My fave borough, named after Queens Latifah and the band "Queens". Their best known hits are "LaGuardian Rhapsody", "Princes Of The Unisphere", "Killer Queens", "Mets Are The Champions", and the theme from "Flushing Gordon." Other musicians sing of Queens: "Flush, Flush (ing)" by Paula Abdul (with Kissena-nu Reevs in the video), "My Corona" by the Knack, "Such Great Jackson Heights" by the Postal Service, "The Forest Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Music" by Julie Andrews, and "Astoria My Life" by One Direction (renamed Jandoerection on Yelp).
Also "Hollis-back Girl" by Gwen, "Right Bayside You" by Sophie B Hawkins, "Kew For The Summer" by Demi Lovato, "So Fresh Meadows, So Clean" by OutKast, "The Way Jamaica Me Feel" by MJ.
Obviously, Greenwich Village and Queens were gonna switch names, but Greenwich sounds rather English, and there's ironically nothing English about Queens. Besides, Queens is anything but a "Village". Even if the rest of NYC didn't exist, Queens would be one of the most thrilling, diverse, large and fascinating metropolises in North America.
"No-One Knows" what this area was like in prehistoric times. I wonder what the Ice-Age Queens looked like. And my friend Dave Grohl (a drummer) said he'd love to go back in time and see the Queens of the Stone Age.
With no disrespect to the Magnificent Manhattan, The Brilliant Bronx, the Stunning Staten Island, and the Bountiful Brooklyn, Queens is so far ahead on my "faves list" that even if you combined the others and threw in New Jersey (yes even the Jersey Girls and Jon Bon Jovi's 1986 hairdo and The Boss), plus CT, Westchester, Hudson Valley, Suffolk & Nassau just for good measure... Queens would still win.
If the Third Reich had been in Queens rather than in Germany, would that have been the Queensryche?
I love it because: It's alive. Electric. Real. Packed with every kind of food and nationality and element of global culture that you can imagine. Restaurants from Suriname & Paraguay. Nepal & the Philippines. Nigeria & Colombia. You name it, it's here. The most diverse area in the USA. From my extensive travels, it also feels like the most intense, exciting melting pot in the world.
I have 3 gfs here. Elizabeth, Victoria, and Mary (Scottish). I have three gfs with the same names in Brooklyn, but I prefer my Queens Elizabeth, my Queens Victoria, and Mary (Queens) of Scots.
Don't even get me started on the food. Actually, do. I love food (hard to tell, right?), especially cheap, authentic, ethnic food. I only care about taste. The tastes here in Queens are second to nowhere. The sheer variety, the stratospheric deliciousness and spectacular quality of my fave spots, make Queens the greatest food place I've ever been to.
If you give birth here, and 5 babies come out, are they "Queenstuplets?"
Best Queens Food list (in order) (not complete yet)
http://www.yelp.com/list/nyc-queens-jackson-heights-2
My fave is:
- Jugos Prontito - get a Cholado, the greatest drink in the world. Colombian juices, plus street burgers and dogs which are crazy.
Plus:
- Xi'an - spicy cumin lamb noodle (not soup), best Chinese food *ever*
- Ganesh Temple - chili masala dosa, cheap & amazing
- Sammy's - best Halal Cart *anywhere*, nearly 24 hrs
- Sunnyside Pizza - garlic bread slice, best in NYC
- Parceros Colombian Bakery - guava pastry, chorizo w/green salsa & salt potato
- Lemon Ice King of Corona - amazing lemon ice
- Las Americas Bakery - good coffee, incredible raspado
- Arepa Lady 2 - choclo arepa w/ chorizo - wow
- Brooklyn Bagel - everything bagel w/ jalapeno asiago cream cheese, best in city
- Hyderabadi Biryani, Seva - amazing Chx Tikka Masala @ both
- St James Deli - chorizo & egg tacos or sandwich - 24 hrs
- BZ Grill - Athens Pork Gyros
- Arepas Cafe - amazing, get Pabellon Arepa & Brown Sugar Lemonade
- Starry Bakery - best Portuguese Custard Tarts. The Queens of Tarts
- Tacos Al Suadero - 24 hr tacos, best horchata I've *ever* had
- The Haab - try Huevos Tapatios
- White Bear - #6 so good, it hurts. Dumplings
- Nan Xiang - more amazing dumplings
- Eddie's Sweet Shop - best coffee ice cream ever
- Grill Point - Israeli
- Rincon Criollo - Cuban, get Ropa Vieja
- Lali Guras - Nepalese
- King Souvlaki, Xinjiang BBQ, King of Falafel - food stands, various amazing treats
I also like that the Queens Yelp CM is so awesome. I consider him a friend. Usually when the cops investigate a nameless male, it's a "John Doe." However, in Queens, it's a "Jan Do."
The food list is so long because nowhere, perhaps on earth, certainly in N America, has as many incredible items and hidden gems as Queens. Of the top 20 (or top 40) food spots in NYC, 70% of them are in Queens. It's just that good here. In my opinion.
Speaking of long...
Let me show you why they call me the "King of Queens."
(Pulls out list of royal relatives).
You see how long my history of royal lineage is? Wait, why do you look disappointed? What did you think I was going to show you? read more