Queens
The most linguistically diverse place on earth. Come hungry.
More than half of Queens was born outside the United States and something like 160 languages are spoken here. That is not a statistic on a plaque — it's why you eat better in Queens than almost anywhere else in the country, for a third of Manhattan prices.
Flushing is one of the great Chinese food destinations outside Asia. Jackson Heights runs South Asian, Himalayan and Colombian along a few blocks of Roosevelt Avenue. Astoria is Greek, Egyptian and Brazilian by turns.
Beyond the food: MoMA PS1 and the Noguchi Museum for art, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park for the leftover World's Fair architecture, the US Open in late August, and the Rockaways for actual surf.
Queens by season
Where to go changes with the weather. All four are here; the one you're in is marked.
Spring
March – MayFlushing Meadows-Corona Park is at its best before the summer heat, and the cherry blossoms at the Queens Botanical Garden are a quieter alternative to Brooklyn's. Food season is year-round here — spring just makes the walking easier.
Summer
June – AugustThe Queens Night Market runs Saturday evenings in Flushing Meadows with a hundred-odd vendors and a deliberately low price ceiling. The US Open takes over the last week of August. The Rockaways are the city's real beach. Free waterfront programming in Long Island City.
Worth walking: Flushing · Rockaway Beach · Long Island City
Fall
September – NovemberThe eating season. Cool enough to walk Roosevelt Avenue end to end, and the Jackson Heights and Flushing food scenes shift to heavier, better cold-weather cooking. Museums are uncrowded once the summer visitors leave.
Worth walking: Jackson Heights · Flushing · Astoria
Winter
December – FebruaryIndoor Queens, which is mostly indoor eating — hotpot in Flushing, Himalayan food in Jackson Heights. MoMA PS1 and the Noguchi Museum are calm and warm. The Rockaways are for people who like an empty beach in the cold.
Worth walking: Flushing · Jackson Heights · Long Island City
Free
Under $25
Guides for Queens
A day here, the free list, and the neighborhoods worth an afternoon.
- One day in Queens: a food crawl on the 7 train
- Three days in New York beyond Manhattan
- Free things to do in New York City
- Free and cheap things to do in Queens
- Long Island City: the skyline, MoMA PS1 and the Noguchi Museum
- Corona and Flushing Meadows: the World's Fair park, Armstrong's house and the Night Market
- New York in spring: what's actually good in March, April and May
- New York in summer: beaches, free concerts and how to survive the heat
- New York in fall: the best season, and what to do with it
- New York in winter: the museums, the free skating and the empty parks
- Watching the New York City Marathon: where to stand and how to get around
- Going to the US Open: getting to Flushing Meadows and what's around it
Getting to Queens
The 7 from Times Square or Grand Central is the workhorse — Long Island City in 10 minutes, Jackson Heights in 20, Flushing in about 35. It runs elevated for most of the way, which makes it the best sightseeing line in the system.
The N and W serve Astoria in about 20 minutes from Midtown. The E, F, M and R run through central Queens.
For the Rockaways, the A train takes about 75 minutes from Midtown, or take the NYC Ferry Rockaway route in summer, which is far more pleasant.