I am Queens Boulevard?

Queens. What a borough!

It had the 1964 World's Fair, it has the Mets, the U.S. Open, both airports, the Hall of Science, it's the most ethnically diverse county in the world [maybe], it's where MOMA relocated during its renovations, it's the largest of the five boroughs [by area], but, most importantly, it's where I grew up. Bayside, to be exact. In fact, while stumbling on-line I found a poem from a fellow Baysider praising Queens:

A Baysider's Ode To Queens by Madeleine Begun Kane

Both a county and a borough,
Part of New York City too.
On Long Island, yet not of it.
I'm confused as hell. Are you?

A diverse United Nations.
Queens folk come from far and wide.
Ethnic food that beats Manhattan.
You won't read that in the guides.

Crime is low and people friendly.
Safer here than in the 'burbs.
Merit Scholars by the bushel,
And the sunsets are superb.

Home to airports rather major,
And the Tennis Open's here.
Then there's theater, art, and baseball,
And our Jazz Trail has no peer.

Though I hail from mid-Long Island,
They will never move me back.
Bayside, Queens, my hometown village,
Off the Apple's beaten track.

Take that Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx! [No one really cares about Staten Island.] After a hiatus in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Hell's Kitchen, I'm back where I belong: Queens. Except instead of Bayside, I'm in Sunnyside. Some people asked me why I moved to Sunnyside and I said, "Well it does sound like a nice place to live." Everyone agreed.

I moved to Sunnyside last weekend. Part of the reason for my move was to save money. Living in Manhattan is expensive. We all know this. I figured that by relocating to an outer borough the cost-savings would be phenomenal. Not just cheaper rent, but cheaper everything. Cheaper drop-off laundry (the laundromat next door to me only charges .50/lb.), cheaper groceries (fresh watermelon for .59/lb.), cheaper cable (not so much, I hate you Time Warner).

The girl I'm dating visited me in Sunnyside the other day and she said, "It's just like Birmingham!" Birmingham, Alabama that is. She was very excited about the comparison. I took it as a compliment. Why can't a part of New York City be reminiscent of a small Southern town? I think that's a good thing. Too often New Yorkers look the other way or keep to themselves, but just walking around Sunnyside you can feel the friendliness of the neighborhood. Maybe it's the trees. Maybe it's the stained glass panels depicting sports scenes at the subway stations. Maybe it's the Sunnyside Arch on 46th Street and Queens Boulevard that makes you think you're in Hollywood or Chinatown. [Caution: waxing poetic] Maybe it's the low buildings that let you feel closer to the sky and the stars, almost like a falcon descendant from the heavens choosing to soar amongst the dwarfish crests and residential cliffs.

Maybe I am Queens Boulevard.

Jared