1. Long Island City, Waterfront: If you want to get a good view of New York City from a place that only locals may know about, you want to go here. It’s in western Queens, just across the East River from Midtown Manhattan. You can take the subway to Queens Plaza station to get here. If you’re driving, you can’t miss the big Silver cup Studio sign from Queens Borough Bridge.

2. Union Square Park: This vibrant park is located by Broadway, Parkway Avenue South, bounded by 14^th, and 17^th street. The park is well known for its remarkable statue of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Mahatma Gandhi. The outdoors Union Square Greenmarket is open year round from 8am to 6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with a wide variety of fresh vegetables, and fruits. Some of the well known neighborhoods around are, Chelsea, Flatiron District, New York University, and Greenwich Village.

3. Greenwich Village: A large part of this area is considered to be a historic district, and new construction is highly restricted. It mainly comprises of upper middle class residential neighborhood. It also has a nice campus town atmosphere; NYU, The New School, Yeshiva University’s School of Law are all located here. You can sit in any café, and you’ll find yourself amongst many students. Many celebrities such as Liv Tyler, Uma Thurman live here. Greenwich Village was the setting for the Friends sitcom, and Carrie’s apartment in Sex and the City. It’s definitely a nice place to stroll around or sit at a café, and get a sense of New York living it’s also well known for Washington Square Park.

4. Washington Square Park: The Park sits in the middle surrounded by New York University buildings. The Washington Park arch is a New York Landmark; the fountain in the middle of the park is also a popular meeting destination. The setting of Will Smith’s home and lab in the movie I am legend is located by the square. It’s appeared in many other movies, including, When Harry met Sally.

5. Flushing Meadows Corona Park: This Park located in Queens close to LaGuardia Airport is home to the Mets Shea Stadium, US Open Tennis, Queens Botanical Garden, and Queens Zoo etc. There are trails for biking, jogging, running, skating; there is soccer, baseball, cricket fields. You can enjoy some picnic at many of its grassy lawns, or one of its lakes. The famous Dragon Boat Festival and many other annual festivals are held here. The park is also known for the Unisphere, the huge globe of steel, showing all the continents in the middle of the park. It is an unofficial symbol of Queens, where people from all over the world reside.

6. Jackson Heights: This South East Asian neighborhood located in Queens by the Roosevelt Subway station is a good place to experience the culture. As you walk several blocks, pass by people in their traditional clothes, Gold ( 24 Carat) Jewelry stores, Colorful traditional clothing / sari stores, sweets stores, or grocery stores with all the ethnic food, from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, you might even forget you are in New York. Your taste buds will surely get a treat, eating at one of the many South East Asian restaurants. When you visit Jackson Heights you sort of get a preview to those countries, their culture, and people, without spending thousands in overseas travel!

7. Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk: This is located in the south shore of Long Island in Queens. This is a popular destination for New Yorkers, during the summer. It has playgrounds for kids, and offers volleyball and skating area for the adults. This is the only beach close to the city that offers surfing areas.

8. Fire Island: This is located in the southern side of Long Island. You can enjoy a host of things for free, but the roundtrip ferry ride ticket is $12.50. It is definitely worthwhile to pay this and enjoy this 30 minute ferry ride. Besides enjoying the beach itself, there are lots of other activities you can do. Walk anywhere on the 30 mile shell covered beach, collect the shells, walk by the lighthouse, or watch the surfers etc. You can also rent a bike relatively cheap and go around town, that’ how the locals get around. The only vehicles on the island are that of Emergency Service, and Police. It’s nice to see how the residents here try to live a simpler life.

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