Here’s what to buy your Queens-obsessed loved one this holiday season
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There’s plenty of gifts to snag for your Queens-loving loved one this holiday season. Photos via Rafael A. Herrin-Ferri/Gabriel Manga/Meanwhile Back in Queens/Queens Jerk
By Jacob Kaye
We all know what to get our artistic acquaintance, our bookworm buddy or our coffee-loving companion for the holidays – but what about the friend of yours who is completely obsessed with Queens?
Rather than rag on them for loving the borough that boasts the most diverse population in the U.S. – a fact that is reflected in every aspect of life in the World’s Borough – why not get them a gift that will allow them to flaunt their love for Queens on a daily basis, explore it further or open other people’s eyes to it?
Check out these Queens-themed gifts for the Queens lover in your life.
Conversation starters from Meanwhile Back in Queens
A Queens-themed sticker collection offered by Meanwhile Back in Queens. Photo via Meanwhile Back in Queens
If you’ve got a loved one who won’t stop talking about the borough they love, here’s a good way to ensure they never stop doing so.
Meanwhile Back in Queens offers several accessories to throw on a backpack, notebook or jacket, all of which have the potential to spark a conversation about the borough, the brand promises.
“Accessories make for dope conversations. This collection was created so you could be inspired to share stories about where you’re from,” Meanwhile Back in Queens’ website reads.
The company offers items between $6 and $25, so there’s little reason not to buy a few.
There’s a keychain that quotes Queens’ own Nas and says “Queens Get the Money,” a postcard of a Mister Softee truck parked in front of the Unisphere and a mug that reads “Queens Forever” in the style of coffee brand Cafe Bustelo, and more.
The Mets Met Hat
A Bobby Bonilla-themed The Mets Hat. Photo via The Mets Hat
There are plenty of New York Mets hats out there, all of them gorgeous in their own right. But there’s one that fuses love of sport with love of art that has proven to be wildly popular.
The Mets Hat is simple enough – it comes in black or blue with “The Mets” written in orange print in the style of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s logo – but it is endlessly cool.
Gabriel Manga, a Brooklyn resident with Queens roots who created the hat, said the head piece fuses two New York institutions that often have a cross section of fans.
“There are countless people who've written to me saying, ‘Oh my god, I work at this gallery,’ or, ‘I work at the Met,’ or ‘My mom is an art teacher,’ or, ‘I’m an artist and I love the Mets,’” Manga told the Eagle. “And so, for some people it's just an incredible coming together of two very different worlds.”
Because of the small staff – though he’s recently teamed up with a fulfillment company, Manga has been fulfilling and shipping the orders himself for the past four years – and the hat’s popularity, the Mets Hat won’t be available for the holiday season. However, art loving Mets fans or their loved ones can sign up for a waitlist on Manga’s website.
All proceeds from the hats go toward Planned Parenthood and RAICES, a legal services provider that offers assistance to asylum seekers. They’re also manufactured in Queens.
If you’re having trouble snagging a hat, Manga says that there’s a chance they may soon become more widely available.
“This has been fun, but it'd be even better if the Mets and the Met Museum took this over,” Manga said. “Because one, just logistically they're better at this stuff and two, I mean, they've been super kind to not send me a cease and desist letter.”
The LIC Community Gift Card
Buy the LIC Community Gift Card to help your loved one in the Western Queens neighborhood shop locally.
The virtual card, which can be loaded with either $5, $25, $50 or a custom amount, can be used at over 70 local restaurants and businesses in Long Island City.
Elizabeth Lusskin, the president and CEO of the Long Island City Partnership, launched the card to help local establishments bring in business and to help residents discover the wealth of shops at their fingertips.
“We're really excited to be doing this program, particularly this year, and for the holiday season,” Lusskin recently told the Eagle. “As our businesses and our neighborhood are still working to stay strong as we continue to be hit with COVID issues and supply chain issues, it's a really great time to support your local businesses.”
The list of participating businesses runs the gamut from high end eateries to coffee shops to ballet schools.
Book Culture LIC, Centro Pizza Bar & Italian Kitchen, Dutch Kills Bar, Kensington Traveler Services, Orangetheory Fitness Long Island City, Pumpernickel Bagels, Takumen and sLICe LIC Pizzeria are among some of the businesses accepting the cards.
For a full list of participating businesses and for more information on how to purchase the community gift card, head to LongIslandCityQueens.com.
‘All the Queens Houses’
One of the many interesting homes featured in “All The Queens Houses: An Architectural Portrait of New York's Largest and Most Diverse Borough” by Rafael A. Herrin-Ferri. Photo via Herrin-Ferri
Anyone who has walked down even one block in Queens can tell that the architecture here is a little...different.
It was something that Rafael A. Herrin-Ferri, a Woodside resident and architect, noticed about his home and decided to document.
The result is “All The Queens Houses: An Architectural Portrait of New York's Largest and Most Diverse Borough,” a photography book honoring the wide range of housing styles in the most diverse county in the country.
“I was always interested in modern moments that you can find in everyday architecture, things that are just a little out of the ordinary, and Queens was full of them,” Herrin-Ferri told the Eagle. “I started seeing them pop up everywhere and thought that these houses have a lot of character, even though, at first, they might seem a little strange”
Herrin-Ferri estimates that he walked every third block or so throughout the borough to document the different styles of homes that he says are influenced by the hundreds of different cultures that thrive in Queens.
The architect believes that what sets Queens’ diverse style apart from the rest of the city was and is it’s relatively affordable housing stock.
“There isn't really this kind of range anywhere and I think the key factor is that there's a very malleable housing stock,” Herrin-Ferri said. “That allowed people coming in to start their American dream, sort of right on the ground floor, to be able to take this modest housing stock and mold it into their image of home.”
Herrin-Ferri says that his favorite homes in the borough are the ones that boast a rich balcony life. The photographer noted Van Cleef Street in Corona, which he dedicated a spread to in his book, as one of the streets with the most interesting balcony scenes.
“You see people having lunch there, or talking to someone on the street and there's this communing between the architecture and the public realm,” Herrin-Ferri said. “Everyone has personalized their balcony...and the actual flavor of this and the character is pretty unique to this typology and this full width, living balcony style.”
“All The Queens Houses” can be purchased locally at the Astoria Bookshop, online at allthequeenshouses.com, or on Amazon.
Sassy swag from Queens Jerk
A sweatshirt offered by Queens Jerk. Photo via Queens Jerk
As the Queens Jerk name suggests, the clothing and accessory brand is made for jerks from Queens, according to the online shop’s website.
Created by a group of designers from the World’s Borough, Queens Jerk offers a range of shirts, sweatshirts, hats, accessories and more that represent Queens, often in a cheeky way.
There’s a postcard from the devil promising to “See you at the Hell Gate,” a shirt with a photo of Flushing Meadows Corona Park’s New York State Pavilion with “The X-Files” quote “I want to believe” printed on top of it, and a shirt with a drawing of a skeleton hanging out in a graveyard that reads “Greetings from Queens, graveyard capital, U.S.A.”
If your loved one is less obsessed with the borough itself and more into a singular neighborhood in Queens, there’s plenty of neighborhood specific gear to choose from, as well.
Browse the seemingly endless shop at queensjerk.com.
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As long as it’s the Queens Daily Eagle, that is.
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As we head into the new year, we here at the Eagle thank you for your continued support and readership.
