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QueensWay Cleanup in Forest Park ?

Friday, Apr 22, 2022
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Spring is here! And so is Earth Day ?

The Friends of the QueensWay, and Trust for Public Land, will host a park clean-up event on the tracks in Forest Park, around the ravine. Join your community, make new friends, and learn about the QueensWay. Green space is more important than ever, and we are committed to maintaining quality open space, creating new parks infrastructure in Queens!

Please plan to spend around 90-minutes at the clean-up. Given Covid-19 public safety requirement, we have limited space. Please register using the link below; We apologize in advance if attendance fills up quickly.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

QueensWay Cleanup II ?

Saturday, Apr 17, 2021
10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Calling all friends of the QueensWay & Trust for Public Land to continue the great cleanup efforts of last week’s volunteers. On more cleanup, on the tracks in Forest Park, around the ravine. Join your community, make new friends and learn about the QueensWay. Green space is more important than ever and we are committed to maintaining quality open space & creating new parks infrastructure in Queens!

Please plan to spend around three hours at the clean-up. Given Covid-19 public safety requirements, we have limited space. Please register using the link below.  We apologize in advance if attendance fills up quickly

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

8989 Union Turnpike Queens, NY 11385

Cleanup On The Tracks

Saturday, Apr 3, 2021
10:00 am – 1:00 pm

Spring’s in bloom and the Friends of the QueensWay is hitting the trail for a community parks clean-up event in Forest Park. Join us on April 3rd for a cleanup around the ravine in Forest Park, and learn more about maintaining quality open space and creating new parks infrastructure in Queens.

Please plan to spend around three hours at the clean-up. Given Covid-19 public safety requirements, we have limited space. Please register using the link below.  We apologize in advance if attendance fills up quickly. Additional clean-up dates will be announced soon!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

8989 Union Turnpike Queens, NY 11385

A QueensWay Tour with “Wildman” Steve Brill

Sunday, Nov 1, 2020
9:00 am – 11:00 am

The 2-hour walking tour of The Queensway begins at 9 AM, Saturday, November 1st, at the NE corner of Woodhaven Blvd. and Forest Park Dr. in front of Victory Field in Woodhaven, Queens.

The suggested donation is $20/adult, $10/child under 12. You may call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours in advance to sign up or sign up at link below

SIGN UP

This wooded walkway is one of the best places for foraging in the fall. We’ll explore the overgrown bed of an abandoned railroad line, the adjacent mature forest, plus trail sides, thickets, and cultivated areas, all loaded with wild plants, in conjunction with Friends of the Queensway.

Black walnuts are at their peak now. This native nut is better than anything you can buy in the store, and it’s loaded with nutrients.

Most roots are in season in autumn, and burdock, an expensive but invasive East Asian species, abounds in human-disturbed areas scattered  throughout the trail sides. Instead of brewing it as a tea, it’s so common, you can cook it like potatoes, or marinate and bake it to make “Wildman’s” Vegan Beef Jerky.

Sassafras root, the original source of root beer, stays in season all year. You use it for tea, or for making root beer. The dried, powdered leaves constitute the thickener for gumbo, called filé powder, and you can use the roots to make a cinnamon-like culinary seasoning. 

Another tree we’ll look for is the black birch. It grows in the woods, with twigs that taste like wintergreen. It provides the raw material for making birch beer. You can steep the twigs in hot water to make a fabulous tea with anti-inflammatory properties similar to aspirin. You can also thicken the tea with agar, season and sweeten it, and make black birch Jello. Even better, use it to flavor “Wildman’s” tapioca-thickened Stick Pudding.

There are plenty of fall herbs and greens in season. We’ll find mugwort, a tonic for the female reproductive system, and lamb’s-quarters, which you use like its relative, spinach. We’ll also be finding Asiatic dayflower, poor man’s pepper, lady’s thumb, and wood sorrel, all great for salads, sandwiches, and cooked vegetable dishes.

Wild seeds are in season too. We’ll hunt for the spicy seeds of garlic mustard, walnut-flavored seeds of jewelweed (a panacea for skin irritation—it even cures mosquito bites and prevents poison ivy rash), plus the wild grains of foxtail grass.

With lots of rain and a bit of luck, gourmet chicken mushrooms, milky mushrooms, boletes, giant puffballs, hen of the woods, and russulas may be emerging. 

QueensWay Fall Tour

Sunday, Nov 17, 2019
10:30 am – 1:00 pm

This walking tour of the QueensWay is primarily a tour on city streets adjoining the QueensWay with a brief walk on the rail bed section in Forest Park. Please wear long pants, and closed-toe shoes (walking shoes, hiking boots). Get a chance to see the “before” condition and learn about the history of the site & project from our tour leaders.

Tour spans approximately 3.5 miles as we weave through city streets and on to the QueensWay.

PLEASE NOTE: The starting point for the tour is different from the ending point; please plan accordingly. We will end in Forest Park, near 8989 Union Turnpike. More details provided after sign up. 

SIGN UP HERE

A QueensWay Tour with “Wildman” Steve Brill

Saturday, Jul 27, 2019
9:00 am – 11:00 am

The 2 hour walking tour of The Queensway and adjacent Forest Park begins at 9 AM, Saturday, July 27, at the NE corner of Woodhaven Blvd. and Forest Park Dr., in front of Victory Field in Woodhaven, Queens.

The suggested donation is $20/adult, $10/child under 12. At least 24 hours in advance to reserve a spot on tour.

SIGN UP LINK

DETAILS BELOW

This wooded walkway is one of the best places for foraging in the summer. We’ll explore the overgrown bed of an abandoned railroad line, the adjacent mature forest, plus trailsides, thickets, and cultivated areas, all loaded with wild plants, in conjunction with Friends of the Queensway.

Wineberries are at their peak now. This invasive Asian raspberry species is way tastier than anything you can buy in the store, and it grows in great quantity. We should also find the season’s first wild blackberries. Much better than blackberries you buy in the store, they’ll make you forget all about your iPhone! Another fruit in season is the cornelian cherry. Hailing from the Middle East, this stone fruit tastes like sour plums.

Wineberry

Eat too many of these sweet, tart, flavorful fruits, and you’re in danger of dying of happiness!

Most roots are out of season in the summer, but burdock, an expensive detoxifying herb sold in health food stores, is an exception, and it abounds in human-disturbed areas scattered  throughout the trailsides, where it’s invasive. Instead of brewing it as a tea, it’s so common, you cook it like potatoes, or marinate and bake it to make “Wildman’s” Vegan Beef Jerky.

Sassafras root, the original source of root beer, stays in season all year. You use it for tea, or for making root beer. The dried, powdered leaves constitute the thickener for gumbo, called filé powder, and you can use the roots to make a cinnamon-like culinary seasoning.

Another tree we’ll look for is the black birch. It grows in the woods, with twigs that taste like wintergreen. It provides the raw material for making birch beer. You can steep the twigs in hot water to make a fabulous tea with anti-inflammatory properties that protect you from heart disease, chemically similar to aspirin. You can also thicken the tea with agar, season and sweeten it, and make black birch Jello. Even better, use it to flavor “Wildman’s” tapioca-thickened Stick Pudding.

There are plenty of summer herbs and greens in season. We’ll find mugwort, a tonic for the female reproductive system, and lamb’s-quarters, which you use like its relative, spinach. We’ll also be finding Asiatic dayflower, hedge mustard, poor man’s pepper, lady’s thumb, and wood sorrel, all great for salads, sandwiches, and cooked vegetable dishes.

Asiatic Dayflower 

This invasive East Asian wild vegetable is as tasty as it’s abundant.

Wild seeds are in season too. We’ll hunt for the spicy seeds of garlic mustard, walnut-flavored seeds of jewelweed (a panacea for skin irritation—it even cures mosquito bites and prevents poison ivy rash), plus the wild grains of foxtail grass.

With lots of rain and a bit of luck, gourmet chicken mushrooms, milky mushrooms, boletes and russulas may be emerging.

Violet’s Chicken Mushroom

Foraging expert Violet Brill combined her interests in ornithology and mycology to find this 30-lb. chicken mushroom from a moving car!

“Naturalist-author “Wildman” Steve Brill is America’s go-to guy for foraging. He’s been leading foraging tours and providing demos for the public, for schools, day camps, birthday parties, museums, nature centers, parks departments, restaurants and chefs, garden clubs, hiking clubs, teaching farms, nurseries, and other organizations, in parks and natural areas throughout the Greater NY area, since 1982.

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/

You may call (914) 835-2153 at least 24 hours in advance to sign up.

Jane’s Walk: An Early Look at the QueensWay

Sunday, May 5, 2019
1:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Join Friends of the QueensWay Steering Committee members, Ruben Ramales, Assoc. AIA and Andrea Crawford as they lead our 4th Annual Jane’s Walk of the QueensWay.

A 3-mile walk alongside the northern section of this proposed “cultural greenway” that will transform a long abandoned rail line running from Rego Park south to Ozone Park. This tour will start in Forest Hills and end in Forest Park, with brief walks on the rail bed (wear long pants, and hiking or walking shoes), but much of it will be on adjoining city streets



DIRECTIONS
E, M, F, R to 71-Continental Ave – Forest Hills FINDING YOUR WALK LEADER
Look for an MAS sign and Jane’s Walk t-shirt / Friends of the QueensWay signage.

What is a Jane’s Walk?
Jane’s Walks are free, locally organized walking tours, in which people get together to explore, talk about and celebrate their neighborhoods. Where more traditional tours are a bit like walking lectures, a Jane’s Walk is more of a walking conversation. Leaders share their knowledge, but also encourage discussion and participation among the walkers.

MEETING LOCATION 107-36 71st Ave, Forest Hills, NY 11375 (corner of Queens Boulevard and 71st-Continental Avenue)

ENDING LOCATION
Forest Park (near Stop & Shop – 8989 Union Turnpike, Queens, NY 11385) Closest transit will be buses; Q23, Q11, Q21

More than a Running Team, A Community Group

In 2016, we received word from Kevin Montalvo, one of the co-founders of the Queens Distance Runners team, expressing his enthusiasm for the Queensway and lending their endorsement of the project.

So it was no surprise to hear from Kevin last month that he wanted to organize a Queensway Cleanup. Within a couple weeks, this community leader gathered many of the team members to volunteer along with getting the appropriate permits and forging a relationship with the Friends of Forest Park and local NYPD Explorers team members to lend a hand.

The cleanup had a showing of nearly 30 volunteers spread across a half mile of the abandoned tracks in Forest Park. Queens Distance Runners proves time and time again that they are more than a running team or club, they are a community group!

The support we get from Kevin and the Queens Distance Runners does not go unnoticed and at least for one day yesterday, the results of community coming together for one goal seem as tangible as ever. They support the project because it symbolizes to them, progression of increased accessibility for runners, joggers while establishing a safe path for commuters seeking a healthy alternative to congested traffic in the established region.

Thank You Queens Distance Runners!

Event Details

Under the Bridges Clean Up with Queens Distance Runners

February 2nd, 2019

10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Go to the Event Announcement

Under the Bridges Clean Up with Queens Distance Runners

Saturday, Feb 2, 2019
10:00 am – 2:00 pm

The Queens Distance Runners are organizing a QueensWay cleanup with the help of Friends of Forest Park and NYPD Explorers. It will help to kickoff the cleaning efforts for 2019 Spring season.

If you wish to join, please contact us at [email protected]

QueensWay Fall Tour

Saturday, Nov 17, 2018
10:30 am – 1:00 pm

This walking tour of the QueensWay is primarily a tour on city streets adjoining the QueensWay with a brief walk on the rail bed section in Forest Park. Please wear long pants, and closed-toe shoes (walking shoes, hiking boots). Get a chance to see the “before” condition and learn about the history of the site & project from our tour leaders.

Tour spans approximately 3.5 miles as we weave through city streets and on to the QueensWay. The starting point for the tour is different from the ending point; please plan accordingly. We end in Forest Park.

SIGN UP HERE

108-18 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills, NY 11375, USA

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