The schedule of summer events in NYC is like my group of friends on a bender: it just don’t stop!

August Activities Around NYC:

Monday, July 28th-Friday, August 1st
Restaurant Week
Enjoy prix fixe lunches at selected restaurants for $24.07 and prix fixe dinners for $35. Please your pals by scoring a great reservation at one of the more than 200 participating restaurants, but make sure they know to bring cash. Order the wine and tip the wait staff generously.
www.nycvisit.com/restaurantwee

July 22nd-August 17th
Shakespeare in the Park
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical featuring Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening)
Get up early and stand in line at Central Park, 81st Street entrance near the Delacorte Theater. Good luck!
www.publictheater.org/content/view/126/219

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Free Friday Night Concerts

In the true spirit of the The Boss, Sunnyside Gardens Park is offering the free S#*% to the workin’ man. So when you clock out from that 9 to 5, you can live out the song that plays in my head all day Friday — “Everybody’s Workin’ for the Weekend!”

Life is sweet! Taste the nectar! Smell the roses! Hear the music! And come on down to the only park in Queens (maybe the world) where you can buy a big ‘ol roasted chicken ($7), enjoy a cold Coors Light or Budweiser ($2) and listen to a badass Jazz band (freakin’ free).

Normally a private park, take advantage of this shindig every Friday through August 1st for a festive, laid-back hoe-down great for the family or just suckin’ down a cheap cold beer while you wiggle your toes in the grass. But bring your own bamboo umbrellas.

Sunnyside Gardens Park
Fridays at 7:00 p.m. through August 1st
718-672-1555
48-21 39th Avenue
Between 48th and 50th Streets
(7 train to 46th Street)
Sunnyside, New York

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This week I’m focusing on events that only take place in this fabulous town. Enjoy!

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Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog thats been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.

The BSOQ here, stroking my Springsteenian scruff, a little disillusioned. After a confusing Independence Day in this U.S. of A., I have one question: Where are the true Americans?

A day meant for listening to The Boss and high-fiving, it seems some people have forgotten what this holiday is all about. They’ve resorted to a fast food, low-carb, high-bullshit approach to liberty. You can’t Google your way to the heart and soul of America.

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Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me the ticket smiles and whispers good luck

Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
We’ll ride down baby into this tunnel of love

In the heart of Queens, snuggled in between an old Irish pub and an antique “free detergent on Tuesday” laundromat, there is a tunnel of love . I have seen the light and it is glorious.

Quaint
46-10 Skillman Ave
Sunnyside, Queens 11104
(917) 779-9220

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From Thunder Road:

Darling you know just what I’m here for
So you’re scared and you’re thinking
That maybe we ain’t that young anymore

Show a little faith there’s magic in the night
You ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright
Oh and that’s alright with me

Sometimes, on a Saturday night, after bustin’ my American ass all day painting my own dresser or building my own brownstone (with American blood, sweat and tears) The Boss needs a delicacy from the East to build up his bad-ass chi .

I’ve run the sushi city streets from Queens Boulevard to Thunder Road , and two champions stand tall above the imitators. And as the saying goes, one’s a little bit country and the other’s a little bit rock n’ roll.

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And you can’t forget

When I hear that sweet synthesizer, I see a younger and saner Tom Cruise (Jerry McGuire) frantically running through a house of middle-aged men-bashing moms, yelling, “WHERE IS MY WIFE? I’M LOOKING FOR MY WIFE!”

I think we all tear up a little bit.

The journey to find a great Romanian restaurant in a neighborhood of predominantly pubs and Mexican take-out is not so different. The odds are against you. But this Friday night, one man took a stand. And that man, you guessed it, was The Bruce Springsteen of Queens.

Friday Night, 7:00 p.m. The intersection of 47th Street and Skillman Avenue.

Arms raised, traffic stopped in all directions, I declare to the world, “I’M LOOKING FOR THE SECRET GARDEN!”

Suddenly I hear a wind chime. As I look over, a blinding light blurs my vision. I cross the street in a trance, a moth to the flame. As I approach, a door creaks open.

A man with a thick gray push-broom moustache steps out. He speaks slowly and deliberately in a thick Romanian accent.

“Are you the Bruce Springsteen of Queens?”

“Yes.”

“We have been waiting for you.”

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As you can guess, after a long hard day of tearing holes in my jeans and rubbing my Springsteenian scruff, the B.S.O.Q. needs an ice-cold beer. And not just any trendy lounge with the latest appletini or imitation trailer trash boutique will do the trick. I need a place that has 3 things:

1. Beer
2. Booze
3. No Bull*%#

Here are my favorite Sunnyside, Queens, neighborhood cantinas, in no particular order:

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There’s diamonds in the sidewalks, there’s gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There’s treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land

From the amazing story of the American Immigrant, American Land …

This week, The Boss comes at you with the best farmer’s market on this side of the Mississippi.

Whether you’re looking for fresh, organic produce, the best grass-fed beef in town or even live seafood (yeah, I said it, LIVE CRAB!), come to the corner of Skillman Avenue and 43rd Street, where goodwill oozes through the streets like butter (and I know how you like your butter . . . oozing through the streets!)

Here in the heart of Sunnyside, Queens is a celebration of great grub, wonderful people, and you might even here someone singing a little Springsteen to himself. (I know I do.)

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Long sideburns. A rustic-sounding harmonica. Cut-off T-shirts. Torn jeans. Ballads of blue collar America. The River, Born to Run, Atlantic City.

Does anyone say it better than The Boss?

I don’t think so. And so, in the spirit of The Boss, I dedicate this blog. I will put every ounce of my own blood, sweat and tears into making this the best food / drink / dance / entertainment / social gathering / art Queens showcase you’ve ever seen.

I’ve seen the good and the bad sides of, as we like to call it, Q-Town, for going on four years. I live in the trenches of Sunnyside Gardens (where the beat hits the street), and I’ll tell you this: there are no handouts and no meal tickets. But there is a place for men like me and Bruce — men of honor, strength and integrity.

You’re probably wondering at this point, Who the %&* is this guy?

Let me tell you. I am the Bruce Springsteen of Queens.

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