Little Morocco (Astoria, Queens)

Astoria, Queens, is home to “Little Morocco” on Steinway Street, between 28th Avenue and Astoria Boulevard—although the area is more familiarly called “Little Egypt.” Arabic restaurants and other shops began to open in the area in the 1980s and 1990s.
   
The “Little Morocco” restaurant (opened in 2006 and the primary source of the neighborhood nickname) is located at 24-39 Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens.
   
   
Wikipedia: Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside (bordering at Northern Boulevard), and Woodside (bordering at 50th Street).
 
Demographics
Astoria is a diverse neighborhood with many immigrants from places such as Greece, Italy, Ireland, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.
(...)
Ethnic heritage
(...)
Beginning in the mid-1970s, the neighborhood’s Arab population grew from earlier Lebanese immigrants to include people from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Morocco. In the 1990s, Steinway Street between 28th Avenue and Astoria Boulevard saw the establishment of many Arabic shops, restaurants and cafes.
 
flickr
Little Morocco
Here’s another restaurant in the Little Egypt section of Steinway Street. It’s also got an outdoor cafe. I was lucky that it was a warm day in late October. I used a telephoto lens to shoot this because I didn’t want to bother crossing the street. It’s OK, but I miss the look of a 24 mm wide-angle lens. I may go back and redo this one someday.
Morocco
24-39 Steinway Street
Astoria, NY
     
New York (NY) Times 
The Next Best Things in Sliced Bread
By JULIA MOSKIN
Published: April 30, 2008
(...)
Magid Atif has worked almost every job in the restaurant business, starting as a busboy at the Purity diner in Brooklyn when he arrived from Casablanca in 1985.
 
“Finally, I decided to go to cooking school, and I wanted to go to Paris but my funds would only allow me to go to Pittsburgh,” he said last week in Little Morocco, the breezy cafe in Astoria, Queens, where he is now an owner and chef. Steinway Street south of the Grand Central Parkway is lined with hookah cafes, halal butchers, Middle Eastern bakeries and North African restaurants; a mosque across the street provides a steady stream of customers.
 
Google Books
One Big Table:
600 Recipes from the Nation’s Best Home Cooks, Farmers, Fishermen, Pit-Masters, and Chefs
By Molly O’Neill
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
2010
Pg. ?:
MERYAM’S PRESERVED LEMONS
ASTORIA, NEW YORK
In Astoria, Queens, a three-block-long stretch of bakeries, shops, and cafes known as Little Morocco makes architect Maryam Ouzzano feel at home. 
 
Lonely Planet travel forum
Thorn Tree travel forum ⁄ Departure Lounge ⁄ Americas - United States of America
Is there a “Little Morocco” neighborhood in NYC somewhere?
(...)
Websterella
20-May-2010 09:56
Actually, there is. It’s the section of Steinway Street from Astoria Blvd down towards Northern Blvd. Take the R or V local to Steinway Street. The stop is about in the middle.
There is an actual restaurant called Little Morocco on this street.
I found this by accident looking for a specialty shoe shop that was supposed to be on Steinway.
   
Websterella
20-May-2010 10:18
Oh and my Astoria expert (a friend who grew up there and goes back almost monthly) says the area is also know as Little Egypt, Little North Africa and has the greatest density of 99 cent shops she’s ever seen.
I never found the shoe shop.