Eudora Welty said, “One place comprehended can make us understand other places better.”
Spend some time in Queens, New York, and you’ll know what she means.
It’s said that Queens holds the Guinness World Record for the most ethnically diverse urban area on the planet; 47% of its population is foreign born. It’s incredibly linguistically diverse — at least 138 languages spoken among its 2.3 million residents.
Language: idioma, јазикот, langwij, 语言, språk, t'aan, भाषा
All those diversity fills an only-in-Queens dinner plate: a potato knish siding a charred kebab served with a limey margarita, salt along the glass’s rim. Then, walk down Queens Boulevard and pick up a Linzer torte for a sweet.
Potato: תַפּוּחַ אַדֲמָה, kartoshka, じゃがいも, pomme de terre, patata, картоф, práta
Salt: masima, sare, kripë, sal, salann, sali, asin
New York City: Staten Island, the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Each borough has a claim or two to fame; each wears its heart on its sleeve. In Queens, that heart is fed by eats from everywhere, low-rise mom and pop restaurants featuring one-off signage, lots of red brick, some trashy streetscapes out front, and lots of sky.
Brick: ladrilyo, cihlový, brik, طوب, цегла, maton, Xiṭ̄h
Many of these small-business owners were born thousands of miles away in places nothing like Queens (not that there’s anything like Queens). When they were ten and making their first tortilla, did they think that someday they’d live in apartment 6L next to a family keeping Kosher in 6M and across from a nonna turning out stuffed shells for Sunday dinner in 6N? And open a diner beside another diner where they also use garlic and salt and noodles, but in wholly different ways? But here they are. Here in Queens, with a small storefront, a lot of bills, too much red tape, and many happy customers.
I like the signage on these stores, adding raucous or refined notes to a noisy, exuberant streetscape. Even the chains aren’t too corporate (or maybe just not too overexposed yet). And the awnings: extra space to advertise wares, or just decorate. Shade for passersby running errands on hot summer days.
Summer: estate, sumar, zomer, kau wela, hon, rupay pacha, 여름
Think about how these signs and awnings came to be: Long before the Grand Opening, the owner, taking a break from ordering a pizza oven or testing a phat kaphrao recipe or lining up the first Pisco delivery, stopped to consider – to learn about! — color and typeface and design. And create the logo. So many logos!
Look at the brickwork, laid long before the first slice was served. The roofline, the small bits of decoration. All intentional, all someone’s idea of a good idea.
Then there’s the glorious summertime Saturday night feast that is the Queens Night Market. Dozens of local chefs sell their goods under tents lined up on a roughly paved parking lot next to the New York Hall of Science in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, site of World’s Fairs in 1939 and 1964.
Market: rinka, ahịa, maakete, pasar, ទីផ្សារ, qatu, trh
In late August and early September, the Night Market gives way to parking facilities for the US Open tennis tournament, across the Grand Central Parkway. The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center comes with its own assortment of (very pricey) international eating opportunities.
Disney had a memorable pavilion in the ’64 Fair. You sat in a car moving along a track, passing animated statues in traditional dress, waving and singing It’s a Small World After All. It sure is.
World: نړۍ, heimur, saoghal, ao, pacha, mondo, ពិភពលោក, svět, दुनिया, mundua, свят, wrâld, honua, 世界, thế giới, दुनिया, monde
Nice! now i'm becoming a New Yorker!