Fresh out of ideas for fun stuff? Here are some pastimes you may have passed up.
Yellow Cab And The Deep Blue Sea
The New York Water Taxi provides great trips around the city’s waterways. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
How about a little sea spray to cool your weathered features? New York Water Taxi offers great tours of the New York harbor and the Statue of Liberty, departing daily from the South Street Seaport.
The company’s vessels go to places that other harbor tours just can’t reach, offering beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline. Able to carry 74 passengers, the boats are environment friendly with a low-wake hull designed specifically to minimize impact on aquatic life and recreational boaters.
New York Water Taxi has lots of different sightseeing adventures. Be sure to check out the Gateway to America tour, which motors passengers past Ellis Island, the Brooklyn and Verrazano Bridges, Fort Wadsworth, and Castle Clinton. Riders will also learn about the military forts that defended the city in the American Revolution and the War of 1812.
Other tours worth checking out are the Working Waterfront Tour, focusing on historical industry spots along the East River shoreline, and the NYC Audubon Harbor Herons Tour, which shows off the local big-winged birds around the harbor.
In 2003, the Port Authority announced the selection of the New York Water Taxi as the new operator of ferry service between the Queens West development at Hunters Point to Pier 11 in Manhattan. (JF)
The New York Water Taxi departs daily from 54th St. and the East River. Tickets range from $17 to $25, depending on the tour. The Gateway To America Tour departs daily, while the other two run on the weekend. To reserve a spot, call New York Water Taxi at (212) 742-1969 ext. 201
Summertime Boos
You can see where the General Slocum crashed from Queens. |
Who says there has to be a chill in the air to feel a chill in your bones? Wait for a warm moonlit night, grab your sweetheart, and take a walk along the unsettling shores of the East River. So the rumors go, they’re not only filled with history-they’re filled with hauntings.
Most famous of the gruesome gossip concerns the ill-fated voyage of the steamboat General Slocum, which caught fire in the waters near Hell Gate in 1921. Over a thousand passengers were killed in the blaze before the ship struck ground on the beach at North Brother Island, between the Bronx and Queens.
Other aquatic apparitions have been alleged near Pot Rock, the same spot into which the British privateer frigate the H.M.S. Hussar smashed in 1780. Tales have been told that the 70 prisoners of war and slaves who drowned still hang around Pot Rock-and the $15 million worth of gold lost to the water, which was never officially recovered. (Attention, treasure seekers: it would be worth more than 1.5 billion today.)
The oldest tale within the chronicles of creepiness has its origin at the corner of Newtown Rd. and 41st St. It was there in 1708 that William Hallet III, his wife, and their two children were murdered by two of their slaves, a husband and wife who were consequently hanged and burned at the stake, respectively, for the crime. (It was the first reported capital crime in Queens.) So it’s claimed, the spectral family still walks the street. (JP)
Free Tai Chi Season
Queens Library offers Tai Chi at various loctions. |
Sure, there are plenty of places around Queens to relax and recharge in a quiet place this summer, but the free Tai-Chi classes offered at Queens Library branches may be the best deal around. Plus, you’ll get some exclusive attention from the teacher.
Tai Chi’s roots are a subject of considerable debate, but it probably developed in China sometime in the early 15th Century. The practice incorporates the notion of the yin and yang from Taoism, which is basically the idea that we’re at optimal health when we balance the energies within our bodies. Kind of like a moving yoga, many of the movements in Tai Chi are derived from the martial arts, but are performed slower and more gently.
In Chinese philosophy, “chi” is the force that permeates all things, including the human body. Tai Chi aims to help the circulation of the “chi” and in so doing improve a person’s health. Benefits of Tai Chi range from increased flexibility to an improved immune system and better digestion. (ML)
For more information, log on to www.queenslibrary.org and click on Events Calendar.
Set Up On The Stoop
A lack of a backyard shouldn’t stop you from grilling. |
So the summer has come and you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of people in Queens who lacks a back yard to set up your barbecue grill. You probably think that means that if you want good barbecue you need to head off to a restaurant.
Ha! You’re just not being creative.
Apartment buildings provide many locations for a person to grill though they make the space for an outdoor grilling party.
First of all, don’t barbecue indoors. ‘Nuff said.
Barring that one rule, you can pick up a portable grill at any Home Depot, including a gas one for just $22 or a charcoal grill for $29. The same size you would use for tailgating can be used on the stoop of your building, on the roof, or in an open common area (very prominent in Jackson Heights’ garden apartments).
You can also check out Target, Kmart, and camping supply stores for deals on portable and disposable grills.
Okay, next step - fuel. Charcoal can be found in just about any grocery store, deli, even convenience stores located at gas stations (just don’t start your fire there). Also, disposable gas tanks for gas grills can be found throughout the borough.
Okay, you’re ready to grill. Remember, if you’re using charcoal you need to wait 40 minutes or so before you can cook. The charcoal needs to burn and turn to coals before it will be hot enough to cook your meats. If you’re using gas, you’ll be good to go in a matter of minutes. You just want to be sure your grilling surface gets hot enough to perfectly sear the meat.
Just remember, when it comes to grilling on the stoop or outside your building, you may wish to cook up some extras to appease the neighbors into whose windows the scent of seared meat will flow. They’ll be happy, not call the super on you, and become a new buddy.
Just be sure, when you’re done, to safely dispose of any coals. Dump them into a metal can or bucket and extinguish them with water before disposing of them. Nothing upsets neighbors more than the guy who grills out and then burns the building down. (BR)
Artifacts In Flushing Meadows
A column from the Temple of Jerash is one of a many artifacts strewn throughout Queens.
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Want to learn a little something as you’re digging up fun stuff this summer?
First, trot out to Flushing Meadows Corona Park to glimpse the Column of Jerash, a little-known addition to the park from the ’64 World’s Fair gifted to the city by King Hussein of Jordan. It was erected way back in 120 A.D. by Romans as part of the Temple of Artemis, the principal goddess watching over the Jordanian city of Jerash.
It stands hidden among the trees of the park, and is actually one of several historic bits and pieces in Flushing Meadows. Do a quick walk-through, and you’ll also discover the New York State Pavillion, the marker for the time capsule from the 1964 World’s Fair, a tile mosaic portrait of Robert Moses by Andy Warhol, and a plaque commemerating the lives of two police officers killed in a terrorist attack in 1939. (JP)
A (Parking) Lot of Fun
Take a stroll through the paths that lead from the parking lot near Hollis Court and 73rd Avenue. |
One of the great joys of hitting the open road is finding a cozy little spot to park and do what you can’t do in your house: namely, hang out with one hundred of your closest friends and be as loud as you want.
The walking trails and parking lot on Hollis Ct. just off 73rd Ave. are overrun by driver’s education students by day, but swarmed by those who are young at heart by evening. Watch the time if you’re not into loud music, though. On weekend nights it can swarm with kids showing off their car stereos and whatever else makes young people feel cool in the eyes of their friends.
But the youngsters are friendly to passersby. They’re just out to meet with friends along the long, narrow concrete strip just behind Cunningham Park.
At one end of the lot is a foot trail leading into the scenic, back end of Cunningham Park. Another trail leads you right underneath the Clearview Expressway to baseball fields on 73rd Ave. And if the merry get-together leads to an impromptu game of Frisbee or dodge ball, there’s more than enough elbowroom.
The skies are open, the tall trees look down approvingly, and hours of youth fade away into fondly remembered nights.
Drive, park, and be merry. (AP)
