Are you searching for things to do in Queens? Then this article is just for you!
Queens, New York, is the largest borough in the city and one of the most varied regions on earth. This lovely and distinctive borough is home to a huge diversity of individuals from all origins.
People will be exposed to so many diverse cultures, customs, and ways of life that it broadens their minds.
In turn, there are a lot of activities to do in Queens NYC as a result of the borough’s variety. We’ll give you the lowdown on everything from cuisine to museums to events, along with our top picks.
So, let us explore this fantastic place and know about the things to do in Queens.
Top 21 Things to do in Queens
Queens ought to be on your list whether you’re seeking the greatest things to do in New York City or want to know which NYC areas are the best.
Now, check out the list of 21 amazing things to do in Queens:
1. Farm Museum of Queens County
Farm Museum of Queens County will be the first in your list of ‘Things to do in Queens’.
This museum is situated on the largest remaining parcel of agricultural land in New York City and offers a flavour of rural life.
This hidden treasure offers hayrides for children on vacations (depending on the weather) and holds a variety of special events, including wreath-making classes, vintage motorcycle, and car displays, as well as the Queens Carnival every year.
Free entry is offered but for group seminars and events, fees are charged.
2. Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Flushing Meadows Corona Park is your next stop in ‘things to do in Queens’.
This is one of the most recognizable parks in the city and the location of two World’s Fairs in the 20th century, is still popular with tourists.
There is always plenty to do in this area, from beautiful trails to historical tours to sports and activities.
You may participate in a variety of sports, including baseball, tennis, volleyball, cricket, and soccer; work out at our leisure centre or indoor pool; go by foot, bike, or kayak along the park’s lakes and trails; or go to one of the numerous civic and cultural organizations.
Spend the day at a park that offers everything!
3. Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park, a well-known fixture in the Queens art scene, offers a variety of fascinating spaces for community participation and events in addition to its use as a functioning studio and display space.
Socrates, which was subject to poor drainage and misuse, required a new setting to display its changing assemblage without losing its distinct, grassroots character.
SCAPE took on the project with the intention of enclosing a distinct core meeting and installation area with environmentally, horticulturally, and programmatically different edges to display art.
With the use of existing topography, the centre lawn was lifted out of the floodplain during the original design phase, and a central, sunken swale was created to include the ecology of the river.
This change in design will help with the site’s present flooding problem. By suggesting a dynamical eco-path to connect the park’s intended activities, SCAPE also aimed to reimagine how visitors perceive the space.
Socrates will experience an increase in visitors since the community around it is developing quickly, making it an essential public space resource.
4. Queens Botanical Garden
The 5-acre “Gardens on Parade” exhibit that was on display during the 1939–1940 World’s Fair gave rise to the Queens Botanical Garden.
The Queens Botanical Garden Society was launched in 1946 after locals enlarged and protected the original display. The Garden stayed at the original World’s Fair site until 1961 when it was transferred to its present position on Main Street in Flushing.
Two blue atlas cedars that frame the famous tree gate sculpture at the Garden’s Main Street entry today are among the original plants that were transplanted from the 1939 location.
The QBG is unlike any other botanical garden in the world and has grown into a 39-acre refuge in one of New York City’s most vibrant and varied neighbourhoods.
5. New York Hall of Science
The 450 exhibits, demonstrations, seminars, and interactive activities at the New York Hall of Science educate science, technology, engineering, and math.
Visits to NYSCI are interactive, engaging learning opportunities where you may sate your curiosity and develop your creativity.
In addition to producing curriculum and materials for schools, NYSCI also conducts research on how technology, gaming, and play influence our ability to learn.
The NYSCI was established during the 1964–1965 World’s Fair and has developed into New York’s interactive scientific hub, providing services to 500,000 children, teachers, and families annually.
Purchase your tickets in advance at nysci.org to skip the line; it just takes a few seconds.
6. Gantry Plaza State Park
A 12-acre riverfront haven known as Gantry Plaza State Park offers breathtaking vistas of the United Nations and Empire State Building and the cityscape of downtown Manhattan.
The park’s four piers, well-kept gardens, and distinctive mist fountains are all great places to take a leisurely walk. The park’s focal points, repaired gantries, are a sight to see along the road. Take a minute to appreciate their untamed beauty.
These industrial relics were previously utilized to load and unload rail car floats and barges; now they serve as imposing memories of the past of our waterfront.
The plaza of the park is an excellent location for a spring or summer performance, with the city skyline serving as a background and the gantries serving as a stage.
A fishing pier with a cleaning table is one of the recreational amenities, along with handball courts, playgrounds, and basketball courts.
7. Astoria Park
From south of the Triborough Bridge to north of the Hell Gate Bridge is Astoria Park, which is located on the west side of Queens.
A panoramic picture of midtown Manhattan’s skyscrapers in the south and the Hell Gate canal in the north shows the varied topography of New York City.
Some of New York Harbor’s deepest water may be found in the Hell Gate waterway, which was created by faults deep underneath. Pot Rock, “Bread & Cheese,” “Hen and Chickens,” and “Bald Headed Billy” are just a few of the charming names given to its dangerous reefs.
Visitors and people have been drawn to this area over the ages by its breathtaking natural beauty. An Indian community thrived at Pot Cove before the advent of European colonists, and a path went past the location.
Locals took water from Linden Brook, a little stream that still runs under Astoria Park South, planted maize on the beaches, went fishing in Hell Gate, and used it for irrigation.
The Dutch divided up this property in the middle of the 1600s and sold it to several people, notably William Hallet, whose grant included hundreds of acres. There were several British and Hessian units stationed here during the American Revolution.
On November 25, 1780, the frigate Hussar sunk to the bottom of Hell Gate with its five million dollar cargo; the treasure is still there today, despite several guns having been taken out.
8. Rockaway Beach Surf Club
Rockaway Beach was tipped to become the next hipster hotspot in 2011. Surfers and artists flocked to the peninsula’s pristine sand beaches, while the concession stands at Veggie Island provided kale juice and miso sandwiches.
Some even decided to relocate there rather than take the hour-long A-train ride from Manhattan.
However, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 delivered fifteen-foot waves and ten-foot floods, leaving the Rockaways in ruins just when it looked like the neighbourhood will soon have a fair-trade knitting store and a Café Grumpy.
Unfazed and nevertheless run-down, Rockaway Beach is now in the midst of a revival thanks to the construction of a stunning new boardwalk, a Klaus Biesenbach-curated exhibition at PS1, and Mayor de Blasio’s pledge to fulfil the $4.2 billion Sandy rehabilitation budget.
That Rockaway Taco, which started in 2008 and is located at 95-19 Rockaway Beach Blvd., is still operating is fantastic news. There are big lines for the ideal beer-battered fish tacos, the crisp plantain strips with the mild, creamy guacamole, and the fresh watermelon juice.
9. Queens Museum
The Queens Museum, previously the Queens Museum of Art, re-opened its doors in November 2013 after expanding to 105,000 square feet to make room for additional galleries, performance rooms, and event spaces.
A massive open-air gallery now dominates the area where an indoor ice rink originally stood under a 48-foot-high atrium that floods the space with natural light. Around the ancient ice rink are several galleries that are stocked with creations by both foreign and local artists.
The Queens Museum, housed in the New York City Building that hosted the World’s Fairs in 1939 and 1964, offers an ambitious program that concentrates on 20th-century works from the museum’s collection and loans. The collection consists of artwork and artefacts related to New York City.
10. Louis Armstrong House Museum
The Louis Armstrong House Museum is home to several collections including images, audio files, letters, manuscripts, instruments, and relics. The public may access everything.
The Museum Collections, described as “the biggest publicly preserved archive collection in the world dedicated to a jazz performer” by author Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, may be seen online or examined in person.
Exhibitors, publications, and other media sources are also invited to submit photo requests.
From 1943 until he died in 1971, Louis Armstrong and his wife Lucille lived at the Louis Armstrong House. To establish a husband-focused museum, Lucille donated it to the city.
In 1988, it was named a New York City landmark, and in 1976, it was named a National Historic Landmark.
The museum aims to inspire and educate individuals of all ages, nationalities, and regions.
11. Alley Pond Environmental Center
Alley Pond Environmental Center has 635 acres of forests, open meadows, and vast marshes that are home to 300 different bird species, the majority of which are migratory birds, as well as other animals.
Although there are many adult activities available, the environmental centre, located at the north end of the park, is particularly strong in children’s programs.
Family-friendly activities include cross-country skiing, art workshops, astronomy and geology courses, nature treks, birdwatching, and even tours of municipal water tunnels.
This most recent underground journey is very useful in proving without a shadow of a doubt that water does not begin in the kitchen tap.
There are also salt and freshwater aquariums, an organic garden, and an apiary in addition to a small petting zoo with rabbits, snakes, turtles, and other animals.
Environmental concerns including endangered animals and hazardous waste are covered in workshops. The National Park Service has granted the facility the unusual distinction of being a National Environmental Study Area.
12. Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
A unique urban treasure is the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, which is a component of the Gateway National Recreation Area.
More than 330 different kinds of birds have been spotted there, along with other animals. The Refuge also provides residents of New York City with a crucial link to nature.
The National Park Service (NPS), the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (JBRPC), and The Nature Conservancy are working together on a project in Jamaica Bay to improve the biological health of habitats, boost resilience, and improve the visitor experience at the refuge.
13. MoMA PS1, Queens, New York
In a former elementary school in Long Island City, Queens, New York, MoMA PS1—previously known as P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center—is a not-for-profit contemporary art centre connected to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
In 1971, Alanna Heiss established the Institute for Art and Urban Resources (IAUR; PS1’s initial moniker), whose main goal was to turn vacant and decaying structures in New York City into studio and exhibition spaces for artists.
Heiss established the Clocktower Gallery on the 13th level of a public building in Lower Manhattan as one such place in 1972. She carried on managing 12 art venues, but in 1976 she secured IAUR a permanent home in Long Island City.
14. The Rockaways
Surfers and sunbathers go to The Rockaways for having beachside fun. Along with fishing holes and several playgrounds for youngsters, the region is home to the only two surf beaches in the City (which were immortalized in the Ramones song “Rockaway Beach”).
However, it is not simply a summertime vacation spot. Rockaway Beach has a lot to offer all year long, including independent boutique shopping, Fort Tilden’s art, and history, and dining at a growing number of restaurants that maintain the relaxed atmosphere of the seaside community.
15. Gantry Plaza State Park
The Queens beachfront of Long Island City’s Gantry Plaza State Park curves along the water’s edge.
An abandoned industrial area has been converted into a thriving public park with stunning vistas of Manhattan thanks to its award-winning design, which includes planted gardens and natural grasses.
With curving stairs leading down to a plaza and then out to four themed piers, the park’s 12 acres on the East River are situated.
In the present, each of the park’s four sections—Gantry Plaza, the Library, the Fields, and the Piers—offers a distinctive experience for anyone eager to take in a former dockyard turned urban sanctuary.
16. Citi Field, Queens, NY
New York City’s Queens borough is home to the stadium known as Citi Field. The MLB franchise New York Mets are now based at Citi Field.
The stadium was completed in slightly over 2.5 years and cost just over $900 million ($989 million in today’s currencies), with construction beginning on April 13, 2009.
41,922 people can now be found in the stadium. In addition to more than 1,600 club-level seats, there are several luxurious suites. According to seating capacity, it is now the seventh biggest stadium in MLB.
17. Alley Pond Park
A ridge of rock and sand created by a glacier at the southern end of the Minnesota Ice Sheet 15,000 years ago is where Alley Pond Park is located.
The rocks that line the southern end of the park’s slopes were left by the glacier, along with pieces of ice that were buried and later melted to produce the valley’s many ponds.
Geologists refer to them as “Kettle Ponds.” Natural springs and freshwater runoff from the hillsides flow into the valley, combining with the saltwater from Little Neck Bay.
Thomas Foster, who constructed a stone home near present-day Northern Boulevard, received a 600-acre property grant from King Charles I of England (1600-1649) in 1673.
Others soon constructed mills that tapped the water coming into Alley Creek. Despite having a small amount of light industry, the region remained mostly agrarian until the end of the 19th century.
To foreshadow the era of automotive travel that would change the park throughout the 20th century, William Vanderbilt (1849–1920) developed the privately owned Long Island Motor Parkway across the region in 1908.
18. USTA National Tennis Center
The US Open started in 1881 as a single men’s competition that was staged just for fun, going by the name of the U.S. National Championships.
Within a short period, women’s singles, men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles also joined the expanding yearly tradition.
19. Fort Totten—Bayside
Fort Totten Park, a spotless area around a Civil War stronghold that has been restored, offers not only leisure and relaxation but also an intriguing look into New York’s history.
Fort Totten Park attracts New Yorkers all year long who come to take advantage of its unique events, scenic views, and old structures.
Swimmers may cool off in the pool and sunbathe by its grassy shores on hot summer days, or they can launch their canoes and paddle along the Long Island Sound.
Bird watchers gather in the winter to see ducks that are migrating rest before their lengthy flight south. In addition, no matter the season, touring the stronghold and its neighbouring structures is a unique journey.
For those who prefer guided excursions, Urban Park Rangers provide frequent tours of the fort and the nearby fauna. For those who prefer to scout alone, a visitors’ centre within the area offers useful information on the park’s history.
20. Finback Brewery – Glendale
Finback Brewery is possibly New York’s most popular taproom. One of the largest and most varied audiences you’ll see at a brewery, it’s big and spacious (meaning plenty of women and minorities). It’s great that bench seating facilitates conversation.
It’s normally simple to order, and the bar is nice and long. Finding parking often isn’t difficult despite the area being residential, so that is also a benefit.
The variety of beers available fluctuates, and there are sometimes several lines with no beers in them, but what is available is always superb, and the three pricing points are a major benefit. Also accessible are flights.
An excellent place to come and unwind all around.
Key Takeaways
Indeed there are a lot of things to do in Queens, so it’s simple to get overwhelmed. But, with this article, traveling and visiting these amazing places in Queens will be quite easy for you.
Choosing what will fit your trip to New York City the best is the difficult part. In this guided article, we have listed out the top tours in Queens to help you learn more about the neighborhood and its culture.
In terms of shopping, Queens offers a few nice possibilities. There are several stores to explore since the borough is so diversified. There is something for everyone, from malls to small shops.
FAQs
1. What are the top tourist attractions in Queens?
Ans. The top tourist attractions in Queens are:
- Flushing Meadows Corona Park
- Citi Field
- Long Island Rail Road
- Gantry Plaza State Park
- Cunningham Park
2. Why is this place named ‘Queens’?
Ans. To honour Queen Catherine of Braganza, the consort of Charles II, this place is named as ‘Queens’.
3. Why is Queens famous?
Ans. Queens is famous for :
- Two major NYC airports
- JFK International
- LaGuardia.
Also, read:Fun Things to do on Long Island
Last Updated on June 16, 2023 by Sathi Chakraborty
