It was my first stint in New York. I was there alone, and didn't know anyone in the city.
The guy next door, a Panamanian, must've been the neighborhood godfather. One night as I was arriving home, he told me if I ever needed anything to let him know.
I was in Jamaica back then in a small room with no air conditioning. It was summer, and even opening the window didn't help. It was a jail cell.
Someone had made a joke that the only thing in Queens were old people and cemeteries.I saw it as my duty to break out-- It was just a speed bump on my way to 23rd St.
Now, I'm trying to break back in.
What I saw then: Queens is industrial, and not necessarily what you'd call a hot spot.
What I see now: The borough is the most diverse place in the country (almost half of Queens' 2.2 million residents are foreign-born), and, to top it off, you don't have to fight for a parking spot. Just look around.
And I have found that it has some really nice neighborhoods, the most fascinating of which offer a huge mash-up of culture. In Rego Park, there are Russians and Hispanics. In Elmhurst, there are Hispanics and Asians. In Astoria, there were Brazilians and Greeks and everyone else who wants to join the party.
For me, a kid from Mississippi, it's like walking through a global wonderland.
Since I'll be in the city this weekend, I'm going to spend at least one day in Queens. There is a wonderful museum there, PS.1, that I visited in 2006 that I'm going to check out, and another, the Queens Museum of Art, that a friend had raved about.
Then there's Jackson Heights for night. More about that later.
Photo: Five Points near PS.1
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