Woodside's charm.

Tree-lined streets are commonplace in Queens, but so too are streets laid out on the grid.  With Sean Og's Pub at its northern end off of Woodside Avenue and the bend for no apparent reason on its way to Queens Boulevard, 60th Street is always a pleasure to walk down that is reminiscent of a hodgepodge street plan of an old world city.  I don't know the history of that jog, and I can't imagine there wasn't a logistical reason for the city planners to break out of the grid pattern for this one street, but it does break up the monotony.

Mr Chicken

In my last post I mentioned Mr. Chicken.  We have had their rotisserie chicken now twice, and finally had their fried chicken Sunday.  I was a bit concerned before ordering because one Yelp review said their fried chicken had been a bit burned, but ours wasn't.  It was crispy, fresh and delicious, and Mr. Chicken's Mac and Cheese, braised Kale, and roasted beets are wonderful.  If you haven't done so, check them out for delivery, they are the kind of small business Woodsiders should want to make sure becomes a fixture in our neighborhood.

Woodside Economy on the Upswing?

It is tricky pinpointing when an economy, even a local one, is improving.  When the Woodside Mini-Mall opened in the old restaurant space on 60-19 Roosevelt last summer and Pudgies chicken place two doors down at 60-29 Roosevelt I saw no broader significance.  Likewise when the Big Six 99 cent store opened it mostly brought a sigh of relief because that space in Big Six Shopping Center had been vacant so long.   Yet the opening of the Mr. Chicken takeaway at the corner of 53rd and Roosevelt, of the Ottomanelli's new Burger joint at 60-15 Woodside Ave, and now of Woodside's very own Polish store Bursztynek at 61-08 Woodside Ave. within the past four months suggests a trend that we in Woodside will all benefit from, hopefully for years to come.

Welcome to Woodsider Insider

Do you live in Woodside, NY? Thinking of moving here? Or just want to get to know more about this fine Queens neighborhood? Then this blog is for you.

I've lived in Woodside for just over two years, although I've been coming here regularly since moving to NYC in 1999. So I'm not going to pretend to be an insider in the sense that I grew up here and this is my life-long turf, but I am here now and I love it and don't anticipate leaving,

I'm happy to let other people know what's what in a vital neighborhood in Western Queens. Look here for information about Woodside life and community affairs, whether it has to do with the nice mix of restaurants, stores old and new that serve the community, the activities of local organizations or local quality of life concerns.

That said, while I hope people will come to see the Woodsider Insider as a great online source about Woodside, I write as an unaffiliated member of the community. I'm not a real estate agent looking for clients or the leader of a local organization, even as I recognize realtors, local businesses and organizations make this community what it is, so if I like something I'm going to shout about and if there is something going on that isn't right I'm going to let you know about that too.