MARCH 1-15                                                                                                Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter 
Mar. 1, 1:30-5 pm. Wildcar Weekend: Propeller Powered Cars: Test the elasticity of the good, old rubber band and build a car. 
$5. New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th St., Corona


Mar. 2, 7 pm. The Museum of Interesting Things: Interactive demos explore the industrial revolution and mechanical era.
$5. 
Greater Astoria Historical Society, 35-20 Bway., 4th Fl., LIC

Mar. 6, 7:30 pm. Fred Hersch Trio: The six-time Grammy-nominated pianist is the anchor of one of the greatest jazz trios today. 
Free. Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing

Mar. 6, 7-9 pm. 8th Annual Panorama Challenge: Calling all geographical geeks and New York know-it-alls! Join the world's only geographical trivia-based game night. 
$15. Queens Museum, NYC Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
 


Mar. 6-13. See it Big! High and Wide: Flicks to give a sense of how filmmakers use the frame to their advantage. 
$12. Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Ave., Kaufman Arts District


Mar. 7, 4 pm. Das Audit: Formed in 2014, this New York-based instrumental ensemble will delight the gallery with their new compositions. Free
. SculptureCenter, 44-19 Purves St., LIC

Mar. 8, 2:30 pm-4:30 pm. New York State Pavilion (Book): A special lecture and book signing by Christian Kellberg. Queens Historical Society, 143-35 37th Ave., Flushing

Mar. 13-15. The Rape of Lucretia: By Benjamin Britten and presented by the Queens College Opera Studio. 
$15. LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing
 


Mar. 14, 9:15 am. Yoga in The Elements: Breathe in deep and relax, finding total peace in a heated cabin. 
$16. Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd., Douglaston
 

Mar. 14, 12 pm - 3 pm. You Got Mail! : Write a letter with a quill and ink. Free. King Manor Museum, King Park, Jamaica 

Mar. 14, 11 am. The Luck of the Irish: Share stories of leprechauns and shamrocks and craft a rainbow with a pot of gold. $5. Voelker Orth Museum, 149-19 38th Ave., Flushing

Mar. 15, 11 am. Nature Exploration Hike: An Urban Park Ranger guides you to the hidden gems of Queens' biggest park. Free. Albert H. Mauro Playground, Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Mar. 15, 5 pm. Brahms Symphony No. 4: The Astoria Symphony Orchestra presents Brahms along with Barber's reflective work for soprano. $20-$25. LIC High School, 14-30 Broadway, LIC

Don't miss The Moving Beauty Series: a wide array of quality concert dance at affordable prices through March 15 at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City. 
St. Patrick's Day Parade

Queens has many great parades. Here are two:
 
March 1, 2 pm
Parade Route: Starts in Sunnyside at 43rd St. and Skillman Ave. Ends at 56th St. and Skillman Ave. in Woodside.

Queens County St. Patrick's Day Parade
March 7, 1 pm
Parade Route: Starts at Beach 129th and Newport Ave. Ends at Beach 100th St. in Rockaway Beach
March Madness

Celebrate spring early at Queens Botanical Garden. The Flushing attraction is full of events this month.
 
Don Cato's (Jackson Heights Friendly) March Picks
Good Eats: I love to cook...but I love cooking by others...without a hesitation Armondo's Italian Restaurant, which is now on Northern Boulevard between 73rd and 74th streets, just re-opened after the horrible Brunson Building fire last April. Gerry and his wife have created a fresh, calming décor with the same professional staff and wonderful home cooking. Every fish dish is perfect; the homemade ravioli, yum; and the in-season oysters are intoxicating. Think Tom Jones dinner for two. Breakfast can be like Five Easy Pieces or breakfast can be JuJu's Bagel Cafe on 76th Street, which is an Ode to Joy. Chef Sammy, a pastry master by trade, bakes his own bagels and assorted pastries. He also makes omelets taller and fluffier than the old Manhattan Stanhope Hotel. Without a doubt, Sammy bakes the best apple turnover in NYC! (The Best! Try it!)

Wander Streets: Every once in a while it's fun to amble down 35th Avenue to Legends Tavern for a drink in an old neighborhood tavern. I have taken a Shining to it. Nothing fancy but, there is great Texas BBQ happening in the back. Thursdays to Sundays walk over to Espresso 77 for a glass of wine, fine art, live music or a dreamy coffee drink. Afzal is five years and growing. Seems like The Sweet Smell of Success. Meanwhile, need a special, threaded nut? It's the Jackson Heights Supply at 88th Street on 37th Avenue. They are the real deal in hardware. Speaking about nuts, want something fresh, organic in food stores to avoid the usual Try the Downtown Natural Market on 37th Avenue near 85th Street. They have Nancy's cottage cheese from the Springfield Dairy in Oregon. It's made by Ken Kesey's brother! (I lived in Eugene, Oregon, for 15 years) and their dairy products come from their own dairy herd up the beautiful McKenzie River. (Kesey wrote One Flew of the Cuckoo's Nest and played the major role, along with his Merry Pranksters, in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.)


Unique Treats: Just off 76th Street near 31st Avenue in the Jackson Heights Shopping Center is the crème de la crème in the Metropolitan Area for French pastries at amazingly reasonable prices: Cannelle Patisserie. This is worth an out-of-the-way trip and soon to open a new place in LIC. This moment from Once Upon a Time in Americasays it all.. In late summer our Queens World Film Festival screens free movies on Rockaway Beach at Beach and Beach 96th Street. Always a great audience by the ocean. Rockaway Taco is right there with the most scrump-deli-ish, dripping-ly fresh, oh my gosh giant flavor.

 

Historic Feats: As I jog all around the area, I often pass by the historic Jackson Cinema, where my lovely wife Katha and I once would enjoy a Christmas Day movie with our daughters. One of the last community cinemas it is now sadly boarded up. There is the Louis Armstrong House Museum on my way the Flushing Meadows Corona Park where I loop around the Queens Museum.Loop after loopof history is visible every day around every corner in the new shops and flavors that refresh an old space. One day the new will be old, and the cycle will continue. That's the nature of nature. Every day is a loop: Groundhog Day.

 

Don Cato, is the Artistic Director of the Fifth Annual Queens World Film Festival. Don landed in Jackson Heights in 1986 from Oregon, home of the Ducks, via Boston, home of the Sox, via the Michigan State, home of the Spartans. He's originally from Fredonia, New York, home of the first gas well in the US and Captain Cushing, who invented the torpedo during the civil war and sank a confederate Iron Clad. However, he argues that Queens is the new Gold Rush.