What’s more fun than a day off work? This summer blesses the working stiff with a load of three-day weekends, so here’s a look at some holiday activities you may not have daydreamed up.
Hit The Street (Festivals)
Sure, a barbecue may be nice for a holiday weekend, but who wants to spend all day waiting for the coals to heat, looking up at the same old trees? The kids get bored, the hot dogs get burned, and you get to clean up the mess.
Why not take it easy and go to one of the dozens of street fairs and festivals held in Queens throughout the summer?
On Memorial Day, May 30, the Broadway Merchants and Professional Association in Long Island City will hold a street festival on Broadway between Crescent St. and 46th St. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Over 4th of July weekend, check out the Woodside On The Move Festival, Saturday, July 2, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Woodside Ave. between Roosevelt Ave. and 65th Place and between 61st and 62nd Streets between Woodside Ave. and Roosevelt Ave. Also, the Flushing Development Center will hold a festival on July 4 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Kissena Blvd. between Main St. and Sanford Ave.
Two street festivals are currently planned in Queens for Labor Day weekend. The first will be Sunday, Sept. 4 on Austin St. between 72nd Road and Yellowstone Blvd., when the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce holds its annual street festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The 30th Avenue Business Association will hold its festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5, on 30th Ave. between 29th and 42nd Streets. (BR)
For a complete list of street festivals in Queens and the other boroughs, go to www.nyc.gov/caucalendar.
The Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Bouncing Czechs
Put on your drinking cap, brush up on your Slovak (toast a neighbor with your best nazdravje), and head down to AstoriathisMemorial Day weekend for the Czech-Slovak Festival in the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden.
The two-day event kicks off Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with the Pilsner Brass Band. Throughout the day, there will be traditional Czech-Slovak tunes, performances of Slovak folk dance, even a gymnastics demonstration. Get ready to sample plenty of tap beer from around the world, plus enough food to turn any nationality into an eastern European gloat.
Keeping your belt from popping open should be the only worry at this happy fest (that, or staying on your feet until 2 a.m. dancing to Milan’s Energy Music). There’s also a raffle giveaway with prizes that include baskets of goodies, free dinner for two at the restaurant, and a grand prize pair of round trip tickets to the Czech-Slovak Republic.
Admission is $10 and children 12 and under can enter free (but, of course, can’t drink alcohol). After 7 p.m., admission drops to $5 and after 8 p.m. the festival is free. The restaurant is open from noon to midnight and the barbecue is open from 3 p.m. until 2 a.m. (MR)
The Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden is located at 29-19 24th Ave., in Astoria. For more information, call (718) 274-4925, or visit them on the Web at bohemianhall.com.
Leaving No Stone Unturned
Flushing Cemetery is the final resting place of Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie and more. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen
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Yeah, for most of us Memorial Day’s become more a day of ruckus than a day of remembrance. But seeing as there are more people buried in the borough than live here, you could do worse to entertain (and, you know, edify) yourself than tour some of the legendary sites in Queens cemeteries over the holiday weekend.
If you’re looking for some of the celebrity names buried in Queens, start with a trip to see Louis Armstrong’s grave in Flushing Cemetery.Satchmo spent the last 30 years of his life in Corona; you’ll know the grave by the full-sized, bronzed trumpet perched on top of his headstone. Then find your way inside the mausoleum at St. John’s Cemetery to see the illustrious final resting place of John Gotti, or head over to Machpelah Cemetery to see the great marble tomb of Harry Houdini.
About 25,000 people flocked to the grave of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson in Montefiore Cemetery last year-and there will likely be plenty this year-to commemorate the anniversary of his death, July 21. Schneerson, a Lubavitcher scholar who rocked the Hasidic world while he was living, is considered by some Jews to be the messiah and, as such, will soon rise from the open-air mausoleum at the cemetery.
And though the free walking tours at Evergreens Cemetery aren’t offered Memorial Day weekend, we recommend you make the trek just inside Brooklyn on your own; the high hills offer an unrivaled view of Queens and Jamaica Bay. (JP)
Flushing Cemetery, 16306 46th Ave.; St. John’s Cemetery, 8001 Metropolitan Ave.; Machpelah Cemetery, 82-30 Cypress Hills St.; Montefiore Cemetery, Springfield Blvd. and 118th Ave.; Evergreens Cemetery, 1629 Bushwick Ave., Brooklyn.
Stuff Your Face
Watch the fun at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest July 2. |
Sure, for many people in Queens summer fun and holidays may mean a burger or hot dog cooked up on the grill. After all, what better way to celebrate a three day weekend than to relax, sip a cold beverage, chow down on a tasty hot dog and spend some time with family and friends.
But that’s not going to happen at Shea Stadium July 2. The day after the Mets hold their annual fireworks night (July 1) following their game with the Florida Marlins, fans of a different sort will line up at Shea to bear witness to one of the greatest summertime traditions - the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest.
The July 2 contest is open to anybody over the age of 18. The rules are simple. You have 12 minutes to eat as many hot dogs as you can. Sounds easy, right? Not quite. People train for this competition year-round. They participate in food events throughout the year, preparing their stomachs for the next round of play.
But the Nathan’s championship is the granddaddy of them all. The winner of the July 2 contest will go on to compete against 19 other regional finalists in the grand finale July 4, broadcast live on ESPN from Coney Island.
A word of caution, though: the competition isn’t as easy as one might think. The four-time defending champion is Takeru Kobayashi, a 144-pound man from Japan who can eat 53 1/2 hot dogs in 12 minutes. Gulp! (BR)
If you think you’ve got what it takes to go stomach-to-stomach with the best eaters in the world you can download an application to get into the Shea Stadium event at www.nathansfamous.com.
Front Row For Fireworks
Gantry Plaza State Park offers the best view of New York’s July 4 fireworks. |
When it comes time to enjoy the sights and sounds of those bombs bursting in air, there’s only one place to go-the eastern edge of the borough and Gantry Plaza State Parkto watch the Macy’s 4th of July fireworks display across the river.
The park bends its way around the Queens waterfront in Long Island City. At the crest of the meandering foot trail are a series of wooden benches, perfect for stargazing and firework gawking.
We suggest hopping the train and joining fellow revelers (elbow to elbow) for the trip there; finding a parking spot can be a challenge.
Be sure to check out the community that comes out for the show. Those fireworks shine a light over a changing neighborhood, where transplants from Manhattan are gradually becoming as common as the older generations of multi-ethnic families.
The bright skies even bring out landlocked residents from deep in the heart of Queens who, one night a year, allow themselves to be amazed at the presence of the East River.
Standing like gaping mouths at the view are two, black steel archways, remnants of when trains shuttled off goods delivered fresh from the boats. Next door is a fenced off plot of land that will house another tall, luxury co-op. Getting there now, before more buildings sprout, leaves park goers with a communal sense of being some place unspoiled, exclusive, and undiscovered. (AP)
Gantry Plaza State Park sits at the end of 48th Ave. in Long Island City.
The Other Independence Day
Northern Boulevard hosts the annual Colombian Independence Day Parade. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
It’s only natural for the biggest parks in Queens to host one of the biggest festivals in Queens. On July 10, the Colombian Independence Day Festival in Flushing Meadows Corona Park will serve up traditional food, display Columbian dances and music, and offer good times for all.
The event is one of the largest in the park. While it offers a homecoming of sorts for the borough’s countless Colombians, it’s also a close substitute for those looking to experience another country without leaving home. And so we’ve heard, Colombians know how to throw a fest.
But if by chance you don’t get your fill of patriotic partying, just wait three more weeks to hit the annual Columbian Independence Day Parade on July 31. The sidewalks will be packed with flag-waving Colombians honoring the music, culture and food of the South American country.
Every major politician makes an appearance, marching alongside revelers and wearing a badge of Honorary Colombian for the day as the country’s yellow, blue and red flag is waved. For those who’ve never experienced a Northern Boulevard parade, the scene can be surreal: Sidewalks packed elbow to elbow, and two lanes of traffic in either direction flooded with proud marchers, ornate floats. The only thing louder than the music is the often-blown whistles that seem to be a call for more enjoyment.
The dress is, as you might imagine, extremely casual. (Flags worn as do-rags are perfectly acceptable.) And nobody’s too old for a little yellow, blue and red face painting.
Even the Empire State Building gets into the spirit, lighting the sky with the Colombian flag’s colors. (AP)
The parade takes place from about 69th to 90th Streets on Northern Blvd.
