This Saturday I visited the dog park in Little Bay Park in Bayside Queens with my GF. This park has changed a lot since I started coming here when I was a little kid. In this case, the change is good! Granted it was probably the 10th time I visited in the last 5 years so I’m not sure when the improvements were made.
I did play for a Sunday soccer little league, when I was about 10 years old, where games were on these fields which were never as grassy as they are now. They added a roller hockey rink many years ago as well but not much else from when I can remember. Now they have a dog park! The dog park is built in the shape of a kidney bean and has two sections which helps if you want to separate any aggressive dogs. There are two water fountains for both humans and dogs. Along with multiple benches to use and the ground floor is built with small white stones, so it keeps the ground dry. One great feature is the hose they have which is great to cool off your dog on these soon to come hot summer days.
On the way back to my car, I took a photo of the Throgs Neck Bridge. No my phone camera doesn’t take photos like that. What I did with the photo is edit it with the new app I downloaded called pixlr-o-matic. You can follow them @pixlr. I played around with some of the photo options and this came out!
I still won’t quit my day job….
During Mother’s Day weekend, I decided to finally work on my front lawn. Something that was in “the plan” for 3 years. Relax, my mom lives in Florida so I couldn’t spend time with her this year. The Coop I own in Kew Garden Hills (Hyde Park Gardens) has a small front lawn section and it was one of the reasons why I decided to purchase here. Many owners tend their beautiful front yards which makes it feel like you live in a home rather than a four walled apartment. During the Spring/ Summer season these yards really stand out.
Here are some before, during and after shots. I didn’t want to hire anyone, nor asked for advice. I guess down the road I will, or just pay someone to do it for me!
"Austin>Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable. At the end of our chat you will be given the option of taking a brief survey. My name is Austin P. Please give me a moment while I access your account.
Austin>Hi, how are you doing today?
Andres_>fine thanks
Austin>How may I assist you today?
Andres_>i can’t pay my bill online as i used to…
Austin>I am really sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused to you.
Austin>If I understand you correctly, you are concerned about your my services username and password, is that correct?
Andres_>no
"
NYC’s Burger Economy
May is national hamburger month, and there is no shortage of places to celebrate in a city where everyone has an opinion about the best burger in town. Like pizza, everyone has their favorite, but rather than weigh in on which one is the best, we are going to stick to looking at the numbers.
Using the latest NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene restaurant inspection data, we analyzed the 627 burger joints in the City to see how they break down into chain and independent restaurants. The findings were not too surprising: the big three chains (McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s) account for the majority (60%) of all burger places in the city. Another 26% are smaller chains like White Castle and Five Guys, and the remaining 14% are places with only a single location in the City.
This week’s poll on NYCEDC.com asked you which borough you thought had the most burger joints. 42% of respondents said Brooklyn had the most, followed by Manhattan with 32% of the vote and Queens with 21%. How the numbers really stack up:
The number and mix varies by area. With 216, Manhattan has the most of any borough. While it is not the most populous borough, its economy caters to the daytime population which includes workers and tourists. Manhattan also has the smallest share of big three burger joints (46%) and the largest share of those with a single location (22%).
When taking the resident population into account, Queens leads the way with 9.6 burger places per 100,000 residents. Manhattan has 8.6, the Bronx has 6.8, and Staten Island has 6.4. Brooklyn has the fewest with 6 burger places per 100,000 residents. In other words, regardless of where you are in the City, there’s enough to go around.
Types of Burger Joints by Borough
Source: NYC DOHMH
StatsBee is a column featuring interesting statistics about NYC, written by economists at the Economic Research & Analysis department within NYCEDC’s Center for Economic Transformation. Top photo: Shake Shack, Upper West Side via Flickr.com/roboppy
Queens leads the way with 9.6 burger places per 100,000 residents.
Well I know what I’m having for lunch today!
New Layout For qscoop
Working out a new layout for the site and there’s too much info to look into, plus it’s past midnight. Good night brain!
I live in a neighborhood in Queens that most people think they know what it is. But when I mention it’s called Kew Garden Hills and not Kew Gardens they just reply with “Ohh!”.
One of the central truths my old man taught me about Chinatown is that it’s always changing. On almost every one of our monthly pilgrimages to Manhattan he’d point out a restaurant that had vanished only to be replaced another. Somehow his favorites—Wo Hop and Mei Lei Wah—always stayed in business. This is the corollary to what I like to call Vito’s Law: The more Chinatown changes the more it stays the same.
The other day I was reminded of these central Chinatown truths by a new food court on the corner of Maple Ave. and Main St. Upon entering Fung Ling Xiao Chi (Maple Snacks) I was greeted by a familiar face, Big Sister Zhu. I hadn’t seen her in two years. Nor had I had a great bowl of dan dan mian—the Sichuan snack of noodles with ground pork and preserved vegetables—since she closed her tiny restaurant. So I had even more reason to be excited by the new food court. I was, however, somewhat perplexed when she told me it had been open for a year and a half. How could I possibly have missed it?
Queens Swap is a Queens-based social event that brings together passionate food enthusiasts, bakers, cooks, and foragers to barter (or swap) quality, homemade foods.
September’s swap will be hosted by our friends at Fresh Start Market on Saturday, September 17, from 4-6:30pm. Fresh Start Market is a natural foods market in the Ditmars area of Astoria that offers all sorts of organic and natural grocery items, produce, dairy, meat, and prepared foods.
Fresh Start also has a beautiful backyard patio, which is where the swap will be held.
Swapping at the Queens Swap is free, but we are asking for donations ($5 suggested) for refreshments that will be offered during the swap. All refreshments will be purchased from Fresh Start to help support local business in Astoria.
Click here for more event details. To learn more about Queens Swap go here.
Hyde Park Gardens is a Coop community in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York boasting 26 acres of green landscaped grass and trees starting on Park Drive East and Jewel Avenue. One bedroom apartments starting around $139,000. Click to learn more information and to schedule an appointment!
IMO, there is nothing better than local people starting up new events in Queens. Okay…wait, yes I’m sure you can think of some better ideas. Like finding a cure for AIDS or another episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. But I came across this flyer during my weekly Basketball League. One of the members of this league left these pretty little glossy sheets of trees behind and I felt it was my rightful duty (mainly because I own a Queens only website) that I help promote this event.
So it is with great pleasure I present to you the Queens Poetry Slam, Thursday June 30th at Bungalo Lounge in Astoria [Map It]. There will be a $100 Grand Prize, happy hour between 7pm-9pm and it’s featuring Brian Omni Dillon!. Don’t know who he is? Check out some of his performances. All this for only $10 at the door? I’ve spent more money on meaningless and lonely nights at a bar. At least this time when I go it’ll have some substance…
It’s baaaack! After four years of negotiable rents, concessions galore and more than one false claim of resurgence, the rental market has recovered.
According to Citi Habitats’ May 2011 analysis, vacancy rates — a slight 0.69 percent — are the lowest since June 2006. And in May, prices went up on average 0.68 percent over last month, 6 percent over last year, so says the May Manhattan Rental Market Report from MNS.
But numbers don’t illustrate the current situation as well as a story like this one:
On the cusp of his graduation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a new job in New York firmly in his clutches, Nicolas Aguirre and two college friends set off to secure an apartment from which to embark on their adult lives.
In this weeks issue of Time Out New York, TONY reviews four restaurants in Queens. Although I have not visited any of these locations…my friends swear they ate everything on Salt & Fat’s menu.
JetBlue and New York Restoration Project (NYRP) are teaming up once again to do One Thing That’s Green! Join us on April 9, 2011 as we plant hundreds of trees in Forest Hills, Queens!
In September, tornadoes ripped through Queens leaving once lush areas looking vacant. Trees are a vital part of the environment, especially in New York City, and by recommendation of the City of New York, JetBlue and NYRP will partner to revitalize MacDonald Park and surrounding areas.
Bring your friends and family for an exciting day of outdoor activities that encourage active living! Breakfast and lunch will be provided, and all volunteers will receive a One Thing That’s Green branded t-shirt. There will be activities for the entire family throughout the day.
Register now and check back for updates in the coming weeks. All volunteers must register and complete a waiver. Young adults ages 14 to 17 must have a signed waiver from a parent or guardian to participate. Kids younger than 14 are welcome with an adult and they’ll be plenty of activities for everyone.
Do your One Thing That’s Green! Together with our partners NYRP, 106.7 Lite FM, 103.5 KTU and Power 105.1, JetBlue will make a lasting difference on the community and continue to evolve our commitment to greening the Big Apple.
When: Saturday, April 9, 2011
Where: MacDonald Park, Forest Hills, Queens
Time: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
What: One Thing That’s Green tree planting and activities!
Forty students from Francis Lewis High School in Flushing Meadows are in need of some money to take their creations to St. Louis next month.
“There is so much problem solving and thinking behind it, really getting that design to actually work is the greatest feeling in the world,” said team member Daniel Krastev.
The team won the Engineering Inspiration Award at the regional competition of the FIRST Robotics Competition at the Javits Center a few weeks ago. It qualified them for a trip to the nationals on April 27th.
“I’m really excited,” said team member Kelvin Chang. “I mean, when I found out about the news, I was like, ‘wow, I can’t believe it.’”
The team has raised about $10,000 for the trip, but still needs another $10,000. The team’s advisors say the kids deserve a chance to compete with the nation’s best and brightest.
