Flag Waving in Queens

One thing that the good people of Queens cannot be accused of is a dearth of patriotic flag displays.

Old Glory is found waving everywhere hereabouts, and is particularly conspicuous in the lead up to the Fourth of July holiday. Independence Day in my neighborhood, Astoria, means that in between the flags, there will be a pall of BBQ smoke hanging about in the air and every neighborhood dog will be hiding in the bathtub when the sun goes down and the neighbors begin to detonate their fireworks.

More after the jump.

My wife is British (she enthusiastically became a U.S. citizen several years ago), and when we first met, one of the things she would always comment on were the abundance of flags. Her experience in “the overseas” had revealed a certain amount of banner waving, but largely on government buildings. The populace doesn’t generally run the national flag up the pole in the way that Americans do, I was informed, and apparently this popular expression of patriotic pride which is second nature to Queensicans would be considered odd, at best, in the United Kingdom.

Funnily enough, like my bride – close to half of Queens comes from some “mother country” or another, but this is home now and in this place you plant a flag and wave it proudly.

Just the other night, Astoria Park had its annual fireworks show, which is another particularly American phenomena (note, this shot is from several years ago, not the 2014 iteration). My neighbors here on the border of Woodside and Sunnyside will likely be trying to outdo the Grucci Brothers tomorrow night, despite the best efforts of the NYPD and FDNY to enforce the anti-fireworks statutes in NYC.

Funnily enough, the fellow whom the neighborhood looks to for the most elaborate display actually works for one of those agencies. Leave it to the pros, I always say.

The union guys in the hood set out safety cones and tape off the spots where the firecrackers and roman candles will be ignited, and another neighbor hauls a series of fire extinguishers out to the street – just in case things get out of hand.

Over on 34th avenue in the 40’s, a friend who was one of the FDNY first responders to the September 11th attacks strings up this enormous flag every year. He’s suffering from exposure to the burning pile to this day, and has been diagnosed with some fairly esoteric disease symptoms in the intervening 13 years. He’s disabled, and is really, really ill.

But it doesn’t slow him down when he enlists all the characters on the block to help him raise this giant stars and bars.

Have a happy, healthy, and safe 4th of July Queenicans. I’ll be in Astoria, Queens.

Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.