Queens, NY. In some areas, it is as congested as Manhattan Island. In other areas, it has a lower population density than other suburban areas. Today's mission was to find a parking spot in a moderately congested part of Queens, and then stay with RQS for a couple of nights.
But first....
I have been going to the same location to have my taxes done for almost 50 years. This doesn't mean that I have been going to the same business for 50 years. For the first 48 of these years, I have used the same tax person that my parents used for their business. When she retired, she recommended the person who took over the location and opened a new business of her own. This was my first destination for the day.
To give you an idea of where I was going, Corona is a section of Queens that became predominantly Hispanic over the part 50 years. It is much more common to hear Spanish being spoken here, and to find people who can't speak English. I'd bet that a very large portion of the area's residents are illegal, and will soon be terrorized by the Orange Snowflake's crackdown on immigrants, legal and illegal. Bur I digress. For now, Corona is still a vibrant community, a region of New York City where I feel safe to visit in the day time.
Normally, it is hard to find a parking spot in Corona. Yet, I easily found one less than 300 feet away from my tax lady's office. Although I put $2.00 in the meter for 90 minutes, I could have put in only $0.50 for 30 minutes - I was in and out of her office that quickly. Then it was off to RQS's place. And that's where the "fun" began. Or, I should say, that's where I started having a little bit of bad luck with traffic.
Cross neighborhood traffic in Queens is terrible, unless one is on a subway line that connects to Manhattan island. It is easy to go from Flushing to Corona, Corona to Jackson Heights, and Jackson Heights to Long Island City before reaching Manhattan. But, if one wants to travel from Ridgewood to Flushing, one either has to travel on the NYC Subway to Manhattan then change trains to reach Flushing, or take a bus that slowly winds through narrow streets to reach the same place. There is no easy way to reach Ridgewood from Corona, and I had to fight Friday afternoon traffic to reach RQS.
A little over 1 1/4 hours later, I was in Ridgewood, and found a parking spot within 10 minutes. And then, I was at RQS's for the evening. Unlike most trips, this one would be way too short. I knew I'd be leaving on Sunday. But, for the next 2 nights, I'd be with RQS. And that was the most important thing to me.