Forgotten Borough contributor Irina Reyn has a great interview up on the Words Without Borders Web site: "The City and the Writer: In Queens with Irina Reyn." As a Queens native, Irina gives great insights here into what makes the borough such a rich hotbed of culture and diversity, and what it's like to live there.
Some wonderful excerpts:
Few people see the beauty in Queens. Unlike Brooklyn, much of Queens does not offer the same picture-perfect brownstone charm. Visitors always seem surprised to find themselves in the Hunters Point historic district in Long Island City or the stately, suburban charm of Forest Hills Gardens or the twinkling bustle of Jackson Heights on a Saturday night. I like it this way—the way Queens lowers expectations. Its many discoveries seem so much more satisfying that way.
In my Queens, passion lives indoors—around the dinner table, in malls and movie theaters and restaurants. Inside delicious, inexpensive beers and carafes of wine. It thrives on human contact. Queens can be a terrible place for solitude.
Read the entire interview at the Words Without Borders site—and thanks for the book plug, Irina! Speaking of...
Order your copy of Forgotten Borough @ SUNY Press, Amazon, or other book retailers.
Above: "Aerial Views of Forest Hills & Rego Park from Howard Apartments, 99-32 66th Rd, Forest Hills, NY" by Rego-Forest Preservation Council on flickr
