Maspeth, Queens

Like Ridgewood (previous entry), neighboring Maspeth is an immigrant world of Poles and Latinos, both American-born and first generation. But, for all Ridgewood's pleasantness, Maspeth is equally bland and uninviting. The many blocks of non-descript duplexes are also frequently -- and dramatically -- interrupted by desolate industrial boulevards and vast tracts of manufacturing.

Ridgewood, Queens

After quite a hiatus, it is agreed (by myself and I) that the show must go on. I just can't stay away from photographing random buildings any more. And also the bike-riding.

This continuation, though, will be a more pared down version with less text. More photos, less yappin'.

Anyhow, Ridgewood is a surprising little gem just across the Brooklyn border beyond Bushwick. It's a very pleasant and perfectly scaled neighborhood of immigrants from Latin America, Poland and Brazil. Myrtle Avenue, the main commercial drag, is at its best here.

Elmhurst, Queens

Just south of Jackson Heights, wedged between Maspeth, Corona and the Long Island Expressway, is the appealing residential neighborhood of Elmhurst. Like Jackson Heights, it originally dates back to the pre-New York settlement of Newtown. A few early buildings survive but, like its neighbors, it was largely developed during the first half of the 20th century as a semi-suburban middle class district. Unlike Jackson Heights, though, its streets form a wild and far less oppressively right-angled grid; its architecture is more varied and warmer in tone.

Though less commercial -- and not a cultural hub -- Elmhurst is still an immigrant mecca, hosting many East Asians, particularly Chinese; South and Central Americans, especially near Roosevelt Avenue; and a scattering of South Asians and ethnic whites.





Like so many neighborhoods in Queens, there is at least one Irish holdout from previous times. Here it's the Grandstand Pub and Restaurant.



Originally the Reformed Dutch Church of Newtown and Fellowship Hall, these Georgian-era Greek Revival buildings were built, respectively, in 1831 and 1858. Now it's a church complex serving local Asians.

A discreet landmark, St. James Episcopal Church/Parish Hall is a colonial remnant from 1734 later updated with Carpenter Gothic detail. A lonely classic.

A large house converted into not one but several churches: Korean, Indonesian and Hispanic, the last of which (detailed in second photo) is apparently an evangelical Hebraic congregation with a Spanishized Hebrew name not usually associated with Christianity.

Another home converted into a Pentecostal Indonesian church.

At the intersection of Broadway and Grand, this post-war apartment tower dwarfs its surroundings.
Apartments from the 1910s, '20s and '30s are far more typical.

But construction never ends, of course.

Part of what makes the neighorhood feel so pleasant and well-scaled, though, is the abundance of early 20th century Victorians, neo-colonials, clapboard cottages and brick row houses.

These beauties look nothing like any of their neighbors.

This unique development from 1930 is called Mathews Company Row Housing and features simple two-story boxes, forming a sea of yellow and orange brick along the bleak industrial edge near Maspeth.

A much less-inspired complex.