Arts + Entertainment
Photo by B.A. Van Sise
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I JANUARY 2018 27
I would say if you’ve never been to Queens,
it’s certainly going to give you a deep dive into
the borough’s culture, history and diversity and even if
you live in Queens and you love Queens, you’re
going to find something new to discover.
Gould’s daughter, now runs the fabric and
jewelry store.
DiStefano said that he also met interesting
people while researching his book. A trip to
Hollis to witness the Jam Master Jay memorial
mural led him to In The Chair Barbershop, where
a Run DMC street sign with autographs hung
on the window.
While taking photos of the sign, the owner
came out of the barbershop and struck up a
conversation with DiStefano. The owner had
gone to high school with Jam Master Jay and
had him and other prominent Queens rappers
autograph the sign for her.
“That was a real Queens moment,” he
said. “There’s a story like that for almost
every place in the book. Stuff like that that
really speaks to the sense of community and
neighborhood in Queens is really whats it’s
all about for me.”
Photographer Clay Williams, who was born in
Queens but raised in Brooklyn, took the “magnifi-cent”
photographs for the book, DiStefano said.
Williams photographs food, drinks and events
for The New York Times, Edible and the James
Beard Foundation.
“I would say if you’ve never been to Queens,
it’s certainly going to give you a deep dive into
the borough’s culture, history and diversity
and even if you live in Queens and you love
Queens, you’re going to find something new
to discover,” DiStefano said. “I know I did in
writing it.”
The book was released on Jan. 18 by Emons
Publishing and costs $19.90. It is available on
Amazon.
JOE DISTEFANO
Author
