Woodside, Queens

Woodside is yet another semi-urban residential neighborhood of often bland architecture and uncanny ethnic diversity. Here, a once-dominant Irish community now shares the streets with a visible network of Asian and Hispanic immigrants, especially Koreans, Filipinos and Mexicans.

This small, land-locked neighborhood (surrounded by Astoria, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Sunnyside and Maspeth) features notably poor city planning: a chaotic street grid, several soulless monster boulevards cutting up quiet residential roads and no connecting north-south thoroughfares. Northern Boulevard's auto-row is a waste, Roosevelt and Broadway both run entirely under El tracks and Queens Boulevard -- a much overrated Boulevard -- alienates pedestrian scale at every corner. Neverthless, Roosevelt Avenue (pictured below) is an appealing commercial street and features the ethnic energy that gives Woodside some real vitality.

This fishing store advertises in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Polish.

Irish institutions are still very much in evidence, though less numerous. And, for the record, I did sample Donovan's (shown below under the El girders) famous burgers and was impressed: $7 for a juicy, no-frills cheeseburger.

Because of the bizarre street grid, Woodside has more narrow corner buildings than I've ever seen in any one neighborhood. Some are classic.

Churches, as always, are another good indication of the ethnic stew.

Housing falls largely under the category of ubiquitous Queens half-urban row house. Major apartment buildings are rare (these first two are on Queens Boulevard).

Most residences can be found in occasionally inspired rows of low and mid-density houses.

Astoria, Queens Pt. II

North of Astoria Boulevard is the second half of greater Astoria, sometimes called Ditmars and Steinway. This part is both more residential and more industrial than the southern half of Astoria and it's decidedly hemmed in by powerful psychological and physical barriers: the East River to the west and north, an enormous Con Edison facility and the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant on the industrial northern edge, and La Guardia Airport to the east.

The neighborhood itself is intact, though, and, like the rest of Astoria, it's a largely middle class district of immigrants and second-generation Americans. Greeks and many Arabs share the space with smatterings of everyone else.

Elevated rail and subway tracks run throughout:

Typical churches:

Though the local architecture is fairly new -- from the 1920s onward -- there is considerable evidence of the neighborhood's past. Piano manufacturer William Steinway based his operations there in the 1870s (hence the name of the street and district), and much of the early development followed the piano-making industry. You can still find piano workers' houses of that era, around 20th Avenue and 41st Street (Steinway's own mansion on the northern end of 41st Street is still there, too, but it didn't lend itself to successful photography):

To go even further back, a rare Dutch-style farmhouse from the 1720s survives on 19th Road, hiding amidst foliage and mid-20th century houses.

Other historical houses also remain:

And many not-so-historical houses:

And some new Monster homes:

The main commercial drags are Ditmars, Steinway and 31st Avenue. Ditmars, on the west side, can be especially dynamic and good for people-watching.

A few early 20th century apartment buildings:

One of the best drinking establishments in all of New York, if you ask a lot of people (this one included), is the Czech-run Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden on 24th Avenue.

And, the neighborhood's final, unseen barrier, if you follow Hazen Street north toward the water, is Riker's Island. Not only is access restricted to the bridge and island but, apparently, you can't even look at the island. After passing the sign below, I put my camera away so I could take a peek through a chain-linked fence in the parking lot. Though I crossed no barriers and took no pictures, I was set upon by the police and threatened with a visit to the station.