www.qns.com APRIL 8, 2022 8RIDGEWOOD TIMES
Middle Village bagel place tops list of best in New York City
BY ETHAN MARSHALL
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Bushwick resident Mike Varley, 38, spent
13 months tasting bagels from 202 bagel
places in the city, coming up with a ranking
and score for each one before compiling
an interactive map displaying the locations
with an icon grade and scores based on a
five-point scale.
According to Varley’s Everything is
Everything map, the best bagel place is Hot
Bagels (P&C Bagels) at 7905 Metropolitan
Ave. in Middle Village, earning a score of
4.75 out of 5.
When conducting his taste tests, Varley
would always order an everything bagel with
scallion cream cheese, which, according to
Varley, served two functions.
“First, it operated as a means of controlled
comparison,” Varley said. “Second, both
options allow for creativity and variety in
preparation while still being among the most
popular order options.”
He splits his reviews into three categories:
store, bagel and cream cheese. Additionally,
Varley said he tried to identify what may be
unique about each experience. His reviews
typically take about an hour to write.
Varley described this project as an offshoot
of one he began in 2020 called Total Clarity
when he and his wife walked five marathons a
week in a year for a total of 7,000 miles across
the five boroughs of the city.
“Pretty early on I realized I had a unique
opportunity to survey all that NYC bagels
had to offer — both because I would be visiting
every neighborhood and because I’d be
burning the bagels off with a marathon a
day,” Varley said.
He tried three bagels a week throughout
Total Clarity before devoting another month
to trying 50 more locations.
When it came to P&C Bagels, Varley said
“the combination of unique store aesthetics,
a great staff, the crusty toasty quality of the
bagel and the freshness of the cream cheese
with great scallion texture additions made
it a winner.”
QNS reached out to P&C Bagels for comment
and is waiting for a response.
Varley said he is already looking into
adding more stores that he missed or that
may have opened up after he created the list.
He said popular demand has been dictating
which stores he has visited or intends to try.
According to Everything is Everything,
the ideal bagel store has a combination of
“second nature intangibles and intimate
familiarity with services offered.” While he
admits more established stores are usually
at an advantage, more contemporary stores
can certainly catch up with thoughtful intentions,
customer engagement and flexibility to
experiment with services.
Varley’s bagel from P&C Bagel. Photo courtesy of Mike Varley
“A ‘5’ bagel store represents the ultimate
in presentation, product freshness, order
management and bagel staff skill,” Varley said.
See the map at everythingiseverything.
nyc.
Read more on QNS.com.
What you need to know about the Queens County Supreme Court
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The borough’s criminal justice system
is centered on 30 Queens Supreme
Court justices who render
their decisions in two divisions utilizing
three courthouses in Kew Gardens, Jamaica
and Long Island City which handle
criminal cases.
According to the New York State Unified
Court System, the Criminal Term
of the Queens Supreme Court handles
felony matters, offenses that are punishable
by a term of imprisonment that exceeds
one year, and operates at the Kew
Gardens Criminal Courthouse located
at 125-01 Queens Blvd. adjacent to the
office of the Queens district attorney
alongside Queens Borough Hall in a
bustling campus known as the County
Civic Center.
It is here that prosecutors from the
DA’s office present their cases before
grand juries for indictments. Jury trials
and non-jury trials, also called bench
trials, are then held before Queens Supreme
Court justices.
The criminal court also has authority
over all misdemeanors, offenses
punishable by a term of imprisonment
that exceeds 15 days but does not exceed
one year, and minor offenses committed
within New York City. It also handles
preliminary proceedings in felony matters,
after which the case is transferred
to the Criminal Term of the Supreme
Court. Only Kew Gardens and the Long
Island City courthouse at 25-10 Court Sq.
handle criminal cases.
The Civil Term operates at the Queens
Supreme Courthouse located at 88-11
Sutphin Blvd. which houses the Supreme
Court, Surrogate Court and County
Clerk. Supreme Court justices oversee
large felony and civil cases within their
districts, including divorce, separation,
annulment proceedings and civil matters
exceeding $25,000.
The Sutphin Boulevard courthouse is
also home to the Housing Court which
handles residential landlord and tenant
disputes; the Small Claims Court which
hears matters involving monetary damages
up to $5,000; Family Court which
determines most legal matters involving
children and families; and the Surrogate’s
Court which handles matters
relating to wills, estates and property
of deceased persons.
The Surrogate’s Court also shares
authority with the Family Court to hear
adoption proceedings.
Queens Supreme Courthouse located at 88-11 Sutphin Blvd.
Photo courtesy of NYC.gov
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