Hello from New York City (5) - A Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens

Brooklyn, New York, Saturday, May 7, 2005, 11:00 amone of the main subway trains (the 7 train) is called
Hello from New York City (5) - A Local Expert Takes"The International Express" because it cuts through all
Us Through Queenssorts of ethnic neighbourhoods.
Yesterday was a pretty interesting day, the weatherA quick jump onto this very subway later, which runs
was cool and overcast, with rain coming in during theon elevated tracks through a good chunk of Queens,
latter part of the afternoon. A few weeks ago I hadso you can actually see the neighbourhood, and we
booked a meeting with one of the Big Apple Greeters,arrived in Jackson Heights, an area with a lot of Latin
an organization of local NYC volunteers that takesAmerican immigrants and further west we saw lots of
out-of-town visitors around the city and shows themSouth Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) stores.
local sights and shares local information. The service isFor a Torontonian seeing all these ethnic stores is not
a great way to link up with a local New Yorker, andall that unusual, since we have a lot of that in Toronto
best of all, it's free of charge.too, but I am sure these ethnic neighbourhoods must
We were supposed to meet Suzanne, our greeter, atbe quite unusual and unique for people who come
11:00 am at the 71st Street subway station, but we gotfrom smaller less international places.
a late start after breakfast and there were someWe then took the 47 and 19 Queens bus to a
delays on the subway system, so we didn't meetneighbourhood called Astoria, where a lot of Greek
Suzanne until 11:50 am. Suzanne is a former highschoolimmigrants congregate. We ended up having dinner in
teacher, in her sixties, and a very friendly and outgoinga little quaint and cosy Greek restaurant called Zygos
individual. We felt bad about being late, but she said itRestaurant ("zygos" means "libra" or "balance") where
wasn't a problem at all. She was extremely graciouswe continued our nice conversation with Suzanne, our
and helpful throughout our entire time with her.local expert. Suzanne has been a greeter for the last
Suzanne started the tour by taking us through a very12 years and has studied all areas of New York City.
upscale Queens neighbourhood called Forest HillShe said she travels, by herself, into all areas of NYC,
Gardens, which is a neighbourhood with private streetsincluding Harlem and the Bronx, and she loves exploring
where local residents pay higher than normal taxes forand sharing the city that she loves with people from all
additional services, such as more frequent garbageover the world.
pickup etc. Suzanne indicated that these homes goWhen we left at about a quarter to 7 pm, Suzanne
from anywhere from US$ 1 million and up. Everythinghad spent more than 7 hours with us and we had
was blooming and many local handymen, gardners andreally gotten to know each other quite well on a
maids were on the road. We also had a chance topersonal level. We also we ended up exchanging email
visit the old US Open Tennis Center which is located inaddresses and we extended mutual invitations to stay
an amphitheatre right next to the Forest Hill Countryin touch and I said I'd love to take her around
Club.whenever she comes to the Toronto area.
On from there we took a bus to the FlushingThe Greeter experience has been excellent, our
neighbourhood, an area with lots of Chinese andpersonal local expert really loves her city and she
Korean stores, where Suzanne treated us to sameloves interacting with visitors and we definitely enjoyed
savory Chinese dumplings. All the time she explainedher enthusiasm. I am sure we have a new friend to call
to us the multicultural character of Queens, and thatup next time we come to New York City.