Review: Hidden History of Queens

Hidden History of Queens by Richard Panchyk
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My husband purchased a signed copy of this book from our local bookstore, Kew and Willow Books.

I have been living in Queens for just over three years now, and I'm married to a local who adores the borough. I guess it is hard for me as a transplant to love all of the different places as those who have strong ties. It was nice to read about some of the places I do know about, like the Fire Alarm Telegraph Station on the corner of Forest Park, but the little nuggets of history mostly were too short and sounded like a laundry list.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more had it focused on fewer locations in Queens and spent more time talking about the Panchyk's search for the hidden history. I enjoyed the stories when he talks about his own experiences, like how things attracted his attention, how he tried to reconcile conflicting information, or what happened when he visited the location. But learning who passed down a house to who, who passed it down to who, etc., just wasn't all that interesting to me.

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