#CapturedInQueens - Brian Arnez

Woodside: 

Brian Arnez is a Graphic Design Media Specialist who hails from Woodside Queens, with heavy Bolivian roots.

Growing up Brian attended P.S. 12 James B. Colgate in Woodside from Kindergarten through 5th grade, then I.S. 125 Thomas J. Mccann also in Woodside for his junior high school years from 6th through the 8th grade. 

He ventured out of his home neighborhood and into Long Island City to attend Robert F. Wagner Jr. Secondary School for Arts & Technology, then stayed in LIC to attend LaGuardia Community College. 

At LaGuardia Community College he received Undergrad Associates Degree in New Media Studies in 2017 then went on to Queens College; to receive his Undergrad Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts - Design in 2020.

Of his creative process while at work and on his free time, “Nothing ever comes in easy and we do have to make sacrifices in our lives to achieve want we want.” 

He adds, “I got a creative imagination that most people think I’m unrealistic about it, but I can only think that my personality and sense of humor is what separates me from the rest in a positive way.”

When he is not excelling at his day job in the media world Brian is dedicated to working out in the mornings, playing soccer, designing shirts and investigating anything that involves instructions. 

He also takes a particularly special pride and joy with his participation as a dancer with the Bolivian Caporal group, “Caporales San Simon NY.”

The Caporales San Simon NY are an off-shoot of the Bolivian based Fraternidad Folklórica y Cultural Caporales Universitarios de San Simón ("Caporales San Simón"). 

The group was founded in Cochabamba, Bolivia on November 22, 1978 by a group of residents from Oruro, Bolivia, alumni of the "Universidad Mayor de San Simón", for the purpose of retaining and growing its ancient customs. This group of youths decided to create a dance group of Caporales as a means to demonstrate their devotion to the Virgin Mary of the Socavón as well as to be able to participate in the Carnival in Oruro. For this reason, the "Universidad Mayor de San Simón" gives them support as it considers them a positive representation of Bolivian folklore.” - via @wikipedia

Brian’s favorite soccer teams are FC Barcelona, Man City, NYC FC, Club Bolivar and locally roots for the New York Knicks. 

Come out to meet Brian and his dance group Caporales San Simon in Jackson Heights on Saturday October 22nd at 12:00noon for the Bolivian Day Parade.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez Photo by Brian Arnez


"To Queens, With Love" Part 1

Anthoula Lelekidis is a Greek-American lens-based artist who utilizes photography, printmaking, and mixed media in her practice. Her work navigates themes of personal memory, loss, and migration. With a deep interest in the archive, she alters found family photos to interpret a deeper tie to her heritage and uncover ancestral roots within blank spaces of her recollection. This investigation and the need for an individualized story, act as a meditation between the realm of post-memory and realization. 

Based in Queens, N.Y., the Astoria native connects the pieces of her Greek upbringing between Greece and Astoria with her photo project titled "Fragments of the Diaspora."

Currently, Anthoula is showcasing her photo project alongside other Queens based artists Salvador Espinoza & Julie Thompson as a collaborative effort titled, "To Queens, With Love" in Astoria Park. This exhibit showcases the history, tradition and stories of Queens. These three lens-based artists explore personal histories and memories, the impacts of gentrification, and the unique, diverse neighborhoods of the borough. The exhibit was curated by Julie Thompson and presented by Photoville.

Photoville is a New York-based non-profit organization that promotes photography and visual storytelling by producing free annual festivals and exhibits. Photoville exhibits were made possible with the support of NYC Parks.

Recently, we sat with Anthoula, virtually at least, and asked her some questions about her work. Anthoula is no stranger to Queenscapes as she has been a long-time follower and supporter of our Instagram page and has even served as a contributor to a few of our early exhibits. She showed her works at the now defunct Queens Collective in LIC in 2016 for our #RootedInQueens16 exhibit and then again at the Greater Astoria Historical Society in Astoria for the #HikeToHellGate17 show.

Anthoula, before we start any questions about your photo project, we want to firstly congratulate you on bringing this genuine story of Astoria back home for all of your neighbors to enjoy. Salute to you!

Thank you so much Steve! I really appreciate the opportunity to share my work here on your platform!

Tell us about your upbringing in Astoria. What schools did you attend growing up in Astoria? What was your favorite Astoria place or spot and is it still around?

I grew up as a first-generation Greek-American born and raised in Astoria. My parents emigrated here in the early 1980s after my grandparents came in the 1970s. As a teenager interested in art, I auditioned and was accepted to Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, majoring in Fine Arts. After graduating, I attended Parsons School of Design and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. My favorite spot in Astoria has to be Rose & Joes Bakery on 31st Street near the Ditmars Blvd station because it brings back many memories of growing up. In middle school, my mom used to take me there everyday after school for a square slice of pizza. Luckily, it's still around and I visit often in order to support the local mom and pop shops.

Tell us about the initial motivation behind "Fragments of the Diaspora" and when did you start the project?

Centering on themes of personal history, loss, and migration, my most recent body of work, Fragments of Diaspora, first emerged from image transfers using found family photographs at home on my coffee table during the pandemic.  I have always had an interest in family archives and believe family objects can be a rich source for storytelling. After collecting a wide range of photos from family albums, both in New York and Greece, I began to organize an archive of my own. Collage and image transfer have become techniques for me to create photographs without the use of a camera and lends itself perfectly to the formal qualities found in everyday domestic photographs. The physicality of the techniques stays true to the era that these photos were pulled from - the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.  These processes allow me to deconstruct and rejoin various moments of time, both literally and figuratively. After reading Marianne Hirsch’s book, The Generation of Postmemory, the  idea of ‘postmemory’ became a great inspiration to me.  In this text, the term ‘postmemory’ explains the relationship that the ‘generation after’ has to the collective and cultural trauma of those who preceded them. My intimate investigation and need for an individualized story, act as a meditation between the realm of postmemory and realization. 

Can you explain a bit on the photo process and or treatment of how you combined and merged so beautifully these images of old and new?

By combining fragments of my own photographs with personal family images, I reassemble a new collection of memories. My process is not controlled and is fairly intuitive. I look for similarities in facial expressions, gestures, body stance and backgrounds. The detailed physical rips resemble the splitting of families who fled from their homeland due to war or poverty -  a narrative similar to my family’s own who fled to Greece during the Pontic genocide. At the same time, there is a calm property to the tears that doesn’t fully interrupt the overall composition and reflects my careful reprocessing of these family heirlooms. The mixture of found photos also touches upon the idea of fading and forgotten memories - those stories that were not passed down to me and cannot be completely illustrated.

Why are the themes of migration - diaspora a source of inspiration?

A large part of my identity stems from my Pontic Greek roots. Both of my great grandmothers survived the Greek genocide as refugees from Pontos, while my great-grandfathers did not. For context, the Greek Genocide happened in the early 1900s, where thousands of Greeks including Pontic Greeks were exiled from their home, which is current day Turkey, under the rule of the Ottoman empire. My grandparents later emigrated to New York City in the late 1970s and often spoke of their motherland. The lives of diaspora are often filled with a deep yearning for home, and the need to create a life away from it. These feelings of nostalgia were subliminally passed down to me through the generations - even though I wasn’t born in Greece, I too feel a deep connection to their homeland and use this as inspiration for my work. Much of my work also highlights the story of my mother, who was born in Makedonia and came to the states as a child. Reflecting on her story of assimilation, I began to illustrate her journey of migration through the use of family archives mixed together with my own photographs of Greece. In this way I began to develop my own version of a family album, one in which I can insert myself in the timeline of my ancestors; Re-combining and Re-creating in community with them.

Has this project offered you any new discoveries since you have introduced it to the public?

Sharing the work with the public has definitely brought a new format to view the work. Not only are the images close to 10x the size of the originals, the textures and rips in the paper become more apparent when blown up to that size. I have also gotten the chance to meet up with so many friends and family who visited the exhibit over the span of the past few months - something very different from an indoor gallery or exhibition setting. Being in Astoria Park and having the chance for anyone to just walk by and become familiar with the work is a huge opportunity for me to showcase to those living in my own neighborhood. Also, the fact that the work is being displayed on the same street that my family emigrated to in the 70s is extra special, as multiple generations of my family have grown up in and around the park.

Folks, Anthoula's latest exhibit "To Queens, With Love" is currently on display at Astoria Park until the end of this month Wednesday, August 30th and is located on 19th Street and 23rd Terrace. Head out while the weather is still nice and allows you to take in and absorb the exhibit a little longer. Trust us, you will not be disappointed!

Words by Anthoula Lelekidis & Adolfo Steve Vazquez, photo by Anthoula Lelekidis


“A Diehard’s Eye”

Adam Blejer, Creator, @facesofmetsfans

“When I first started, I just wanted to get a few people I could talk to.” 

An admitted extrovert and multi-talented creative, Adam started with fine art charcoal drawings and drawing realism. His journey into photography though did not start until 2009, when he purchased his first camera, a Nikon d5300. The New Rochelle native really got the creative juices flowing in overdrive when he moved out to Brooklyn to live with a group of artists. He took photos every chance he could find.  

It was living in Brooklyn, that one day he decided to take his camera aboard the 7 train and make his way to Citifield, and start a project revolving around the passion he had for his favorite baseball team. That first day, April 4th 2018, Adam recorded 20 stories of Mets fans.  

Adam’s biggest goals are firstly to get @facesofmetsfans a larger following on Instagram than the New York Mets and secondly, to organize a watch party that will be the single largest collection of Mets fans at one location ever. His projected number is 150,000 attendees. 

When asked if he would go out of the scope of his project if given a chance to interview his and everyone else’s favorite Met, Jacob deGrom, Adam responds, “I would rather go into the booth and get a story from Gary Cohen.” 

Tomorrow starting at 4:00pm, Adam co-hosts his first ever Mets watch party with @flushingdreamspod at AleWife Brewing located at 41-11 39th Street, Sunnyside, Queens.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez Photo by Jason “GeeQue” Gomez

Giving Thursday 2020 - The Greater Astoria Historical Society

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GivingTuesday, often stylized as #GivingTuesday for the purposes of hashtag activism, refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the United States. It is touted as a "global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world.”

Today, on this GivingTuesday we want to focus our attention to an organization we are linked with, The Greater Astoria Historical Society (GAHS). 

The Greater Astoria Historical Society is a non-profit cultural and historical organization located in the Astoria neighborhood of QueensNew YorkUnited States, dedicated to preserving the past and promoting the future of the neighborhoods that are part of historic Long Island City, including the Village of AstoriaBlissvilleBowery BayDutch KillsHunters PointRavenswoodSteinway Village, and Sunnyside.

Pictured above is Bob Singleton, the Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society with the kids of the nearby Riis Academy on Friday May 7th 2016 for the “Rediscovering Ravenswood” program at the old GAHS headquarters located at the Quinn Building on Broadway.

At the time the Riis Academy was the largest youth services provider in western Queens, and consisted of youth who are residents of Ravenswood and Queensbridge Houses.

The “Rediscovering Ravenswood” program was specifically geared to the youth of Ravenswood Houses with the goal of providing them with a positive perspective of their neighborhood from local photographers, myself, Adolfo Steve Vazquez and Salvador Espinoza.

Our focus that day was to educate the kids on little known historical facts about their hometown, engage them with our photo exhibits, #LastNovemberinAQ & “We Will Be Here” and engage them with a local photo challenge.

I will always remember how much fun the kids had with us that day and at the end of the program how proud they looked when we expressed to them that we valued the visual perspective of their home.

To help us create more programs like “Rediscovering Ravenswood” as well as to continue all the varied programming we create for ALL groups interested on upholding the integrity of Queens history please click on the link below and contribute today:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DNMAJVTLTKFTS

Photos and words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

Throwback Thursday

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“On the early morning of December 20, 1986, a white mob attacked three stranded African Americans in Howard Beach, an insular predominately white community in the borough of Queens.  

On that night, four African American men, Cedric Sandiford, 36, Timothy Grimes, 20, Michael Griffith, 23, and Curtis Sylvester, 20, were traveling in a 1976 Buick from their Brooklyn neighborhood to Queens to collect Griffith’s paycheck. When the Buick stalled on Cross Bay Boulevard, near Howard Beach, Griffith, Sandiford, and Grimes walked to Howard Beach to locate a pay phone.

The three entered Howard Beach at midnight and were immediately confronted by a small group of white pedestrians, who yelled racial slurs and told them to get out of their neighborhood. However, by then hungry and tired, the men decided to dine and rest at the New Park Pizzeria on Cross Bay Boulevard.

When Sandiford, Grimes, and Griffith left the restaurant at 12:40 a.m., a mob of twelve white youth awaited them with baseball bats, tire irons, and tree limbs.  

The gang, led by Jon Lester, 17, included Salvatore DeSimone, 19, William Bollander, 17, James Povinelli, 16, Michael Pirone, 17, John Saggese, 19, Jason Ladone, 16, Thomas Gucciardo, 17, Harry Bunocore, 18, Scott Kern, 18, Thomas Farino, 16, and Robert Riley, 19.

The mob attacked Griffith and Sandiford.  Grimes, who drew a knife on the angry mob, escaped with minor injuries.  

Sandiford begged, “God, don’t kill us” before Lester knocked him down with a baseball bat.  With the mob in hot pursuit, the severely beaten Griffith ran the nearby Belt Parkway where he jumped through a small hole in a fence adjacent to the highway.  

As he staggered across the busy six-lane expressway, trying to escape his attackers, he was hit and instantly killed by a car driven by Dominic Blum, a court officer and son of a New York police officer.”

Words by Dwayne Mack photo by Sylvia Plachy 

Queenscapes Totes for Queens.

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For some time now, we have been trying to figure out the best way we could help a reeling, yet still united, Queens community in these most difficult of days. 

It became clear and evident to us that the most impactful work is happening via local fundraising. 

It is the through the local work of community organizations and grassroots organizers that the funds for the areas most in need are addressed most accurately and disbursed most efficiently.

With that being said, we have identified Centro Corona’s Mutual Aid Network, where donations go to a creating a food budget and emergency cash assistance in our borough’s hardest hit neghborhood AND the Queens Community House’s YouthBuild program, a program that helps at-risk youth and teens get prepared for thriving and promising futures.

Today, we look to assist the fundraising duties of both these organizations with the sale of Queenscapes merchandise, available for a limited time.

For $29.99, you will receive a large black and white classic Queenscapes tote bag as well as sticker pack of 5 small Queenscapes stickers. Portions of the proceeds will be directly donated to both Centro Corona and the Queens Community House. 

Pre-sale starts right now, with items shipping out on Monday, August 24th 2020.

#QueenscapesTotesForQueens

It ALL starts with US.

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Right now the racial turmoil in this country is at the highest it’s been in a really long time.

Racism, but more specifically, anti-blackness is not just practiced by our police system in this country, it is everywhere.

Anti-blackness exists in all of the cities of this country, in every single one of our neighborhoods. Even within our black and brown inner city neighborhoods, within our Latino communities, we exhibit anti-blackness and discrimination against our own people.

The disease of anti-blackness starts in our own homes. This uncomfortable realization must spark uncomfortable conversations within our own families.

It is no longer acceptable to make jokes or chide each other about the colors of our skin, just because we are black or brown ourselves. That accepted form of communication needs to stop immediately. Our language needs to change now.

The old "terms of endearment" we used amongst ourselves, can no longer be accepted. We must expect better from ourselves, we must evolve from our old forms of communication, today, right now.

We must demand from ourselves, what we demand from the rest of the country, from the rest of the world.

Let’s hold ourselves accountable today, right now. Then tomorrow we unite.

Then we plan, we organize, we mobilize.

#BlackIsBeautiful

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez photo by Duane Garay

#QUbits

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In an effort to engage our community a little more and change things up a bit, we have started the #QUbits Photo Contest on our Queenscapes Instagram feed.

Starting this morning and continuing every Saturday morning from here on out, we are re-sharing 10 photographs that only show portions of Queens locations, that have already been hashtagged #Queenscapes on Instagram by our faithful QS community.

The participant that direct messages us on our page with the most correct answers, by Saturday mornings end, will win a set of 6 small Queenscapes logo stickers.

We do not ask for anything in return. We’re not looking for likes, follows, shout-outs or referrals. We only ask you to participate and DM us your best guesses.

Since lately we can’t get around the neighborhoods we used to, in the same way we used to, we hope that this weekly contest serves as a way for you to sharpen up those Queens geographical chops, virtually.

AND if you are a fan of small cheap stickers, you can’t go wrong.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez Photo by Justine Comeau

#Covid19GAHS: “A Narrative of Long Island City – Astoria During the Pandemic”

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Since last month we have highlighted a bunch of virtual programs on social media, including our own, which expressly call for the residents of Queens to tell their stories during this unprecedented health crisis.

Starting with the #GraceofQU2020 photo series, which we introduced back on March 15th, the idea behind most of these programs is to get our Queens neighbors actively involved with the present day.

Below is a list of those Queens organizations, their projects and their focuses:

  1. Queenscapes - #GraceofQU2020 – Sharing positive and creative photographic Queens stories of coping with grace.

  2. Queens Memory Project - #QueensCovid – Gathering the stories of today as a testament to the struggles and resiliency of the World’s Borough.

  3. Meanwhile Back in Queens - #QueensLovesQueens – Collecting stories and sharing resources with the residents of Queens.

Today, we are proud to introduce another Queens virtual documenting project we not only stand behind, but also will be an active participant in developing.

Starting today and until the foreseeable future we are collaborating with the Greater Astoria Historical Society and their project, #Covid19GAHS: “A Narrative of Long Island City – Astoria During the Pandemic.”

#Covid19GAHS is a direct community call to document a pandemic. For a generation the Greater Astoria Historical Society has been recording and documenting our Long Island City— the people and neighborhoods of Old Astoria Village, Astoria Park, Steinway, Ditmars, Bowery Bay, Ravenswood, Astoria Broadway, Dutch Kils, Queens Plaza, Hunters Point, Sunnyside, Sunnyside Gardens, and Blissville – telling the stories from their communities’ founding through this present day.

Folks, starting right now, please use the hashtag #Covid19GAHS on all of your photos taken since the start of the Covid-19 crisis last month in any of the many neighborhoods of Astoria and Long Island City. If you want to share your written stories you can also share them directly on the Greater Astoria Historical Society’s website astorialic.org.

As an added bonus, all the photos with the hashtag #Covid19GAHS will directly be uploaded to their website as well. So, if you want credit for your photos, please add your first and last name to each photo tagged on Instagram.

We look eagerly look forward to seeing all of your amazing photos, and seeing and reading all of your amazing stories of Astoria & Long Island City today!

Words and photo by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

#GraceofQueens2020

Folks, for at least the next couple of weeks, we want you to help us, keep the spirits high in the World’s Greatest Borough in these obviously tumultuous times.

Starting today we are turning over our page to YOU.

We are looking to showcase the amazing folks of Queens who post content that exhibit:

  • community minded efforts 

  • creative social distancing activities

  • culturally specific home projects

  • family scrapbooking

With #GraceofQU2020 we want you all to tell us your Queens story of solidarity and strength, with all the grace of a true Queens kid.

We will re-post your stories on our feed to help one another cope in these tough times, and we are looking to post the most culturally responsible and community focused content. 

So folks, starting right now, just apply the hashtag #GraceofQU2020 to all your Queens photos (old or new) that touch on any or all of the community strengthening ideas outlined above, and we will repost your content on these pages!

Everyone please let us all stay as informative, insightful, inclusive but most importantly positive as possible for the unknown foreseeable future. We got this.

Special thank you to Mo Hassan of @meanwhilebackinqueens for the inspiration and feedback, and expect us to be combining efforts of Queens solidarity soon!

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

L.I.C’S Best Kept Secret - The Secret Theatre

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In January 2005, longtime musician, playwright & actor Richard Mazda, formed his own acting troupe, “The Queens Players.”

Mazda, a British transplant, founded the acting company, 3 months after making Queens his official home. He told the Queens Courier back in 2011 about the reason he found the acting company, “New York artists possess a bravery and courage stylistically linked to the soul of the city. This is a courageous town and that influence seeps into the pores of the armies of people who come here to study. I wanted to provide an opportunity for these people.”

Eventually, due to the popularity of the acting company, Mazda founded the Secret Theatre two years later in 2007, effectively, finding a permanent home for the troupe.

Here is what we officially know about The Secret Theatre:

The Secret Theatre is an Off-Off-Broadway Theatre in Long Island City that can seat slightly under fifty audience members. The theatre has a ‘repertory’ style policy of mounting an average of over 9 mainstage productions in a year.

We also know that while the theatre’s productions are much smaller in size and scale, their shows are always very well received. They also do not lack ambition, consistently taking on re-productions of much larger Broadway shows.

This past weekend, after so many years, we finally had the chance to experience our first ever show and attended “Princess Particular,” an interactive family musical geared for children.

Literally tucked away on 23rd Street, to the left of the LIC Arts Center and under the shadow of the elevated 7 train, you have to walk through a huge steel sliding gate and past an actual loading dock just to get to the door.

Just getting to the door, you almost feel like you have earned your way into the area. It is as if you successfully completed a journey that led you through the remnants of old industrial Long Island City, and into today’s L.I.C.

Once you get inside you’re struck with how tiny the reception area is. In the way they accommodate the place, you feel as if you are in your own unfinished living room, a bunch of spare parts laying around, but still undoubtedly home.

The reception area infused us with a bunch of feelings of intrigue and wonder. So many questions swirled around in our thoughts:

How would the stage look? How would or could these folks pull of a show that everyone would rave about, in such a constricted and narrow space?

After an hour of some truly inspiring performances, we left the place understanding why the place was so magical, and why you must experience it for yourself, to truly understand.

The Secret Theatre is located at 44-02 23rd Street, in Long Island City, Queens. Click on the link below to find out what’s playing and when:

https://secrettheatre.com/whats-on/

Photo and words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

A Letter to our Community

We recently learned some invaluable lessons from the members of our Queenscapes community.

A couple of weeks ago, in an Instagram post on the Queenscapes page promoting the sale of the “At Home In Queens” 2020 calendars distributed by the Queens Economic Development Corporation, we shared a photo of the former home of Malcolm X, one of the historic Queens houses featured in the calendar. The only photos we could find of Malcolm X in his East Elmhurst home on 97th Street were those taken either in the days leading up to, or immediately after the house was firebombed in 1965.

Beneath that post, someone left a racist comment about the assassination of Malcolm X. We won’t repeat the comment here (it has since been removed and the account has been blocked from our community for their flagrant disregard and antagonization of the space we want to build here.)

Our response to this racist comment was to inquire further. For that misstep and for all those missteps that followed we want to apologize to our community, and more specifically, to the women who called us out and held us to the very standard we’ve always promised to uphold. We hope to continue to strive forward in this way: always accountable, always teachable.

Our team is invested in this platform and embedded in this community. We are the product of the very cultures we hope to expose and further enrichen. After a series of long, impassioned conversations followed by a bit of meditation on what it is we want to be building towards, we came away with two important lessons:

  • We must always be accountable for whatever harm is willfully induced upon our community on this platform. We decide which voices have space here. We are responsible for the space we create here.

  • We represent a wide, intersecting swath of communities, but our team is a small group of folks. We run Queenscapes collectively, and our voice should be unified, always.

We won’t go into any further details here about the event that precipitated this post. This space is meant to hold an apology to our community and a reassertion of their trust in us.

And we are grateful and fortunate for the women who held us accountable. They’ve accepted personal apologies from us, and for that we are further grateful. We promise to do better.

Lastly, this is Queenscapes. On this platform, we are dedicated to actively combatting racism, sexism, classism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and any and all other forms of oppression. We are committed to doing the work that is sorely needed in our varied communities throughout our cherished borough.

Welcome to Queens.


Words by the Queenscapes team

How was Neirs Tavern saved?

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A lot of people have been asking us, how EXACTLY was Neirs Tavern saved?

While most of this story is already well documented, no one comes close to recounting detail by detail, like our dear friend, fellow #Neirs190 Committee member, and all around Queens advocate Ruben Ramales.

Here’s his account via his Instagram page @rubentaughtme this past Sunday:

“Friday, January 10, 2020, 10:30PM – Loy and Neirs supporters listening to the NY1 coverage of Neirs Tavern being saved How did we end here?

In early 2009, Loycent Gordon and partners stepped in to save Neirs from closing its doors. Restored the mahogany bars and reopened as Neirs Tavern.

Fast forward 10 years…. Wednesday, Jan 8, 2020, Loycent, owner of Neirs Tavern makes an emotional announcement that he would have to shut down on Sundat after a tough year of paying higher rent and therefore losing money and another rent hike imminent.

Everyone in the room was heartbroken.

Thursday, Jan 9, 2020, Loy makes a public statement, a letter he writes to his customers via email. The letter starts getting picked up by outlets and NYTimes publishes their article. By Thursday evening, every local and NYC paper has reported on Neirs. The community is active on the ground and social, trying to get the word out and hoping for a last minute save.

At this point, folks at the Queens Chamber of Commerce were already trying to see what could be done meanwhile the New York City Department of Small Business Services was also about to play their part Friday, Jan 10, 2020, Loy calls in to the Brian Lehrer Show and gets through, getting the opportunity to speak about Neirs to the New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio. DeBlasio says on air he will help out Neirs.

By Friday afternoon, a meeting was taking place between local electeds Assemblymember Mike Miller, Councilmember Bob Holden , Queens Chamber CEO, the Queens Economic Development Corporation, NYC Small Business Services, property owner, and Loy to strike a deal, and a handshake deal ensues.

By Friday late afternoon, rumors start leaking of this deal but nothing official.

By 5pm, we start hearing that Mayor DeBlasio will be making an announcement at 8pm at Neirs.

Just after 8pm, Loy walks in with the mayor and it is announced that Neirs was saved. And just like that, history is made and Neirs lives to see another day.

Today, Sunday, Jan 12, 2020 was supposed to be the last day, and instead we can embrace this moment in history that reminds us that the little guy can win and miracles can still happen, but most importantly COMMUNITY is EVERYTHING! #NeirsforYears”

Words and photograph by Ruben Ramales.

School of Hard Knocks - A 25th Anniversary

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Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Kenny Smith….

These were some of the last group of universally recognizable Queens names on the back of the Von’s School of Hard Knocks t-shirt, produced on this day in 1995, 25 years ago.

With each new shirt produced from that day forward, more names, businesses and Queens locations were added. Each time a new shirt was released, the popularity of the garment would grow throughout all of Queens’ inner cities. Before they ultimately took a break in making the iconic t-shirt, they would have notable Queens names filling up the entirety of the back of the shirt.

Some back history:

Von Murray came to United States in 1968 and quickly followed the American Dream by becoming a business owner and opening up Murray’s Shoe Repair on 106-11 Northern Boulevard, in Corona, Queens. The original store fixed shoes and also created custom women footwear and handbags.

Von eventually became immersed in the surrounding Corona community, a historically African American enclave. As President of the Northern Boulevard Business Association, Von received credit for leading and transforming the area all while revitalizing the Northern Boulevard businesses.

In 1985, Von’s son Gerard joined his father and together they turned the shop into a younger and more culturally relatable clothing and sneaker shop.

The store became a go-to place for the urban Queens youth, and in 1990 Von’s was the first black owned business in the United States to have an account with the global sneaker giant, Nike. In 1992, Gerard introduced the “School of Hard Knocks” moniker, a theme created to help the brand connect more to the area’s identity.

in 1995, the first Queens 7 t-shirt debuted, featuring the number “7” on the front, and the notable Queens names on the back.

Gerard is quoted in the April 2004 edition of the Queens Chronicle, “Everyone’s story of where they came up is different. Brooklyn cats think they are tough. Queens contributed to Hip Hop. If there was no Queens, there would be no Hip Hop, and I realized I was proud to be from Queens. The shirt is a little bit of pride, a little bit of bragging.”

On their own the Murray’s decided to close its doors on August 2010 and have successfully shifted the focus of their company and currently produce apparel for historic black universities.

The brand S.O.H.K name however still lives on. Click on the link https://www.shoplhp.com/collections/queens for a chance to relieve the golden age of an authentic and proud Queens brand.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez, Photography & Historical Footnotes by Gerard Murray

A Men’s Coat Drive in Queens - #QUCaresDrive19

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“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.”

Two weeks ago, I put out feelers on my personal IG page to see if I could gain some traction for a last minute coat drive in Queens. While, we were able to organize our first one last year, this year we lacked the available time and resources to pull it off.

Then I was reminded of the brutality of a winter in New York City while riding the subway. On my journey home from work, I came across the iconic New York Cares ad, which depicts a shivering Statue of Liberty sitting down holding her knees.

At that moment I remembered what my father used to say about how New York winters made an already tough city, much tougher. It was at that moment I remembered that the image of that Statue of Liberty was my primary inspiration to organize our 1st ever winter drive.

So, while I knew I did not have the physical resources available to us this year, I knew if the community rallied around me, we could pull something off.

Within minutes of posting, we had coats, we had support and we had a drop-off location.

Inspired, I went to work on the details.  

This year’s drive will solely consist of men’s coats and will benefit the male residents of the Borden Ave Veterans Residence in Long Island City Queens.

The Borden Ave Veterans Residence is a tough place with tough residents who just months ago dealt with two cases of the deadly Legionnaires disease. It’s a place that holds men that have served and sacrificed for our country and now are without homes.

Also because the Borden Ave shelter is a temporary residence, the folks currently there will all be moving soon. Having them take along something as important and essential as coat, is something we want to help facilitate.

Thank you Alexander Richter, Dee Rea & Carla Moscosco, (in that order), it is because of you guys we have a coat drive.

Flyer and words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

Q.E.D.C X Queenscapes: 2020 Queens Calendar

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I was approached by Rob MacKay, Director of Public Relations, Marketing & Tourism of the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), at the end of October about hiring me to help with shooting their 2020 Queens calendar.

Rob told me that along with Seth Bornstein, Executive Director of the QEDC, that next years theme for their calendar would be historic homes in Queens.

Bornstein talks about the theme of the upcoming calendar in QEDC’s latest newsletter, “The borough has more than 850,000 living units, but we chose 13 socially significant residences. Some are centuries old, others are architectural treasures, and some are simple. What makes them special is what happened inside.”

I am fortunate to have 4 photos of the Queens selected to be featured in QEDC’s 2020 calendar. Which houses you ask? Which months will they be featured in? I can’t tell you that folks. You’ll have to purchase the calendar yourself to find out.

Contact Rob Mackay via email at rmackay@queensny.org and put your order in ASAP! Each calendar cost $10.00 and proceeds will go to ALL the Queens’ historic sites as well as the Queens Tourism Council.

Words and photo by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

Queenscapes Instagram Take Over - Roy Martinez

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“Some people think they are in community, but they are only in proximity. True community requires commitment and openness. It is a willingness to extend yourself to encounter and know the other.”     

It is in this vein that we choose to involve and engage our social media community. We thought it was an instinctive way to support the perspectives of the folks that have supported us by giving you all a chance to display your unique points of view.

So as of yesterday we have handed over complete content control of our Queenscapes Instagram feed to Roy Martinez @corrduroy.  

Roy is a proud Queens representative, who has been a supporter of ours since the early days. He has collaborated with us on a bunch of exhibits and programs throughout the borough and just last year he helped us organize and co-curate #FMCoronaPark18 Exhibit at the Queens Museum.

He is a phenomenal photographer with a great sense of what makes Queens special and we feel fortunate to have him represent the team. We hope you all enjoy his work just as much as we have over the years.

To learn more about Roy peep the #CapturedInQueens profile we posted on our page a couple months back:

Words and photo by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

Queenscapes pick of the Month - Planton Movil @ the Queens Museum

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Plantón Móvil is an ongoing project by artist Lucia Monge. Produced in collaboration with local communities, this iteration explores migration and plant-human relationships, specifically from the perspective of local immigrant communities and how they connect to their heritage as well as the green spaces of the city.

Lucia Monge started bringing people and plants together as Plantón Móvil in Lima, Peru. This is a participatory, walking forest performance that occurs annually and leads to the creation of public green areas.

“Plantón” is the word in Spanish for a sapling, a young tree that is ready to be planted into the ground. It is also the word for a sit-in. This project takes on both: the green to be planted and the peaceful protest. It is about giving plants and trees the opportunity to “walk” down the streets of a city that is also theirs. This walking forest performance culminates with the creation of a public green area.

Schedule: 

12-2pm: Building Plant-Human Connectors Workshop

Join us for this drop-in workshop where we will build unique carrying devices tailored to the specific needs and dimensions of the plant you will be walking with, as well as share stories of our plant-human relationships. 

2-5pm: Plantón Móvil 

The collective walk will depart from the Queens Museum after a welcome by the artist. The 30 min. walk through Flushing Meadows Corona Park will be accompanied by music and culminate in a tree planting ceremony.

For more information and updates, please visit the Plantón Móvil event page on our website. With additional questions, please contact: cgrau@queensmuseum.org

Flashback Friday - #QueenscapesReads

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In honor of #FlashbackFriday, we go back to October 2014, over 6 years ago, for our first collaboration with the Queens Library.

Back then the Queenscapes project was still a solo endeavor, and the handle of our Instagram page was: @Mr.Queenscapes. Thankfully, the name didn’t last long and I shortened it to something that made more sense to us and who we are as a group.

It was while I was sitting in the Main Street - Flushing branch of the Queens Library when I realized that I was just followed by the Queens Library’s Instagram page. I thought the coincidence was super eery, but I also immediately realized that I needed to respond back quickly, while the follow was still fresh.

In an effort to help the Queens Library get more exposure on their Instagram page as well as promote readership throughout the borough I came up with #QueenscapesReads.

The idea was simple:

Take over the Queens Library Instagram page for a week with my own original photos for one week. Each day, I would post a photo of a selected Queens Library branch along with a quote from a novel, short story or poem based in the matching neighborhood of the selected branch.

The take over was well received and also eventually lead to working with the Queens Library on some pretty cool collaborations.

Attached below is press we received from the dearly departed DNAinfo for the #QueenscapesReads. The piece was written by our Queens comrade Katie Honan and current City Hall scribe for the Wall Street Journal:

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141029/jackson-heights/photographer-shows-off-queens-library-borough-lit-instagram-project/

Words and photo by Adolfo Steve Vazquez

Queen of Astoria 2nd Annual School Supply Drive

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“Genius is in the idea. Impact, however, comes from action.” 

For the last 7 years, it’s been a pleasure to watch how adopted Astoria, Queens resident Ashley Dean has rallied the folks of this borough with a multitude of different community events.

I’ve been inspired with how smoothly she can transition from organizing a St. Patrick’s Day bar crawl on the outskirts of Little Egypt to creating a monthly birthday celebration for the children of the Pan Am Hotel homeless shelter in a largely ignored section of Elmhurst.

And now with summer fading fast, and the school year just weeks away, Ashley represents for her Astoria neighborhood yet again, by presenting her 2nd Annual Queen of Astoria School Supply Drive & After Work Mixer.

Join us this Thursday evening at August 15th 2019 at Katch Astoria as we collaborate with @QofAstoria for an awesome night of fun that will also benefit the young participants of Queens Community House.

Suggested Donations: Pens, Pencils, Highlighters, Calculators, 3-Ring Binders, Folders, Loose Leaf Paper. In lieu of school supplies, a monetary $5 donation is suggested. If you cannot attend, donations will be accepted until tomorrow Wednesday August 13th at Mount Sinai Queens locations.

Music by DJ Ray BLK.

Event co-sponsored by Queenscapes, Katch Astoria, Escape2NY, Dogfish Head, Mount Sinai Queens.

Words by Adolfo Steve Vazquez Flyer by Queen of Astoria