Chipotle Forest Hills and more in the QNYC Evening Edition for Wednesday January 30, 2013

Chipotle Forest Hills grand opening today

Well, today the Forest Hills Chipotle opened – a happy customer reported on the ChipoFoHi (yes, we just made up that abbreviation) Facebook page, “Just had the chicken burrito!” It’s all very exciting. And now we learn through CBS that out in SF the Chipotles are trying out a tofu filling. It’s called “sofritas” and is “shredded tofu braised with chipotle and roasted poblano chiles.” If it’s successful, we bet we’ll see it here on the east coast.

And then there are a bunch of other things opening in Forest Hills – Edge of the City has the skinny

We’ve been enjoying reading up on the new things opening all over Forest Hills. It’s like the place has exploded with biz growth. Of course, there’s the aforementioned Chipotle, but also a Kung Fu Tea (we love the taro bubble tea), a Red Mango, and apparently a new indie coffee house, though some locals think the location in Station Square – ironically next to the Christian Science Reading Room (Christian Scientists refrain from ingesting caffeine) – is too dark and gloomy. But still, sounds like a lot of people would love a place like this. We’ll keep an eye on it, and we thank Edge of the City for all the great info!

During the Great Backyard Bird Count, the Queens Botanical Garden is the place to be

On Saturday, February 16 at 10:30am, head to the Queens Botanical Garden (GMAP) to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, a world-wide effort to take a census of birds – this census will help scientists track migrations and populations, which can lead to more informed conservation decisions. Lots and lots of birds make their way through Queens – the QBG folks say that they’ve seen over 50 species of birds on the property, including Red-tailed Hawks, American Robins, and Ring-necked Pheasants. You can track birds for as little as 15 minutes, all while enjoying the Queens Botanical Garden – which, by the way, is free to enter right now.

Farewell, Dylan Smith

This moving video is really something, and it got us all misty (seriously, there was no dust in our eyes).

“Less than ]three] months ago, Dylan Smith used his surfboard to save more than a half dozen lives during Hurricane Sandy but a few weeks later Dylan died surfing in Puerto Rico. He was 23. Here a few GoPro clips from his memorial paddle out in Rockaway.”

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/56697261]

Good news for preservationists – the Far Rockaway Beach Bungalow Historic District is now a state historic landmark

Well, it happened, and a lot of folks are pretty psyched about it – the Wall Street Journal reports that the Far Rockaway Beach Bungalow Historic District “has been given the official nod as a state historic landmark and likely will get a national designation in a few weeks.” This means that homeowners can qualify for preservation programs and services, and tax credits from both the State and the Feds. What this doesn’t mean is that the structures are safe from being torn down – they’d need special designation by NYC’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to keep that from happening. But still, this is a big step for the historic district – we look forward to seeing how things go on the national level.