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

I give up. Sorry, everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNC2XX6hKMU

Was discharged from M train this morning when Fire Department commandeered it to fight a track fire.

At QBPL tomorrow:

Music Industry Talk with Three-Time Grammy Award Winner Russ Titelman
Record producer Russ Titelman will discuss his career and the music industry in general. He received Grammy awards for Steve Winwood's “Higher Love,” the 1986 Record of the Year; Eric Clapton's “Tears in Heaven,” the 1992 Record of the Year; and Eric Clapton's "Unplugged,” the 1992 Album of the Year.

Sat. Apr. 4, 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Queens Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432

Free concert with La La Brooks this evening: http://folkartmuseum.org/programs/block-party-64/?ID=8912

who wd like to get some Tibetan momos in Sunnyside that i read about in the NYT yesterday?

(DUMPLINGS!, apparently)

Which article/place? I know there's 1 or 2 tibetan places in Sunnyside but generally they haven't been as well regarded as the many in Woodside and Jackson Heights.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/where-to-eat-jackson-heights-elmhurst-queens.html

Punda Tibetan

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/dining/hungry-city-punda-tibetan-sunnyside-queens.html

Pretty good momos in Brooklyn too
http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/top-cafe-tibet/

Folk Museum La La Brooks show was really good.

Does anyone have experience taking Woodside LIRR to Penn Station? There is some muttering upthread about how they "don't always take your ticket" so sometimes it's free? BUT looking at fares on the MTA's website, it looks like it's way more expensive to buy a ticket onboard than beforehand in the station? So if you forego buying the ticket, you risk eating the extra cost if they do end up taking it? Or are the tickets reusable on different dates? Sorry for the dumb questions—I'm a LIRR n00b.

I'm the person you speak of.

Tickets from the machine are way cheaper than the conductor. The machine tickets are good for a certain amount of time. Originally it was like a month, then it was a few days, then it was a few weeks. I dont' know what it is now. Since I was commuting daily I'd buy a ticket and keep it in my pocket and get anywhere from 1 to 4 rides before they asked for it. If they asked for it right away, my gamble failed and I had to just be satisfied that I paid extra money for a better commuting experience.

If you're only taking one ride and you want to roll the dice, you'll have a better chance if it's crowded/busy. It also depends on where the conductor starts. I was often in the first car and it seemed like they got there last.

Thanks for the tips!! I did some more digging on the MTA website and it looks like one-way tix are good for 60 days, in case anyone else was curious. I'm gonna give it a shot sometime—10 minutes to Penn Station is a very seductive prospect.

not to mention less crowded, more comfortable seats, bathrooms etc. You just have to put up with people from Long Island.

Lonely Planet names Queens the top US spot for 2015?

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/travel-tips-and-articles/best-in-the-us-2015

That was done last year. New York Times just got around to talking about it I guess.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/nyregion/tourists-have-landed-in-queens-theyre-staying.html?_r=0

Yeah saw the article. The thing is, Queens is pretty interesting, but it's sort of challenging to figure out what I would actually advise tourists to do. So much of it is so anti-aesthetic, almost anti-place. There are obvious sites like PS1, and all the stuff around Flushing-Meadows/Corona Park (although I can't imagine wanting to visit the Queens Zoo or the Hall of Science as a tourist unless you have small kids), and I guess you could send people to Jackson Heights/Woodside for the eats. I guess that's enough for a couple detour days off the Manhattan/Brooklyn path if you have a week here.

Kind of confirms my theory that tourism makes the mundane seem fascinating.

Flushing is worth the trip I suppose.

They put a lot of focus on things like Noguchi and Socrates...but it's not like you'd go there and have a great time walking around the neighborhood. Instead you'd be calling Uber to take you somewhere else.

yeah exactly. Although I highly recommend eating at the Costco food court after a trip to Socrates.

food court or cafeteria or whatever you call the thing with the delicious sausage sandwich and surprisingly good non-authentic pizza

I usually take tourists to Jackson heights cuz it's easy to get to and very queensy.

I'll believe the Queens hype when it's more than the same four posters always on this thread.

lol, exactly

idk lonely planet put us ahead of western South Dakota surely that counts for something

(although I can't imagine wanting to visit the Queens Zoo or the Hall of Science as a tourist unless you have small kids)

Struggling to figure out what is wrong w you tbh; HoS is my favorite place in the entire borough of Queens. Also Flushing food court food. Also the Queens Museum at Flushing Meadows is dope.

I'm sure there's more.

I like the Queens Museum a lot, I'm a big booster of it.

Maybe the HoS I just never get to experience on a non-toddler level or linger at anything, but it always feels to me a little like "Here's some stuff about Mars...optical illusions...a video about Darwin...and one of those probability ball things. Science!" It's a fine place, especially with kids (the science playground in particular rules and the mini golf is fun, and the new connected worlds thing is very very cool), but I just mean I can't imagine telling someone visiting from another country with a week in NYC to go out of their way to see the HoS.

The Queens Zoo petting zoo is very nice, and the grounds are fine, but it also feels a little like "here are the animals we could get cheap: a puma, a couple of seals, and a tiny deer." Still, I always enjoy it, just again, wouldn't be on the bucket list for a person with a week in NYC.

And believe me, I have logged many, many hours in said places.

But that tiny deer! He's so cute!

We once saw the Andean bear self-fellating. Luckily K was young enough that we could get away with a very vague explanation.

if i was an andean bear i'd never leave the house but seriously folks

They put a lot of focus on things like Noguchi and Socrates...but it's not like you'd go there and have a great time walking around the neighborhood. Instead you'd be calling Uber to take you somewhere else.

I actually DO like walking around over there, because it's away from all the hustle of the part of Astoria where I live. I like the street art (tho wish it was updated more often). It reminds me of parts of Berkeley, where artists lived, but was also a little bit grungy, and feels apart from the rest of Astoria. If they had a train stop there, I could see that very neighborhood being the one that all the new hipsters came to gentrify.

If they had a train stop there = the rub

Wait, since when does Dominique live in Queens?

I mean he has never posted on this thread before. And intranetz sources still have him located in SF.

He moved to Astoria a few months ago.

ok I believe the hype

The designated long-awaited hipster has arrived.

Terraza 7 jam session is really happening these days.

What is the accepted solution to every customer service computer being unable to accept a hyphenated street number?

Just omit the hyphen, it still gets there. I had the same problem for a while -- sometimes when I included the hyphen the numbers after would just get dropped and it'd go to the wrong address.

Post office doesn't differentiate between hyphen or none. When my wife and I went and got new drivers licenses we had different clerks, my clerk, to make the address "Woodside Ave" fit, removed the hyphen. Her clerk kept the hyphen but removed an o, so technically she livers on Wodside Ave. I tease her about that often.

I've hever had anyone not take the hyphenated number though so I mostly use that out of habit.

yeah it's only been an issue with some web shopping for me

Not sure I'm willing to casually omit the hyphen. I am new in this borough and I want to assert Hyphen Pride!

I just got an error for using a hyphen for the first time ever. Thanks.

If this thread actually ever gets long enough to justify a new one, we can call it Queens: Believe the Hyp(h)e(n)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BrYjgOfTkp0/TpX-0w7Y6HI/AAAAAAAAUBA/-XJ7Qz8UnDQ/NYT%252520headline%25252C%252520Teddy%252520Roosevelt%2525201915-8x6.jpg

what do you guys use for Internet? we've had a WiMAX box for the last 4 years which was great but now it's dead and I have like two weeks to figure out how we're getting Internet now.

Time Warner Cable with Extreme or whatever internet. Internet is totally fast and fine. it's not cheap, feels ok since we're paying for the cable/dvr etc. Not sure how it would compare if we didn't have the combo.

Current Speed Test right now we're getting 116.58 download and 11.89 upload, totally fine for my use.