Another excellently named business run by followers of Sri Chinmoy. Ashrita Furman has set dozens of his records here, including most jelly eaten with chopsticks in one minute and most eggs crushed with the head in 30 seconds. Many of his Guinness certificates can be found hanging on a wall inside the café.
Another one of the four Queens hospitals that closed between 2008 and 2012
This suburban neighborhood, recently designated a historic district, was developed around a century ago as an all-white community, with racially restrictive covenants (prohibiting the sale of real estate to African-Americans) later put in place by some property owners in an attempt to keep out the well-to-do black families that had begun showing interest in moving here. These efforts were largely in vain, however, and by the time the US Supreme Court ruled in 1948 that such covenants were legally unenforceable, Addisleigh Park had already become "a synonym for black affluence and elegance."
The neighborhood is not well known today in most parts of the city, but the list of famous residents who lived here in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s is truly staggering: Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Count Basie, Fats Waller, Milt Hinton, Illinois Jacquet, James Brown (back when he was still jawed), W.E.B. DuBois, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella, among others.
After leaving the place they rented in East Flatbush, Jackie and his wife resided here from 1949 to 1956, Jackie's last season in baseball.
The First Lady of Song lived here from 1949 until either 1956 or 1967, depending on whom you ask. (If you ask the Landmarks Preservation Commission, you might get both answers!)
Every time I go for a long walk, I find out about another disgusting Bud Light concoction.
Quoting a post from last summer:
Purslane is both a "noxious weed" that enjoys taking over Staten Island traffic medians [or, in this case, Queens sidewalks] and a "superfood" that can be found on the menu at high-end restaurants.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Malawian name for this fleshy, succulent plant translates to "the buttocks of the wife of a chief".
Originally St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church
You can sort of see one grave monument hiding amid the vegetation.
The land for this cemetery was donated to the First Methodist Church of Jamaica in 1850, but the earliest date of death on a stone here is 1816; I don't know if this means the lot was already a cemetery when it was given to the church or if some remains were reinterred here later on. Whatever the case, the place has been abandoned for decades and has been ravaged over the years. According to one researcher — although I'm not sure where she got this idea — "There is ample evidence to suggest that Satan worshippers mine the yard for bones." The cemetery was cleaned up by volunteers at least as recently as 2001, but has since become completely overgrown again.
Now a Payless ShoeSource, this building was once the Plaut Brothers department store, which billed itself as "Jamaica's Largest Department Store" in a newspaper ad from 1911, back in the good old days when you could still get a tin of Mennen's Borated Talcum Toilet Powder for a mere dime. From what I can tell, the store expanded around 1914 with the acquisition of the property next door, but it had dropped the "largest" claim in its ads by 1926, when crinkled bedspreads were on sale for $1.59 each.
While searching old newspapers for information about this store, I came upon a column called "Thumps and Thuds" that used to run in the Long Island Daily Press back in the late 1920s. Each column is just a collection of unrelated, pseudo-humorous one- or two-liners. But reading these "jokes" in the 21st century is a very strange experience. Many of them evoke the image of a terrible stand-up comedian bombing on stage, while others, now devoid of context, are simply baffling. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:
It may not be significant, but the divorce evil and peanut butter developed at about the same time.Want to read more? (And how could you not?) Just check out these links.
There doesn't seem to be much trouble meeting expenses — one meets them everywhere.
Twenty-four camels have arrived for distribution to zoos in this country, says a dispatch. They'll like it here.
Doubtless the twin-bed idea was originated by a man whose wife liked to eat crackers in bed.
Any flyer who has 110,000,000 with him is justified in saying "We."
Distribution is the big problem. Many a man with buttons on his coat sleeve uses a nail for a suspender button.
A bill has been introduced in the Indiana legislature which would authorize the Secretary of State to issue permits to children under sixteen years of age to drive their automobiles back and forth to school. This would also enable the youngsters to drive out into the country and get their lunch fresh from the cow.
Now they are charging crookedness in some of the chess tournaments. Next thing you know they will be telling us that the croquet games are fixed, too.
Entertainment by radio isn't wholly satisfactory. It gives people no opportunity to show off their new clothes.
One way to build the world's greatest navy would be for the ladies to contribute the money they now spend for compacts.
If your trouble is so obscure that five specialists are needed to diagnose it, your income tax is something over $7,584.
Fable: They had to choose between a new rug and new tires, and they bought a new rug.
According to the Jamaica Center BID:
Originally erected in 1900 and located at 161-11 Jamaica Avenue, this is a fine example of a virtually extinct street amenity, and was designated a New York City landmark in 1981. It is double-faced with a cast-iron paneled base, fluted column post, and splendid acroteria motif crowning the clock face. It was restored [and] moved to its present location on Union Hall Street in 1989.
Formerly a branch of the Bank of Manhattan, a predecessor of Chase
Located in the former Gertz Department Store. It was likely Gertz that stole the title of "Jamaica's Largest Department Store" from Plaut Brothers.
