Where in the world can you dine where the residents speak a combined total of 138 languages and there is a melting pot of diverse food options to choose from? You don't have to go any further than Queens, New York. That’s right, Queens also holds the Guinness World Record for the most ethnically diverse urban area on the planet! With just the swipe of your MetroCard, you can make your way around Queens’s diverse neighborhoods with endless food options to choose from. Take in some history, and whether you’re in Astoria, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, or Flushing, you’ll surely discover a new meal to try.

Vernon Boulevard, west side, at 43rd Road, showing the Bodine Castle, 1932. One of the many unique features of this castle was an underground tunnel from below the home out to the the East River waterfront, which can be seen just right of center. Before it was demolished the land surrounding the castle was used as a lumberyard evidenced in the details of this photograph.

"Located in the once-fashionable Ravenswood area, the Bodine Castle was typical of the modestly-scaled romantic villas that formerly surrounded New York." Constructed sometime in the mid to late 18th century by a supposedly exiled French nobleman, the eclectic building included a large square tower and turret on a large plot of land. Though considered for landmarking in 1966, just one year after the passage of the Landmarks Law, it was denied and was demolished the same year. It was replaced by expanded infrastructure for the Con Ed "Big Aliss" power plant.

Did you know that the construction of the IRT Flushing line (known as the Corona Line until 1925) was the catalyst for real estate development that transformed the rural areas of Queens into vibrant neighborhoods?

Between 1954 and 1957, the Municipal Art Society surveyed historic buildings in all five boroughs to create a database of potential landmarks to preserve. Local residents and MAS staff compiled individual sheets devoted to about 200 buildings. Each sheet outlined the building’s date, location, and style and provided a description and a small photograph. This is the list of Queens buildings.

Bodine Castle With its rather gloomy, forbidding exterior implying Gothic origins, there is almost as much of the Romanesque in this "castle." It may be sensed primarily in the massing of the elements and in the round-arched windows and doors. In its final location, it would have been difficult to visualize the spacious grounds and lawns that must have once surrounded the house.

Over the years, more than a few New Yorkers have taken the phrase "A man's home is his castle" literally. This tour takes you through a few of the fortifications that New Yorkers have built for themselves.