Today I set out on an afternoon trip into central Queens. In fact, I went to Middle Village. I set out this hot afternoon, first, to my local QBPL branch, Mitchell Linden, to return a book and pick up three others; I also printed an article I look forward to reading again and again, In the Hudson Valley, a Drive Back in Time.
Ah, yes, the Hudson Valley and history. Suits me fine.
I avoided taking the Van Wyck Expressway, which my maps app showed in red: heavy traffic. But New York ain't easy; I took College Point Boulevard, and ran into traffic anyway.
Remember, that's Wyck as in like, not as in wick.
I know the ways and byways some, and with that app, I can weave and find a different way; not to avoid traffic, nor to outfox it, which are impossibilities, but to mitigate it. Not getting onto the highway, I took something called the Meadow Lake Road West — not that there's a street sign so identifying it, but the online map does — dodged that heavy traffic crawling on the Van Wyck, waited three traffic light changes, and turned right onto Jewel Avenue (well, 69th Road). Crossing Queens Boulevard, the street name changes to Yellowstone Boulevard, and the character of the architecture changes from houses to large apartment buildings, stacked one after another.
Before reaching Woodhaven Boulevard, I veered left onto Selfridge Street, and stopped at the Ian Maclennan Garden in Pebblestone Triangle (bounded by Selfridge, Manse Street and 68th Avenue), a pleasant oasis which afforded my a respite in a spot of shade.
Turning onto Metropolitan Avenue, I headed west, past Woodhaven Boulevard, with parts of St. John's Cemetery on each side (somewhere in there, John Gotti is buried, he who once was known as the Teflon Don). Turning onto 73rd Place, I hit the jackpot: a parking spot in the shade (my car thermometer read 90º and the sun was hot).
Getting to be lunchtime, I looked for the local public library; I needed a water closet and to sit a few minutes and use the public wifi.
Where is it? To the left, an industrial building; straight ahead, a private building advising people there is no parking for the library. Yet, off to the side, there it is:
Reflecting the neighborhood demographics, as libraries do, this little curio:
Mary Higgins Clark in German.
After lunch, I walked over to All Faiths Cemetery. It is not well maintained. I saw mausoleums dated 1903, and graves from earlier, as I have in other cemeteries, but this one was sadly neglected. Its interesting feature are its rolling hills.
On my walk back to my car, I caught sight of this store; I could not believe was seeing it:
Under its canopy, a still discernible sign reads Delicatessen. The possibilities made me shudder. It was quite a hot day. But I know I saw that.