Cave Savage
Feminist
I get what you mean, and no lol. There’s this weird perception from people who know of Queens second hand (or never been here) that think the whole borough is a Long Island-type suburb, or the city/BX is all projects lol. The Queens thing is only true for the areas further East, and even then, a lot of those towns are black (Rosedale/Springfield Gardens/Floral Park -technically LI). The rest of the boroughs are a mix, and some (like Brooklyn) have Architecture unique to the borough so they all don’t look exactly the same. Manhattan is the only borough where you won’t find typical suburban type homes with large front yards and such.
Even a lot of Queens neighborhooods that are made up of houses are still very urban and don't feel like the suburbs at all. Corona and Elmhurst are mostly houses but still very dense and urban.
And in Eastern Queens like you said, then it starts feeling more sububanish but even then it's different from actual suburbs because you have 24 hour delis everywhere and tons of people walking on the main roads.