QueensQueensQueens

Since I missed the first two classes, I was granted the opportunity to make-up one tour. Mike and Meritta thought that Queens would be the easiest. So I called up Silvia and asked her to help me out and show me around town.
First stop was the Unisphere in Fresh Meadows Park. It is a sight that I see everyday driving down the Long Island Expressway, so I really didnt see the beauty in the object until Silvia explained the whole 1964 World Fair concept. I was drawn in! The American Steele company sure proved their power and influence when they decided to build the piece.
The next thing I asked Silvia was if the class discussed the three looming UFOs on sticks.... Apparantly it was not brought up but I in fact know a little bit about the project. Unsure of the names, the towers used to be home to restaurants and an observation deck that gave a 360° look around the boroughs. Silvia was enlightened and I am sure everyone else would have been!
She then brought me into the Queens Museum (exciting!) to check out the Pandorum Exhibit. I was definitely taken aback by the vast beauty of this project. The entire room of about 600 square feet was dedicated to a miniature scale of he five boroughs, to detail. It was truly remarkable.
Instead of taking a hike in the freezing cold, we took my car to the next location which was a small place called 5-Pointz. I was thinking that maybe this place is a museum of some sort. WAS I MISTAKEN. Abandoned buildings dedicated by graffiti artists to the lively, vibrant aspects of a city which they call home. Tears nearly came to my eyes when I parked the car and took a look at grand scale of the art. It seems as if people take much of their time to work on a project they dont really get paid for. They paint their mural on the wall hoping someone takes a snapshot of it and makes it famous, then by the next few weeks it is painted over. I really appreciated this section of Queens.
Final stop! The Gantry section of Long Island City. It was pretty cool to stand in the middle of what became historically an important port of Queens and Long Island. On the top of the gantries are printed the words "LONG ISLAND". I asked Silvia, why does it say that, are we not in Queens? She said that the reason behind that is Queens is technically part of Long Island, hence the name of the area, Long Island City. Interesting facts, quite interesting.
Well during our visit to Gantry Park, it began to rain so we booked it out of there and called it a night. Queens has some hidden treasures and it is humble to know that this class brings them to light.

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