Queens in Queens : How you know you've lived in Chelsea a really really long time - NaBloPoMo Day 8

The local music fest in Sunnyside, Queens

 

A friend of ours invited us to a music festival in Queens, it was a fundraiser for their local park. So we go, there's a whole bunch of us. This photo above is from early on in the evening, it got a little wall-to-wall blankets as the night wore on. Mostly the crowd was families and lots of sneakers and practical clothing chosen for comfort and warmth and walking home with a backpack full of lawn gear. I say this as foreshadowing.

I will also point out that the Chelsea area of Manhattan where we live, has been, less so now, but has historically been known for its very out gay community. Marchers line up for the Pride parade in front of our building, and it doesn't matter who you are, you know when it's Bear Week let me tell you. 

When we first moved in, they'd call 8th Avenue near our building "the runway" and it sure was. The outfits you could spot on the weekends were legendary. While I'm on this topic, I remember one time I was walking with Tom in a cute skirt that blew up over my head unexpectedly, a real Marilyn Monroe moment. The two guys walking toward us didn't even notice because both of them had their eyes glued on my cute husband. 

So right. We're at a music festival in Sunnyside, a whole bunch of train stops from our apartment.

One of the headliner bands takes the stage. It's an Afro-Funk group from Brooklyn. The lead singer grabs the mike and goes, "Hello Queens!" 

I'm like wait. Full stop confused. I scan the crowd looking for who the hell the singer is shouting out because, and I say this with all the experience of decades living a few blocks from some of the biggest gay nightclubs probably in the world... no one in the audience is even close to "queen" caliber. Not by a country mile. Most of the men near the stage are wearing baggy cargo shorts for chrissakes.

Eventually I figure it out. We were in Queens. He's saying Hello to the residents of Queens.

Luckily I had kept my thoughts to myself. It could have been mortifying.