The Chateau Calloway: quite possibly the most diverse building in what is certainly the most diverse area in the world. In his description of this building, Suketu Mehta creates the vision of an almost unrealistically motley world. Mehta’s article reads like fiction, so the fact that the Chateau Calloway is a real place that’s right here in New York City carries a strangely paralyzing power. I still can’t believe that if I went to Queens to see this incredible building I would see the same things Mehta saw. Actually, with a building this diverse, I likely wouldn’t see what Mehta saw as it must be ever-changing. In any case, throughout reading his article, I couldn’t help but imagine myself in his situation.
Joseph Salvo, of the NYC Department of City Planning, calls Queens “‘probably the greatest social experiment in history.” While this may be true, this concept seems even more applicable to the Chateau Calloway, where people of all nationalities, races, and religions not only live in the same area, but literally in the same building. Of course, it is still possible for different groups to segregate themselves, even within the same building, but the Chateau Calloway still provides a truly fascinating account of integrated diversity. When Mehta describes the residents of the building, particularly the way they interact, it is difficult not to view his article as a sort of fictionalized narrative. For instance, Mehta’s recount of warm evenings at the building is especially story-like.
“Russian grandmothers stake their claim with folding chairs and tables and settle down for their nightly card games. Little girls skip rope behind them; boys ride around on their bikes. People coming home from work stop for a chat before walking into a lobby painted a vivid shade of green and going up into their apartments.”
Of course, this is not to suggest that so many different types of people always get along. For just one example, Mehta writes about Bukharan grandmothers disapproving of the overly sexual behavior of young Latinos. Nevertheless, the cooperation between various residents of is inspiring. Mehta writes about the sharing and exchange of goods, services, and food that occurs in the building. Perhaps most uplifting detail of the article is the account of how children view each other and interact. A Pakistani mother highlights the disconnect children have with politics and overall cynicism as she says, “‘My kids talk with the Jewish kids when they’re playing PlayStation. They say: ‘Why are they fighting? We are Jewish and Muslim and not fighting.” While the adults living in the building may be capable of happily coexisting, seeing children actively questioning old hatreds as incomprehensible is truly encouraging. The building’s super compares the building to a aquarium in which the fish may nip each other but will never eat each other. While this is a beautiful metaphor, imagine the future aquarium in which the fish, children that have grown into adults, will have developed somewhat less colored by old preconceptions of different and even more tolerant than their parents. Yet, wishing for tolerance is not satisfying. What the Chateau Calloway provides a glimpse of, and gives hope of a better future for, is solidarity among all different types of people.
