Exploring Eastern Queens Part 1: Royal Flushing

Roar! Today I decided to head out to eastern Queens to check out another of the Key to City sites. But first I rode over towards Flushing to see what was happening in one of my favorite neighborhoods.

My first stop was over in Flushing Meadows Corona Park at the copyright-infringement-free Jurassic Playground. Roar!

The Jurassic Playground was so cool! Here I am hanging out with a Brontosaurus friend of mine. This reminds me of when I was hanging out with the snake in Gerritsen Beach. Roar!

There were all sorts of great little touches in the Jurassic, like this Stegosaurus shaped jungle gym.

There were even little fossils worked into the stones around the playground!

The rib cage of this plesiosaur was even turned into a water fixture. Actually, that one is a little bit creepy. Roar!

Here I am hanging out with the memory of some of my ancestors. Though these guys are a little bigger than I remember them being...

I left a contextually appropriate tag on this slide and continued on my way. ROAR!

Next, I passed this cool new skate park they put in by the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows park. The skate park is apparently a collection of famous skateboarding spots from all over New York City.  Let's see if anyone can do some sweet tricks!

WHOA! That was really amazing! That guy totally slid down that rail! I've never seen anything like that before. Roar!

Next, I left the park and headed over to Flushing Main Street.

After all that action I was feeling pretty hungry so I went and got a big box of delicious pork steam buns!

MMM!!! Oh man, these Pork buns are delicious! ROAR!

Next, I headed down main street where a local committee was out promoting recycling in order to help keep Flushing my favorite color: Green!

Mr. Met was even there to let everyone know how important recycling is. He's like Queens royalty. It sure was awesome to meet him.

Here I am doing my part to help keep Flushing green. Roar!

For recycling they gave me this sweet bag. I'm not sure but I think it might be a little big!

Some Street Art in Bushwick. Roar!

Roar! Recently, I've been putting some art up in my neighborhood of Bushwick. Most of it has been on the north side of town in the area with all the warehouses. A lot of people refer to that are as Morgantown but I can't seem to find it on any of the maps. 

This is a stencil I put up. It's the constellation of Lacerta (the lizard) inside the silhouette of a T-Rex. I also put one of these up in north Williamsburg. Who says you can't see the stars in New York City?! First I put up the stencil, then I glued the glow in the dark stars in place. Roar!

I've also been putting a bunch of my regular stencils up. Here is one on the Midland Meat Trading warehouse. I just couldn't resist the smell of all that delicious meat! 

Here is some classic mustache art I put up by the Morgan Ave L train stop. Roar!

I've also been putting up a number of stickers. Besides my normal stickers I also put up this doodle of me as a space man! It's based on a short film I'm working on with my friends. Check out the opening to it. Roar! 

I've also got several wheat paste posters not to mention a bunch of other projects I'm working on. I'll be sure to post about them once they're up. Roar!

At the Big Apple BBQ!

Roar! Today was the annual Big Apple BBQ! That's the day when top pit masters from all over the country descend upon Madison Square Park to serve some of the best BBQ you'll ever have. I tried to win a fast pass through a contest which required me to write a BBQ themed haiku.  My haiku of

The fourth little pig

did not have any roast beef

for he was roast beast! 

was pretty clever but unfortunately it didn't win. Of course I still went to the Big Apple BBQ to have some delicious meat, but I wasn't able to have as much as I would have liked. 

Here I am down at Madison Square Park. There are tons of vendors here from all over, there is even live entertainment, but I'm just here for the meat! Roar! 

 Oh man! Look at all the delicious sausage! I think I'll order all of it!

Here I am at Black Jacks Pulled Pork stand. All of this pulled pork is for me? Why, thank you Mr. Black Jack! You certainly are a fine South Carolina gentleman, not to mention your pork is delicious! Roar! 

Here I am enjoying all the delicious pulled pork! Ug... after all that sausage and pork I'm feeling a little full. Maybe next year I should learn to pace myself a little better... roar...

As I headed home I passed by the Flatiron building on the corner of the park. It's crazy to think that not only was this once the tallest building in New York City but also the world. Nowadays we don't really think of it as a skyscraper (like the ones in the Skyscraper Museum) but this building was a marvel when it was built! It sure was fun visiting the BBQ and scarfing down meat in its shadow. Roar!

Lacing it up at Gleason's!

Roar! This afternoon I headed over to Gleason's Gym in Dumbo to see what my Key to the City would unlock. After riding Down Under the Manhattan and Brooklyn Underpasses I arrived at Gleason's Gym over on Main Street.

Here I am outside the door to Gleason's Gym. I wonder what type of facilities they'll have?

It tuns out Gleason's is a boxing gym that's been in operation since 1937 and many World Heavyweight Champions including Muhammad Ali trained here. Here I am checking out the boxing ring. I may float like a butterfly but I stomp like a T-Rex! Roar!

Roar! What's this guy staring at? My name isn't Adrian, it's T-Rex!

My key apparently opens this locker off in the corner of the gym!

Why it's full of boxing equipment! What a surprise!

I think some of this stuff might be a little too big! Roar!

This is the creed at Gleason's. They take boxing really seriously and it shows. 

Visiting Gleason's was really cool. I don't often get to come down to Dumbo so I decided to explore the rest of the neighborhood while I was here. 

At Jane's Carousel They have this sweet old carousel on display. Unfortunately due to fire regulations they can't allow people to ride it. The carousel was built in 1922 and has been fully restored. After nearly 20 years of waiting it is finally being moved Brooklyn Bridge Park for a spring 2011 opening where everyone will finally be able to ride it.

Next, I walked over to St. Ann's Theater where they were having this wild festival of toy and puppet theater! It was so cool to see all the models and there was even a talk about how much everyone loves toys! Roar!

When they saw I was there they asked me to give a guest speech. I'm not sure why they thought I knew so much about puppets? 

Next, I headed over to Empire Fulton Park under the Manhattan Bridge. It's such a nice park, even if it is a bit noisy. I just love sitting on the steps by the water. If you haven't been to this park definitely check it out!

Empire Fulton Park is also where one the iconic views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan is. I just love this park! 

I decided DUMBO would be good place to put up some art. First I put up this sticker, which was originally stuck up on the plaque on the Williamsburg Bridge. It was covered in layers of paint and eventually started to peel off. So I retrieved it, redrew my silhouette, and glued it up here. Remember the four R's: reduce, reuse, recycle, and ROAR!

Lastly I put up this mixed media piece of a puzzle of the very same iconic view from Empire Fulton Park  combined with my signature stencil. I hope the folks over in DUMBO like it. Roar!

My Sweet Tooth Takes Me to Eddie's Ice Cream

Roar! Today I decided to visit some more of the Key to the City destinations so I headed over to Eddie's Ice Cream Parlor in Forest Hills, Queens to check it out.

Here I am outside of Eddie's. The ice cream parlor is actually over a hundred years old though it has seen different owners over the years. They still make everything the old fashioned way which is great. I could really go for a classic ice cream soda. I haven't had one of those in ages! Roar!

Here is the soda I ordered. It's lime soda made with a scoop of homemade raspberry sherbet, then topped with Eddie's famous whipped cream. It was delicious! 

 Roar! I don't have any whipped cream on my nose, do I?

Besides giving me 20% off my soda my key also opened this mystery box! What's in the box?!

Why it looks like someone left a tip in the box, as well as a bunch of notes about how great the ice cream is. I left a sticker for people to check out. Roar!

Eddie's was a great place to come visit. The ice cream was fantastic and the atmosphere is charming. The staff were also incredibly friendly, they even stamped my passport to show I visited them. Next time you're in Forest Hills be sure to give Eddie's a visit.

Key to the City

Roar! Today I went over to Times Square to take part in this neat citywide art project called the Key to the City. There is a kiosk between 42nd and 43rd street where they officially swear you in as a recipient of the key to the city. The key will unlock something special at 25 different locations spread throughout New York City. The idea is to examine the idea of public vs. private space, as well as show off some sweet locations not often visited in the city.

Here I am in front of the kiosk in Times Square, ready to get my key!

This is Sheiva who was waiting next to me in line to get a key to the city. She was also the person who dedicated the key to me and I dedicated a key to her. Roar!

Here I have my key and a passport to the city which lists all the places my key will open.

here's a close up of the key. I really like the design on it. 

Here is the dedication page of the passport. Sheiva dedicated the key to me for "Small claws, staying dry and fluffy in the rain." That was so nice of her. In her passport I dedicated a key to her from being a "nice young lady with sweet headphones. Roar!"

It turned out one of the places you could use your key was over in Bryant Park so I stomped over to 6th Ave to check it out.

Here is the lamppost in Bryant Part with a small box on the bottom that my key will open.

Hmm, I wonder what is going to be inside this box?

Oh my goodness, it's the switch to the lamp post! Now I can turn it on and off at my own whim. There is even a little statue someone left and a note that says "Everything is better bathed in purple light." Let's flip the switch and find out!

Roar! Look at that beautiful lit bulb! I better turn it off though, so as not to waste electricity. Not to mention I don't want to deprive the next person of the pleasure of turning it on for themselves.

Being able to access the box and turn the light off was really neat. I can't to see what lies in store for me now that I have the key to city! Roar!