The Poets of Queens readings that had been a staple of Astoria until the virus forced them online have made their way to another place they really belong: the printed page.“Poets of Queens” is a new anthology edited by Olena Jennings, the fou…

How does one spend only 30 minutes —or less — in a bookstore?In the days of Amazon and COVID-19, store owners in Queens have been faced with that very question. But the customers have been reaching out, both in person by appointment and onlin…

Queens is renowned for its cuisine, which brings in tastes from all over the world thanks to the borough’s heavy immigrant population. It’s a place where you can get meals derived from every populated continent — yes, including even Australia…

The Queens County Farm Museum is keeping one of its favorite autumn traditions alive and has opened up its Amazing Maize Maze for another season, though with some health and safety restrictions.“It’s outside, there’s distance guidelines, so w…

The oldest known type of historical inquiry has been thrust into the 21st century, courtesy of the Queens Memory Project, an undertaking that has grown exponentially since it was begun 10 years ago.Thanks to the efforts of the project’s direc…

COVID can’t stop the Queens Underground International October Festival.Festivals in October 2019 and February were enjoyed by viewers.

A new bicycling group is taking over the borough every Sunday morning and encourages riders of every level to join in the fun.“It just seemed like with the ongoing pandemic there’s been a big bike boom. A lot of people just recently started b…

Hanging in the corner of the Plaxall Gallery are a cluster of punching bags sewn up with quilted breasts, covered in veiny looking thread and splattered red paint. “We fight back,” is scrawled across one.On the other side of the room, a brigh…

As part of Flushing Town Hall’s celebration of the Harvest Moon Festival, music fans can watch a psychedelic Korean folk music group perform Tuesday.Coreyah’s prerecorded concert will stream at youtube.com/flushingtownhall at 7 p.m. as the Fl…

The eighth year of the Queensborough Performing Arts Center’s Gotta Dance programming looks a little different than in years past — the 10-week class will be conducted entirely online.“It’s going to be different, but it’s going to provide the…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted daily life almost beyond comprehension, closing cultural venues in NYC and across the globe. As museums reopen and some restrictions ease, one option for Queens residents wanting to enjoy art in person (by …

After weeks of only being able to catch a glimpse of exotic and wild animals through virtual programming, animal lovers are finally invited to visit the alligators, sea lions and pumas of the Queens Zoo in person once again.Located in Flushin…

COVID has made the Festival of Cinema NYC a drive-in event instead of one in a movie theater, but the show must go on.Film fans can drive to St. John’s University from Oct. 1 to 4 to see 28 movies.

Paging all readers seeking mystical enlightenment, tired of the cultural mainstream or interested in uncovering forgotten Native American mythology.A celebration of the bizarre, esoteric and otherworldly will come to Brooklyn via the internet…

Ask Forest Hills resident David Russell his favorite ballplayer as a boy and he goes back to Mike Piazza and the 1999 Mets.The team that year featured a monster 40-home run, 120-RBI season from its catcher; a now-established Edgardo Alfonso; …

Keep it simple, they say. If you want to be adventurous with your cooking and picnicking as summer winds down, go for it. But if you just want to whip up a couple of classics, here’s an easy pair to consider. The first comes from cookingchann…

Author Richard Panchyk has published a number of photographic books depicting life as it is or once was in Queens. And as can happen when looking into history, things discovered in one inquiry can lead to another.His latest book, “Long Island…

Music lovers throughout the city are still stuck inside and, in an effort to bring them their sonic fix, Flushing Town Hall is releasing archival performances of its popular Global Mashup programming.

Residents may hesitate to go outside during the pandemic and feel the summer wind but they can listen to the Frank Sinatra songbook as sung by Nicolas King.

After nearly four months of solitude, the Queens County Farm Museum is opening its doors once again to the public and it’s hard to tell who is more excited: the visitors or the animals.“From the moment that we closed Queens Farm to the public…

Carl Bartlett Jr. was drawn by the sometimes subtle power of a saxophone at a young age.“I was 11 when I first picked up a saxophone,” he said. “My father played it, so I wanted to play it too. Three years later I began to play jazz.”

“Now look below you — the city of opportunity and greatness. New York — more than 800,000 buildings, millions of stories, bold and eloquent poems in concrete, glass and steel ... Look at this map, and you locate the human race ... By tomorrow…

Theaters are closed but film fans can watch some movies outside of their own homes again.It’s a blast from the past as people can go to a drive-in theater at the New York Hall of Science from Aug. 12 to Oct. 25.

The Queensboro Dance Festival typically spends each summer touring neighborhoods throughout the borough, utilizing venues such as theaters, parks, plazas, libraries and streets to showcase the many dance companies of Queens, but this season l…

The Mrs. gallery in Maspeth has joined the movement to address racial inequity by holding a benefit exhibit, from which all proceeds will help amplify black voices within art and design.Damien Davis, a new media artist who is known for making…

In 1981, a new comedy called “Grown Ups” by the cartoonist Jules Feiffer opened on Broadway.The play was about a middle-aged political reporter for The New York Times named Jake who discovers that he is surrounded, at home and work, by emotio…

From the time he first risked death trying to desegregate Nashville lunch counters and register blacks in the South to vote, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was never one to parse his words.“I feel lucky and blessed that I’m serving in the Congr…

Outdoor banners can be seen along gates of shuttered businesses as the show must go on, even during a pandemic.Kew Gardens Arts has put up 45 banners after artists responded to a call for art, following the cancellation of other events. Now p…

A new exhibit by LaGuardia Communtiy College searched no further for its subjects than its own LGBTQ+ faculty to illuminate what it means to be queer in academia.“It’s breathtaking how candid and insightful our faculty and staff were,” said L…

When protesters marched against the Astoria Columbus statue last month, the neighborhood became a battleground against historical monuments of white men with racist and imperialist views.But the Columbus statue is only one front of the politi…

This year’s Live at the Gantries concert series is moving from the Long Island City waterfront to online as an eclectic mix will still deliver performances for fans to enjoy.One group is The Salt Cracker Crazies, a jug band, who can be seen July 21.

As young people across Queens confront a restrictive summer, Queens institutions have stepped up to help them make it through.The Queens Public Library, Queens Museum and New York Hall of Science have all used their resources to come up with …

school teacher from Oakland Gardens Lee DiGeorge has taken the opportunity to connect with fellow trivia lovers across the country during the pandemic by establishing regular games through his Twitch streaming channel, BrokenBuzzer.“When the …

The history section of any library can offer bestsellers about the lost colony of Roanoke; a biography of a famous musician or entertainer; and an analysis of George Washington’s presidency or his victory at the Battle of Trenton.But what if …

Magic, fairy tales, songwriting and a talent show.Queensborough Performing Arts Center’s summer workshops will give kids, teens and adults alike a chance to join in the fun.

In an era when most everyone across the borough is homebound, Queens Library’s Mail-A-Book program has become a viable resource for the general public, reaching audiences beyond its original senior and disabled customer base.“We already have …

Flushing Town Hall will celebrate the life and legacy of NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath, the Music Director of the Queens Jazz Orchestra, in a virtual tribute — “I’m Back Swinging Again! — on Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. Heath, who passed away in J…

Star of the West may never go down in the history of thoroughbred racing with the likes of Secretariat or American Pharoah.But when he crossed the finish line at Belmont Park on June 3, paying $4.90 to win, horse racing was back in the metrop…

Just like you, William Shakespeare lived through a deadly pandemic, but alas, the England of yore lacked Zoom, and when the bubonic plague shut down the Globe and other London theaters, that was that.Luckily for us, Shakespeare used his break…

Jazz legend Louis Armstrong traveled the world, and one day in 1943, had finished a tour and asked a cab driver to take him to the address his wife, Lucille, had given him for the house she bought while he was on the road.He thought something…

While many theaters have been paralyzed as of late by the coronavirus pandemic, Lenny Banovez, co-founder and artistic director of Woodside-based Titan Theatre Co., has seized an opportunity to explore new horizons in an effort to help keep t…

There’s no better way to celebrate the start of social distancing requirements being lifted than a good old-fashioned barbecue. And while there’s always a place for burgers and dogs, this summer might be a good time to go all out with some un…

The stories evoke all aspects of the coronavirus crisis, from paeans to those who have been lost to bewilderment at how radically society was altered in such a short time.One contributor, Nitin Mukul, wrote of having discovered a bicycle repa…

Spring has finally sprung, and Alley Pond Environmental Center is providing virtual programming to viewers across all ages so they can enjoy the season from inside the comfort of their own homes.“Now is a time when fresh air and developing a …

If you could count on anyone to be creative in helping people stay physically and mentally active during the COVID-mandated shutdown, it would be the arts community.And the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning has responded with free rotating…

In the 1966 song “Homeward Bound,” Simon & Garfunkel sing of “Home, where my thought’s escapin’.”Of course, home for both of them was Queens. And they’re just two of many artists to talk up their home borough in their songs, including some hits.

In many of her self-portraits taken among the ruins of an old psychiatric center on Long Island and other abandoned buildings, the artist Christine Carbone flaunts her own beauty, her blonde locks shimmering and her long legs highlighted by s…

You know you’ve arrived when the chef at your favorite restaurant comes out to chat.In a new Queens cookbook, coincidentally released at the perfect time as so many eateries are closed, all the chefs come out, not to just make small talk, but…

It was going to take more than simply an executive order shutting down New York State to stop what has become one of the most popular jazz jam sessions in Queens.Flushing Town Hall hosts a monthly program where up to 20 or so musicians and si…

The Subway Series was an almost-annual affair in the 1950s between the Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers and, once, the Yanks and New York Giants.The Mets and Yankees have only met in the Fall Classic once, which is the subject of Jerry Beach’s ne…