If you ask New Yorkers to say the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Astoria," they'll probably say "Greek food." Astoria is known as a community of Greek immigrants, but it has also proved attractive to other groups of immigrants, who are perhaps lured there by the low cost of living. There are Croatians and Italians. There are Egyptians and Lebanese. There are people from almost every South American country, some of whom do not speak Spanish but rather a native South American dialect. Each of these groups has made their presence known in Astoria, and to look at this densely populated and astonishingly diverse neighborhood today, one would not guess that it began with farmland and a piano factory.
Giant Figures in Astoria's History
Astoria's official history begins before its name does, in 1652. That was when William Hallett, an Englishman, bought 1,500 acres of land on the eastern shore of the East River from Peter Stuyvesant, then the Dutch governor of New York. He also had to pay the native Americans living there, who had not been informed of Stuyvesant's sale and were justifiably angry about it. Hallett gave them seven coats, four kettles, a bunch of beads, and a blanket. The farming community that started there became known as Hallett's Cove, a name that's still around today, although very few people can tell you where it is. (For more, check out the New York Newsday website at http://www.newsday.com/azq/astoria.htm)
Steven Halsey (1798-1875), fur trader, chartered the village in 1839. He named the village after fellow trader John Jacob Astor, who Halsey hoped would give money to the place (Astor gave $500). At that point, Astoria was still a farm community; for a time, one of their main crops appears to have been flowers for use in Manhattan hotels. Some also think, for some reason, that the first broccoli in the continental United States reared itself in Astoria's soil. Halsey was pleased with the farm community he presided over, and set about to change it. He built some more buildings, started a few schools, churches, and factory, and perhaps most important, began a ferry line running across the East River (God help it) to Manhattan. Almost nobody in Astoria remembers who he is any more.
Dr. Dow Ditmars (1771-1860) was born of a colonial Dutch family in Brooklyn, managed to go to Princeton, then spent 12 years in British Guyana. After that, he settled in Astoria, where his claim to fame seems to have been practicing medicine. A major boulevard bears his name, but nobody really knows who he is. (For more history, check out the Greater Astoria Historical Society, http://www.preserve.org/gahs/pages/history.htm)
Henry Engelhard Steinway was a cabinet maker who built his first piano in his kitchen while still in Germany. He later moved to America and founded Steinway and Sons with his, er, sons, opening a workshop in lower Manhattan, New York City, in 1853. As Steinway pianos grew in prestige and demand for them increased, William Steinway realized that their space in Manhattan would not accommodate them, and secured land in Astoria in the late 1800s. There, they built Steinway Village, a piano factory that blossomed into its own town, as it provided housing, parks, and a post office for its employees. The Steinway factory (http://www.steinway.com), incidentally, is still located in Astoria.
In 1919, Lasky and Zukor's Famous Players Film Company built a studio for themselves in Astoria, and in the 1920s it became the largest movie-making studio on the East Coast (granted, with Hollywood on the other coast, this isn't saying too much). In 1942, the army commandeered the studios, artlessly renamed it the U.S. Army Pictorial Center, and churned out instructional films for the next 30 years. The mid-seventies were a dark period for the studios, as the buildings fell into disuse and disrepair. Then, the city took it over and refurbished the studios (check out the aforementioned Newsday site for more information) It is now used to produce movies and television shows.
The first immigrants to Astoria were Germans, but you wouldn't know that to see the place today, unless you noticed something about the United Cabinet Makers Association No. 1, which they created in 1868. It's hard to say when the first Greeks arrived, but there were enough of them by 1927 to build a Greek Orthodox cathedral-St. Demetrios-and then enough in 1972 to build another one, St. Irene of Chrysovalantos, when a dispute developed in the Greek Orthodox Church over which calendar they should use, the Julian or the Gregorian. The Astoria Greeks now comprise the largest concentrated population of Greeks outside of Athens, and they have kept their Greek heritage alive as best they can. Greek restaurants and offices conduct most of their business in a Greek inflected with English phrases, and amid the Greek bookshops, clothing stores, and bars, one also finds Greek cultural foundations, which attempt to preserve traditional Greek music and dance in the United States. Perhaps most numerous and visible are Greek coffee shops, which are mobbed during warmer weather with people sitting at chairs and tables set up all over the sidewalk, sipping drinks of various colors from tall glasses and eating sweet pastries.
As mentioned above, other large groups of immigrants have made their way to Astoria, but the ones that are most visible after the Greeks are the Arab North Africans, most notably Egyptians, and the various South Americans. Because of the great number of both of these groups, as in the case of the Greeks, a support network has been built around them, and many stores conduct their business in Arabic or Spanish as a result. One easily finds Arab restaurants, grocery and clothing stores; cafes where, in the summer, men smoke sweet tobacco from long pipes and drink thick Arabic coffee while watching Middle Eastern television or movies; and South American groceries where men sit in the back drinking beer and watching Spanish soap operas.
Getting to and from Astoria
Astoria is easily accessible by subway. The R line (a yellow line) will take you to its southern reaches at the Steinway Street and 46th Street stops. The N line (also a yellow line) will take you all the way through Astoria, from the time it leaves Queens Plaza until it reaches the end of the line at Ditmars Boulevard. The N in Astoria also has the distinction of being one of a handful of remaining elevated trains in New York City. As you ride the train, low-lying Astoria spreads out below you in all directions; across the East River loom the high-rises and skyscrapers of Manhattan.
Astoria is also accessible by bus. The M60, which begins just south of Columbia University in Manhattan and runs through Harlem, also makes two stops in Astoria before heading out to LaGuardia airport. Once in Astoria, buses run along all major roads.
Things to Do in Astoria
Astoria Park. One of the less well-known and more pleasant parks in New York City, Astoria Park is full of tree-shaded lawns, pathways, and benches, all on a hillside that slopes gently down to the shore of the East River. Its track, playing fields, basketball courts, and swimming pool make it popular from spring until fall. For the non-sporting visitor, it offers a relaxed, lively atmosphere, and one of New York's more interesting views: the water of the East River, trolled by yachts and tugboats and broken by Randall's and Ward's islands; a half-mile away, the tall buildings of upper Manhattan; and just north, the long span of theTriborough Bridge high overhead. The breeze from the river cools even in the hot summer months.
The American Museum of the Moving Image. Located right across the street from Kaufman Astoria Studios, the AMMI has a great deal of costumes, masks, props, old cameras, and other memorabilia from movies and television programs (including the old set from Seinfeld), taped interviews with actors and directors, and a series of well-thought-out and highly enjoyable hands-on exhibits. At the museum, one can edit a short film from preexisting clips, insert a friend into a chaotic landscape of one's choice using a bluescreen, add sound effects and voice-overs to movie clips, and create a short stop-motion film. Naturally, the AMMI constantly screens classic movies of all genres as well. Perhaps best of all, on the way out of the museum, one can spend a few quarters in their arcade, which features the original machines of Pong, Space Invaders, Space Wars, Battle Zone, and Pac-Man.
One of the best things to do in Astoria, however, is simply to eat. Astoria is well-known throughout the metropolitan area for excellent restaurants of all ambiences and cuisines. The following are recommended by residents of and visitors to Astoria alike:
Uncle George's. A Greek restaurant that serves good food for ridiculously low prices, Uncle George's is positively bursting on the weekends and some weeknights. Highly advised are the appetizers, in particular the poikilios, which is a sample of three dips: garlic potato; cucumber, garlic, and yogurt, and garlic, yogurt, and fish eggs. It's located on Broadway just a few blocks east of the N stop at Broadway, and is recognizable by its large vertical sign in blue Greek letters on the side of the building.
Tierra Colombiana. A Colombian restaurant that serves good food for reasonable prices. Tierra Colombiana is also a lively place usually featuring live music. Recommended is the carne asada, though other dishes are also probably quite good. Also on Broadway, it is one or two blocks closer to the N than Uncle George's.
Kabab Café. A gem of a restaurant, this is a dark, tiny place with about three tables is the province of Ali, an Egyptian expatriot who is extremely warm and friendly and is very likely to joke around with/make fun of you if invited. Ali cooks all the food himself (with the aid of an assistant) and this researcher has yet to eat anything there that he hasn't thoroughly enjoyed. The advised plan of attack is to order the mixed appetizer plate, and then n-1 entrees to share, if n is the number of people in your party and that number is greater than 1. In making your entrée selection, it's best also to stick with the specials, which Ali describes to you. It is located on Steinway Street very close to 25th Avenue, and you can expect to spend, after food, drinks, and tip, 20 dollars a person. It's well worth it.