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

Man, you ARE Queens Blvd!

ah I didn't know that. how close are you to the subway passage?

p close I guess. 69th ave. Never thought about crossing under but that's not a bad idea. Easier without the stroller though.

yeah being that you're walking in that direction anyway, it's just trading a danger/waiting for extra stairs.

minus 'a'

Actually starting to appreciate it here a lot. Starting to really like the ways in which it is so much NOT like Brooklyn, i.e. I don't feel like I have this constant sensory onslaught of coolness and novelty all around me, no constant pressure to appreciate the latest artisinal curiosities and fashions. I feel like there's less mental noise here, like I can think more clearly here.

Cheeses of the World is a surprisingly good cheese shop for having such a bad name.

Meanwhile, since it seems like FH is mostly bereft of good food, we've decided to explore abutting neighborhoods for food -- any suggestions for Flushing, Kew Gardens, JH, etc?

What about Nick's Pizza?

People love Wafa's. We thought it was pretty decent. Maybe not good enough for us to drive over there for it, but closer to you.

There's a sushi place on Metropolitan that's supposed to be really good. Danny Brown Wine Bar.

I'm sorry, this is useless, I'm basically just quoting chowhound/yelp and you don't need me for that.

In Jackson Heights I vouch for Mustang Thakali and Phayul for different kinds of nepali/tibetan, assuming you order the right things. Mehfil for lunch buffet, especially on weekends.

Urubamba peruvian in Jackson Heights. Just went tonight for the first time. Pio Pio is great but a scene.

Tacqueria Coatzingo is generally regarded as the best brick and mortar taco place.

Ask me again when you want to talk Woodside and Elmhurst.

Yeah, Nick's Pizza is on our list, as is Wafa's. We went to Danny Brown Wine Bar, which was very good but I didn't dig the atmosphere much, maybe because we were there a little on the early side, and also we faced the window where you look out on Metropolitan Ave, which is really ugly.

Delivery is the big problem. Wafa's actually does deliver I just realized, they just don't do it through seamless/grubhub for some reason (even though they're listed on those sites).

We got delivery from Pahal Zan, which was alright -- very fresh, but tasted a little like the synagogue (i.e. less flavorful) version of middle eastern food.

Memo to Hurting: Peter Bernstein will be the special guest at Victor Prieto's regular monthly gig at Terraza this Thursday, I'm sure he would be more than happy to reminisce with you about Ted D with you. Also I recently saw a People Who Are Not Ned Raggett there, so the spectral ilx presence is now officially three feet high and rising.

Terraza fap? I can stop by on my way home from work.

I'd go

Let's do it! They have good cocktails.

I have a corny running joke with the owner that the Mojitos improve my Spanish.

(I live right nearby so in theory can do most faps)

that sounds like a good idea. Being able to go out is always dicey these days with the baby, but I will see what I can do.

what time would this thing be, I have to go to the maspeth fedex after work on thursday but I am for making this happen otherwise

I am really angry about having to go to the maspeth fedex

I'm sorry that you feel that way

anyone know of queens bars showing the debate tomorrow, preferably somewhere in the Forest Hills area?

if I knew of one in sunnyside I'd prob go. lots of the places that will show it prob aren't gonna announce it in any special way, I'd guess.

yeah I was considering just walking down austin st til I find one. I don't really have a sense of the bars on Austin St though -- I assume they're probably kind of normal/sports-oriented?

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.