L is for Long Island City

Now for something completely different. Why? Because a little variety can be fun, and because some of you who know me only as a stream of text over the internet might wonder about my "real life" such as it is. Also, as a writer I find it important to pay attention to place; to where you are, the different elements which make up a neighborhood, how to get around. Those of us who are speculative fiction fans have all seen the stories about planets with a single culture, a single demographic, even, seemingly, a single city. We all know that the real world doesn't work that way. So, here are a few slices of an hour of my day as I travel from Bayside (in the Eastern part of Queens) to Long Island City, just across the river from Manhattan. 

Here I am leaving home and getting  ready to board the Q28 bus.

And in the city of Flushing, Queens. Home of, amongst other things, the New York Mets. Sadly for the dignity of out borough, Flushing was one of the first settlements on Long Island.

Descending into the bowels of the earth!

And arriving at the penultimate stop before the train crosses into Manhattan.

And here we are. I ran into one of our admins on the way down the block, and am now ready to start another day. 

I'll end with a photo of Gantry Park, on the East River. Long Island City's past, as an industrial center, required the unloading of freight from barges onto rail. The park has been built with re-constructed gantries as decorative elements, and a bit of a rail motif in some parts of an open plaza. There are also piers for walking, sunbathing, and even fishing. It's a neat blend of the neighborhood's past and present, as it slowly gentrifies.

Tomorrow we'll get back to either writing or technology with the letter 'M'