Glendale

Back in April, as I was trying to figure out how the hell to get out to Glendale for my interview with the Cash Giveaway King of Queens, Damon Hemmerdinger, development director for the Shops at Atlas Park, I asked his rep:

"Think ol' Dale [Hemmerdinger, M.T.A. chairman and also Damon's father] can hook me up with a closer subway stop?"

"Funny!" she said. "But the bus stop right in front is relatively new so consider yourself lucky!"

Luck is one way to put it. Some city officials call it fishy.  read more »

According to Friday's Metro, City Council members are upset about the new bus service,

We've been perusing an early copy of a new book called The Neighborhoods of Queens. Authored by Long Island resident and journalist Claudia Gryvatz Copquin and with an introduction by city historian Kenneth Jackson, the book will be published by Yale University Press in November. It's one of those books where you can open it to any page and find something interesting.

Like, take pages 76 and 77: About half the land in Glendale, a neighborhood in the center of Queens that claims the late Phil Rizzuto as a favorite son, is covered by cemeteries. The neighborhood's southern half, in fact, is called Cemetery Belt, and some of its, um, residents include baseball greats Jackie Robinson and Lou Gehrig and actors Mae West and Edward G. Robinson.

Extra Glendale bonus nugget for the baby boomers out there: The neighborhood includes the house featured in the opening credits of the CBS sitcom classic All In The Family.