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Queens attractions
Queens attractions
Queens is quite diverse in density and character. While western Queens (closer to Manhattan) is urban, much of eastern Queens is relatively suburban. As in every borough, the closer you get to Manhattan, the more rare it is to find a stand-alone house. The more urban clusters are in the northwest: Astoria and Long Island City (LIC). LIC also contains Queens' most prominent skyscrapers, including the "other" Citibank building, located directly across the East River from the more prominent angled-roof skyscraper in Manhattan. Rising 50 stories, the building, the result of Citibank's attempt to create a new business district in LIC, is the tallest building in New York State located outside of Manhattan.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, ☎ +1 718 784-2084, . Th-M noon-6pm. Supported by the Museum of Modern Art, this innovative (and cheap) contemporary art museum is in a former public school building. The conversion left most of the original features of the school - the large ex-classrooms are perfect for installations - and the bathrooms are a blast from the past. P.S.1 is a few blocks south on Jackson Avenue from the Citibank tower; the entrance is a concrete slab (how fitting) which occludes view of the school itself. P.S.1 also has a nice cafe and outdoor seats where every able-bodied New Yorker can enjoy a smoke. �
Steinway & Sons Pianos, 1 Steinway Place, Long Island City, ☎ +1 718 721-2600, . They offer free guided tours during fall and spring to see the skilled craftsmen at work. Phone ahead, a month in advance is recommended, to reserve a place on these popular tours, and to check the days and times. Otherwise take the online factory tour on their website. �
A number of museums are located in Long Island City, including the Isamu Noguchi Sculpture Museum in Noguchi's former sculpture studio, the Museum of African Art, Sculpture Center , and the Museum of the Moving Image which includes interactive exhibits on the history of video games. The area also includes two free places to view art, Socrates Sculpture Park which overlooks the East River (next to Price Costco on Vernon Blvd.), and the Fisher Landau Center showing a private collection of contemporary art.
(A general tip on NYC Museums: if you work for a large company such as IBM, GE, or Citigroup, check to see if your company is a member --this goes for all museums in NYC; different museums have different sponsors of course.)
Across the street (Jackson Avenue) from PS.1 is a fascinating site as well: 5 Points which is one of the few "legal graffiti zones" in New York City. Visit the website for an advance taste. The entire building is decorated (including the inside if you can, ahem, find a way in). 5 Ptz is underground New York at its finest, although artists must apply for permits from a shadowy figure with e-mail addresses posted on-site (which perhaps ensures the high standards for the spray painted art). Few taggers have defaced the site with their idiotic scrawls; rather, the art is better, fresher, and more colorful than many PS.1 exhibits. Be sure to walk around the entire length of the building. Just under the 7 train, which runs overhead on 5 Ptz's north face, you'll find a large enclosure for truck loading, which features some of the best artwork of all. A fire escape runs up to the roof, and of course, every space within arms' reach is decorated as well. If you're into this stuff, you'll want to bring a camera.
In Flushing Meadows Corona Park (also on the 7 line; exit at Shea Stadium), the Queens Museum offers visual art, cultural events, Worlds' Fair Memorabilia, and a sprawling scaled-down Panorama of the entire city. It's incredibly accurate, except they've yet to remove the World Trade Center.
Just off Northern Blvd in the area between Astoria and L.I.C, at 35th Avenue and 36th street, you'll find the Museum of the Moving Image , which showcases movies and the televisual arts, including video games, with revolving exhibitions. Kaufman-Astoria Studios (home of the Sesame Street, among others) stands next door; there's also a gigantic movie theater, and a nice new 24 hour diner/bar (which serves pitchers of beer) known as Cup. Take the R/V/G or the N/W line.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Queens
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Queens - updated May 2024
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Queens Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.