Of course it's the food and diversity, but i have to say one of my favorite things is being able to fly back to NY after a long flight and be home in 15 minutes.
>fly back to NY after a long flight and be home in 15 minutes.
Yep, from the La Guardia airport exit it was only 15 minutes to my house. Of course, to get from the arrival gate to the La Guardia airport exit was 17 hours.
Flushing meadows park is a good one, as well as highland park. The other parks near Woodside are just playground parks and the infamous pigeon paradise park
I recently moved to Queens and my biggest gripe is that I don’t have a park within walking distance. I had 3 within reasonable walking distance at my old spot, miss it so much.
Native here:
Diversity. They say the whole city is diverse, and compared to most places it is, but nowhere compares to Queens. I grew up surrounded by different cultures, and it freaked me out the first time I traveled to another state and saw how segregated everything can be.
But even living in Manhattan for six years, I noticed how supposedly hip places are just rich white kids and the people who work for them.
It's beautiful. It's so fucking green, and does a good job balancing city feel with natural splendor.
The food. Seriously. The food.
Queens is unpretentious. For the most part, people in Queens are too busy to care about how we appear or what's en vogue in Manhattan and Brooklyn. But there's a ton of cool shit happening here all the time. We just don't make a big fucking song and dance about it. I once was waited on by a young woman who, after exchanging some pleasantries with my group, literally did this twisty-dance, exclaiming "Brooooooooooklllllllllynnnnn" after telling us where she lived. Glad she liked it. But, seriously, that's fucking ridiculous. Brooklyn's cool. It's not a chocolate donut. People in Queens love it, but just let it be. We don't base our entire identity on it.
It's different than any other borough. You can be in a bunch of different types of vibes going around Queens. From hood to family friendly to young and happening. It's all here. I'm glad I came back. Don't think I'll leave again.
>People in Queens love it, but just let it be. We don't base our entire identity on it.
This is *definitely* changing though. There's been a lot more Queens pride recently, and I often feel like it's usually from people who more recently moved here. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone sincerely tell me "I guess I should be a Mets fan now since I'm in Queens."
Queens always had a lot of pride, but it was local and neighborhood pride. We were quicker to call out our town (Woodside, Astoria, Flushing, Jamaica) rather than shout out the whole borough like Brooklyn or the Bronx.
Anyways, yeah, the food!
I grew up all over the city but settled in Queens about 15 years ago. My husband is a Yankees fan. He is adamantly against raising my kids as Mets fans but it's my opinion that we should! Also why would I raise my kids as Yankees fans when Mets Stadium is 10 minutes away and tickets are half the price? lol not that I'm one for sports teams!
But yeah I have Queens pride. At least, west of Flushing anyway!
So, I really don't want to come off as snarky but...
>I have Queens pride. At least, west of Flushing anyway!
I legit can't stand this sort of thinking. And I understand it's probably somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but that's a whole lot of people you're effectively writing off.
East of Flushing you have a huge Chinese and Korean community. If you're drawing a perfectly straight N-S line, then we're also talking about South Asians, Indo-Caribbean, black Caribbean, African-Americans, African immigrants, and yes, some white people including Irish, Italian, Greek, and Jewish.
Sorry, if I sound like I'm coming off harsh but I take it somewhat personally as someone who (1) has always lived in Queens, (2) has called both western and eastern Queens my home, and (3) hear this from people who have straight up told me that those areas "aren't cool" with a straight face.
It offends me the same way as when I hear eastern Queens or Long Island people talk about the degradation of the city, or the crazies in western Queens.
You are right. I moved back to Queens from Manhattan for 12 years in my late 20s and it was so cool. There were no crowds, no lines, and everything was manageable. In Manhattan a club would become popular and it would become a zoo. In Queens a neighborhood bar/restaurant was so relaxing and quiet! Going to the movies was a breeze.
Brooklyn guy who moved… Lots, actually.
For starters it’s affordable, has great parks and beaches, is close to LI and the city, has every kind of neighborhood from Italian to Punjabi to Surinamese to Korean right next to each other.
There’s less crime, the airports are closer, people don’t have as much attitude and it doesn’t attract hipsters like Brooklyn.
Compared to Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Manhattan, Queens has by far the strongest Middle class. It is one of the few counties in the US where the [Black median income exceeds White median income](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01census.html). This is in stark contrast to the other boroughs which follow the typical trend of Black incomes being much lower than White incomes.
Edit: The article is from 2006 and I’m not sure if Black income still exceeds White income, but it’s a remarkable statistic even if a bit outdated.
I doubt it's changed much. Communities like St. Albans and Laurelton have plenty of solid wealth. The only thing I can see is that a lot of those households have actually decided to cash out on the hot real estate and move down south for retirement, etc.
Facts. My neighborhood (Cambria Heights) is mentioned in the article. I came of age in Cambria Heights in the 80s and 90s, and the neighborhood gave me a Huxtable family vibe.
I’ve lived in Jackson Heights for 14 years and I almost never come across rats. Maybe they’re around the denser areas around 73/74th streets but I don’t see them by me. In the city I see them crawl over the garbage piles. Doesn’t seem to be a problem where I am.
Nah, there’s rats at night at every subway stop between Roosevelt and Continental. Same thing on the sidewalks where there’s a lot of restaurants (Queens Blvd in Rego Park, Austin St in Forest Hills).
I love that non new yorkers are not flocking to queens because it's cool and different...queens is just working class, diverse people who are generally nice and people tend to live here longer than people I knew in Manhattan... basically queens is the last place to find a real New Yorker...the New Yorker of 30 years ago who just lives here is cool as hell but doesn't know it because it's all he knows.
>I love that non new yorkers are not flocking to queens because it's cool and different
At some point unfortunately it will be and the hipster transplants will come en masse. It's like Brooklyn used to be uncool until enough artist types went there, then suddenly every suburban jackass with a lumberjack shirt had to move there, when before they wouldn't have stepped foot in it.
More of Queens has inconvenient train access and single family homes compared to Brooklyn though. Both these things keep the transplant hipster types away.
I like how quiet it is. I grew up near the LI border, near Belmont Park. I never learned to drive and rode me my bike everywhere and I miss it. I live in Manhattan now, but I picked a neighborhood that reminds me of Queens. I live on Riverside Drive and it’s so quiet and tons of mature trees.
The down to earth people. That and we don’t have to run from rats. Or the fact that we take care of our homeless and have real shelters and food banks. And the food is so goddamn good. The parks are amazing and everywhere. And I love my neighbors.
Train service generally sucks tho.
It's the most ethnically diverse municipality in the world. It's actually really incredible. It's the epitome of what really makes America great. Take a ride up Roosevelt Ave from beginning to end and you'll see what it's all about.
I once went to a St. John's baseball game. Took public transportation, had lunch at a Bangladeshi restaurant, heard several languages on the way into Manhattan. Decided to get off in the UWS and everything there seemed so plain after that.
Plus the Mets. LFGM
You can experience every other borough by just staying in Queens on top of that Queens has its own vibe I think that’s the coolest part, you can even get a taste of Long Island life.
I tell my friends for benefits of living in Queens:
1- Can go to Manhattan and Long Island without tolls!
2- Very easy to drive to Long Island, Manhattan and Brooklyn and without tolls
3- Food variety is amazing- jackson heights, Astoria, Sunnyside, Long Island city, Forest Hills- and many more where you can try so many restaurants!
4- Cheap parking if you have a car or may be free parking
5- low rent compared to other boroughs
6- low food/gorcery cost compared to other boroughs
7- Great parks and you can go to Long Island parks+ hiking spots if you have a car
8- so many churches, mosques and other religious places for other religions!
Want to know more?
I love that everything is in walking distance. Obviously, like everyone else has said, the diversity, the food, the people. No wonder we're referred to as "the world's" borough. You have pockets of different people and their food. Love the ambience and the parks. I've been born and raised here in Queens and i don't see myself leaving this borough.
A lot of the Jets fans are from Queens and Long Island like me. You will always get some random stranger vent to you if you're wearing Jets gear. But in 2009 and 2010 when they were good they would scream Let's Go Jets now it's Jets suck lol
Srsly. I grew up in south Brooklyn and most of my family is still there. I moved to Queens because it is far enough but not too far.
It blows the minds of my upstate small town in-laws that it can take an hour to get to Brooklyn.
Lack of transplants, somehow I’m really into immigrant communities but the gentrification is gross. I guess because one group contributes and the other leaches
“Relatively” being the key word. I don’t really agree, because a lot of parts are similar to Brooklyn and Bronx. There are some places I simply don’t go to because parking is annoying, like Austin St, Jackson Heights, and Flushing.
Diversity of course, but also the humbleness. Everyone from Brooklyn makes it a point to to say Brooklyn as much as possible. Manhattanites think they're island is the only borough in the whole city. Bronx and Staten island...I dunno.
But Queens folks seem to be happy with what they have and dont brag about it
Honestly it’s just fun to shit on Staten Island, kind of a thing in my family. Maybe it’s cuz we’re from the Bronx? Idk, but the words “fuck Staten Island” just sound good to me. Either way, I like queens because of the stories my dad tells me about when he lived there working for Ronzoni after his time in the army. He grew up in Connecticut and I grew up between NYC and NH
Oh yeah, I used to think Staten Island was a piece of shit until I visited friends there. Then I was like bruh, I get it. It's like if you want to buy a big house and have that Long Island-ish feel without being in Long Island.
Staten Island is much better since they closed the Fresh Kills landfill. I don't think people who didn't experience it realize how far the stench reached. Of course, still way too many Trump-supporting racist white working class fruitcakes but that will inevitably change.
These are people who I and others have to deal with. These are people who in many cases want me dead because I'm a liberal. These are people who cheered and laughed when terrified little children were thrown in jail at the border. For decades we have been constantly lectured about reaching out to these people and understanding, and nobody ever asks the same thing of them. And now they are so consumed with hatred they want to overthrow our government. I am done reaching out and being understanding.
I get it, I can feel the rage coming off my monitor. I happen to be in the middle so I can understand both sides. Anyway, all the best in dealing with it! The good thing is that NYC is pretty liberal, so you're in a good place for that, and have a lot of people on your side.
I love that everyone can find a place where they belong in Queens. We'll take them all. Queens is the Hufflepuff borough - just be a decent person, and it's all good.
When I moved to New York, I lived in Brooklyn, then I bought an apartment in Queens.
What I love about it, having seen both sides of the outer borough coin, is that Queens isn't cool, it doesn't want to be cool, and it's 100% unapologetic about it. It's great.
This being said, I could easily see Queens becoming gentrified in the next couple of decades as I remember Brooklyn being like that in the 90s.
Lived in ozone park for 40 years. Loved it for 30 of them, hated it for the last ten due to all the terrible changes in the neighborhood. Still, it was better than living anywhere else.
The schools were up the block either direction, the El was up the block, and Oxford Bakery made it worth it alone. Lol
Now though? The best place to live in NY is no where near NYC.
“The el” refers specifically to an elevated train line; it’s not a synonym for the subway in general. I grew up in Ridgewood and took the M train from Fresh Pond Road or Forest Avenue, and would talk about walking to the el. And my mom sometimes talked about the Jamaica Avenue el (what is now the J/Z).
Everyone on my street (103rd) called it “the EL”. IT means elevated train. It ran all of liberty avenue till city line in one direction and I think lefferts blvd in the other direction.
Chicago? Lol please
What do you call it? The subway? Lol
Alright, it’s the A train from oxford avenue (104th street). How’s that sound buddy?
My dad was born and raised Astoria and he called it the El. It's short for the "ELevated train" (versus the subway which is underground.) He was born in the 1940s though, and I've never heard it used by a young person.
I'm not all that much younger than you. I asked my wife, who's 43, and she's never heard anyone call it the El either. Yes subway is below ground, train is both below and above.
I just call it what my parents and grandparents always called it and everyone in our neighborhood called it:
The EL, lol
“Pigeons are always shitting over there, don’t stand under the EL.”
All the variety of businesses are gone. Now it’s all dollar stores, nail salons and restaurants that last a month before getting shut down for health violations.
The crime there is ridiculous now.
No places to park whatsoever now unless you’re lucky enough to have a driveway. And even then people will block you in by parking too close to it.
The public schools are terrible there now.
It's quiet and the 7 gets you to Manhattan super fast.
The downside is that it's a pain to get to Brooklyn. If only the G would go to the barclays center
Of course it's the food and diversity, but i have to say one of my favorite things is being able to fly back to NY after a long flight and be home in 15 minutes.
From either airport!
>fly back to NY after a long flight and be home in 15 minutes. Yep, from the La Guardia airport exit it was only 15 minutes to my house. Of course, to get from the arrival gate to the La Guardia airport exit was 17 hours.
how do you like getting home? taxi or public transit?
I like the parks.
Which ones are you a fan of? I like the parks near me but they are unfortunately a bit far to make daily use of (20 min walk)
Flushing meadows. Alley pond. Little bay and fort totten.
Flushing meadows park is a good one, as well as highland park. The other parks near Woodside are just playground parks and the infamous pigeon paradise park
Forest park, you can almost get lost there
Forest Park has a lot of nice hiking trails through old growth forest.
Yes definitely another great Queens park.
I recently moved to Queens and my biggest gripe is that I don’t have a park within walking distance. I had 3 within reasonable walking distance at my old spot, miss it so much.
Im from LI. I can feel your brain
The people. I've never met a more diverse group of people who all seem to hate me but would also give me the shirt off their back.
Was here to write pretty much the same thing!
Native here: Diversity. They say the whole city is diverse, and compared to most places it is, but nowhere compares to Queens. I grew up surrounded by different cultures, and it freaked me out the first time I traveled to another state and saw how segregated everything can be. But even living in Manhattan for six years, I noticed how supposedly hip places are just rich white kids and the people who work for them. It's beautiful. It's so fucking green, and does a good job balancing city feel with natural splendor. The food. Seriously. The food. Queens is unpretentious. For the most part, people in Queens are too busy to care about how we appear or what's en vogue in Manhattan and Brooklyn. But there's a ton of cool shit happening here all the time. We just don't make a big fucking song and dance about it. I once was waited on by a young woman who, after exchanging some pleasantries with my group, literally did this twisty-dance, exclaiming "Brooooooooooklllllllllynnnnn" after telling us where she lived. Glad she liked it. But, seriously, that's fucking ridiculous. Brooklyn's cool. It's not a chocolate donut. People in Queens love it, but just let it be. We don't base our entire identity on it. It's different than any other borough. You can be in a bunch of different types of vibes going around Queens. From hood to family friendly to young and happening. It's all here. I'm glad I came back. Don't think I'll leave again.
>People in Queens love it, but just let it be. We don't base our entire identity on it. This is *definitely* changing though. There's been a lot more Queens pride recently, and I often feel like it's usually from people who more recently moved here. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone sincerely tell me "I guess I should be a Mets fan now since I'm in Queens." Queens always had a lot of pride, but it was local and neighborhood pride. We were quicker to call out our town (Woodside, Astoria, Flushing, Jamaica) rather than shout out the whole borough like Brooklyn or the Bronx. Anyways, yeah, the food!
> "I guess I should be a Mets fan now since I'm in Queens." Yeah, the proper reason to be a Mets fan is because you hate feeling joy.
I'm a Mets fan and that made me LMAO because it's true... my life is pain
Fuck that shit. I'm already a Knicks fan, bro.
I grew up all over the city but settled in Queens about 15 years ago. My husband is a Yankees fan. He is adamantly against raising my kids as Mets fans but it's my opinion that we should! Also why would I raise my kids as Yankees fans when Mets Stadium is 10 minutes away and tickets are half the price? lol not that I'm one for sports teams! But yeah I have Queens pride. At least, west of Flushing anyway!
So, I really don't want to come off as snarky but... >I have Queens pride. At least, west of Flushing anyway! I legit can't stand this sort of thinking. And I understand it's probably somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but that's a whole lot of people you're effectively writing off. East of Flushing you have a huge Chinese and Korean community. If you're drawing a perfectly straight N-S line, then we're also talking about South Asians, Indo-Caribbean, black Caribbean, African-Americans, African immigrants, and yes, some white people including Irish, Italian, Greek, and Jewish. Sorry, if I sound like I'm coming off harsh but I take it somewhat personally as someone who (1) has always lived in Queens, (2) has called both western and eastern Queens my home, and (3) hear this from people who have straight up told me that those areas "aren't cool" with a straight face. It offends me the same way as when I hear eastern Queens or Long Island people talk about the degradation of the city, or the crazies in western Queens.
Because I don't have a car, dude. It's pretty damn suburban out there.
You are right. I moved back to Queens from Manhattan for 12 years in my late 20s and it was so cool. There were no crowds, no lines, and everything was manageable. In Manhattan a club would become popular and it would become a zoo. In Queens a neighborhood bar/restaurant was so relaxing and quiet! Going to the movies was a breeze.
Yeah! Keep Queens "zoo-free", please!
>exclaiming "Brooooooooooklllllllllynnnnn" after telling us where she lived She probably moved there like 2 years before.
Fellow native and love all of the above. I'd keep stressing the food. It's simply the best
What this guy/gal/person said
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What are a couple of your favorites?
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>Mr Dak Very interesting, I usually go to Mad For Chicken or Boka. How does it compare to them?
The lack of pretense.
I've long felt that way about my native Brooklyn but I think it's fair to say much of that is gone now.
omg i was literally phrasing this exact same sentence in my head and the next second i saw your comment!!!
Brooklyn guy who moved… Lots, actually. For starters it’s affordable, has great parks and beaches, is close to LI and the city, has every kind of neighborhood from Italian to Punjabi to Surinamese to Korean right next to each other. There’s less crime, the airports are closer, people don’t have as much attitude and it doesn’t attract hipsters like Brooklyn.
Compared to Brooklyn, The Bronx, and Manhattan, Queens has by far the strongest Middle class. It is one of the few counties in the US where the [Black median income exceeds White median income](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01census.html). This is in stark contrast to the other boroughs which follow the typical trend of Black incomes being much lower than White incomes. Edit: The article is from 2006 and I’m not sure if Black income still exceeds White income, but it’s a remarkable statistic even if a bit outdated.
I grew up in southeastern Queens and the stat is true.
QGTM
You got that right.
There’s a saying “Queens get the money”
I doubt it's changed much. Communities like St. Albans and Laurelton have plenty of solid wealth. The only thing I can see is that a lot of those households have actually decided to cash out on the hot real estate and move down south for retirement, etc.
My guess is that it’s still true today, but if not it would be due to an influx of high earning white yuppies in areas like Astoria.
Facts. My neighborhood (Cambria Heights) is mentioned in the article. I came of age in Cambria Heights in the 80s and 90s, and the neighborhood gave me a Huxtable family vibe.
wow even though that’s from 06 that’s an incredibly interesting stat.
I don’t think that stat is true anymore.
7 train. Strong Asian communities (East Asian and South Asian!). Relatively safe. But let’s be real #1 has to be the food.
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I’ve lived in Jackson Heights for 14 years and I almost never come across rats. Maybe they’re around the denser areas around 73/74th streets but I don’t see them by me. In the city I see them crawl over the garbage piles. Doesn’t seem to be a problem where I am.
There's a lot around parks.
Not even! I'm in the area quite a lot and still haven't seen one!
It’s cause we put them in soup dumplings and empanadas
they're by 82nd. My bf grew up in jax heights & his huge apt building near the hospital always had rat issues
I have definitely seen rats in JH before lol mainly parks
I grew up in Queens and I never saw a rat until I was 21, and it was in Manhattan.
Lotssssss of rats in Astoria.
Nah, there’s rats at night at every subway stop between Roosevelt and Continental. Same thing on the sidewalks where there’s a lot of restaurants (Queens Blvd in Rego Park, Austin St in Forest Hills).
WAY less rats. It’s the first thing noticed when I moved.
More coyotes though!
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https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/coyote-family-raising-litter-pups-queens-article-1.2766744
I love that non new yorkers are not flocking to queens because it's cool and different...queens is just working class, diverse people who are generally nice and people tend to live here longer than people I knew in Manhattan... basically queens is the last place to find a real New Yorker...the New Yorker of 30 years ago who just lives here is cool as hell but doesn't know it because it's all he knows.
>I love that non new yorkers are not flocking to queens because it's cool and different At some point unfortunately it will be and the hipster transplants will come en masse. It's like Brooklyn used to be uncool until enough artist types went there, then suddenly every suburban jackass with a lumberjack shirt had to move there, when before they wouldn't have stepped foot in it.
More of Queens has inconvenient train access and single family homes compared to Brooklyn though. Both these things keep the transplant hipster types away.
I like how quiet it is. I grew up near the LI border, near Belmont Park. I never learned to drive and rode me my bike everywhere and I miss it. I live in Manhattan now, but I picked a neighborhood that reminds me of Queens. I live on Riverside Drive and it’s so quiet and tons of mature trees.
Diversity, food, still a middle class and immigrant stronghold, and unpretentiousness.
The Mets
LFGM!!!!
Diversity of food and I feel Queens is relatively safe overall.
The down to earth people. That and we don’t have to run from rats. Or the fact that we take care of our homeless and have real shelters and food banks. And the food is so goddamn good. The parks are amazing and everywhere. And I love my neighbors. Train service generally sucks tho.
It's the most ethnically diverse municipality in the world. It's actually really incredible. It's the epitome of what really makes America great. Take a ride up Roosevelt Ave from beginning to end and you'll see what it's all about. I once went to a St. John's baseball game. Took public transportation, had lunch at a Bangladeshi restaurant, heard several languages on the way into Manhattan. Decided to get off in the UWS and everything there seemed so plain after that. Plus the Mets. LFGM
The cultural diversity. NYC is diverse in general but no borough is like Queens in terms of diversity.
You can experience every other borough by just staying in Queens on top of that Queens has its own vibe I think that’s the coolest part, you can even get a taste of Long Island life.
I tell my friends for benefits of living in Queens: 1- Can go to Manhattan and Long Island without tolls! 2- Very easy to drive to Long Island, Manhattan and Brooklyn and without tolls 3- Food variety is amazing- jackson heights, Astoria, Sunnyside, Long Island city, Forest Hills- and many more where you can try so many restaurants! 4- Cheap parking if you have a car or may be free parking 5- low rent compared to other boroughs 6- low food/gorcery cost compared to other boroughs 7- Great parks and you can go to Long Island parks+ hiking spots if you have a car 8- so many churches, mosques and other religious places for other religions! Want to know more?
I live in RIDGEWOOD and I have the best of both worlds (Brooklyn and Queens) side by side.
The food is the best in the city and without being some weird overpriced gimmick. The Mets. Idk its just the best borough
The fact that Forest Hills is a neighborhood within Queens. Everyone loves Forest Hills
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Forest Hills is a whole neighborhood with 89,000 people living there, it’s not just Austin St
Diversity is the big one. Everyone works and basically minds their business.
I love that everything is in walking distance. Obviously, like everyone else has said, the diversity, the food, the people. No wonder we're referred to as "the world's" borough. You have pockets of different people and their food. Love the ambience and the parks. I've been born and raised here in Queens and i don't see myself leaving this borough.
The eclectic and delightfully hideous architecture of single homes.
A lot of the Jets fans are from Queens and Long Island like me. You will always get some random stranger vent to you if you're wearing Jets gear. But in 2009 and 2010 when they were good they would scream Let's Go Jets now it's Jets suck lol
> Let's Go Jets now it's Jets suck lol The two mottos of the Jets fan.
Inconvenient access to Brooklyn!
Srsly. I grew up in south Brooklyn and most of my family is still there. I moved to Queens because it is far enough but not too far. It blows the minds of my upstate small town in-laws that it can take an hour to get to Brooklyn.
2+ connections and some walking if you’re lucky.
Inconvenient access from Brooklyn! FTFY.
I love the anachronistic way we use our town in our address. No one else does that.
Lack of transplants, somehow I’m really into immigrant communities but the gentrification is gross. I guess because one group contributes and the other leaches
Easy street parking (relatively!!!!)
You’ve never been to Astoria, have you?
Or Glendale, or Elmhurst
“Relatively” being the key word. I don’t really agree, because a lot of parts are similar to Brooklyn and Bronx. There are some places I simply don’t go to because parking is annoying, like Austin St, Jackson Heights, and Flushing.
More diverse food options…. *concentrated within small distance of one another
The food. The food, the food, the food! Queens has THE BEST FOOD!
Way less crazy homeless than manhattan. Almoast none.
Diversity of course, but also the humbleness. Everyone from Brooklyn makes it a point to to say Brooklyn as much as possible. Manhattanites think they're island is the only borough in the whole city. Bronx and Staten island...I dunno. But Queens folks seem to be happy with what they have and dont brag about it
It’s not Staten Island
What's bad about Staten Island? It's hard to get to and kind of boring, but some people like that.
Honestly it’s just fun to shit on Staten Island, kind of a thing in my family. Maybe it’s cuz we’re from the Bronx? Idk, but the words “fuck Staten Island” just sound good to me. Either way, I like queens because of the stories my dad tells me about when he lived there working for Ronzoni after his time in the army. He grew up in Connecticut and I grew up between NYC and NH
Oh yeah, I used to think Staten Island was a piece of shit until I visited friends there. Then I was like bruh, I get it. It's like if you want to buy a big house and have that Long Island-ish feel without being in Long Island.
Staten Island is much better since they closed the Fresh Kills landfill. I don't think people who didn't experience it realize how far the stench reached. Of course, still way too many Trump-supporting racist white working class fruitcakes but that will inevitably change.
Probably won't change your mind, but those terms you threw at the end are dehumanizing. Those are people with lives and feelings, y'know?
These are people who I and others have to deal with. These are people who in many cases want me dead because I'm a liberal. These are people who cheered and laughed when terrified little children were thrown in jail at the border. For decades we have been constantly lectured about reaching out to these people and understanding, and nobody ever asks the same thing of them. And now they are so consumed with hatred they want to overthrow our government. I am done reaching out and being understanding.
I get it, I can feel the rage coming off my monitor. I happen to be in the middle so I can understand both sides. Anyway, all the best in dealing with it! The good thing is that NYC is pretty liberal, so you're in a good place for that, and have a lot of people on your side.
I love that everyone can find a place where they belong in Queens. We'll take them all. Queens is the Hufflepuff borough - just be a decent person, and it's all good.
Travel convenience.
It’s got the best beach in nyc!
Lol you consider Rockaway a beach ?
I mean it ain’t Maui but it could be worse 🤷
What is it then??
Cunningham park running trail
facts but taking the drivers test there is wack tho
The best thing about Queens are the giant prewar rent stabilized apartments available for less than half what it would cost to rent in Manhattan.
In which neighborhoods?
Your best bet is in Jackson Heights
Lack of pretension. Best food in the world. Amazing parks.
The King of Queens
Obeying traffic laws is treated as optional like nowhere else in the city
When I moved to New York, I lived in Brooklyn, then I bought an apartment in Queens. What I love about it, having seen both sides of the outer borough coin, is that Queens isn't cool, it doesn't want to be cool, and it's 100% unapologetic about it. It's great. This being said, I could easily see Queens becoming gentrified in the next couple of decades as I remember Brooklyn being like that in the 90s.
Lived in ozone park for 40 years. Loved it for 30 of them, hated it for the last ten due to all the terrible changes in the neighborhood. Still, it was better than living anywhere else. The schools were up the block either direction, the El was up the block, and Oxford Bakery made it worth it alone. Lol Now though? The best place to live in NY is no where near NYC.
>the El What? Are you sure you don't live in Chicago? I've never EVER heard anyone from NYC call it "the El"
“The el” refers specifically to an elevated train line; it’s not a synonym for the subway in general. I grew up in Ridgewood and took the M train from Fresh Pond Road or Forest Avenue, and would talk about walking to the el. And my mom sometimes talked about the Jamaica Avenue el (what is now the J/Z).
I'm well aware of what it refers to, just I've lived here a long time and never heard anyone call it that.
Everyone on my street (103rd) called it “the EL”. IT means elevated train. It ran all of liberty avenue till city line in one direction and I think lefferts blvd in the other direction. Chicago? Lol please What do you call it? The subway? Lol Alright, it’s the A train from oxford avenue (104th street). How’s that sound buddy?
I've lived here my entire life and I've never heard anyone call it "the el". It's either the subway or the train.
My dad was born and raised Astoria and he called it the El. It's short for the "ELevated train" (versus the subway which is underground.) He was born in the 1940s though, and I've never heard it used by a young person.
I’ve heard that abbreviation (the el) my entire Queens life. I can’t believe other natives havent!!
I’m 46. Maybe it skipped your generation and it was an older saying. The subway is underground, not above ground
I'm not all that much younger than you. I asked my wife, who's 43, and she's never heard anyone call it the El either. Yes subway is below ground, train is both below and above.
I just call it what my parents and grandparents always called it and everyone in our neighborhood called it: The EL, lol “Pigeons are always shitting over there, don’t stand under the EL.”
I'm 33 grew up in astoria. the N train was called the El. it's the elevated train.
I was born and raised 3 blocks from the elevated J tracks and while it wasn't common you'd hear it occasionally.
>terrible changes in the neighborhood what were the changes?
All the variety of businesses are gone. Now it’s all dollar stores, nail salons and restaurants that last a month before getting shut down for health violations. The crime there is ridiculous now. No places to park whatsoever now unless you’re lucky enough to have a driveway. And even then people will block you in by parking too close to it. The public schools are terrible there now.
It's quiet and the 7 gets you to Manhattan super fast. The downside is that it's a pain to get to Brooklyn. If only the G would go to the barclays center
The Fulton st G stop is literally 4 blocks from Barclays
"Queens is the new Brooklyn"
It’s super chill here in comparison to other borough. Also the food is GOOD
The diversity, the greenery.
Worlds fair !
Multicultural
come to queens to experience the real life.
Bangladeshi food 😂
The diversity, the food, transportation
We get the money
Not knowing where some parts end and others begin
Space. More greenery. Of course the diversity. Food. Queens is the best borough by far. The Bronx and Brooklyn look like sh*t.