54-46, that's my number: the Queens thread

I wuz just in forest hills yesterday actually. not that I've ever gone out drinking in forest hills, but the places there do seem fairly normal.

Given that I've had a baby since I moved there, the closest thing I've done to actually going out on Austin St. was the other night when I had to drive around trying to find a wine shop open to get a bottle for the next day. It was packed with people, but it was actually a lot less obnoxious than I thought it would be -- like I pictured something out of Jersey Shore, but it was more just like clean-cut-looking couples eating dinner at Aged and getting Starbucks hot cocoas.

yeah I imagine any obnoxious young people who do live in the area just go to manhattan anyway. astoria has lotsa trashy nightlife too.

has anyone tried sushi yasu on yellowstone blvd? Supposedly it's some kind of "hidden gem" or ex-hidden gem.

Sushi yasu on austin is good iirc

Bolivian parade today is amazing. Incredible costumes.

Where us that? I'm actually in Staten Island though.

What are you doing on Staten Island?? I've been thinking about SI a lot lately after doing a little trip there in the summer.

I always want to do stuff on staten island but j always vetoes it

Take bikes. Or drive, maybe, if you're Dan Selzer.

It was on 37th avenue in JH. Make a point next year

Sri lankan buffet followed by historic richmondtown (a budget colonial Williamsburg)

Sri lankan places are walkable from ferry but we drive.

I really want to go to the staten island mall

Uhh you are a braver man than I, I stick to mouldering old historic sites mostly.

I drove to the Staten Island Mall in 2008 because it was easier to go the Apple store there than try to park in manhattan. I needed a new computer. I walked in and I said "I'd like one of the new Mac Pros" and the person was like "Are you sure? We recommend the iMac, it's a very powerful computer and more than most people need" and I was like "I'm a graphic designer who works with electronic music and is a super power user and I know what I want" and she's like "hold on" and comes back with one of her managers and he's like "you're buying a Mac Pro?" and I'm like YES and he's like "let me shake your hand...you're the only person to ever buy a Mac Pro from this Apple Store."

And I'm typing on it RIGHT NOW.

The mall was fine, it was actually fun, we walked in and there was a teenage dance troupe. I'm from NJ so going to malls can be very nostalgic. We occasionally drive to the Queens mall which isn't far from us. Sometimes you want to go to Clarks to buy some socks and see if there's any decent sweaters at Banana Republic or something. And the Queens mall has a decent watch battery replacement/band replacement place.

Mostly though the Sri Lankan places have been the only reasons we've gone. One day we drove further down and ended up at this ancient "historic" luncheonette that serves egg creams and is styled like it's the 50s. It's old but was kinda cheesy and not that great. We went to the Alice Austen house which was very cool though.

Today after lunch and Richmondtown, which was totally busted, they must have no budget. It's quaint and has potential and it was neat what they were doing, today was the day where people dress up and make bread and apple juice and melt candles and talk to you etc. It's a real shame they can't raise some money to fix it up properly. The real disappointment was that they had a little shack that advertised JOB PRINTING and inside had a hand-press and several cabinets of type, but it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Why there wasn't a printer on hand doing demonstrations I don't know, a real lost opportunity. Maybe I'll volunteer, though I've never used that kind of press.

Oh yeah, after Richmondtown we drove to Great Kills Park...an unsupervised half deserted beach and sat on a bench and watched an ocean liner drift passed Brooklyn and Sandy Hook out of the harbor into the Atlantic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/26/nyregion/gilberto-valle-accused-in-plot-to-kidnap-women-and-cook-them.html?_r=0

Thought it might be useful to bump this for any queens-specific FRANKENSTORM info

hoping the high elevation of Forest Hills / not being in any "lettered" flood zone helps us ride it out. We also have underground power lines, so I think our chances of keeping power are decent. A little scared of debris it fly at you windows.

ESPECIALLY since my old and/or idiotic building mates have left crap on their balconies.

Queens has some BAD history w/ Con Ed. Few years back, storm knocked out city power for a few hours...but western Queens lost it for like a week and a half. Mostly Astoria and Woodside. Con Ed was sued. Hoping they fixed shit since then.

well, power so far, knock wood. windy as fuck but we're ok atm

yeah same

wasn't that coned thing in the middle of summer too, dan?

yeah. I remember it was so hot we stayed at a friends in manhattan for a night of AC then fled to the Porches hotel at Mass Moca.

our power is flickering a bit but still ok. Watching The Haunting on DVR so various mysterious banging noises outside suit the atmosphere.

apparently first sandy death is a guy in flushing

we're getting the flickers too -- I don't understand what causes them given underground power lines

we've been mostly just storm porn searching and reading, and I have been avoiding drink in case of a situation requiring presence of mind but I finally cracked one open assuming it's not going to get a lot worse than this knock wood

Married couples search for porn together? I have so much to learn about life.

it keeps things interesting

we unfortunately realized tonight that the maintenance guy who "fixed" our window didn't really fix it -- one of the latches that holds it on the track doesn't stay in place. So really hoping it doesn't get windier and blow the window in.

Friend took a walk around sunnyside. Those beautiful old trees rooted and many crushed cars. Alpha Donuts lost it's sign, which is no tragedy since they stopped making their own donuts a few years ago, but still.

wow I only walked around south sunnyside but I didn't notice anything. a lot more trees in sunnyside garens.

I liked the alpha donuts sign :/

so yeah, went for a walk w/ a friend and 47th and 48th sts both look like they were attacked by lumberjacks. crazy!

like you actually cannot walk down 47th st at the moment because the tree is so huge

Sad about the alpha donuts sign. Only saw one or two trees downed on skillman today. Also, the bars on skillman are overflowing--if only I liked smoking cigarettes, drinking beers and watching sports. Actually, I like two of those things.

I texted you asking if you wanted to get a beer!!

I didn't get it. Do you have my right number?

i got a new phone and hastily typed in my old address book so it is quite possible that I do not

Ah, that explains it.

I had 88 instead of 22 for some reason

Haha, I'm too wine besotted to go out now, but maybe tomorrow? I only wish there was a halfway decent bar in this neighborhood.

yeah I'm too whisky besotted but I will text the real u tomorrow

Great. Maybe a real bar will materialize by then.

Anyone know about the Jackson Heights area? My sister lives there and I have yet to hear from her. She lives at 3525 77th St.

should be fine

jackson depths not so much

I haven't heard anything bad about jackson heights -- possible she doesn't have power but unlikely there's much else wrong

on my walk back from qbp I noticed a cute little cafe. an actual cafe, not some bodega or donut shop or whatever. w/ that, the bike lanes and little park, jetblue, the new apt buildings, new posh hotel, idk, it's hard to imagine qbp ever being *nice* but some of the buildings around there are historic and could be turned into something interesting. I mean there is an upper limit to how nice a bridge entrance can get and it's never gonna be prospect heights or whatever but I can imagine that area getting kinda liveable?

I'll be at Terreza tonight around 7:30 if anyone wants to stop by/has the means to do so...

I was thinking about going there to see the band tonight but I might not make it until about 9:30