Storm 2010 - Steeple as Pile of Debris

Storm 2010 - Church No Steeple

Storm 2010 - Street Carnage

Last night I walked home from around 110 Street and Jewel Avenue.  It was a good exercise ... that I didn't really need.  I didn't feel the wrath of the storm until I was a block away from home, the fallen tree was totally uprooted together with power lines were just right in the middle of the street blocking my way.  It was pretty scary to kind of see it in the dark in the rain.  Many sidestreets were still covered with fallen branches and other debris that totally block traffic.  Hopefully the condition will improve sooner than later.

Flushing For The Gastronomic Adventurous

The New York Times, in a ground breaking sort of way, introduces its readers Flushing, Queens as the culinary equivalence of Beijing, except it's right here in the backyard not 4,000 miles away. The feature is chock full of information both in print and in Web multimedia, the way it should be but seldom is. The printable list in pdf, with dish names in original Chinese characters is good especially if you are going to plan your gastronomic expedition. I think I must have tried a few of those eateries it mentioned. One shop I won't forget is Nian Shian Dumpling House. The food was all right, I don't think it was "the best soup dumplings in Flushing" as proclaimed on the list. I just think Joe's Shanghai still has an edge in its crab meat soup dumplings. When it comes to service, one of the women that served us was really bad. She was taking our order sitting on a stool, with the attitude of I couldn't be bothered. When an appetizer was not available she made us seem a bunch of idiots for even ordering that and proceeded to tell us to see the appetizer station ourselves to see what's available and again with an attitude that was reminiscence of some dragon lady. She would not lift a finger if that would make us just a bit more comfortable. Other wait staff from prior visits seemed a bit better. Basically don't expect professional hospitality from the wait staff at all. If you can look past that perhaps you can enjoy the food better. I have much better experience at other places like Happy Beef Noodle House (which is actually more of a Taiwanese food) also mentioned on the list.

The House Behind A Weeping Cherry

"The House Behind A Weeping Cherry," written by Ha Jin, an award winning Chinese immigrant writer, and published by The New Yorker on April 7, is yet another immigrant experience story, set in Flushing, Queens, one of the outer boroughs that has nothing to do with Sex And The City, in fact it's the opposite of Sex And The City, where nothing is glamorous and nobody is self-consciously reflective. The story takes place in a whore house in Flushing and centers on a young man who ultimately falls in love with one of the three prostitutes in the house. In the end, the couple only survives the City by running away from it. It's not one of my favorites, but it does put Flushing in The New Yorker, so it is special, at least to me, a long time Flushing resident.

Kissena Park, Flushing

December 2, 2006.

Pastel Karaoke Is on 158th Street and Northern Boulevard

The New York Times is determined to put and keep Flushing on the map.

The paper first reported on October 9 a young man got killed just outside Pastel Karaoke on 158th Street and Northern Boulevard.

Then today the paper reported the incident again but erroneously said it was 157th Street. Now I live on 158th Street, and I feel like the Times just took the edge off of my street and frankly I am not thrilled. 158th Street earned its street cred by having a murder and the Times can't tell the difference between 7 and 8?

More Flushing news here.

Flushing Brothel shutdown

Flushing made the frontpage of yesterday's New York Times, albeit under the fold. A brothel run by a couple of Koreans at 57-24 164th Street was shutdown by authority. What's interesting is "there were two prices in place, for some unexplained reason: $150 for Chinese patrons, and $200 for Koreans." So it's true, there is discount for Chinese...for sex. [picture copyright of the New York Times, of course]

update:
This probably inspired a story by Chinese American novel writer Ha Jin.