You are currently browsing the stories about the Flushing neighborhood

Haunted House

by 07/19/2020
Neighborhood: Flushing

In the beginning, it was an ordinary house on an ordinary street in Flushing, Queens, just around the corner from ours. There was an older girl, Mary Ann, who was our sometime babysitter, and a younger boy, Johnny, who was several years older than I.  A cherished childhood memory of mine concerns an afternoon (though […]

Learning to Drive

by 10/13/2019
Neighborhood: Cobble Hill, Flushing

I am learning to drive for the second time. On Sundays, I take classes at “Learn-Rite,” a school in Flushing. The school boasts a neon blue sign illustrating a yellow car and red stop sign. The graphics’ cheap branding displays cartoon-like pictures as if to reassure students that this endeavor is simple, achievable, and above […]

World Series

by 04/07/2019
Neighborhood: Flushing, Shea Stadium, Woodside

When I was thirteen years old and in the seventh grade, I loved to go to Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets.  I loved baseball and would sneak into the ball park all the time. When the Mets were on road trips, I practically lived there. It was my stadium. I would sit […]

You’re Out of the Night

by 06/17/2016
Neighborhood: Flushing, Lower East Side, Queens, Uncategorized

On Match.com, Ken’s moniker was “Dull.” He wrote that among his favorite things were office carpeting, spam, and waiting rooms. “I bet he lives in one of those storage units off the highway,” my friend Meg said as she read over my shoulder. My own profile was styled after Nancy Drew. Hair color? Titian. Hobbies? […]

As Elevators Shrink

by 04/16/2012
Neighborhood: Flushing, Pomonok

When had the elevator gotten so small? When I was ten and living on the top floor of a building in the New York City Housing Project called Pomonok — a word the Algonquin Indians used for Long Island — I dreamed of stabling my horse in that elevator. The fantasy of actually having my […]

Any Kid In The City

by 04/06/2012
Neighborhood: Flushing

The students enter the building through a side door, where they promptly submit backpacks and any other personal items to the NYPD safety agent who greets them at the steps. There’s a male agent for the boys, a female for the girls. Everyone is scanned for weapons, cell phones and drugs upon entering the building. […]

Citi Something-else Place

by 04/06/2010
Neighborhood: Flushing

“Citi Field,” the New York Mets new home, is a misnomer. Someone needs to coin a word to describe a venue that is part amusement park, food court, a Brooklyn Dodger mini-museum, sports specialty shop, tourist trap, and that by the way, also happens to contain a poorly designed baseball playing field. My first visit […]