By Kohar Bayizian
Picture this. It’s Friday night, you’ve just come home from a long, tiring day but still have this yearning to go out with your friends, possibly meet some new people and have a great time. What is a teenager to do in Queens?
There seem to be only a few options.
First, there is the movies, which seem to be very busy on the weekend and especially at a movie opening. These theaters are usually close to your homes, in case you don’t feel like going far. But personally, after a hard day I would be very likely to fall asleep in those cushioned, stadium seats and just let my friends fill me in on the scenes I missed while I fell in and out of dreams.
But movies aside, there are other options for teens. Everyone has to eat. So, the local family diners and restaurants might be a good plan.
Then there are the neighborhood pool halls, but they aren’t really all that fun if you don’t know how to play the game.
And there are always the extensive strips of cafes and coffee shops, which seem to attract kids who aren’t old enough to go to clubs but feel they’re too cool to go to the movies.
There also are the small, hole-in-the-wall bars that sometimes let minors sneak in for a drink or two if they know someone, who knows someone else who knows someone else. But these bars are usually oddly located and don’t have the glamorous, fun, clean atmosphere for which most of us are looking.
Then there are clubs. If you’re in the mood for pulsating music, multicolored strobe lights and guys with outfits that are tighter than most of the girls’, this is where you want to be.
But the truth is that there aren’t many venues that cater to the needs of the under-21 clubgoers who live in Queens. Frankly, there are hardly any A-class places here or even half-decent ones.
So, if teens feel like dancing but aren’t in the mood for the intense clubbing scene of the city or for hiking out to Long Island or finding their way to New Jersey, what are they supposed to do?
What we need in Queens is a place where 18- to 20-year-olds can socialize with their peers who love to dance and have some good clean fun.
It feels like we’re in the middle of it all — too young to go to the 21-year-old spots and too old to hang out in places which high school sophomores have already claimed.
So to all you entrepreneurs out there — what we need in Queens is a trendy, clean, affordable spot that will attract the hippest crowds!
