Enter New Howard Beach, a posh section of Greater Howard Beach on the West side of the Shellbank Basin. Cross over the Basin to the East side and you end up in a similar landscape: clean blocks, updated real estate, and the presence of community interaction. Move a little bit more to the east over the Hawtree Basin into another part of Greater Howard Beach, however, and you’ll find yourself in a divergent atmosphere.

Hamilton Beach, located below Russell Street and south of Old Howard Beach, is the remaining section of Greater Howard Beach. Compared to the aforementioned sections (New Howard Beach and Old Howard Beach), its land area is smaller and subject to a higher level of isolation. This is mainly due to bodies of water surrounding it on all sides. This location makes it easy for some residents to declare Hamilton Beach separate from the rest of the Greater Howard Beach community.

Visiting Howard Beach (which would superficially consist of either New Howard Beach or Old Howard Beach to the unsuspecting visitor) contains a bounty of real estate pleasures. Houses here are easily worth $300,000+. The best features of these fancy houses are their exteriors, crafted by wooden doors, large windows, and columns. One specific feature of a mansion in New Howard Beach, as I recall, is a man-made pond with Koi fish decorating its interior. Even the Jewish center here seems like a mini-mansion. Old Howard Beach seems to have a comparable level of development. “I’ve lived in Old Howard Beach fifteen years now, and can say it is only progressing. It’s not as fancy as New Howard Beach, but looks more like the suburbs…but you can see it all around you, new construction is happening and more mansions are being built to keep up with competition,” Mark Russo, 46, states.

If you were to only visit this side of Howard Beach, you would get the overall impression that it is a flourishing area with expensive land costs.

Located along the Q11 bus line and near the A train tracks, the Hamilton Beach section is not so visually pleasant. Near the close of the bus line are small flat houses, either containing graffiti or rust. As you progress up the bus line, these houses are still existent but dwarf in relation to a number of newly-built stone houses. These types of houses are scattered throughout the rest of the blocks, with their perfectly white-framed windows and storm doors. Turn away from the bus line to go into the blocks, and they take up the majority of the streets. A few dilapidated houses serve as their neighbors, further enhancing their appearances. Judging by the signs posted in front of some houses and by the automobiles owned by their residents, these architecturally-superior residences are probably privately built by real estate developers.

So how did this disparity come to exist in the first place?

According to Elizabeth Braton, Chair of Community Board 10 (the Board that is responsible for the Howard Beach area), “It’s basically Hamilton Beach…was among the first areas of Howard Beach that were developed. Most of the houses were summer-bungalow types of things. Old Howard Beach was where the idle rich spent their summers…after World War II, with the need for housing for returning veterans, Old Howard Beach and New Howard Beach were further developed.” Old Howard Beach and New Howard Beach were more suited to experimental real estate, as they were not so limited by borders of water. This left the marshland area of Hamilton Beach in the dust, as it was swayed to support the simple design of summer bungalows and cape-style homes. And since these homes were there to begin with, why advance with significant changes in development and home styles? Ms. Braton believes that “…there are wetlands in Hamilton Beach that simply cannot be developed. They’ve [developers have] built residences on available lots already, and even these lots are irregularly proportioned…probably when the recession is over, Hamilton Beach may get better.”

Offering a conflicting perspective, contractor Frank DeMartino states that Hamilton Beach’s situation is not related to the recession or impossible wetlands, but because the land is “undesirable.” “It’s simply infrastructure,” he says. “The land around Hamilton is eroding…the government’s gotta go in there and put up sheeting around the land, and then reformat the streets. But the only way to correct that is eminent domain…it’s just that the city has so many other priorities.” Mr. DeMartino holds that Hamilton Beach will be desired as much as the rest of Howard Beach if these steps are taken, maybe even more since it is waterfront, isolated property.

Since Hamilton Beach has become in this unprotected state, it has attracted lower income families. Its property values are, on average, one-third of those in Old Howard Beach and New Howard Beach. One reason why these communities foster this advantage over Hamilton Beach is because they shelter a high population of residents in construction, which allows for flexible property change at a low cost. This advantage can sometimes lead to a disadvantage for the borough of Queens, as Ms. Braton states that “zoning laws, which are usually an issue in Queens, are also broken by unauthorized construction in the Howard Beach area.”

By far, the developmental state of Hamilton Beach is mostly out of its residents’ control, especially considering that eminent domain must occur before real change can happen. Thus residents are stuck in a dilemma: giving up their property for the possibility that property values will rise in Hamilton Beach. If eminent domain does occur, lower-income residents will most likely not be able to regain their properties because of the inability to cope with higher prices.

Among this sea of differences that continues to separate Hamilton Beach from the rest of Howard Beach, one thing is certain: further land development must eventually occur in Hamilton, inspired by either the funds of residents or the city. Without improvement, Hamilton Beach will remain a neglected facet of Howard Beach.