With the E, F, and M subway lines running through the heart of Forest Hills, this area in central Queens is just a twenty-minute train ride from Manhattan. Residents of Forest Hills love being so close to the city, using it for work and play. However, the essence of Forest Hills is anything but city-like. Local shops, family owned businesses, and antique stores line Metropolitan Avenue. Most buildings are no more than a few stories high. One of the real draws of Forest Hills, for residents and visitors, is being able to wander shady residential streets and “The Avenue,” feeling like they are far away from the crowded streets of Manhattan.
Pat McLaughlin uses this great trait of Forest Hills to her advantage. She is an English teacher at a high school in Manhattan and regularly rides the F from the Forest Hills station into the city. Although she lives just outside of Forest Hills, in Kew Gardens, most of her free time is spent in Forest Hills.
McLaughlin, is an equestrian lover and stables her horse at Lynn’s Riding School in Forest Park, located in Forest Hills. She is an ideal person to interview for a “Neighborhood Faces” article on the neighborhood. She works in a city environment, living a short commute away from her job, but is able to enjoy aspects of what most would label a “country life.” I’d like to ask her what is so appealing about this hybrid lifestyle. Forest Hills and McLaughlin give different meaning to what living in a city “requires.”
