Jean over at Renovation Therapy was kind enough to do this guest post for me. THANK YOU, JEAN!!!!

While Jackson Heights might have delusions that it’s the next Park Slope…Woodside/Sunnyside Gardens is trying to stay under the radar. We’re a very diverse hood and we like it that way. There are a few hipsters but we throw rocks at them and that is helping to keep their numbers down. Spaying & Neutering helps too – but rocks are more fun.

There are really 2 sections of Woodside, the 7 train section and the R train section. The 7 train section tends to be cheaper and not as well maintained as the R train section. Just sayin’.

The area around 39th Avenue and between Woodside Avenue and 48th Street is…gorgeous. Some people will argue with me and say that’s Sunnyside. It’s border-licious. The adorable brick rowhouse homes (typically) have shared back yards. I secretly harbor a desire to walk through them but since I don’t own one of those homes, not sure I’d be welcome. Still, I do love to peak into their secret garden-ness. Much to the annoyance of many local homeowners, the homes are now Landmark’d. Many of the gorgeous brick rowhouses were designed by Henry Wright and Clarence Stein who are better known for designing Temple Emanu-El and St. Bartholomews in Manhattan. Their vision was to combine urban and rural. They did a damn fine job. I’d love to own one of these rowhouses. Sigh. You can read more about the landmarking of the area here.

Many of the homes around here still have their “Say No To Landmark Status” signs in their windows.

Interesting current listing…

4 bedroom – $429,000

There’s an apartment building on 39th Avenue called Phipps. I have never been inside the apartments but I often sneak into the buildings piazza-like interior garden. It’s heavenly. It’s dark – with lots of trees, shrubbery and white fairy lights. OK, so they are Christmas lights – whatever, it’s heaven. There are benches in there and you can drift away sucking off the wifi for hours on end.

Across the street from this apartment building is an Italian restaurant called Donato’s. I love Donato’s. Hell, I just might go there for dinner tonight. The chicken francese can’t be beat. It’s a small family joint and it gets quite crowded after 7pm. It’s one of our hoods best kept secrets.

So there’s my quick Woodside review. I left out a million things, but come check it out…if you’re a hipster beware of rocks.