queens area

Hi, We will be visiting new york for the first time and we will be staying in the queens area at the Fairfield Inn marriott, van dam st. We are planning on using the subway a lot the nearest station being 33rd street which is 4 - 5 blocks away. Is it too far to walk, and is it a safe area to be walking to and from a subway station? I understand that any area has its pros and cons living in London!Thanks

queens area

I don%26#39;t know the hotel but I do know that subway station and a little bit of the area around there.

I stayed in Long Island City last year (not too far from your hotel, I think) and loved it. I booked my hotel on price but found that LIC was a really funky area that I really enjoyed exploring. It%26#39;s a little industrial and a little %26#39;grimy%26#39; but that added to the experience. It was also very convenient for the subway and getting to Manhattan and also to Brooklyn.

It%26#39;s also the sort of area where rents are semi-affordable so you end up in pubs and bars talking to locals rather than other tourists like you do when you%26#39;re in somehwre like Greenwich Village. That was my experience anyway. Try Lounge 47 and the LIC bar.

To compare to London I think of it as a bit like Shoreditch. A little bit out of town, some great local nightlife and ethnic restaurants, a few strip bars, a bit of inconvenience in travelling to and from the main tourist areas but made up for in the price and the experience of staying somewhere %26#39;real%26#39;.

queens area

Hi, thanks for the quick reply. Sounds like an interesting place. I don%26#39;t mind a bit industrial and grimy, should be good fun going to local bars and restaurants and meeting real new yorkers. Walking arouns at night is ok then?

Queens is my favorite %26#39;outer%26#39; boro - there is so much local flavor! Very safe and different than Manhattan. Take the N or W to the end (Ditmars Blvd) and enjoy some time in Greek Town. There are great locals hangouts and eateries of all types.

The Chinese takeout joints will serve up a great meal to take away for under $10. I wish I were there now, at the Phoenix and Dragon, or #1 Chinese restaurant! Or Mikes Diner or (you get the idea)!

I thought it was fine to walk around. Never once had a problem day or night. It%26#39;s also the area where lots of taxi companies have their lots so it%26#39;s where drivers come and go to swap shifts. As such it was dead easy to get a taxi at pretty much any time of the day.

Queens is the largest (by far) of the five boroughs of New York City; it covers nearly five times the area of Manhattan. Because it is so large, all parts of Queens are not as well served by subways as most of Manhattan is. Furthermore, because of the way the Post Office divides things up, for postal purposes neighborhood names in Queens may actually be used for large areas that are not in fact in the neighborhood whose name the Post Office uses in the address.

In this case, you are looking at a hotel whose address says ';Long Island City';, which is a neighborhood in Queens. There are a number of new and economical hotels that are in Long Island City that are extremely handy to subway transportation into Manhattan. Most of those are near Queensborough Plaza. There are also sections of Long Island City that are interesting residential areas with lots of places to eat. This hotel, however, is not very close to the subway at all. It is instead about a half mile away from the nearest station, and is located in a very unattractive industrial area that, while not dangersous, is extremely inconvenient both for its distance from the train, for the huge amount of vehicle traffic on the street, and for the lack of any sort of commercial amenity such as a restaurant or a shop. I would strong recommend not staying at the Fairfiled Inn on Van Dam Street, but instead recommend that if you want to stay in Long Island City, you should stay at one of the hotels closer to the subway.

The hotel is not in a pedestrian friendly location and if you read the reviews here on TA you will hear that.

tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g48080-d1027681鈥?/a>

What the reviews do say is the hotel provides free shuttle van to/from the subway during certain hours and most people were pleased with their stay and that service. My problem with it is it is not in a area where you%26#39;d want to explore the immediate neighborhood on foot. So if you%26#39;re prepared to just use the hotel shuttle back and forth to the subway stop, it sounds more than fine. If not, pick one of the many other hotels in LIC that are closer to a subway. This 5 blocks is at least a 15 minute walk through some very unattractive streets. Have you had a look on a map?

maps.google.com

Hi, thanks for the information. I have looked on Google and used the streetview feature. I agree, it%26#39;s not somewhere I fancy walking to and from the subway station. Looks like we will be relying on the hotel shuttle!

You would be better off relying on a different hotel...

Too late, got too good a deal, booked it now.

The area is safe. But in general it is boring.

Quasi industrial, as said, and not very residential. There is little ';happening'; even tho there may be a pub or two. If you want to see some Queens Action, go in the opposite direction from Manhattan on the subway. #7 train to Flushing, or N/W train Astoria or %26amp;, E, F, G, R,V to Jackson Heights. Mostly ethnic enclaves with fun restaurants. Or G to Greenpoint/Williamsburg and further out to other parts of Brooklyn.

One you see the area of your hotel, I%26#39;ll bet you don%26#39;t spend much time there. But it is safe.And some good views of Manhattan from the elevated train :)