Places to Visit in Queens
Queens, once the sleepy bedroom community of Manhattan, is awakening with new vitality. With creative types and an energetic immigrant community, the borough is changing. It has become a growing art center and a destination for great ethnic food, so you can have an unusual day touring its one-of-a-kind sights.
Hall of Science
47-01 111th Street Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
111th Street station (7 train)
718-699-0005
Part of the 1964 World's Fair, this museum has recently undergone an expansion and renovation. An interactive hands-on museum, the Hall of Science features more than 400 exhibits for youngsters and parents to explore, play with, and learn from, including a high-powered telescope. Microbiology, quantum physics, geology, audio technology, and other subjects are covered in a fun way.
A 30,000-square-foot outdoor science playground adjacent to the museum features an oversized seesaw, a light-activated kinetic sculpture, and other activities to climb in, climb on, run through, and explore. Designed to show the principles of physics while providing a good time, the playground/science park is open for children six and over. There is a $3 per-person charge above the admission.
The museum has a gift shop with a wide range of science-related items, from inexpensive gadgets to microscopes and telescopes. A newly refurbished café is run by Dream Street.
Location, Hours, and FeesThe Hall of Science is located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Parking is available in the Hall's private lot for a $10 fee on weekends, holidays, and weekdays in the summer.
September to May: open Tuesday to Thursday 9:30
Admission is $11 for adults and $8 for seniors (sixty-two and older) and children (two to seventeen). There is free admission from Memorial Day to Labor Day on Fridays from 2
If you make a day of art in Queens, you might want to try some of the restaurants along the way. There's a good Greek restaurant, S'Agapo Taverna, at 34–31 Thirty-fourth Avenue; a lovely restaurant with a view, the Water's Edge, at 44 Drive and the East River; and what has been called the perfect diner, Court House Square, at 45–30 Twenty-third Street, Long Island City.
Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue (at 36th Street)
Steinway Avenue station (G, R, or V train)
718-784-0077
718-784-4520 (Administrative Office)
Although you can't tour the studios, you can get a great glimpse at movie-making history at the Museum of the Moving Image. Queens was the center of the New York film industry in the early days, and the museum's location just over the bridge from Manhattan in close proximity to Silvercup Studios (home to
The original 50,000-square-foot museum, opened in 1988, is housed in part of the historic old studio built by Paramount in 1920. A massive renovation and expansion will nearly double the museum's size and triple the exhibition area. The museum will remain open and functioning during the work, which is scheduled to be completed in 2009.
The latest in electronic technology will provide visitors with a mind-blowing experience as new and historic works are brought to life. Three floors of exhibit space feature attractions such as Behind the Screen, a look at the history of the cinema, complete with movie memorabilia. A digital play computer space exhibit of classic video arcade games and new home-computer games brings the museum into the twenty-first century.
The museum features fourteen interactive exhibits. Visitors learn sound and music editing, and they can make their own animated cartoon or a video flip book. You can even dub your own voice over a movie scene. The charming, whimsical Tut's Fever Movie Palace is a minitheater built like the movie palaces of the 1930s, showing classic images and serials like
The museum store sells movie books, toys, posters, jewelry, postcards, and other objects with movie and television themes. There is also a café for light dining and snacks. Because these are located in the work area, operation may be affected. More of an actual hands-on experience for the family than its video library counterpart, the Radio and Television Museum in Manhattan, Moving Image is off the beaten path but worth the short ride. If you plan a visit to this wonderful museum, make sure to call first and check on programs, exhibits, and hours, which may or may not be affected by the renovation work.
Location, Hours, and FeesThe Museum of the Moving Image is located one mile from the Queensboro Bridge. You can take the subway or drive and park without much trouble on the weekend.
Moving Image's hours are a complicated affair and may change during the renovation, so go to the Web site or call ahead. Closed Monday and Tuesday, open all other days at 11
Queens Museum of Art
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
Willets Point-Shea Stadium or 111th Street stations (7 train)
718-592-9700
This distinctive museum features the history of the two major World's Fairs held in Flushing Meadows Park, complete with memorabilia. Once a garbage dump, the park was transformed into the fairgrounds to host the 1939 and later the 1964 World's Fairs. The 1939 building was known as the New York City exhibit in the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs and housed the General Assembly of the new United Nations from 1946 to 1950. The unmistakable Unisphere was the 1964 fair's symbol and is the largest globe in the world.
A stunning 9,000-square-foot miniature replica of New York City represents all five boroughs block by block, house by house, with changes made from time to time as new buildings replace older ones. The scale is one inch per 100 feet, and the detail is awesome. Much safer than a helicopter ride over the city, you could stand and look at the buildings, the bridges, and the neighborhoods for hours.
Also in the museum you'll find an extensive Tiffany lamp exhibition, special events, changing exhibits, weekend tours (with Spanish tours on Sundays), and an exhibit about the building itself. There is also an adjoining ice-skating rink if you want to take a spin on the ice during the winter months.
There are free drop-in family workshops every Sunday for children five and up and their adult companions. There is also an open art studio for kids with special needs. In addition, the museum's ArtZone is a family-friendly, interactive art space with changing programs.
Note: An extensive renovation and expansion to double the museum's size is planned to begin sometime in 2008. If you plan to visit, call ahead for information.
A gift shop sells World's Fair mementos. There is no dining facility, but the Web site lists many interesting restaurants around the two subway stops that service the museum.
Hours and FeesThe Queens Museum of Art is open Wednesday through Friday from 10
Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum
9-01 33rd Road (at Vernon Boulevard), Long Island City
Broadway station (N or W train)
718-204-7088
This beautiful garden museum is dedicated to the life and work of talented Japanese-American artist, architect, and sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904–1988). The site is the home of a former engraving plant purchased in 1975 by the artist as a place to display his work. More than 250 of his works in wood, clay, stone, and metal, as well as models, furniture, stage sets, and much more can be seen throughout the thirteen galleries and in the open air garden. Noguchi designed one of the most popular coffee tables in America — a smoked teardrop over a curved black wood base, which is available in the store, along with a wide variety of furniture, tableware, lamps, clocks, books, prints, and sculpture tools and supplies.
Hours and FeesThe Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum is open Wednesday to Friday from 10
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Avenue (at 46th Street), Long Island City
45 Road-Courthouse Square station (7 train)
718-784-2084
P.S. 1 was one of the first contemporary art exhibition spaces outside Manhattan to draw the mainstream art world off the island. Once an abandoned 100-year-old school building, it is now a partner with the Museum of Modern Art. P.S. 1 exhibitions often feature local and emerging artists.
Hours and FeesThe center is open Thursday through Monday, noon to 6
