Lefferts Boulevard, Queens

Little Guyana
A shop along Liberty Avenue in Little Guyana, Queens.

Branching away from the Rockaway-bound A-trains are elevated tracks that take you above Liberty Avenue into a neighborhood known as Richmond Hill, with a sub-micro neighborhood known as Little Guyana. Little Guyana is an area steeped in both Caribbean and South Asian cultures, with roti and curry shops sitting side by side restaurants serving pepper pot, an Indo-Caribbean delicacy and one of Guyana’s national dishes.

Contents of an outdoor market
Contents of an outdoor market in Little Guyana.

Guyana is populated by both descendants of African slaves and Indian laborers who were brought to the nation by the British to harvest sugarcane. As a result, Little Guyana is a unique mixture of two vastly different cultures half a world away from one another. Other groups of immigrants in the neighborhood include Trinidadians and Surinamese. 

Chicken curry
Curry chicken from Anil’s Roti shop.

Walking along Liberty Avenue, recently renamed Little Guyana Avenue, there are multiple grocery stores selling everything from fish to sarees. The various businesses along the street extend out onto the sidewalk, creating small outdoor marketplaces. Further down the street sits the Narayan Mandir Temple, which features the beautiful altar to the goddess Shri Lakshmi, who represents life and beauty.

 Shri Laksmi Narayan Mandir Temple
The exterior of the Shri Laksmi Narayan Mandir Temple.

There are even more nuances to the A-train and the New York City subway as a whole, and secrets that are just waiting to be discovered.

To uncover more, you can join us on one of our upcoming subway tours. Visit our website for more details on how to join our Insiders program that grants you unparalleled access to some of the most secretive places in the city of New York.

Next, check out The Hidden Meaning Behind The Colors of the NYC Subway!