Valentine's Day Restaurants In Queens
Queens Restaurants / February 8, 2010. Valentine's Day is next weekend when lovers far and wide enjoin in the great romantic migration, for a night out on the town. If the night is done smartly, it comes complete with a thoughtful card, a small box of candies and her favorite flowers; followed by a nice romantic dinner.
The origins of Valentine's Day are not well documented. It's believed to have been named after Saint Valentine who was apparently a Catholic martyr who died over 1500 years ago. Today the holiday is not associated with religion so much as flowers, candies, cards and dinners. And the holiday spokesperson is now Cupid: a Roman god of desire and from what we hear - no saint.
Click this link to go to a brief guide of Queens restaurants for Valentine's Day where you will find links to Queens restaurants we've reviewed. It's worth noting that most of these reviews are positive because we've selected many of the best restaurants in Queens. It's also worth noting that most of these restaurants do not currently advertise on this site, so there wasn't any quid pro quo. That said, in time we will certainly try to convince as many of them as we can, into advertising on this site, because we have a large discerning dining audience that includes you. Enjoy.
This Weekend In Queens
Super Bowl Weekend Goes On Without NY Teams
February 4, 2010. In LIC on Friday night at 8 pm a modern dance entitled 'The Really Big Once' is being performed by a up-and-coming dance company at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center and admission is free. Romeo & Juliet return to the stage all weekend long at the Secret Theatre in LIC at 8 pm starting Thursday night. There's a premiere tango performance at the Thalia Theatre in Sunnyside beginning at 8 pm on Friday and Saturday [Sunday at 4 pm].
On Saturday in LIC at PS1 from 4 - 6 pm, there's another installment of performance art which is part of PS1's Saturday Sessions program. This week it's a 'hair transplant' and a 'participatory music / dance video shoot'. Also on Saturday at Waltz-Astoria in Astoria there is a Singer Songwriter Showcase with three acts starting on the hour, beginning at 8 pm. In LIC the Sculpture Center is open with the exhibit 'Leopards In The Temple' [art].
On Sunday, the Queens Historical Society is hosting a presentation of the 'Underground Railroad' starting at 2.30 pm in Flushing. Also in Flushing on Sunday the Queens Museum Of Art has an opening reception for an exhibit of Dominican artists, starting at 1.30 pm. And Sunday night the Cavalier Restaurant in Jackson Heights, a legendary 1950's lounge, is hosting a Superbowl XLIV party, which will also be the last evening the iconic lounge is open for business. Click this link to see our story of the last day of the Cavalier Restaurant and Lounge and click this link to view our Queens Events Calendar.
Remember # 7 Subway Weekend Service Suspended between NYC and Queensboro Plaza. This weekend, the # 7 subway service stops after 11 pm Friday nights and resumes Monday morning before 6 am. You may still use the E, F, N, W and Q subways to cross the East River. Snowy Weather - We're expected to get 1 - 3 inches of snow Friday night / Saturday morning, before it turns to rain. Dress smart.
Sunnyside Gardens Park
Private Park Continues Tradition Of Community Service
Sunnyside / January 25, 2010. Over the course of this past year I had occasion to meet and converse with various members of Sunnyside Gardens Park. The park is privately owned - one of only two such parks in the city, with the other being Gramercy Park in Manhattan. While membership in Gramercy is closed, membership in Sunnyside Gardens Park is open to local residents. Membership in the park fluctuates, and there are currently about 300 members, most of which are family memberships.
Click here to read the rest of our report about Sunnyside Gardens Park.
Supreme Court Re-Writes Constitution
Expands 'Rights' Of Legal Entities Into Electoral Process
January 21, 2010 / Queens NY / Opinion. The Supreme Court began re-writing the Constitution of the United States today. In an Orwellian fashion, the court ruled that legal entities can spend as much money as they want to help elect anyone they want. They speciously argued that to do otherwise is a limit on the First Amendment right of free speech.
Legal entities are not democratically run, as our government was intended to be. They are governed by a few people who sit on a board, and run by a few executives who manage the legal entity from the top of it.
Click here to read this opinion piece on the Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance.
Queens Fashion Week 2010
Casting Call Gets Good Response
January 18, 2010 / Astoria & LIC. The Queens Fashion Week casting call gathered a lot of attention this past weekend, as we estimate somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred people responded to the possibility that they could become Queens next super model.
We paid a visit to the event to watch the next Giselle or Marcus strut their stuff. And enjoyed seeing the excitement in the contestants' eyes at their prospects for fame. The show is intended to not only provide Queens residents with an opportunity for publicity, but Queens designers as well. About ten local designers have signed up to publicize their work in the February event.
Click here to read our full report about the casting call for Queens Fashion Week. Also see our brief report about the return of a jazz age act to a classic retro Jackson Heights lounge.
First New Shows Of 2010 Open
LIC Long Island City / January 11, 2010. Queens kicked off the cutlural new year with a bang. On Sunday I attended the opening of the new exhibit at the Sculpture Center in LIC where there were easily over one hundred guests who shared in my delight. On Friday I made my first visit to the Secret Theatre since it opened its new space. They just opened a three week program of five original one act plays. These were performed in front of a sell out audience and we all enjoyed some good laughs. I think this bodes well for culture to come in 2010.
Click here to read a review of Act V at the Secret Theatre and click here to read a review of the Leopards In The Temple exhibit at the Sculpture Center.
Queens History Is America's History
Flushing Neighborhood / December 13, 2009. My compliments to the six cultural and historic sites that participated in the annual Historic Holiday House Tour. On a rainy, but unseasonably warm Sunday, I traipsed through the streets of Flushing with historian Jason Antos visiting some of the most interesting historic sites in Queens. Each of these sites entertained visitors in different ways, from traditional apple cider, to old fashioned holiday songs with piano accompaniment, to a five piece jazz band [see photo].
The historic sites were fascinating and included two houses associated with religious freedom in America; one house associated with a talented nineteenth century African American inventor who was involved with patents for the lightbulb and the telephone and whose parents were instrumental in galvanizing support for the freedom of slaves; a beautiful well preserved Victorian era home; one of Queens important cultural centers; and the home of the Queens Historical Society - sponsor of the event.
Click the following links to read about the Bowne House, Friends Meeting House, Lewis Latimer House, Kingsland Homestead and the Voelker Orth House and Gardens.
Queens Jobs Market Bests NYC & U.S.
Queens Unemployement Rates / December 2009. This report outlines the general dynamics of the Queens Jobs market. Included in this report is a look at the composition of Queens industries and labor market. It appears that the employment picture in Queens improved from the summer into the fall, but in the December report unemployment ticked back up again. Click here to read our full report about the jobs market in Queens NY. Click here to read the whole story about the Queens jobs market, including an overview of the size and diversity of Queens jobs market.
Queens Real Estate
Real Estate In Queens Neighborhoods: Astoria, Jackson Heights, Long Island City LIC Neighborhood, Sunnyside, Woodside
Queens NY / December 2009. This is a report on the Queens real estate market in Queens for the latter half of 2009. This analysis includes looking at apartment rental prices, as well as condo, co-op and home prices and availability in the Astoria, LIC / Long Island City, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods. While we found these neighborhoods mirrored / trailed many of the national trends, we found some interesting differences, including differences from neighborhood to neighborhood. Click here to read the Queens Real Estate market analysis 2009.
Kwanzaa Celebration In Jamaica Queens
Jamaica Neighborhood / January 3, 2010. The Afrikan Poetry Society sponsored a free viewing of the now famous Kwanzaa film entitled 'The Black Candle'. The film is a documentary about the origins of Kwanzaa in the U.S. and around the world. The film shows how African Americans began to reconstruct their culture following four centuries of enslavement and discrimination in this country. The celebration contains many universal guidelines to be used by groups, even nations, struggling to regain their lost freedoms and self-direction. There are lessons in this film for everyone.
Queens Restaurants - Queens NY
Click this link to go to the Queens Restaurants section of this site or use the search function below or the Business Directory above to look for something specific.
Donovan's Pub
Irish Pubs In Queens
Woodside Sunnyside Restaurants / February 2010. I had occasion to visit Donovan's Irish Pub in the Woodside section of Queens NY. Donovan's is about as Irish an Irish Pub can get outside of Ireland. We took a different tack in this review and decided not to review their hamburger, but rather take a look at some of their other pub food offerings.
Click here to read our review of Donovan's Irish Pub in Woodside Queens, including a short interview with former detective Jack Donovan, brother of the pub owner.
Cavo Greek Restaurant
Modern Greek Cuisine Astoria
Astoria Restaurants. I had occasion to visit Cavo, a haute cuisine restaurant with an aesthetically beautiful restaurant decor located in the heart of the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. Cavo is run by Tommy Demaras and partners who seem to pay attention to every detail to ensure one's visit is quite apart from whence one comes. Richard Farnabe recently started as the Executive Chef and has brought the modern Greek cuisine to new heights.
Click here for a full review of Cavo, one of the leading Greek restaurants in Astoria.
La Portena Argentine Steakhouse Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights Restaurants. La Portena Argentinian Steakhouse isn't exactly the kind of restaurant that would come to mind when you think of Jackson Heights ... that is unless you live there.
La Portena Argentinian Steakhouse is located at 74th Street and 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights. It's quite a popular restaurant which is what first caught my attention. While Indian, Bangladeshi, Thai and Nepalese restaurants first come to mind when thinking about Jackson Heights / Elmhurst restaurants, there's an entire Latin American flavor to the restaurant mix in the neighborhood - and the food and service are both very good. Click here to read a restaurant review of La Portena Argentine Steakhouse in Jackson Heights.
Queens Shops / Shopping - Queens NY
Click this link to go to the Queens Shopping & Shops section of this site or use the search function below or the Business Directory above to look for something specific.
Yoga In Queens
Astoria Shopping / Long Island City / January 6, 2010. This is a report about my experience taking a hot vinyasa yoga class at the Yoga Room studio in Astoria on New Years Eve. I came to it a bit skeptical but walked away with a changed opinion. Hot yoga is a combination of sauna and a yoga workout.
Click here to view our full report on hot yoga in Queens NY.
Astoria Furniture Stores Have It All - Queens
Astoria Shops / 2009. The furniture stores located on the southern end of Steinway Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens seem to have something to offer to just about everyone. This part of Steinway is a furniture shopper's mecca, offering plenty of choices from classical colonial, to urban apartment living to bedding to suit nearly every spine.
I took a quick trip there, which is easily accessible via the N, W, G, R or V subway lines and within a sturdy walking distance from Long Island City, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside. Just up the street from Steinway is Broadway, where you'll find the Omonia Cafe where after a good morning or afternoon of shopping, you can kick back along one of the sidewalk tables ane enjoy a bit of coffee and some delicious baked goods. Click here to learn more about the furniture stores in Astoria Queens.
Mens Clothing Styles - Queens
Shopping Queens / 2009. Esquire Men's Clothing Store continues to serve the greater Astoria and Queens area, as it has for nearly thirty years.
The shop is owned and managed by Frank and Kevin Adhami, and their father, who is in his eighties, still visits the store on an almost weekly basis.
Esquire is located along Steinway Street between 30th and 31st streets. The store contains a wide selection of men's coats, suits, casual wear, shoes and men's accessories like belts and ties.
This story will provide some information about the store itself as well as fashion recommendations for the Spring and for job hunters.
Click this link to view a story written on Men's Clothing In Astoria Queens NY.
Queens Neighborhoods - Queens NY
Click this link to go to the Queens Neighborhood section of this site or use the search function below or the Business Directory above to look for something specific.
