The joke's on Astoria

From the NY Times:

An unlikely ecosystem has developed in the northwest corner of Queens. Just as there are some creatures that flourish at certain warm depths of a coral reef but not a foot deeper where the water is colder, a thriving hive of comedians has affixed itself to Astoria, perfectly suited to the particular microclimate there.

Thanks to cheap rents that allow time for writing, ample parking that makes road trips to out-of-town clubs easy and a myriad of other comedian-lifestyle perks, it has become more than likely that if you meet a comedian outside a New York City club, he (most of them are men) will tell you he lives in the Queens neighborhood better known as a gold mine of Greek restaurants.

“The only caveat about living here,” Mr. Allen said, “is convincing and extracting a beautiful girl with a sweet Manhattan apartment to come out to Queens, which in their mind is filled with serial killers, rusty above-ground tracks and barrels of fire straight from the scenes in Eddie Murphy’s ‘Coming to America.’ When girls ask me where I live I say, ‘I live on the Upper East East Side.’”