Flushing

International appeal in the midst of Queens

By Jonathan Scheff | Special to amNewYork

You can eat your way through Flushing. Its large immigrant population (55% Asian) brought with it pork dumplings, scallion pancakes and fine teas. Hispanic and Hindu populations add even more flavor to the mix.

Walk the streets of Flushing and you will pass food stalls and small establishments similar to those in the alleys of Shanghai or Taipei.

Flushing offers hidden wonders unknown to the other boroughs, like Robert Moses' panorama in the Queens Museum of Art, a scale model of all five boroughs built for the 1964 World's Fair.

Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets, also is in the neighborhood.

Even with its attractions, the area has yet to attract the young bankers or poor artists. People who live in Flushing often work and play in Flushing. Its separation from the city -- and that feeling of having been transplanted to another world -- makes it entirely worth a visit.

Or, with its low housing costs and smattering of good schools, worth a closer look for living.

Find it
Flushing is bordered by College Point and Whitestone to the north (separated by Route 678), Bayside to the east and Forest Hills and Elmhurst to the southwest. It contains a large area of parkland and sits east of the water, across from LaGuardia Airport.

The Buzz
Three significant developments are in the works: The Rockefeller Group and TDC will convert a five-acre municipal parking lot into Flushing Commons, with retail space, parking, a 200-room hotel and approximately 500 residential units; College Point Shopping Center from Related Co.; and, most notably, the new Mets stadium project. The commercialization of Flushing in recent years has also highlighted some racial tensions: Taiwanese businesses, for example, resent mainland Chinese companies for buying up property and running out other businesses by keeping longer hours.

Real estate
Housing in Flushing consists primarily of contemporary architecture -- apartment buildings and attached single- or two-family houses. In addition to commercial strips such as Main Street, the area hosts a substantial medical community. "Mostly it's more Asians who are moving in," said Virgilio Cannatella, an associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman. "Some professionals are moving in -- mostly in the medical field -- but it's not really an alternative to Manhattan. It's too far away."

What's renting
-Studio: $800 or more a month, depending on size
-One-bedroom: $1,000 to $1,500
-Two-bedroom: $1,300 to $2,400
-Three-bedroom: $1,800 to $2,500

To buy
-One-bedroom condo: $300,000
-Two-bedroom condo: $415,000