Jersey city

Astoria is known for two things: film making (it is currently one of the largest simsense production centers in the UCAS, especially after the Chicago quarantine, and even after the quarantine was lifted) and the fact that it has the largest single concentration of Greeks outside Greece itself (or so it claims). Until the movie industry moved out to the West Coast in the early 1930s, Astoria was the cinematic capital of the world, and Paramount had its studios here until the lure of Hollywood's reliable weather left Astoria empty and disused. That's how it remained until the turn of the 21st Century, when Hollywood's stranglehold on the industry weakened and interest – in New York in general and Astoria in particular – was renewed. After a major renovation, the Kaufman-Astoria Studios (34-12 36th St; LTG# 2718 [92-5600]) have reopened.

More film history can be found in the old Paramount complex. Here, the American Museum of the Moving Image, 35th Avenue at 36th Street (Tues–Fri 1200hrs–1700hrs, Sat & Sun 1100hrs–1800hrs; 34¥; LTG# 3718 [84-0077]), houses a stellar collection of over 1000 objects, from posters to stills to sets and equipment both from Astoria's golden age and more recent times. On weekends, the AMMI has simsense matinee showings of classic and occasionally cult films.

Meanwhile, Greek Astoria stretches from Ditmars Boulevard in the north down to Broadway, and from 31st Street across to Steinway Street. Between 944,940 and 1,065,470 Greeks live here (together with a smaller community of Italians and an influx of Eastern Europeans, Bangladeshis and Latin Americans), evidenced by the large number of restaurants and patisseries.

Queens, named after the wife of Charles II of England, was one of the rare places where postwar immigrants could buy their own homes and establish their own communities. Astoria (AA), for example, holds the world's largest concentration of Greeks outside Greece. It also has a long filmmaking (And, now, Simsense) tradition: Paramount has its studios here, lured away from Hollywood's Pueblo occupation. The area was then left empty and disused by all except the UCAS Army, until Hollywood's stranglehold on the simsense industry finally weakened through natural disaster and foreign occupation. The new studios here – not open to the public – now rank as the country's largest, and are set for a major expansion. The American Museum of the Moving Image and Simsense, in the old Paramount complex at 35th Avenue at 36th Street (#R or #V train to Steinway; Wed– Fri 1100–1700 Hours, Sat & Sun 1100–1800 Hours, Fri open until 1930 Hours for screenings; 52.50¥; LTG# 2718 [84-0077]), is devoted to the history of film, video, TV, ASIST and simsense. In addition to viewing posters and kitsch movie souvenirs from the 1930s and 1940s you can listen in on directors explaining sequences from famous movies; watch fun short sims made up of well-known clips; add your own sound effects to movies; and see some original sets and costumes. A wonderful, mock-Egyptian pastiche of a 1920s movie theater shows kids' movies and TV classics.

The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, 36-01 43rd Ave at 36th St, on the 2nd floor (Mon, Thurs & Fri 1000–1700 Hours, Sat & Sun 1100–1800 Hours; suggested donation 26.25¥; LTG# 2718 [04-7088]), has also moved to a temporary 2000-square-meter home. The museum administrators have done a wonderful job of paring down the permanent collection of this prolific and dynamic Japanese-American artist's works. Noguchi's "organic" sculptures, drawings, modern dance costumes, and well-known Akari Light Sculptures are all on display. The main museum and its Zen-like garden are located at 32-37 Vernon Blvd at Broadway on the East River; call or visit the PLTG for updates. Just upstairs from the current location of the Noguchi Museum, the Museum for African Art (Mon, Thurs & Fri 1000–1700 Hours, Sat & Sun 1100–1700 Hours; 31.50¥; LTG# 2718 [84-7700]) is a marvelous institution exclusively devoted to historical and contemporary African art.

Lastly, where Broadway and Vernon Boulevard intersect on the shores of the East River, Socrates Sculpture Park (daily 1000– sunset; free; LTG# 2718 [56-1819]) has been transformed from an illegal dumpsite into one of the city's most distinctive places to view and experience mundane and arcane art, namely large-scale sculptures.