Category: Second Trip

Date: 4/25/16

Sandy and I arrived at Astoria around 11:19AM. The weather was mostly sunny at 64 degrees Fahrenheit. I took the same train as last time but got off at a different stop, Astoria-Ditmars. My first impression of this area is different from what I witnessed last time. There were many more ethnic food restaurants and bars. There were visibly more Greek cuisine than the area we visited last time. The names of these restaurants are also very obviously Greek (ex. Dionysus Restaurant, Manavi Market). Also there were more fast food chain restaurants in the Ditmars area, including BareBurger.

The residential area was similar to what I saw last time. This time, I paid more attention of what type of housing there was. The most prevalent form of housing was two-family and three-family homes. This shows that this area is mostly occupied by middle class working families. When we walked around the residential area, it was extremely quiet except for the areas where passing trains such as the subway and Amtrak can be heard. The noise level is definitely a concern for new residents of this area, according to our research online. For older residents, however, the noise of passing trains are no longer audible because they are so used to it.

We continued walking down the street and went to Astoria Park. Again, the area was really quiet except for the occasional passing of Amtrak. We sat there for a while and enjoyed the weather that day. It was quite a relaxing place for people sit, do exercises or jog. This park is a great asset to this neighborhood as it provides scenery and entertainment for local residents. We observed a woman with her baby sitting on the lawn and toddlers running around. During our time there, I smelled water and grass most strongly, as the park is near East River.
From this trip, what really stood out to me is that Astoria is really a community. It might not seem that way because New Yorker are not particularly known for close personal relationships with their neighbors, but the abundant family stores we observed convinced me otherwise. While walking on Ditmars, we also saw several old men sitting outside a coffee shop smoking and conversing with one another. In my neighborhood, Forest Hills, I don’t see a lot of this happening. Maybe I am not as observant because I’m not doing a project in my own neighborhood, but Astoria really gives me a different feel. We took a lot of pictures and also sound bites during this trip so we can incorporate into sense on our website.

Time: around 11:15

Date: 4/25/2016

I arrived around 11:15, getting off the N train at the last stop, Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard. I met Alice in front of BareBurger, which was two blocks away. It was still quite early, but the restaurant was just opening when I arrived. We weren’t hungry yet, so we decided to wander around the neighborhood, and began walking down Ditmars Boulevard.

For the first half of Ditmars Boulevard that we walked down (22nd Ave & 23rd Ave areas), it was much more populated and noisy, since there were many restaurants. I noticed many Greek stores as well – even some grocery stores were Greek, correlating with the fact that Astoria is known as a Greek neighborhood. However, there were still many diverse food options, including Italian (there were many pizzerias), Latin, and Thai food. The people we walked by also showed the diversity of the neighborhood; there were people of many different races. Overall, the first half of our trip down Ditmars was similar to our first trip to Astoria with Melissa, because of how well diversity was represented in the neighborhood.

The second half of Ditmars Boulevard was much quieter. because there were mostly residential homes in the area. I first noticed this change in noise when we reached 27th Street. These residential homes looked like townhouses for the most part – these huge buildings that looked like family homes. This corresponds to the fact that the average household size in Astoria is 2.3 people. I also noticed how there were little to no restaurants in this area and that many businesses as we walked further down catered to body care. For instance, between 26th and 27th Street, there was a business for family and body care, and adjacent to that was a business with orthopedics. These businesses are conveniently located in this area of Ditmars so that the people living in the homes will have easier access to them.

After Alice and I felt we saw enough of the residential area of Astoria, we made our way to Astoria Park. It was pretty quiet in the park, which felt similar to the residential area. There were the occasional noises of birds chirping and airplanes passing by. In the park, there were mostly families – parents and their children sitting on the grass. Alice and I sat down on a bench to rest for most of our time in the park, and I recorded sound bites as we rested (only one of them came out well).

As we walked deeper into the park, we saw a playground, and an area that was gated and locked. It looked like there was an ice rink in that area. I was surprised that an ice rink would be here, since the only ice rink I know of that’s in a park is in Bryant Park, which is more well-known than Astoria Park. We passed by children who were running around in the playground, and I noticed the dolphin and turtle metal statues in the playground. I thought it was pretty cool that the kids got to draw on the animals – the animals were covered in crayon marks.

The last thing I saw in the park was the Hell Gate Bridge, which Amtrak runs on. It looks much nicer in pictures other people take though (mostly at night), and I couldn’t capture that great of a picture because of the trees that got in the way. However, I thought it’s cool Astoria residents have a big structure in their neighborhood – I wish Bensonhurst had something like this!

Time: 3pm

Location: off the Grand Central Parkway

The street near the highway has a more rundown appearance as opposed to the well-maintained facades on 30th by the NQ station. There was a drive-through McDonald’s with a crumbling parking lot surrounded by other semi-dilapidated buildings. The fact that most businesses were shuttered for the weekend contributed to the impression of “deadness” in contrast to the liveliness of our previous visit. A furniture store sported beautiful handmade woodwork in its windows but it was unclear whether it was defunct or not. Ironically, a karate studio sporting self-defense classes was located quite close to the 114th police precinct.

The area was dominated by the constant overwhelming audio of cars rushing down the Grand Central Parkway. It seemed like an uncrossable distance lay between sides of the highway. The Spiderman mural on the other side of the expansive highway seemed to be miles away. The area was rife with gas stations and car repair shops, giving it a more generic and industrial feel in contrast to the communal feel of our prior visit. Next to the gas station there was a Starbucks. An Indian bakery across the street was the only vestige of local businesses. However, on the street that lay in the shadow of the train overpass there were many Greek bakeries. These bakeries provided samples of sticky baklava, oozing with honey and nuts. There was also a very expensive gourmet Greek supermarket. It had an extensive selection of cheeses and olive oils, which was rather overwhelming to a less selective shopper like me.

Time: 6pm

Location: Astoria Blvd and Steinway St

This area restored the community feel we felt on our first visit. There were people having cell phone conversations in Russian and Arabic and couples walking with baby strollers.

Steinway was dotted with benches which weary mothers sat on to rest. There were all kinds of businesses: clubs, liquor stores, discount stores, Islamic clothing stores. The odor of hookah emerged from nightclubs such as Fayrooz. Hookah comes in various fruity flavors like apple; the sweet aroma of apples and tobacco wafted through the air. Again there was the smell of grilling food from the kebab truck called Farid’s grill.

Although Astoria is a large neighborhood in a huge and populous city, there was an everybody-knows-everybody vibe in some places. Random passersby often stopped suddenly upon recognition of old friends and began exchanging greetings in Arabic. This gave me the perception that the individual communities within the diverse area are very tight-knit. Many people are immigrants and may find solace in being with people who know their culture and speak their language.

There were many places to sit and just chill. Many cafes advertised featured singers. People reclined in backyards of restaurants and sat on comfortable couches in a frozen yogurt place. People also filed in and out of banks, depositing and withdrawing money. Bodega cashiers sat at their posts, bored and waiting for customers. Some children cried while their parents attended to them.