Things to Do in Queens, New York: A Local’s Guide

What's there to see in Queens, and is it worth visiting? Absolutely. It's New York's largest borough, the most diverse, and it's packed with places worth knowing.

Each of the Queens neighborhoods carries the stamp of the communities that made it home: Puerto Rico, China, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, to name just a few.

So if that huge Pepsi-Cola sign across the East River has always made you curious, it's time to cross over to Queens.

Places to see in Queens

There's plenty to see in Queens. It has an extensive network of parks and specialized museums that we'll tell you all about.

There are also several urban beaches in Queens you can reach by subway, plus the New York Mets stadium and the US Open tennis tournament.

When you arrive in New York, chances are you'll land in Queens, since this is where JFK airport and LaGuardia Airport are.

So let's get started with our list of 10 attractions to see in Queens. Hopefully you'll have time for them, because there's a lot of New York beyond the neighborhoods of Manhattan:

1. Gantry Plaza State Park

This is another one of those wonderful New York parks built along the banks of the East River, breathing new life into neglected corners of the city.

It sits in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City and is laid out between the giant Pepsi Cola sign dating back to 1936 and the gantries (the loading cranes from the neighborhood's old piers).

Gantry Park is a fantastic spot to kick back and take in panoramic views of Manhattan. The most fun way to get there is by NYC Ferry.

Right across from the park you'll spot Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, another under-visited NYC spot you really should enjoy.

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2. Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Flushing Meadows Corona Park is one of the largest parks in New York. It's worth the trip because it brings together several points of interest.

The 1964 World's Fair

Before the sixties, Corona Park was a dump. It was the construction of the 1964 World's Fair grounds that gave it its current shape and handed the city its biggest park.

Structures of great architectural and cultural value survive from that event. Chief among them is the Unisphere, the icon of the park and of Queens, that enormous globe built to welcome fairgoers.

Also notable is the former New York State Pavilion, with two towers that will probably look very familiar (they're the alien spaceships in Men in Black).

Queens Museum of Art

Another of the most visited attractions in the Flushing park is the Queens Museum of Art.

It has some remarkable installations, but its main draw is without question a scale model of New York City the size of three tennis courts!

This enormous model was created by urban planner Robert Moses to plan the development of various parts of New York. It even has tiny planes taking off and landing at JFK.

Hall of Science

If you're traveling to New York with kids, a visit to the New York Hall of Science pays off too, with interactive exhibits that get young minds working.

From there you could swing by the Queens Botanical Garden, also inside this huge park.

Corona Park stadiums

If you're into sports, know that the park is home to Citi Field Stadium, where the Mets play.

It also houses the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the US Open tennis tournament is held every year.

3. MoMA PS1

MoMA PS1 is MoMA's specialized art center, devoted to the most extreme and experimental forms of contemporary art.

If you love art, you have to go. It's a birthplace of new trends and one of the reasons Long Island City has become one of the epicenters of today's art scene.

A few blocks from PS1 stood 5 Pointz, the global mecca of graffiti, until 2013. It was lost to make way for more luxury condos.

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4. Noguchi Museum

The Isamu Noguchi Museum is something special: the only museum in the United States created by the artist himself.

The famous Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi bought this 1920s industrial building to display his most treasured works.

He personally studied the light so that every one of his pieces would be shown off exactly right.

Also in Long Island City, as you can see, the neighborhood of choice for many artists and gallery owners.

5. Socrates Sculpture Park

Socrates Sculpture Park is another open-air park on the banks of the East River in Long Island City, with large-scale sculptures and installations, and you can visit completely free.

The downside is that it's far from the subway, so you'll have to get there by bus, which makes the trip a bit more of a hassle.

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6. Museum of the Moving Image

Housed in a former Paramount studio in Astoria, the Museum of the Moving Image pulls back the curtain on film production.

Among other objects you'll find Chewbacca's head, Yoda's body and the masks from Planet of the Apes.

7. Astoria Park

Astoria Park is a sprawling green space on the East River in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, home to New York's Greek community. It stretches between the Triborough and Hell Gate bridges.

From the park you can take in the Manhattan skyline and get up close to the base of these New York bridges that make the city possible.

It has several sports facilities, the standout being the Astoria Pool, New York's oldest public pool (1936), in art deco style.

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8. Louis Armstrong House

Queens was a haven for jazz in the forties. It was home to Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald during the years of racial segregation.

Today the Louis Armstrong House is a museum you can visit.

9. Rockaway Beach

Rockaway Beach is the longest urban beach in the United States.

It's a surfers' paradise, perfect for a summer dip and for a stroll along the boardwalk.

At this New York beach, time seems to have stopped. You can get there by subway.

9. Flushing's Chinatown

New Yorkers know the real Chinatown is in Flushing. During the eighties, thousands of families from China, Korea, Southeast Asia and Taiwan settled here.

It's the largest Asian community in the city, so the streets of downtown Flushing are packed with cheap restaurants and, above all, authentic ones.

If you like Chinese food, you'll love this walk (it's the perfect way to end a day exploring nearby Flushing Meadows Corona Park).

10. King Manor Museum

This is a 19th-century mansion set in King Park in Jamaica, a neighborhood in Queens.

Its owner was one of the drafters of the United States Constitution and one of New York's first senators. Which is why it became a museum.

Tourists barely know about it, but city students visit constantly to explore United States history from the Constitutional period through the Civil War.

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The most important neighborhoods in Queens

Check out our guide to the neighborhoods of Queens, where you'll find more detailed information about what to see in each of the borough's distinctive areas.

Other New York attractions

Take a look at what to see in Manhattan, Brooklyn, what to see in the Bronx, or the attractions of Staten Island to round out your New York experience.