Hello From New York City - Part 5 - A Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens

Yesterday was a pretty interesting day, the weatherto us the multicultural character of Queens, and that
was cool and overcast, with rain coming in during theone of the main subway trains (the 7 train) is called
latter part of the afternoon. A few weeks ago I had"The International Express" because it cuts through all
booked a meeting with one of the Big Apple Greeters,sorts of ethnic neighbourhoods.
an organization of local NYC volunteers that takesA quick jump onto this very subway later, which runs
out-of-town visitors around the city and shows themon elevated tracks through a good chunk of Queens,
local sights and shares local information. The service isso you can actually see the neighbourhood, and we
a great way to link up with a local New Yorker, andarrived in Jackson Heights, an area with a lot of Latin
best of all, it's free of charge.American immigrants and further west we saw lots of
We were supposed to meet Suzanne, our greeter, atSouth Asian (Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi) stores.
11:00 am at the 71st Street subway station, but we gotFor a Torontonian seeing all these ethnic stores is not
a late start after breakfast and there were someall that unusual, since we have a lot of that in Toronto
delays on the subway system, so we didn't meettoo, but I am sure these ethnic neighbourhoods must
Suzanne until 11:50 am. Suzanne is a former highschoolbe quite unusual and unique for people who come
teacher, in her sixties, and a very friendly and outgoingfrom smaller less international places.
individual. We felt bad about being late, but she said itWe then took the 47 and 19 Queens bus to a
wasn't a problem at all. She was extremely graciousneighbourhood called Astoria, where a lot of Greek
and helpful throughout our entire time with her.immigrants congregate. We ended up having dinner in
Suzanne started the tour by taking us through a verya little quaint and cosy Greek restaurant called Zygos
upscale Queens neighbourhood called Forest HillRestaurant ("zygos" means "libra" or "balance") where
Gardens, which is a neighbourhood with private streetswe continued our nice conversation with Suzanne, our
where local residents pay higher than normal taxes forlocal expert. Suzanne has been a greeter for the last
additional services, such as more frequent garbage12 years and has studied all areas of New York City.
pickup etc. Suzanne indicated that these homes goShe said she travels, by herself, into all areas of NYC,
from anywhere from US$ 1 million and up. Everythingincluding Harlem and the Bronx, and she loves exploring
was blooming and many local handymen, gardners andand sharing the city that she loves with people from all
maids were on the road. We also had a chance toover the world.
visit the old US Open Tennis Center which is located inWhen we left at about a quarter to 7 pm, Suzanne
an amphitheatre right next to the Forest Hill Countryhad spent more than 7 hours with us and we had
Club.really gotten to know each other quite well on a
On from there we took a bus to the Flushingpersonal level. We also we ended up exchanging email
neighbourhood, an area with lots of Chinese andaddresses and we extended mutual invitations to stay
Korean stores, where Suzanne treated us to samein touch and I said I'd love to take her around
savory Chinese dumplings. All the time she explainedwhenever she comes to the Toronto area.