It's Not a Tour. It's a Stroll With Your New 'Aunt Tilly.'

By JOSEPH P. FRIED for NY Times May 15, 2006

George van Uden and his daughter, Bregje, on a short visit to New York from the Netherlands, drank in the scene on 74th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens.
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Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

George van Uden taking a picture in Jackson Heights to use in his graphic design work in the Netherlands. He saw Queens through Big Apple Greeter, which has about 300 volunteers.

There were Shri Krishna Jewelers and the Sahil Sari Palace, Patel Brothers market and the Kababish II restaurant ("Pakistani-Indian-Bangladesh Cuisine"). There were men in turbans.

And there was Suzanne Paliotta, a retired New York City school teacher and Forest Hills resident who met them outside the Roosevelt Avenue-74th Street subway stop and proceeded to decode this spot of Queens...

...Sticking to no set script or route, Ms. Paliotta showed the van Udens not only the busy Latin American and Indian commercial districts but also quiet residential streets of architecturally rich apartment complexes with large courtyard gardens....