Exploring Queens' Lesser-Known Spots
by Merle English
Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nydiar035562788feb03,0,6786040,print.story

Tucked away in Powell's Cove at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge sits Malba, a tiny land pocket where waterfront and woodlands meet.

In the springtime, forsythia, dogwoods and azaleas bloom. Ducks, snowy egrets and other birds flock to the water's edge.

The Malba Web site describes the little-known area as "a hard place to find and exit from," a place that exists in "peaceful isolation."

And yet, it's right in the heart of northeast Queens.

"The residents like to keep it a secret," said Claudia Gryvatz Copquin, author of a newly published book titled "The Neighborhoods of Queens."

Malba is one of the 99 Queens communities featured in Copquin's nearly 300-page hardcover book, the second in a series planned on the five boroughs. Yale University Press and the Citizens Committee for New York City are co-producing the series, and profits from the books will benefit the citizens group. John B. Manbeck's "The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn," the first volume, was published in 1998.

Photographs, charts and maps illustrate portraits of each place in the new book, which includes the history, culture and architecture of the area, its famous residents "and any quirky characteristics pertaining to that neighborhood," Copquin said.

Copquin described Malba as "a very upscale area, very exclusive, very small, just about 400 houses. The streets are winding, and there's no public transportation, no shopping strips." It has been home to such personalities as Kenneth Kupferberg, who helped develop the atomic bomb, and William Shea of Shea Stadium fame.

If Malba's not obscure enough, what about Meadowmere? That's a rustic neighborhood with a population of 55 at the southernmost tip of Rosedale.

"A lot of people never heard of it," Copquin said. "If you don't live there, there's no reason to go there. There are no paved streets; no sewers yet; maybe one bait-and-tackle shop."

Copquin, 46, a freelance journalist, lives in Northport but spent much of her early life in Queens. She emigrated with her family from Argentina in 1968, at age 7. They settled in Jackson Heights, then relocated to Long Island.

Copquin later moved back to Queens and lived in Forest Hills and Bayside, "so I was quite familiar with the borough," she said.

Still, the three-year book project introduced her to locales off the beaten track in the city's largest and the nation's most diverse borough.

"I'm a big history buff, but there's a lot of interesting history in Queens that I never gave a second thought to prior to doing all this work," Copquin said. "Things like the Flushing Remonstrance, which was the forerunner to the Bill of Rights, and the array of people that have come from Queens: Donald Trump, Mario Cuomo, hip-hop and jazz artists. It's really a dynamic place."

Collecting data, she drove and walked around, talking to homeowners, shopkeepers, historians, demographers, business and elected officials, "getting a flavor of each neighborhood." She also visited libraries and pored over historical documents.

"I rediscovered this borough that I grew up in," said Copquin. "I rediscovered it in a very affectionate way. I'm very proud of it. Queens seems to be in the shadow of Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx, and even Staten Island, but Queens has the two most important airports in the country and was host to two Worlds Fairs. It's quite an accomplishment right there."

A regular contributor to Newsday, Copquin wrote the Newsday series "The Names of New York," about historic buildings and landmarks. That project led to a reunion after 30 years with Sonia Estreich - a childhood friend from Jackson Heights - and Copquin's authorship of "The Neighborhoods of Queens."

Estreich, who was a Citizens Committee managing editor, recognized her byline. "She thought I would be perfect for this project," Copquin said.

The main thread of the book, she said, "is the diversity of Queens and the people. People for the most part live harmoniously next to each other. It's really fascinating."

Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.