Figgy Pudding Short Play Fest

Xmas Comedy at Café Marlene in Sunnyside

December 1, 2011 / Sunnyside / Theater in Sunnyside / Queens Buzz. Sofia Geier, founder of the Unity Stage Company, has put together a comedic treat of nine quick one act plays that draw upon holiday traditions, providing cheer by cynically poking fun at people, places and patches out of the spirit of Christmas past ... and present.

I attended one of their dress rehearsals several days prior to opening night. The plays included some sharp turns in the road and a small sag in the middle. But the general production quality, playwrights' humor and professional acting kept me amused for most of the hour and a half the plays ran.

Click here to read more about the Unity Stage Company’s nine one act plays in the Figgy Pudding Play Fest at Café Marlene running Thursday through Sunday, December 1 – 4, beginning at 8 pm.

Sunnyside Christmas Tree Lighting 2011

T'is The Season To Be Jolly

November 28, 2011 / Sunnyside Neighborhood / Queens Buzz. It's hard to believe another year has gone by. On Tuesday, the Queens Chamber of Commerce held its annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Sabba Park on Queens Blvd and 50th Street, marking such an occasion.

It was a warm, wet night, with temperatures in the 60's. The rain came down lightly and intermittently, but just enough to ward off any sort of large gathering, like the one that had assembled last year.

Click here to view our report and photo slide show of the Sunnyside Christmas Tree Lighting of 2011.

Taste of Sunnyside

Restaurants in Sunnyside @ 2nd Annual Food Event

October 18, 2011 / Sunnyside Neighborhood / Food & Wine / Queens Buzz. It was a fine night for a food fest in Sunnyside, New York. So I sauntered on down to the Sunnyside Community Service Center to see what delectables awaited me at the 2nd annual Taste of Sunnyside.

There were 20 Sunnyside restaurants and four beverage vendors this year. All of which are located in the Sunnyside vicinity. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to sample all of them before the end of the first seating.

There were two seatings this year, and both were pretty well sold out … click here to read the rest of our report on the Taste of Sunnyside, including a slide show with photos of the food, many of the restaurateurs, and the folks who’d come to sample the fare of the restaurants in Sunnyside.

Sunnyside Gardens Park

Pumpkin Patch and Oktoberfest 2011

Membership Benefits & Dues

October 10, 2011 / Sunnyside Neighborhood / Green & Parks / Queens Buzz. This Saturday people from Sunnyside, Woodside, Astoria and further neighborhoods, made their way to the annual Sunnyside Gardens Pumpkin Patch and Oktoberfest. The day-long event attracted a larger crowd than I have ever seen there before.

Based on my photos and a quick and dirty head count, the event was likely attended by well over 1,000 people. We tried to photograph as many people as possible, as the slide show and photo album will attest.

Click here to view our report on Sunnyside Gardens Park including information about services, membership and dues, and the Pumpkin Patch and Oktoberfest event of 2011.

Sunnyside Shorts / Flicks In The Park

September 10, 2011 / Sunnyside Neighborhood / Queens Buzz. It was a comfortable Saturday evening as I headed into Sunnyside Gardens Park. Upon arrival I met Sherri Gamilin, one of the four producers of the event. A small crowd had already gathered and a local blues band was setting up. In the photo to your right are members of the audience who came to watch Sunnyside Shorts and Flicks In The Garden in Sunnyside Gardens Park.

Sherri talked about the changes made to the festival this year. They added live music, the Broken Hearted Blues Band, and joined forces with the organizers of the first annual ‘Flicks In The Garden’. Click here to read our full report, including synopses of the films shown and photos of the Sunnyside Shorts and Flicks In The Garden Film Festival.

Sunnyside & Woodside Maps - Overview

Click to view three maps of Sunnyside & Woodside: 1) map of some of the shops In Sunnyside & Woodside with links to home pages or stories on this site, 2) map of some of the restaurants with links to home pages or stories on this site, and 3 map of cultural attractions in Sunnyside & Woodside most for which there are reports about them to be found on this site.

Click here to view Sunnyside & Woodside Maps - Shops, Restaurants and Cultural Attractions in Sunnyside & Woodside Queens.

Restaurants In Sunnyside

The Turkish Grill In Queens

Sunnyside Restaurants / Queens Restaurants.  The Turkish Grill in Sunnyside is one of those great culinary finds you wish you would come across more than once in a good while. Great food, excellent service and a comfortable dining atmosphere - all at affordable prices. The Turkish Grill is located along Queens Blvd in the forties in Sunnyside. Click on the above link or photo to read a full review of the Turkish Grill Restaurant in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens NY. The Turkish Grill serves Ottoman Style middle eastern cuisine.

Click here to read a full review including numerous photos of the Turkish Grill - restaurants in Sunnyside.

Restaurants In Woodside

Donovan's - Irish Pubs In Queens

Woodside Restaurants / Queens Restaurants.  Woodside / Queens Buzz. I had occasion to visit Donovan's Irish Pub in the Woodside section of Queens NY. Donovan's is about as Irish an Irish Pub can get outside of Ireland. We took a different tack in this review and decided not to review their hamburger, but rather take a look at some of their other pub food offerings.

Click here to read our review of Donovan's Irish Pub in Woodside Queens, including a short interview with former detective Jack Donovan, brother of the pub owner.

New & Used Car Dealerships In Queens

Sunnyside, Woodside & LIC / Queens Buzz. This report is about new and used car dealerships in Queens NY. There are about twenty new and used car dealerships just minutes away from Manhattan NYC and most parts of Queens via subway or bus. The car dealerships are located along Northern Blvd starting in LIC [Long Island City] on the Astoria border at the intersection of Steinway Street. The car dealerships include new and used cars as well as pre-owned vehicles. The dealerships are also near Sunnyside, Woodside and Jackson Heights, but are easily accessible by car throoughout the Tri-state area via the BQE and LIE.

This report is about buying new and used cars at dealerships in Queens, including information about car prices and dealership locations in Queens.

Ophthalmologists In Queens

The Treatment Of Eye Conditions In Queens

Queens NY / Queens Buzz. This is a general overview of eye care and eyewear. This report is designed to orient you to different kinds of professionals accessible in Queens in the eye care and eyewear professions. As well as to highlight several widespread eye conditions in Queens as well as the rest of the U.S..  Click here to view our report on ophthalmologists, optometrists and opticians in Queens.

Sunnyside & Woodside Re-Zoning Plan

Proposal Moving Through The Process – Timetable Set

April 13, 2011 / Sunnyside & Woodside / Sunnyside Real Estate / Queens Buzz. Queens Borough president Helen Marshall highlighted the effort to re-zone Sunnyside and Woodside in her State of the Borough Address this winter. Following the release of the proposed zoning changes on February 28th, I spent time studying the proposal to re-zone the Sunnyside and Woodside neighborhoods and followed up with a representative of the NYC Department of City Planning to be sure I properly understood the proposed changes. It's worth mentioning that the rezoning changes were recently approved by Community Board 2, about two weeks ahead of deadline.

The thrust of the Sunnyside Woodside rezoning effort appears to be to standardize construction regulations within these neighborhoods in order to prevent out-of-character development, reduce commercial overlays, enhance street life through the allowance of sidewalk cafes and to set height limits on new buildings which is not specified in the existing zoning. Current Sunnyside and Woodside zoning only specifies how much you can build by way of limiting the Floor Area Ratio [FAR] – and doesn’t set limits on specific building dimensions, most notably building height.

Click here to view the timetable of the Sunnyside & Woodside Re-zoning proposal and to read the rest of our report, which includes a brief zoning history, and a summary of existing and proposed zoning changes including diagrams and photos.

East Side Access Project Moving Along

How Will This Project Affect Queens Real Estate?

Queens Real Estate / October 4, 2010 / Queens Buzz. Progress on the East Side Access Tunnel project has been visible in Queens since early Spring 2010. The MTA has been busy drilling a new tunnel under the East River from LIC / Astoria, using the Sunnyside Railway Yard as its staging grounds. The photo to your left shows the view of the new tunnel being built underneath the East River from an Astoria / LIC perspective. The tunnel connects into Manhattan around 63rd Street.

Meanwhile in the Sunnyside railway yards, many of the buildings that once dotted the landscape have been demolished. Thankfully this doesn't include an old train station which has been around for many years [see photos in rest of story / slide show]. They’ve also cleared away a number of old warehouse and garage like structures along 43rd Street between Northern Blvd and 39th Avenue.

Click here to get an update on the East Side Access Project impact on Queens real estate.