Queens Plaza Playaz Club

I just wiggle my toes on a mink rug
and press Play on the remote, at the Playaz Club
- Rappin' 4-Tay

Last time I was on the platform at the Queens Plaza subway station I noticed the exclusive "gentlemen's club" pictured here.  You know you're headed for a class experience when it's above a Blimpie, as above.


A tour of the facilities: Above left, the swank building that houses the City Scape (or Cityscapes, depending on the sign you read) Gentlemen's Club.  Above right, fine dining is free at the club's rooftop BBQ, so you don't have to wander outside to the Blimpie or Taco King.  Below left, the penthouse VIP lounge.  And below right, I'd guess there's a hot tub in there somewhere, where high rollers can gaze at the stars, smoke cigars, and feed their brain the high class cognac oblivion it craves.


The stretch limo that brings you to the club is, of course, a subway train arriving at Queens Plaza Station, in all its pinkness below.

Queens Means Tourism

Pedestrians are an anomaly on this stretch of Van Dam St. in Queens, so I was surprised to be joined by the group of tourists above, staying at the Fairfield Inn in Blissville.  Marriott locates the hotel in "New York Long Island City / Manhattan View" because -- just like Gertrude Stein said about one of my other favorite places, Oakland, California -- "there is no there" in this part of Queens.  [ Google map; check the Street View ]


I guess the group decided it would be more exciting to walk to the subway, a mile away on Queens Blvd., than wait for the hotel shuttle.  It was a beautiful day, and I'm sure they had a great time -- when not wondering why we were the only pedestrians on that long stretch.  They had time to study the underside of the LIE, the storage facilities and mattress warehouses, the Gulf gas station proudly flying its Gulf War flags (top and above left), and the Queensboro Correctional Facility, ominously located right next to La Guardia Community College.

We parted ways at Queens Blvd.  They turned right toward the 7 Train at 33rd, no doubt headed for an exciting time in Manhattan.  Meanwhile I turned left, headed for an exciting time in Queens Plaza, above right and below.

I have had my fill of slickly packaged plastic; there's more nutrition in the oil-soaked weeds between the LIRR, the LIE and the Queensboro Bridge than in all the patio furniture in Times Square.