We sit in Athens Sq Park, which borders Public School 17Q on 30 av, to observe our surroundings. A father is carrying and rocking his child. Another guy is sitting and eating lunch by the chess tables. There are many women and girls in hijab and niqab. Little kids go up and down slides. There are many benches and play structures and the park overall seems well-maintained, giving the impression that the area is not lacking in financial resources. There are many pharmacies and supermarkets, a 7/11, cell phone store and Chinese restaurant across from the park.
The plethora of small businesses, with the exception of 7/11 and Starbucks, shows that there is a strong local community. The people seem secure in their community, as evidenced by the strollers with backpacks left unattended in the park.
The area is mixed residential and commercial, with a strong Muslim presence; besides the women’s garb, there are many halal butcher stores. There is a Greek bakery offering baklava and other delicacies. 30 av is under the shadow of the train overpass. It is culturally diverse. There is an Indian mosque directly next to a Hispanic barber shop called Fernandez Barber.
Astoria is a vast neighborhood; in order to get a more comprehensive perspective, we decided to explore other streets as well. Under the Hell Gate bridge, we noticed the mural pictured in this post. Our online investigations revealed that there is a long history of street art in Astoria centered on Welling Ct. We also walked off the Grand Central Parkway. The nonchalant attitudes of the people in the park indicated a lack of fear about crime; nevertheless the 114th police precinct is located in Astoria. The sign on the precinct said that it covers Astoria, Jackson Heights, Long Island City and Woodside. There is a Spiderman mural across the highway from us (due to the distance we were unable to get a clear picture of this mural). In most streets in the neighborhood middle-class families prevailed but on the side of the highway we saw a different side of the area: on 37th road, a dirty homeless man in ragged clothes solicited drivers waiting at the intersection for money. A few people dropped coins in the man’s cup; others feigned not having cash or simply ignored the man.
On Steinway Street we noticed more interactions between business owners and the homeless population. A business owner who yelled at a homeless man later noticed his friend and exchanged kisses with him. Although Astoria is not known as a dangerous area, we noticed a nightclub with a shattered glass door. There were many Islamic fashion stores catering to the religious Muslim population of the area. We also saw a food truck called Farid’s grill; the line in front of it indicated that it is a popular local hangout. There were also many discount stores as the people are generally middle class but not affluent. Most of the passersby appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent but there were a few outliers. One notable outlier was a man with red glasses and a bushy beard, evidence of the trend of gentrification in New York.
