admin The Queens Night Market has reopened, serving up tasty tidbits to New Yorkers starved for the lively multicultural food fest after missing it last year due to the pandemic.
Reopening of the Food Markets
A happily hungry crowd of several hundred people was on hand Saturday and Sunday nights in Flushing Meadows Corona Park to enjoy the return of the celebrated market, known for delicious offerings that reflect the boisterous diversity of the borough and the city.
“We truly missed it. It felt like our community wasn’t the same without the night market,” said Rebeca Tallaz, 16, of Corona, who came with her mother and younger sister. “We actually live around here so we know how the market has impacted the neighborhood. “The night market really shows how Queens is built, how diverse we are. We love it.”
Getting Back to the Normal
Scores of vendors have been keen to get back to work at the market that first opened its doors six years ago, said founder John Wang. “It felt kind of harmonious,” said Wang, 39. “Collectively, everyone was like ‘We can’t wait to come back.’
The former corporate lawyer quit the rat race to launch the market in 2015, hoping to recreate the kind of affordable markets he remembers from visiting family in Taiwan each summer as a child. At the time, he had no experience organizing events or food service and says he “fully expected to fail.” Instead, the market took off, attracting nearly 100 vendors to its location behind the New York Hall of Science in the park. Some 80 were on hand for the reopening. “It really looks like the cross-section of New York. It’s not all hipsters, it’s not all upper middle-classers,” he said. “It’s what New York City looks like.”
A Dazzling Affair
Live music played onstage as people sat at picnic tables to drink and dine, and the aroma of dishes from around the world and the sound of sizzling grills filled the air. Vendors on the market’s roster sell a medley of international flavors — Belizean conch fritters, Taiwanese popcorn chicken, Tibetan dumplings, Salvadoran tamales and chimney cakes from Romania and Hungary.
In a typical year, the market would have opened for the season in April, but this year organizers wanted to make sure everything was ready and safe, said Sharon Medina, 50, of Forest Hills, who handles the Queens Night Market’s social media. The market is open 6 p.m. to midnight most Saturdays through October.
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