How to get to Queens museum and what else to do

Hi all, could you please tell us how to get to Queens museum for the recommended panorama of New York. We%26#39;ll be staying at Embassy suites hotel in Downtown at the end of Dec to early Jan 06 and plan to use public transport. Anything else to do while we%26#39;re in Queens neighbourhood. There is not a lot listed here or anywhere that we could find about Queens and its attractions. Please also suggest places to eat while we%26#39;re there for 1/2- 1 day.

Many thanks

How to get to Queens museum and what else to do

You take the 1 train to Times Square and then pick up the 7 train and take it to the Willets Point/Shea Stadium stop.

The museum is in Flushing Meadow Park. Along with the museum there is the Hall of Science, a zoo and a botanical garden. Bring a map; it%26#39;s easy to get lost. If you Google it, you can probably find one online.

I don%26#39;t think there%26#39;s much else within walking distance, including places to eat (maybe in the park, but it%26#39;s probably hot dogs or something). If the weather is nice, you might consider bringing some food and having a picnic.

Or, when you%26#39;re done at the museum and park, you can take the 7 train one more stop to Main Street Flushing--there are loads of Asian restaurants right near the subway, and many are as good as anything in Chinatown.

How to get to Queens museum and what else to do

Hi visi8!

I%26#39;m so glad to see someone%26#39;s going to Queens.

The panorama is really great to see -- my favorite part was seeing the ';night'; fall and all the lights go on in the ';city.'; The museum is good too -- and don%26#39;t forget the Unisphere (I believe it%26#39;s right outside the museum entrance. It%26#39;s been a while but I remember it being not too too far from the panorama).

Check out www.queensmuseum.org/around for stuff to do around Queens; the site also points out the NY Hall of Science (really, better for kids, IMO), the Queens Zoo and the aforementioned Botanical Garden.

I%26#39;m guessing you don%26#39;t have a car -- not really needed too much anyway. I%26#39;m not a huge expert on the LIRR/subway, but I second the previous poster%26#39;s suggestion of Main Street/Flushing, especially if you like Asian cuisine.

You could continue east on the LIRR%26#39;s Port Washington line to Bayside, a very busy stop, and stumble upon a *ton* of restaurants - steakhouse (Uncle Jack%26#39;s -- very expensive -- Mayor Bloomberg eats there ;-) sports bars, Thai (Erawan - a nice place), Italian (Pappazzio%26#39;s - also a nice place, good food nice romantic atmosphere) and great pizza joints and a diner (yes, I used to work in Bayside!)

If you can find your way to Jackson Heights, which is in the opposite direction from Bayside (though I%26#39;m not absolutely certain of the subway/LIRR stops, sorry) you%26#39;ll hit a lot of restaurants too, but I believe this is less touristy than Bayside.

Austin Street in Forest Hills is also good for restaurants - but tourist wise, depending on what you like/want, I%26#39;d stick with Main Street Flushing (which is very, very Manhattan ish and what the locals now consider more like Chinatown than Chinatown) and/or Bayside.

Good luck!

devan is correct about the vicinity, and there are many interesting things to see throughout the borough. You just might need to make a little extra effort to find them.

鈥bout.com/cs/鈥op_ten_Queens.htm

www.thirteen.org/queens/resources.html#3

The other attractions near the museum (within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park) are the Queens Botatnical Gardens and Zoo (kinda piddly compared to the sister sites in the other boroughs), in addition to the (aforementioned) Hall of Science and the USTA National Tennis Center - home of the US Open. (Agassi is losing to Blake in the second set.)

http://www.nyhallsci.org/

usta.com/nationaltenniscenternews/鈥?/a>

Since there%26#39;s not much commerce immediately near the Queens Museum, I recommend getting back on the 7 train and going to Astoria and Long Island City.

If you go to Astoria, you must eat Greek! Sorry I can%26#39;t recommend anything specific, but this HUGE Greek neighborhood will have you saying ';Opa!'; in no time.

鈥itysearch.com/yellowpages/鈥?/a>

In Long Island City, check out the Museum of the Moving Image and P.S. 1, if you like contemporary art, movies and TV.

http://www.ammi.org/site/site.php

http://www.ps1.org/cut/main.htm (Looks like P.S. 1 will be closed in Feb and March.)

If you had more time, you could spend some hours investigating hidden artists%26#39; lofts, secret performance spaces and galleries among the industrial warehoses, such as bizzare orgs like Flux Factory. LIC is the next big thing, so to speak. Some of the stuff in this area is just plain weird.

http://www.licbdc.org/arts/frameset.htm

http://www.fluxfactory.org

Queens was developed differently than the rest of the city, so it can be confusing. It was made up of un-unified farms, experimental real estate ventures and parishes that were sort of forced to get along in the same room. Unlike Brooklyn patriots, we still prefer using these old names (such as Glendale, Maspeth, Flushing and Ridgewood) instead of saying, ';I%26#39;m from Queens';.

Joke

Q: What do you think of Flushing, Queens?

A: Good idea.

Queens can be an enigma, wrapped in a conudnrum, surrounded by a mystery - especially if you spend your childhood trying to find the intersection of 34th Street and 34th Avenue (again, not making that up.) See this map:

http://tinyurl.com/ay7tn

That is why we are so bitter. Have pity.

LOL, about growing up in Queens, QB, so true. I grew up in Flushing, it%26#39;s always a little embarrassing to admit to it!

Yes, Astoria is GREAT for Greek food (I lived there for almost a year and miss having all those restaurants and bakeries practically on my doorstep). Take the 7 train to the 74th St.-Broadway stop and switch to the R train, then go to the Steinway stop. I recommend Uncle George%26#39;s--an outrageously cheap taverna that%26#39;s open 24/7. It%26#39;s on 33-19 Broadway, only a few blocks from the subway stop.

The Museum of the Moving Image is well worth a look--used to loved to go there on rainy Saturday afternoons.

Thanks devan. Good tip re: subway and Greek restaurant.

My other Queens joke is, I originally come from Queens, but I was raised by heterosexuals.

Dang! Agassi pulled that game out of his sleeve last night! What a battle royale!

Thanks heaps everone for your help.

I am however a bit confused with NYC subway system. What is LIRR? I think I%26#39;ll have to post a new topic for info on your subway system. I%26#39;ve downloaded subway map for Manhattan but could not understand it too well.

Is Hall of Science within walking distance to the Museum? Do these attractions get very crowded like the ones in Manhattan, ie should we get to these Queens attractions early or can we lay back a bit?

We like Chinese dimsum for lunch, any suggestion??

I recommend The Silver Pond (56-50 Main St.). OUTSTANDING seafood! It%26#39;s been a while since I%26#39;ve been, but it still gets rave reviews. And I hear they also offer dim sum now.

Only problem is it%26#39;s not walking distance from the subway stop. It%26#39;s easy to get cabs in the Main Street area, though, and would be a fairly short ride.

There%26#39;s a Joe%26#39;s Shanghai (136-21 37 Ave. walking distance from the subway). This is supposed to be the best of the Joe%26#39;s locations in the city and they specialize in dim sum.

Here%26#39;s an interactive map of the area, which shows you where several restaurants can be found:

www.nychinatown.org/flushing/flushing2.html

visi8 --

oooh, sorry about that! LIRR is Long Island Rail Road, not a part of the subway system. It%26#39;s got different train lines running west-east across Long Island (and through Queens) into the city. I tend to take that more when I%26#39;m down there, so that%26#39;s how I think, hence the suggestion.

If you do wind up taking the 7 train to Main Street Flushing, as previously suggested, I%26#39;m pretty sure you can pick up the LIRR from there - that would get you to Bayside, as I said earlier.

Buses go all over, but I%26#39;m really not an expert in those either.

I believe you can get to Jackson Heights via subway --

http://www.mta.info/nyct/index.html

That Web site should help. Stick to NYC transit for subway stuff. Remember, Long Island trains/buses deal with ';out east'; aka Long Island (but can probably still get you through Queens. At least the train can), while Metro-North goes north of the city (into the Hudson Valley and I think onto Connecticut).

I heartily agree with the recommended Greek food in Astoria - to die for! also subway accessible, I believe. But I don%26#39;t think the Hall of Science is walking distance - at least, not a short walk. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is pretty big.

If you%26#39;re interested, this Queens weekly newspaper has histories of some of the communities here:

www.timesledger.com/site/news.asp鈥?/a>

Oh and queensboulevard, your ';I originally come from Queens, but I was raised by heterosexuals'; joke made me laugh!

Here is good previous post re the subway:

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k253684-鈥?/a>

Also, nycwhiz and lddev write grat posts about public transit! Search for them and click on their names to see their posts.

This might be a little slow and unweildy on home computers, but I find that the BUS maps are better than the subway maps on line for showing neighborhoods and streets. They show more streets, AND they show the subway lines (albeit in light grey lines, but still)

Try looking at the Queens bus map at www.mta.info. Scroll around and you%26#39;ll see the proximity of things.

oops, I meant nywhiz.

Here%26#39;s another good post about the subway, buses and taxis

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k269814-鈥?/a>

ittwit