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Here are some of his favorite places in Flushing and why he loves them.
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Today, much of the Korean American community has moved further east while Flushing has swelled with mainland Chinese immigrants - but Flushing streets are still full of food from Korea, China, and elsewhere around the world too. Throughout the ’80s, ’90s and early aughts, it was full of Korean-owned businesses, from SAT cram schools to basement manga cafés (manhwa bang) where Cho spent many hours over piles of comics. When his family moved to Flushing during his high school years, Cho already knew the neighborhood well - along with, he said, most other Korean American families in the tri-state area.
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and his own curiosity, Cho became well-versed in cuisines of the world. Thanks to a diverse group of friends - Cho compares his school lunch table with the U.N. When he was 9, the family settled on the border of Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. “So I took it upon myself to show love with whatever resources I have.”Ĭho was born in Korea, and for a few years before his family emigrated to the U.S., they lived in China, an experience he says primed his palate for receptiveness to new foods. “So many restaurants in these immigrant enclaves survive month to month and they lack resources to secure government-funded grants … Danny Meyer’s not over here making sure funds are coming,” says Cho. He turned his TikTok account into Righteous Eats, a bite-size Queens-food-and-travel show highlighting everything from his favorite Elmhurst tamale cart to the bakery with the best baklava and knafeh in Astoria to his more than 450,000 followers. They were (and still are) hurting tremendously.
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During the past year, Alumni also hosted a running club that holds weekly 5Ks around Queens, which Cho sees as a way to connect runners across the borough.īut in the summer of 2020, with many of those events on hold, Cho turned his attention to helping restaurants, which to him are the epitome of culture and community in NYC. Co-owned by Gene Han and Jaeki Cho, its marketing-and-events guru, the shop held sneaker-release parties and other in-store events, including panels on social-media strategy for entrepreneurs. between Prince Street and Main Street in Flushing, Queens, behind an old awning advertising tuxedos and costumes, you’ll find the minimalist streetwear boutique Alumni of New York.
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