They Paved Paradise and Put Up a...CVS?

Paul, who loves to photograph anything rusty, crusty, or delapadated asked me to join him on a jaunt down to the former home of Blooms and the Butcher Block, currently known as cinder-block-monstrosity on Queens Boulevard so that he could photograph the enormous crane that has been brought in for the construction project.

When we arrived we found out that the crane was gone, but a smaller one was lifting giant buckets of concrete skyward to be applied to the upper layers of this bomb shelter in the sky. What had been for months a giant, deep, open pit in the earth that had apparently disrupted the structural integrity of the neighboring buildings was now looking like a remote wing of Riker's Island.

People were standing on all corners looking the concrete going up. The common sentiment was "what the hell is going in there?" And like a sign from the gods, or ummm corporate America, I looked over to see "Coming Soon, CVS."

CVS? CVS? We have Rite Aid, Duane Read, Eckerd, Sunnyside Pharmacy, 99 cent stores, and the infamous South Pole. What kind of city planning gap analysis did the CVS scouters come up with to determine that what would best fill the open wound left in the ashes of Blooms would be another chain drug store! And why the heck do they need such a big building to do it? Have they not seen the enormous T mobile near the other burned on site on Queens Blvd and 46th street? The store is pristine and enormous and completely EMPTY.

So to whomever is constructing that large gray slab of building on the south side of the boulevard, I would've forgiven you for its anti-Sunnyside structure had it been filled with an ethnic or mom and pop shop operation, but for a CVS to be moving in seems like discount shoppers stomping on the grave of Blooms.

Sunnyside Gardens Gets Gentrified The Old Fashioned Way

By getting 'Landmark' status...
Oh, brother

One of Our Own Takes the First Shot

When William Grimes was reviewing restaurants for the New York Times, he would conceal his identity when making a reservation by using the name, 'Ron DeFeo'. In case you didn't know, this is the name of the original Amityville murderer, upon whose story the book and subsequent movies were based. Ron woke up one night and murdered his entire family.

Now, in an act of murderous irony, Queen's own William Grimes is hastening the death of our dear borough, while, irony of ironies, lamenting it's loss.

Read it here , if you must.

New York Style Eats and Their Queens Style Drivers

I'm ready! Whose got my back? These sum bitches, driving around, knocking people to the friggin curb, swerving, nearly missing folk. ME. And my dear, dear, car, The USS Ellen Johnson. She is not subject to vanity or pain. But, I am motherfucker.

I occasionally take a walk around the nabe. Today was something. Ran into some new Asian joint on Skillman. Something called 'Quaint' as well. Things are changing.
Anyway, I ended up passing down the loud, brown block of the deadliest Blvd of them all, when I was nearly crushed by a delivery vehicle for this dump - New York Style Eats. I yelled and immediately reached for the cellular and dialed up '411 and more', connected and started my rant about the delivery boys.

I don't know what I was expecting. Motherfucker wasn't it. Kick your ass wasn't it. So, I turned around - I was already in line at On The Run picking out my numbers. It is my day off, you know... 3, 34, 44, 50, 54. Damn. He, whomever he was, had called me out. So, I walked out and strutted back down to see this heavily-accented man in person.

I walked in and holding my phone up, signaling that I was the caller, said, 'who is the one that wants to kick my motherfucking ass?' Guy at the counter thought it was funny. Finally, the bossman identified himself - 'You no call here. You go." I responded as I did before, 'Drive your vehicles slower or I will kick your ass.'

I don't have kids. But, I like them enough. I once pulled a kid out of a sure hit on the deadly spot on The Blvd and 46th. He nearly started to cry cuz I yelled at him to be more careful. I forget how easily even tough kids can get scared.

One of these days, one of these drivers is going to nail one of these kids. It'll be because the kids try to break against the traffic and the guy in the gray minivan delivering for New York Style Eats didn't get his ass kicked by me, as he was out with his BLTs and short stacks when I came in.

The old man at the counter was all bother. I wonder if my challenge will lead to any change. I hope so. It's been years since I got in a fight with a food service provider. But, in this case, sober, but still angry, I could say I'm doing it for the children.

If you see those bastards driving like assholes around Sunnyside, let us know here at Queensrocks. We'll take care of that shit, tout suite.

NEW YORK STYLE EATs
45-02 QUEENS BOULEVARD, QUEENS 11104
718-937-4121

Current violation points: 26 (2 points shy of failure).

Donuts or Bust - Nita's European Bakery.

Sunday mornings can be awesome. I don't think I really new how to appreciate a Sunday morning until I moved to New York. My old home town didn't have a brunch culture (also known as 'The Fisting'), didn't know how to spell New York Times, and revolved almost entirely around football and therefore booze.

But when J. from down the block told me about creme-filled donuts at The European Bakery on Greenpoint Ave., I knew Sunday's in Queens were about to get a lot better.

But, I'm having one of those weeks. Okay, ten day stretches. Hmm. Anyway, after dealing with some bidness over by the river this morning at 630 or so, I found myself outside this joint by 8. Earlier in the week I had gone in to scope out the place and bought what turned out to be damn fine - if small - muffins and a groovy little thing called a coffee ring. But, I was ready to dig on a donut. I NEEDED a donut.

Do you know who the Soup Nazi is? I used to work around the corner from Soup Kitchen International. It was good soup, made famous (better??) by being immortalized on an episode of Seinfeld. It wasn't too far from true. And, talk about a real - at least before the immortalization - New York Experience. There really is nothing like the desire for good food coupled with the trials to get it that will make New York eating, New York Eating.

Anyway, I ordered the donuts. I got, 'No donuts, today.' 'But, it's Sunday,' I countered. 'No donuts,' was all the response I could get.

So, if I'm up for it, and if God's willing, some time soon I'll be telling you about a creme-filled donut and a real New York experience. But for now, I'm just going to wolf down this crispy-on-the-outside-chewy-on-the-inside cinnamon roll and listen to Kristen Shaughnessy talk about the morning papers while I read the NYTimes online.
I love her. I love the Times. And, though I long for a donut, I love these cinnamon rolls.

NOTE: Nita's received a respectable 13 on it's last inspection.

Malagueta vs. Manhattan

I'm not much of one to rabble-rouse, but all the Manhattan-centric
ideals that permeate New York living get a bit old. I understand their origin. I moved to New York City and that's where I intended to make
it. Then, I moved to Queens and I said, nope, this is where I'm going
to make it. I fit here. (I'm on a bit of free-floating diatribe,
forgive me. I gave up booze seven months ago after an incident at The Courtyard on Queens Blvd. - and I took the
treatment option. I know when to say when. Anyway. After the booze, I'm now strictly on
the Ambien. It's pretty harmless, some late night domain name
purchases, overbidding on ebay on occasion, nudity (mine). But, when I
post on the stuff, it gets difficult to maintain my focus and grammar.)

Anyway, Claire and I went to a Brazilian restaurant for our New Year's
Eve celebration in the Queens. While we were away for Christmas in
Montreal, we bought a subscription- full-on - from zagat.com. So, I
used that to find a restaurant. It suggested 'Malagueta'. It said
things like
A "refreshing surprise" in Astoria, a "well-rounded" lineup of
"excellent", "authentic" Brazilian dishes etc.

Now, here's what happened with that posting and how it got so far away
from the truth. People from Manhattan made the trip out to Astoria,
found a 'cute' restaurant run by amenable folk from the home country
and they thought it was just the greatest thing. They could run back
to Manhattan and tell their friends, pals and colleagues all about it.
"It was an adventure", "some of them know how to really cook", and so
on. Until more of them come. And they write the reviews, send them to
zagat. Tim, Nina and some other putz ex-copywriter do what they can
with it.

Here's the truth about the place - Malagueta is nice. The people who run
the place couldn't be nicer - for Brazilians- and if you know what I
mean great. If you don't, it's not an insult. Brazilians don't make a
big deal out of serving people. It's a job, it's done and it's done
well. They bring the stuff, tell you what it is and that's that.

Manhattanites come over, eat here, think it's quaint and that's what
ends up in Zagat.

We're from Queens. We ate there, we know there's better food to be had
and that's it. The sausage with yuca fries was tepid and over-cooked.
The fish Claire had was drowning in sauce and cheese and salt. My pork
loin didn't have enough sauce to bring it back to life from it's
terrible death in a hot searing pan. We're from Queens, we know
there's five other restaurants doing a better job within three blocks.

It's not the death of Malagueta. If they read this, they'll
understand, they'll fix it. We'll go back next year, we'll eat,
that'll be that.

Send us a list of your favorite restaurants in Western Queens. Don't
say Donovan's. Donovan's is the best restaurant on the planet. I hear
there's a bakery on Greenpoint that has special doughnuts on
Sundays...it's not in Zagats, but it'll be up here soon, I hope.

The Y Responds

Dear Annie
Thank you for your concerns and questions that you have expressed to us. I am consulting some of my other staff in regards to theses issues and I will be in touch with you by the end of this Week. Thanks for your patience

Stay tuned!

Finally! I Write a Letter to the Y

"I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!"

Dear Linda:

I was given your card by the front desk as the right person to whom to direct a complaint.

I have been a member of the LIC YMCA for about 2 years now. I am a runner, and I love that the YMCA has an indoor track so that I can train in the winter without risking the weather. It also gives me a safe place to run year round, as there are no safe places to run outside in the Sunnyside area because of all of the trucks and fast drivers.

I prefer the track to the treadmill because I train for races (including the NYC Marathon), and it is important for training to be able to adjust your speed as needed, instead of having to punch a button up and down as on a treadmill.

I am writing because on a number of occasions I have found the indoor track to be a very unsafe place because of the inconsiderate/oblivious nature of some patrons of the YMCA. Although the rules say to stay single file unless passing, and to only go in one direction, many people simply ignore these rules and do as they please on the track.

For those of us who are running, this makes the experience potentially very dangerous. Here is a list of the dangerous actions I routinely observe on the YMCA indoor track:

- Groups of teenagers walking slowly 2 or even 3 across, paying no attention to runners coming up behind them
- Unattended children during family time on Saturdays and Sundays
- Teenagers and adults who stop suddenly without looking behind them to see if anyone might run into them
- Groups of teenagers hanging out on the backside of the track where the windows to the pool are. This is especially dangerous because the corner near the punching bag is a blind corner.
- Teenagers and adults who walk the wrong direction and ignore requests to walk in the right direction

I visit the Y 3 or 4 times a week to use the track, and observe this behavior almost every time. It's especially troublesome in the busy after-work hours, which is the only time that a lot of us can come work out.

I love that the YMCA is a place where teenagers can come and be in a safe place, and I also love that it is a family-friendly environment. However, I would appreciate it if the rules of the track were strictly enforced so that we can all be safe and enjoy our workouts.

The staff upstairs is kind and well-intentioned, but I have never seen anyone actively monitoring the track. Those of us who come to the Y to train and improve our fitness should NOT have to interrupt our workouts because of rude patrons and an inattentive staff. I am growing tired of having my time at the Y characterized by feelings of frustration, annoyance, and even anger.

On a side note, there is one other small thing that really only applies to runners. The track is set up so that the directions change every other day. However, most runners train every other day, meaning that if I come Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I am running the same direction all three days. On a very small track, this can lead to injury. It would make so much more sense and be much safer for runners if the track went one direction Sun-Wed, and the other direction Thurs-Sat. That way, somebody coming on alternate days will get the benefits of the alternate direction.

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your response.

Nominate Us for a 2007 Bloggie...Please

If you are reading this between now and 10 PM Thursday, January 11th and you like what you are reading or just want to give props to Queens, please nominate us for a 2007 Bloggie. http://2007.bloggies.com/

Thanks!

The Aubergine Cafe

In the no-mans land smushed between Sunnyside and Woodside on 50th street and Skillman Avenue resides a gem of a cafe that has Paul and I going back again and again. The Aubergine cafe, which I believe is Irish owned and operated, features fresh coffee drinks, sandwiches, quiche, paninis, pastries, and salads.

Exposed brick lines one wall which also features newspapers and magazines that make ones' dentist office look under stocked. The small space is big on personality and flavorful food. A favorite of mine is the roasted red pepper, mozzarella, basil and olive tapanade sandwich and side salad. The quiche of the day are also delectable.

The only flaw we found in our latest trip, which is no fault of the establishment's, is the Park Slope nature of the clientele. On our latest Sunday afternoon jaunt we found the place to be filled with parents who couldn't care less that their toddling children were running around, screeching at the top of their lungs and at one point even banging on the glass of the pastry case. While we're all for family friendly dining, I wish that parents of rude children would realize that not everyone wants to be friends with their family!

So take a stroll to the outer limits of Sunnyside and partake of what the Aubergine has to offer, but if your kid is not well behaved, do us all a favor and get your coffee and sandwich to go!

(Photo credit: Paul Grove)

New Years Resolution Playing Out at the Y

Lynn and I live on different sides of the tracks, so we work out at different places. I'm inclined to pay her spot a visit, if only for the entertainment factor.

Me, I rock it down at the Y on Queens Boulevard and 32nd Street, in the shadow of the 7 train at the spot where it makes that near-hairpin turn that makes rush hour so much fun. I posted a year ago about the insanity that prevails on the track at the Y, and for awhile, things seemed to be getting worse. They instituted "family time" where children of all ages could be on the track as long as they were accompanied by an adult. The Y has a very loose definition of "accompanied"--I think that multiple zip codes can be involved. Things got really, really bad, and I lost my temper a few times. I know! Can you believe it? Sweet li'l me? It was chaos.

But then, cooler heads prevailed, and now children under 12 are banned from the exercise area completely! Now, the track is a much safer place. Because it's the beginning of January, it's crowded with new members who are trying that walking thing, but I can train those people. I have a "Please stay to the side" or "Comin' through" that seems to do the trick.

Of course, there's a guy who I've seen on the track 3 times now who only walks in the wrong direction, and when you say, "Wrong way!" he just looks puzzled. And there was the lady in the locker room who climbed up onto the bench to change into her bathing suit. Right next to me. I don't need to be eye level with, um, you.

But I'm cool with it all, now that the children are safe from being killed on the track. I might even smile at the desk people next time I walk inside.