by Frank L. Parker

Created on: August 06, 2009   Last Updated: August 07, 2009

The neighborhoods that make up the five boroughs of New York City each have a unique feel and flavor. Grand Concourse in the Bronx is nothing like Brooklyn Heights which is nothing like Greenwich Village, but all of our many neighborhoods combined are what makes New York City an exciting place. Some of the lesser-known ones are the most colorful of all, but because visitor's guides in New York tend to be Manhattan-centric, the most diverse of our neighborhoods often go unvisited by tourists who would find them photogenic and culturally stimulating.

This is a visitor's guide to New York City's neighborhoods for the adventurer with a desire to see the streets that might not have made it to the pages of the average tour guide where the food is hearty, the stores unique, and the people are real. With winding tunnels below and elevated tracks above, there are numerous subway lines, from the A-train to the Z-train, offering exciting adventures in neighborhoods through four of the five boroughs (no subway to Staten Island), and each line has a unique story to tell. But of all the lines, the 7-train, sometimes called "The International Express," is the most vibrant as it rushes away from Manhattan carrying its passengers through the heart of Queens and the most diverse neighborhoods in all of New York City.

The 7-train, with the purple logo, is a shorter ride than her more well-known cousin, the A-train, and from end to end, Times Square to Flushing, takes about forty-minutes on the local. Each and every station along the way is distinctively different, and offers an easy walk to a variety of authentic ethnic foods, languages, art, music and shopping. In one or two short stops you can be whisked from a scrumptious Colombian dinner to a light and delicious Korean dessert, in neighborhoods so diverse you will swear that you need a passport.

Your journey begins in Midtown Manhattan along 42nd Street at Times Square, Bryant Park or Grand Central. With a metrocard firmly in hand, you swipe at the turnstile and then run down the stairs to the platform as the train enters the station. You get on, and the conductor's voice crackling from the speakers says, "This is a Flushing-bound 7 local, the next stop is Vernon Boulevard, stand clear of the closing doors." The doors close with a loud, "ding-dong," and your neighborhood adventure begins.

The first neighborhood you will encounter in Queens is called "Long Island City." A long-time industrial center

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>