First it is relaxed along the East River. Then Lori turns into a street full of street art. Colorful, shrill works of art glisten on countless house walls, walls and garage doors.
Welling Court Mural Project is the name of the place. In the open-air art museum that stretches across several streets, sprayers have been creative for ten years. Hours could be spent in this place alone.
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Today half of the people in Queens were born in another country, says Lori. “I count to the other half.” Her grandparents immigrated from a region in what is now Ukraine. Her husband is from Belarus. The family name “Lustik” became “Lustig”. Therefore, Lori is often mistaken for German. The retired teacher works three days a week at a school in Astoria. Retirement was too boring for her.
“When children are new to school, they can choose between 162 languages on a form to indicate their mother tongue,” reports Lori. According to the Endangered Language Alliance, 800 languages are spoken in Queens, more than anywhere else in the world.
Time for a breather. The choice falls on the
Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden. It is considered the oldest beer garden in New York. The restaurant dates back to Bohemian immigrants, and so pierogi, goulash and Jägerschnitzel are on the menu.
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How the Steinway Family came to Queens
A wave of German immigrants also ended up in the melting pot Astoria, at that time still a rural suburb, which, however, promised work. More and more entrepreneurs bought farmland here. One of them was the legendary grand piano and piano maker Steinway. The family came under the name Steinweg. Son William Steinway had a new factory built in 1870 – and an entire Steinway Village for the 400 employees, including a school, post office, kindergarten and recreation park. To this day, grand pianos and upright pianos are manufactured at Bowery Bay in Astoria.
Steinway Street leads over three kilometers south through Astoria to the metro station of the same name. The M Line trains travel east to Forest Hill terminus. “We have to go to line 7,” says Lori. “It’ll be cozy.”
In Asian-influenced queens
The metro rattles through Little India and Little Bangladesh in Jackson Heights, then through the Latin American Corona until it completely discharges at its eastern terminus, Flushing. If you are spat out from the escalator at the top, you think you are on another continent: Colorful Chinese or Korean characters shine from the house facades. The last census in 2010 showed that around 70 percent of the people in Flushing are from Asia. Ascending trend. In Chinatown, dried sea cucumbers, black chickens, snails, mussels and other seafood are sold as delicacies – dead or alive.
A house with a great history
Walking distance to Flushing Main Street is the historic one
Bowne House an important memorial for religious tolerance. The British John Bowne built the house in 1661. Because Bowne held regular Quaker meetings here, he was arrested in 1662 by the then governor. But Bowne struggled successfully and set a precedent for religious freedom.
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Flushing’s landmark, the 40-meter-high Unisphere globe, couldn’t be a better match. The steel globe in Flushing Meadows Park, built for the 1964 World’s Fair, is a reminder of the diversity and cosmopolitanism in Queens. Only a much smaller, yellow ball competes with the Unisphere every summer when the neighboring Arthur Ashe Stadium fills up for the US Open tennis tournament. Of course, the audience comes from all over the world.
Queens
Arrival and entry: There are direct flights to New York from various German airports. JFK and La Guardia airports are both in Queens. German vacationers in the USA must obtain an Esta permit in good time before departure. It is valid for two years.
Information: NYC & Company c / o Aviareps Tourism, Josephspitalstraße 15, 80331 Munich (email: [email protected], nycgo.com).
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