On one of the main drags of the Kaufmans Arts District.

Anchored by the legendary Kaufman Astoria Studios at 34-12 36th St, this up-and-coming district comprises more than 24 blocks of Queens' cultural heart – you can say you knew it before it became the new Chelsea. In addition to key institutions like the Museum of the Moving Image, the KAD puts on events, workshops and public art pieces around the area (see the website for a calendar), and there are plenty of restaurants and bars to pop into between gallery visits.

Incidentally, Kaufman Astoria Studios clocks in at one of the world's oldest continuously used movie studios in the world.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Museum of the Moving Image

0.04 MILES

This supercool complex is one of the world's top film, TV and video museums. Galleries show the best of a collection of 130,000-plus artifacts, including…

2. Greater Astoria Historical Society

0.3 MILES

At research time this labor-of-love organization and community space was in-between physical locations. Once it finds a new home (by end of 2019), expect…

3. Noguchi Museum

1.01 MILES

Both the art and the context in which it's displayed here are the work of LA-born sculptor, designer and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi, famous for…

4. Socrates Sculpture Park

1.05 MILES

First carved out of an abandoned dump by sculptor Mark di Suvero, Socrates is now a city park on the river's edge with beautiful views and a rotating…

5. SculptureCenter

1.08 MILES

Down a dead-end street, in a former trolley repair shop, SculptureCenter pages Berlin with its edgy art and industrial backdrop. Its hangar-like main…

6. Roosevelt Island

1.36 MILES

Floating in the East River between Manhattan’s eastern edge and Queens, New York’s anomalous, planned neighborhood sits on a tiny island no wider than a…

7. MoMA PS1

1.41 MILES

At MoMA's hip contemporary outpost, you'll be peering at videos through floorboards, schmoozing at DJ parties and debating the meaning of nonstatic…

8. Gracie Mansion

1.65 MILES

This Federal-style home served as the country residence of merchant Archibald Gracie in 1799. Since 1942, it's been the residence of New York’s mayors and…