I resided in eastern Flushing, or western Auburndale, depending where you draw the border, between 1993 and 2007 at 43rd Avenue and 159th Street. It was a 4th floor apartment and I was kept in some semblance of shape by ascending and descending four flights at least once a day. Many of those times I carried a bicycle up and down those four floors. In 2007 I moved to a first floor garden apartment in Little Neck and while I have done a lot of walking and bicycling since then, by all metrics I can’t be in as great shape as in those years, especially when you consider those added years. So, I suppose I have to consider myself proud of doing those four flights every day.
In this post I sing the praise of the NYC corner deli. Most, if not all, NYC neighborhoods have a corner deli where you could get a breakfast bagel, cold cut sandwich, pack of cigs, lottery tickets, that kind of thing. Gourmet it isn’t, but convenience it is. This corner deli at 43rd Avenue and 163rd 160th Street kept me in Diet Coke and potato chips for 14 years; during that time it was called the DJ Deli. Don’t talk to me about aspertame in Comments; they’ll be rejected. I have used it regularly since 1975 and I’m still here. In 2022 I gave up chips, though I will still occasionally have a few with a sandwich. I gave up bagels as well and eat fewer sandwiches. No donuts or cookies. But if all that stuff became safe tomorrow I’d go back in a heart beat.
We had a convenience store in Little Neck as well, right by the railroad tracks. It was run by a succession of Korean families during my 16 years here. Yes, I have now been in Queens for thirty years. The covid pandemic “put paid” as they say in England to that convenience store. Recently, a gourmet dessert shop opened in its old space. More stuff I have to stay away from.
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8/11/23