Botanical Gardens, the Bronx

There comes a time, on every faraway trip, where I get homesick.  I miss American food, I miss American English and I miss the subway system I understand.   So often, I find myself in the ubiquitous Subway Sandwich shop.  And although the wallpaper shows an inaccurate  map of the subway system  this is pictured-the glass, greenhouse at the Bronx Botanical Gardens

Marissa in the park

Late fall crab apples

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And you thought the Bronx River was just the name of a highway!

Around Flushing Meadow

Things that are interesting outside the park.



Congregation Tiferth Israel
The oldest synagogue in Queens
109-18 54th Avenue in Corona,







52-02 108th St., Queens, NY 11368


And two Latin restaurants

Tortilleria Nixtamal

104-05 47th Ave
Corona, NY 11368

Corona

Empanadas Cafe

56-27 Van Doren St
Corona, NY 11368

Phone number(718) 592-7288

Colbert!s video

http://gothamist.com/2015/11/12/watch_colberts_extended_late_night.php

Take a virtual flight around NY

Books about New York

So I wanted to start a list, but Brooklyn Magazine did it for me
100-books-every-new-yorker-should-read/


And here is Good Reads even more ambitious list

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13633.Best_Books_Set_in_New_York_City

Walking Around Jackson Heights

We ate our first lunch at Lhasa Fast Food  

                                             

37-50 74 street

The table next to us had two  Tibetan  gentlemen. On of  whom helped us  get some sweet tea and buttered tea, and told us about his life here and in Virginia and in Tibet.  We ate beef momo and drank tea,  That put us back a total of $8.00

We  walked around and looked at some of the architecture that makes Jackson Heights famous.  

We walked down 37th Avenue which had a selection of more mainstream restaurants, for those who might be taken back by restaurants located behind cell phone shops or above sari stores.

On 80th Street we checked out some of the architecture in the historic district..

and peeked at the secret gardens

We ended at

Phayul
37-65 74 s

Street entrance on 37 Road

Where we had  potato momo Thenthuk a noodle soup

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If your not in the mood for Tibetan food, there is always the Arepa Lady 77-02 Roosevelt Avenue.

Okay -I'm not sure what this has to do with anything- but it was on 79th Street and the corner of Roosevelt Ave.




Need an angel? Available for sale at the Botanica 35-67 80th Street.

My students used to call these bizcocho dresses, because the skirts look like wedding cakes.
  86-19 Roosevelt Avenue



HERE IS A SAMPLING OF ETHNIC EATERIES- I GOT FROM TRIP ADVISOR
from jwanderer on the Tripadvisor NYC Forum

Places

Espresso 77 

35-57 77th St, Jackson Heights, NY 11372  COFFEE SHOP

Hae Woon Dae 

7532 Broadway, Queens, NY 11373 KOREAN

UFC       

71-22 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372 KOREAN

Potala Fresh Food   

Broadway and 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372  NEPALESE      

Indian Taj      

37-25 74th Street, Queens, NY 11372  CLASSIC INDIAN

Maharaja Sweets  

73-10 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372  INDIAN SWEET SHOP 

35th Avenue

Legends Bar  

7104 35th Ave, Queens, NY 11372 BAR WITH BBQ

AMF 34th Avenue Lanes 

69-10 34th Ave, Queens, NY 11377 OLF FASHIONED BOWLING ALLEY

Kababish 

69-10 34th Ave, Queens, NY 11377 TAKE OUT INDIAN, PAKISTANI AND BANGLADESH

Zabb Elee  

71-28 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, New York 11372 THAI

Himalayan Yak          

72-20 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372   TIBET/NEPAL

Butala Emporium Inc 

37-46 74th Street, Queens, NY 11372 ECLECTIC INDIA-CENTRIC SHOP  

Dosa Delight  

35-66 73rd St, Queens, NY 11372 VEGETARIAN SOUTH INDIAN

Dhaka Garden  

72-23 37th Ave, Queens, NY 11372 TRADITION BANGLADESH CURRIES

Patel Brothers 

37-27 74th Street, Queens, NY 11372 INDIAN GROCERY

Pacific Supermarket 

7501 Broadway, Queens, NY 11373 ASIAN GROCERY

Queens Oriental Food & Gift 

7211 Roosevelt Ave, Queens, NY 11372  JUST WHAT IT SAYS

Phil-Am Food Mart 

4003, 70th St, Queens, NY 11377  PHILLIPINO MART

More Queens Information

New York Magazine's Tour


NY Times describes real estate in Jackson Heights

But its sidewalks are strikingly diverse. About half its roughly 67,000 residents identify as Latino, census records show, with ties to countries including Bolivia, Colombia and Peru. On the east-side streets where many Latinos live, carts sell pineapple drinks under Spanish signs.

To the west is a bustling enclave of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, where shop windows display richly embroidered saris; about 20 percent of the non-Latino population is Asian, according to census data.

A very detailed (more than 200 pages) of the historic district of Jackson Heights

A Jackson Heights Tour

Serious Eats one day Gut busting Tour

Jackson Heights Restaurants

On the loose in Queens

Here are some links






http://www.thirteen.org/queens/sites.htm

The local public tv station did a show about the Number 7 train.  It is a part of the subway system.  As a little girl, I was truly bothered by the fact that a train that ran above the streets could be a called a subway.  I've quit worrying about semantics but I still enjoy the ride.

http://queens.about.com/od/thingtodo/ss/7-subway-tour.htm
More information about the what to see and do from the Number 7 line








http://www.noshwalks.com/tours-Food-Queens.htm
This is a paid food tour that I know very little about.  I include it in the links because it shows the variety of ethnicity of foods available in the various neighborhoods We wouldn't pay for the tour we would just walk around ourselves.






http://www.nycgo.com/articles/break-point-exploring-queens-beyond-the-open

The unisphere is the iconic symbol of Queens.  You can read about the different things to see in the park here.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city/queens/travel-tips-and-articles/queens-new-yorks-biggest-borough-comes-into-its-own   How can I not include this when Lonely Planet considered Queens the Best of the USA  2015



Movies about Queens
Chop Shop (2007)
This indie film made the rounds in the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, and other prominent international film events. The director, Ramin Bahrani – who was also behind Man Push Cart, the 2005 film about a struggling street vendor from Brooklyn – won a “Someone to Watch” Independent Spirit Award in 2007. The film centers around the story of 12-year-old Alejandro, an orphan living in the Willets Points section of Corona, where he works at an auto body repair shop, sells candy on the subway, and dreams up other schemes to get by. The movie is full of scenes depicting Flushing Meadows Park, the auto body shops of Willets Point, and the 7 train.
I loved this movie.  It is kind of sad, and doesn't show the most economically successful view of Queens.

Coming to America (1988)
This campy classic is a comedy about a prince of a fictitious African country (Eddie Murphy) who comes to Queens to find a woman to marry. His logic is, “What better place to find a queen than the city of Queens?” What ensues is a silly series of mishaps as royalty tries to blend into mainstream black American culture. The cast also includes Arsenio Hall and James Earl Jones. It takes place partially at a fast food restaurant on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst.
Yes silly, and almost 30 years old.  But enjoyable and you get a sense of the area.

Men In Black
Location as Character: In 'Men in Black' Edgar attempts to escape via the N.Y.S. Pavilion's observation towers, later crashing into the Unisphere. In 'Iron Man 2', the Flushing fairgrounds has its own backstory as the site of Howard (Tony's dad) Stark's 1974 Expo (which strongly resembles the real-life 1964 World's Fair). During Expo 2010, Tony, wearing his Iron Man suit, triumphantly lands on the stage of the N.Y.S. Pavilion, which houses an exhibit for Stark Industries. Later, during the movie's final battle scenes, drones fly into and careen off the Unisphere. (Spoiler Alert: The 'sphere also holds the key to a new element crucial for Tony's failing heart.)
Where the aliens land, is part of Flushing Meadow Park

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Two more sad, but enjoyable movies about the struggles of immigrants in Queens Entre nos (2009)\A story based on facts which offers a fresh take on the issue of new immigrants in the United States. Mariana totes her two children from Colombia to reunite with her husband in Queens, New York. Her life is devastatingly turned around when her husband abandons the family. The woman and her kids have to fend for themselves in a foreign country. Mariana desperately searches for work. In the end, she resourcefully navigates a surprising avenue for making some money, the city's recycling. Maria Full of Grace (2004) A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately needed money for her family