Today, Traveler's Company announced Yoseka as one of their Partner Shops, and we are very honored and excited to be among other shops that we admire around the world. We love using Traveler's Notebook, and we also love the idea behind what it means to become a Partner Shop. It represents a local stationery-loving community and a sense of neighborhood, and it feels so special being included as one of the travel stops among many other stationery shops around the world. While Covid-19 has put a pause in traveling and brought many unexpected changes such as our recent move, we look forward to a time when everyone can travel again and see the world through the lens of our favorite stationery shops and in the meantime, we hope our local guide will encourage those of you who are in New York to try ordering in and supporting one of our favorite restaurants/eateries, take a stroll at a beautiful park in Long Island City and discover something else you might like in your local neighborhood!
Back in March, we put together a list of our favorite local stops in Queens and Brooklyn. These are the places that we visit often and we hope you'll enjoy them too. Our friend, Meagan made beautiful illustrations of all the spots and made this map for us.
Gantry Plaza State Park
Gantry Plaza State Park is a 12-acre state park on the East River. The park is located in a former dockyard, carrying freight railcars between Queens and Manhattan. The Pepsi-Cola sign, dated back to 1936, was part of the Pepsi bottling plant that used to be part of the current park. The park overviews Manhattan midtown skyline. It is one of our favorite places to take a walk on a nice sunny day.
Queens Library at Hunters Point
47-40 Center Blvd, Long Island City, NY
Queens Library at Hunters Point is a modern library located inside Gantry Plaza State Park. The public library is a very special place for us. Daisy grew up going to her local public library and borrowing many books, CD’s, movies and magazines. She attended events there, reading groups as a teenager, volunteering there in middle school, and continues to go to the library frequently as an adult. This new public library, where construction was completed in 2019, is truly beautiful, offers a stunning view of the Manhattan skyline from inside and is such an impressive community resource. We are so happy to have it near our home in Queens.
Long Island City Ferry at Gantry Park
46th Ave and Center Blvd Long Island City, NY
Long Island City Ferry is part of New York’s public transit system. Along the East River, there are a few NYC ferry stops. It’s an enjoyable way to travel in the city especially on a sunny day.
Flushing Meadows Park (Unisphere)
Unisphere was built in 1964 for the New York World's Fair. It’s located in Flushing Meadows Park. The park is adjacent to many popular destinations: US Open, Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets baseball team, the New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum of Art, the Queens Theatre in the Park and the Queens Zoo.
Welling Court Mural Project
11-98 Welling Ct, Astoria, NY
Welling Court Mural Project was started by local artists in 2009. The project features more than 150 murals by many different graffiti artists. Make sure you stop and admire these colorful and inspiring murals.
Win Son Restaurant
159 Graham Ave, Brooklyn, NY
http://winsonbrooklyn.com/#/
Win Son is a casual and contemporary Taiwanese-American restaurant that we always make sure to tell people about. While the food is not exactly traditional Taiwanese food and is more of a Taiwanese fusion, it is one of our favorite restaurants and we always enjoy dining here. The first time going, Neil spotted tiny Taiwan Beer glasses, which are found everywhere in Taiwan and used to serve Taiwan Beer in. The glasses are slightly larger than shot glasses and hard to find outside of Taiwan. We knew we had found a legitimate Taiwanese spot then and the food did not disappoint. Make sure you try the lu rou fan, fly’s head, sesame noodles and, of course, enjoy with Taiwan Beer.
Mother of Junk
567 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn, NY
Mother of Junk is a vintage shop with furnitures, books, arts and accessories. Whenever we are in Williamsburg with some time to spare, we always make sure to stop by this antique shop. Whether you are looking for something to do for 15 minutes or if you have a very leisurely afternoon of browsing planned, you’ll be able to find something interesting to capture your attention here. We’ve picked up antique letterpress machine stamps, cool old tins that we use to store small stationeries and correspondence, and funky glassware.
Bierocracy
12-23 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY
http://www.bierocracy.com/long-island-city/
Bierocracy is an “old world” Central European style beer hall that serves a full range of beers and Central European dishes to go along with your drinks. The energy of this beer hall is fantastic and very welcoming, and it is one of our go-to spots for grabbing drinks with friends. One of our favorite things to order off the menu is the schnitzel and their giant Bavarian pretzel to share. It is a fun spot for larger groups of people too.
Sweetleaf Coffee Shop
10-93 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY
https://sweetleafcoffee.com/
There are a few Sweetleaf Coffee Shop locations in Long Island City, but we love this one because it feels cozy and homey. Daisy frequented this coffee shop when she was in graduate school and often met with friends here to study and prepare for exams. It’s one of those cute cafes that serves great coffee and pastries, and has a casual and relaxed atmosphere where you feel comfortable taking your time to read, study, journal or catch up with friends.
