Letter from the US: Queens counsel

Thirty years ago I lived in Balham, the south London suburb ironically labelled “Gateway to the South” by Peter Sellers. I now find myself in Queens, which could easily be described as the Gateway to the World.

Many people pass through Queens. If you have ever flown to JFK or LaGuardia airports, you will have sat in traffic on our crowded highways or ridden on our dirty subways on your way to our glamorous neighbour, Manhattan. You may have noticed suburb after suburb, squeezed together just like in south London.

In addition to the throngs of Long Island commuters and tourists just passing through, we are home to the most ethnically diverse 2 million residents on the planet. Many of us are passing through as well, staying for just a few years. It is a transitory sort of place, but it has its unique charms.

You can discover almost every culture of the world here, established by waves of immigrants creating their home from home. Within a mile of our home, I find Uzbek Jews, Greek, Colombian and Philippine hamlets, to name just a few. Even south London has left its mark – Queens suburbs include Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill. New arrivals cluster around their own type, but then interact with others to blur the boundaries. Fusion could have been invented here: we can find authentic cuisine and traditions from anywhere, but also a plethora of exotic combinations.

Folks from Queens associate the metropolis on the other side of the East river with different things. It can be a place of work or a destination for abundant culture. But for others it might as well be on the other side of the world – we know people who haven’t visited “the city” in 30 years. Mind you, try asking Manhattan residents to come to your concert in Queens and many will look at you as if you’ve asked them to cross an ocean.

Sometimes my daily walk takes me through Corona Park. In 40 short minutes, I cross two frantic highways, a railway and a subway line, and pass examples of most types of housing, with their associated range of affluence. The park hosts a top quality museum, the massive homes of the US tennis open and baseball’s Mets, and sundry relics from a World Fair of 60 years ago. It is a feast for the senses. I see the Manhattan skyscrapers but also wonderful spring blossoms and games of cricket. I hear screaming jets descending into La Guardia but also birdsong and happy kids. I smell garbage and transport fumes, but also a park full of family barbecues. It is all here if you are alive to it, even peace.

Arriving New Yorkers soon pick up the habits of our city. We’ll readily start a dialogue, loudly tell you what we are thinking, and frequently test the horn in our cars. We also laugh a lot, are generous with help, and celebrate humanity in all its diversity. I feel blessed to be passing through the Gateway to the World.

The Guardian Weekly regularly publishes a Letter from one of its readers from around the world. We welcome submissions – they should focus on giving a clear sense of a place and its people. Please send them to weekly.letters@theguardian.com