Mapping neighborhood treasures

Not For Tourists (NFT) Guidebooks has released its 2008 Queens edition, adding more listings of places to enjoy in the borough.
NFT guides first made their debut in 2000, with the initial book featuring New York City. They went on to publish guides for Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Seattle. The guides have also focused on individual boroughs, including Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
“Our philosophy is simple: people need to use the cities they live in, commute into, or travel to effectively,” NFT’s website states. It continues, “Consequently, we created a guide that has highly graphical neighborhood maps, tons of listings, and commentary on everything from restaurants, nightlife, and shopping to parks, public transit, sports stadiums, museums, art galleries and even hardware stores.”
The recent release of the Queens guidebook marks the second edition featuring the borough. It maps out 12 neighborhoods - Astoria, Long Island City/Hunters Point, Sunnyside, Jackson Heights/Elmhurst, Elmhurst/Corona, Forest Hills, Jamaica, College Point, Flushing, East Flushing, Bayside, and Whitestone.
“With more residents than Houston, Philly, or Phoenix, and close to half of them foreign-born, Queens is easily the most diverse and dynamic spot on the planet,” the 2008 editors said. “Whether you’re here to live, work, explore, find the best Thai food in town, or just make it to and from Shea Stadium in one piece, NFT has you covered.”
Among the listings that are highlighted in the Queens Not For Tourists guide, which has 166 pages, are restaurants, bars, shops, parks, beaches, sports arenas, museums, and theatres. It also includes a detailed fold-out map.
“NFT finds writers who either live or work in the neighborhoods they cover, relying on their knowledge of all the local restaurants, bars, shops, and landmarks that merit our attention,” said Queens Editor Jennifer Keeney Sendrow. “Their listing submissions are totally subjective, just places that they find particularly good, bad, or interesting.”
The process of putting the guidebook together can take about a year. This includes recruiting writers, giving out assignments, completing layout and proofreading the material.
Sendrow said that her goal for the recently released guide to Queens is to let those who live, work or visit the borough know about all of the best places to go.
“Ours is one of the only guides to Queens out there, and it is definitely the only one entirely written by and for residents,” she said. “We integrate all the smart, up-to-the-minute content you find in the back of the book onto detailed neighborhood maps up front, making it easy to find whatever you need at a glance. Navigating Queens isn’t always easy, but we’ve done our best to make it fun.”
The cost of the Not For Tourists Guide to Queens is $9.95. To find out more information, visit www.notfortourists.com.