The Borough I am From: Queens

   When I read that our first class was going to be Queens, I figured most of the places that we were going to visit, I would have already been too or have heard about.  I was wrong about that.
The borough of Queens, the largest in the city, covers 112.2 square miles and is bounded by Brooklyn on the West, the East River on the North, the Atlantic Ocean on the South, and Nassau County on the East.
   We started out by taking the 7 train from Penn Station to Flushing Meadow Park.  I don't live too far from Flushing Meadow Park but I have only been there a few times, and never really noticed how great of a park it is.  For one, the parks history. I would hear stories from my grandparents how they took there kids, my uncle and aunts to the World's Fair at Flushing Meadow Park and how now I'm standing here.  It's great that the park did not turn back into a dump after the World's Fair.  The park is clean and the fields throughout the park which are filled with people jogging, playing soccer, and baseball are very green, which like most parks throughout New York are not maintained properly.

The first major symbol that we saw and learned about was the Unisphere, which stands at the heart of Flushing Meadow Park.  I have seen the Unisphere many times from the two parkways that surround the Park, the Grand Central Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway.  The few times that I have actually stood in front of it, I have never seen it with the water on, which makes it even more of a sight to see.

 The next stop at the park was the Queens Museum, which like the instructor at the Museum said, most people would think what is that building, myself included.  I was amazed when I saw the Panorama of New York City, to think how long and how much precision went into building it.  When you look at it you can't help but to point out all of the places around New York you have been while looking at the Panorama. I actually was able to see the block I live on In Queens as if I was looking out of an airplane window.

After Flushing Meadow Park, we headed towards Jackson Heights to get some lunch at an Indian Restaurant.  I had actually had Indian food for the first time a couple of weeks before the class started, so I knew what some of the food tasted like and which ones to choose from the buffet.
The one thing I was anticipating throughout the day was going to the Queens Museum of the moving Image.  I am a big movie fan and could not wait to see some of the stuff in person that I have seen on the big screen and on television.  Seeing the muppets brought back memories from my childhood.  The first thing that caught my eye was the girl from the exorcist and the props from A nightmare on Elm Street and of course Yoda from Star Wars.

   I played with the sound editing, where I got to put my own track list in the background of some famous scenes, like the invasion of the aliens in Independence Day and the Opening scene from Twister.

One part of Queens that have driven through but never really walked or explored is Long Island City, which is a large industrial neighborhood.  In recent years it has become the center for contemporary art and sculpture.  We stopped at the MoMA P.S. 1, which is a contemporary Art and Sculpture Center.  Since 2001, P.S. 1  has enjoyed a collaborative partnership with MoMA.  The center does not have a permanent collection, but there are several long term installations, including James Turrell's Meeting, a ''Skyspace in an upper room with shapes cut out of the ceiling to open it to the sky, as the sun sets, the choreographed light within the room changes quickly and dramatically.
Next we stopped at the 5 Pointz, where artists come to express themselves though the art of Graffiti.  There are great works of art up on the walls, but like at the MoMA P.S. 1 the art is not permanent, others will come and do there work over it.

 We finished the day at Gantry Plaza State Park, walking along the boardwalk with a great view of New York City and the Queensboro Bridge (59th Street Bridge).

 In one day alone I saw great architectures and beautiful pieces of art, that not many people get too see or experience in there lives.  It was a great day filled with so much too see, I learned a lot of things that I didn't know existed in the Borough of Queens.