As the dog days of summer descend upon New York City, leaving us to wipe sweat from foreheads and sprint from air-conditioned homes to air-conditioned stores, it can be easy to succumb to that which we know: a life perched on the couch, staring at a television.
But, in these long, sunny days, remember that this season will too quickly pass – and there’s no better time than summer to explore this backyard of yours that we call Queens – and beyond.
To that effect, The Forum has put together a guide to summer fun – and we can’t say loud enough: Shed the remote. Go on an adventure – and it doesn’t have to be far. It can be a date night to a restaurant you’ve never been to in Forest Hills, or to see the Bronx Zoo’s dinosaur exhibit with your children.
Want some Thai food on the beach? Take a trek to Rockaway. Or how about taking in a rock concert at Forest Park or learning to jet ski?
Queens and the surrounding area is brimming with possibilities for you and your family this summer – and it is these trips that you will remember, not that episode of “America’s Got Talent.”
Our staff trekked around the borough, and beyond, to share some suggestions with you. And, as we traversed Queens and spoke to people everywhere from the 103-year-old Bohemian Hall & Beer Garden in Astoria to Rockaway’s beaches and the Queens Zoo, it was a good reminder that we, too, can forget just how lucky we are in this borough to have so much available to us, all the time.
We wanted to put together a guide that, no matter your age or your budget, there would be something for you – and we hope we’ve succeeded in that. Because whether you can spend money for an outing to a Mets game or to see China’s premier acrobatics team at Queens Theatre, or you’d rather go see a Billy Joel tribute band for free, it’s in this area – and in our guide.
The Forum plans on doing many more special sections, so we’d love to get your feedback on our summer guide.
Most of all, we want our readers to translate the text and photos on these pages to some new experiences that, years from now, you and your kids can sit around the dinner table and talk about.
As Mark Twain said – “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
