including street artists) to bring together over 40 street artists to paint murals along several city blocks.  The artists spanned 50 years of graffiti art and the result is really impressive, vibrant pieces of art.  The walls are courtesy of some industrial buildings and car mechanic shops, which only adds to the appeal of the artwork.

Definitely a must-see site in Astoria!  If interested, visit 11-98 Welling Court (corner of 30th Ave and 12th St) and also check out the Two Coves Community Garden while you're there!  Some pictures to illustrate the project:

Green thumbs of Astoria

J and I stumbled upon a really nice community garden called Two Coves Community Garden when walking on 30th Ave west of our apartment the other day.  The garden was filled with individual plots and a well-cared for community garden section.  There was an abundance of different plants that ran the gamut from veggies, herbs trees and flowers.  I'd say the most commonly seen items were zucchinis (flowers in bloom), tomatoes, peppers (both hot and regular ones), marigolds, and squashes (including some large pumpkins that would make great jack 'o lanterns later this month!).  It turns out that the garden has been around since 1998, but has recently been revitalized to its current state with over 200 members and a wait list of 1-2 years.  Learn more about this great green space here!

I hope to attend an upcoming "guest community gardener" day so I can help out and get a green thumb too!  For now, taking a tour and showing you these pictures will have to do!

The entrance to the community member part of the garden

Zucchini flowers

A look at the Queens Library

I recently had the pleasure of going to the Queens Library for the first time and I've quickly been converted from the New York Public Library.  I was surprised to learn upon moving to Astoria that the Queens Library system is independent of the New York Public Library system.  Apparently the latter only covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island (Brooklyn has its own library system).  The reasoning behind this I've learned is that the Queens and Brooklyn libraries existed prior to the consolidation of the five boroughs and chose to remain autonomous after the conversion.  The Queens Library (which has 62 locations in the borough) is the second largest library system in the country (first place, not surprisingly, going to the New York Public Library system) and holds a whopping 6.6 million items.

I was very impressed when I walked into the Broadway Branch the other day to pick up a book for my next book club ("Summer without Men" by Siri Hustvedt).  The library was of course packed with people of all different ages, races and nationalities -- to be expected in Astoria -- but what was startling was the modernity of the library.  Queens Library, it turns out, is one of a few libraries in the country that uses a check-out system that includes Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and is the world's first library system to have a truly full-service self-checkout kiosk.

RFID is an amazing technology whereby micro-thin radio transmitters are placed into every library item and when a user places their books (yes, plural, up to 16 books at once) on the check-out pad, the system automatically picks up the transmitters and checks the books out to the user.  It's a pretty crazy concept when you see your books pop up on the screen after placing them on what seems like a regular mouse pad and I was quite impressed.

In addition, the Queens Library has all of the benefits of online accounts that the New York Public Library has (putting books on hold, getting notifications, etc.) so, all in all, I think the Queens Library may have the New York Public Library beat!

US Open taking place in Queens!

Okay so technically the US Open takes place in Flushing, Queens and my blog is about Astoria, but I get to digress because I just went to my first match this week and had such a great time that I wanted to share.  And hey, it's still Queens at least!

Anyway, we actually didn't think that we'd be able to go as the weather forecast had an 80% chance of rain on Monday night, but we lucked out and had a great time!  Not only did we watch the very heated match between Caroline Wozniacki (ranked 1) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (15) who were neck in neck the whole time (Wozniacki won), but also got to see some mixed doubles in the side courts.  All in all a great event and definitely makes me want to pick up a racket and play tennis!

Upcoming festival!

Sure to be an experience, I stumbled upon this flyer for an upcoming Ecuadorian festival that will take place in the park near our apartment.  The pictures in the flyer (which are hard to see) are a little confusing as some of it seems family-friendly and other pictures are a bit more risque...  I'll be sure to catch some of the festival though and will report back!

Little Egypt

We ventured into Little Egypt this weekend, which was quite an experience!  The picture below doesn't quite do it justice, but this is a few block long area on Steinway that is filled with Arab food stores, restaurants, shops selling items from Turkey, Egypt, and other countries, and, of course, many hookah (nargela) lounges.  All of the signs are written in Arabic (some with english too) and the streets are filled with groups of men chatting and smoking hookah and drinking tea.  It definitely feels like the middle east for these few blocks and we thoroughly enjoyed walking around and experiencing Little Egypt!