Walking Tour Shows Another Side Of Forest Hills And Rego Park

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A walking tour this weekend will re-introduce New Yorkers to the Queens neighborhoods they know as Forest Hills and Rego Park.

To the tens of thousands of Bukharian Jews estimated to live there, their neighborhoods go by the names of Bukharian Broadway and Registan Park.

On Sunday, Manashe Khaimov will lead a walking tour through his Queens community that offers a deeper look at its Bukharian Jewish history and culture.

Khaimov's tours, which he started in 2017, are an effort to support local Bukharian Jewish businesses and provide a deeper look at a community of which many know little.

The tours are held in English and Russian.

Khaimov's socially-distanced tour Sunday may look different from those of past years, but it still includes a visit to a local synagogue and lunch at a traditional Bukharian restaurant, though this time it will be a grab-and-go meal.

"Together we will attempt to recreate the atmosphere of the time," Khaimov says in his description of the event, "and learn about the everyday life of Bukharian immigrants, their hardships, and hopes, their failures, and achievements."