East Flushing
by Vivek Vishwanath
Flushing is considered to be one of the most diverse locations on Earth. One can find cultures from every corner of the world congregating in this enormous melting pot. Such a large number of cultures in one area might prevent it from obtaining a sustainable identity, but that is not the case with Flushing. As one walks through the neighborhood, one will notice similarities and recurring themes as is apparent with any neighborhood that has obtained its own identity. Countless shops line the walls of Main St., apartment buildings are omnipresent, and people seem to be everywhere.
However, Flushing is not only important due to its face value. It harbors significance in terms of the evolution of New York City and what the future holds. Flushing may, very well, be a defining neighborhood for the future of the entire city. This may not necessarily mean that the same distribution of ethnicities and religions will map the entire city, but Flushing does imply that diversity in the city will only continue to increase. Internal migration and immigration to areas like Flushing in New York City will enlarge, as onlookers observe the lucrative and accepting environment these neighborhoods propose.
In order to effectively analyze a neighborhood, it is crucial to know its boundaries and how it is different from its surrounding areas. Flushing is located in the north-central area of Queens. This paper will be focusing on East Flushing, which is bounded by Northern Blvd. to the north, 149th Pl. to the west, Laburnum Ave. and the Flushing Cemetery to the south, and 166th St. to the east.1 Evidently, the location is considerably compact and is difficult to generalize. In addition, East Flushing and Downtown Flushing have quite different characteristics. Therefore, it is useful to analyze the neighborhoods separately and compare and contrast them. Although Main St. and the areas east of it are not including in East Flushing, they will be analyzed in order to paint a more complete picture of the neighborhood.
East Flushing has a population of 26928 according to a 2010 estimate.2 This is somewhat of a large population for an area of this size. This amounts to a relatively large population density. Such a number may be a sign of overcrowding, but the fact that many residential areas are only composed of apartment buildings can account for such a density. Crowds of people are generally not noticeable until entering Downtown Flushing, where the majority of the businesses in Flushing are located. With such a large population in Flushing comes racial and ethnic diversity.
The majority of the residents in Flushing are Asian, and most are of Chinese, Korean, or Indian descent. The second largest portion of the population is white, followed by Hispanics. The black population of East Flushing is relatively minute, making up only a small percentage. Other races, such as Native American and Pacific Islander, make up an extremely small percentage.3
The income of an average household provides insight into several aspects of the neighborhood and the people who live there. It speaks of the real estate value, standard of living, occupational breakdown, and much more. The median household income in East Flushing was calculated to be $45,415, which is almost $10,000 less than the median household income for all of New York.4 A relatively low income combined with higher pricing for rent, housing, and consumer goods results in a lower standard of living. In addition, with greater demand for housing, prices will continue to rise and the only solution is an increase in the median household income.
The income also provides insight into the types of jobs people have in the neighborhood. A lower median income implies that fewer people have jobs that require specialization and higher-level degrees. In fact, if the median household income is approximately $45,000, one can almost guess that a very small percentage of people obtained jobs through masters, professional, or doctorate degrees. This, in fact, turns out to be the case as only approximately 10% of population has at least one of these degrees, and only 0.66% of the population has a doctorate degree.5 With low specialization come lower paying jobs, which results in a low median household income. Once again, such a claim is only relative to the income and occupational breakdown of New York as a whole.
The population also shows a wide range of occupations. Males tend to work in service, office, and construction jobs. In fact, these three occupations combined make up 54.4% of all male jobs in East Flushing. Women tend to work in similar fields, but also have some alterations. While office and service positions do make up the majority of female employment with 59% of females working in these positions, only a mere 1% of females work in construction and maintenance jobs.5
While walking through the streets of East Flushing and Main St. of Downtown Flushing, there never seems to be a shortage of people busying through the crowd trying to get somewhere. In the ten years that I had lived in Flushing, I had never asked myself what class status they belonged to. In fact, I had never really asked myself the same question. I knew that I had lived a comfortable life, but didn’t have a ton of extras. I knew that most of my friends would say the same about their lifestyles. Occasionally, I would come across someone who was extremely well off and sometimes, I would encounter a person of the opposite end of the spectrum. But where does all of this average out? The question I should have asked myself was what is the average class status of East Flushing and how is it evident in people’s daily lives?
It is obvious that the majority of the people in the neighborhood are not overwhelmingly wealthy. This is apparent because most people do not drive expensive cars or live in extravagant homes. However, that does not mean that the neighborhood’s residents are riddled in poverty. Most residents live a relatively comfortable lifestyle, because they are consumers and like to spend money by shopping at various stores located around Main Street and engaging in other recreational activities. However, the only true way to measure the class status of a neighborhood is by analyzing the types of jobs people tend to have, and the salaries that the jobs pay.
Since more men and women from East Flushing tend to work in office jobs than anything any other form of employment, it is possible to have an idea of the amount of money they make. These jobs, for the most part, do not involve managerial positions; therefore, the pay cannot be high enough to support an upper class lifestyle. In addition, the second most prevalent area of employment is service, which generally has an even lower pay than that of an office job. However, there are just enough residents with higher paying jobs in order to prevent East Flushing from being a working class neighborhood. Therefore, it is appropriate to call East Flushing a lower-middle class neighborhood.
The types of business activities in East Flushing differ from those of Downtown Flushing in both the sheer number of open business and what kinds of businesses they are. East Flushing, over the past few years, has gained the reputation of having too many bars and pubs, discouraging family oriented people from moving there. Though that may be an exaggeration, the neighborhood does have its fair share of late-night hangouts. The majorities of businesses are family owned and include grocery stores, laundromats, small restaurants, and delis. Main St. in Downtown Flushing; however, is the opposite. An extremely wide range of businesses can be found lining the wall and every single corner here. Many of these businesses seem to be oriented only towards people of certain nationalities. For example, several stores display their names only in Chinese or Korean, attempting to either attract clientele from their native countries, or repel all of the others. Businesses on Main St. can range from small family owned businesses to large corporation owned malls. For example, both can be found at the intersection of Main St. and Roosevelt Ave.
Similar to the types of businesses, the types of housing in Flushing vary greatly from East Flushing to Downtown Flushing and the Main St. area. East Flushing tends to have far more single or double unit houses than Downtown Flushing, and far fewer apartment buildings and complexes. The deeper one walks into East Flushing, and away from Main St., the more suburban the environment tends to appear. Towards Kissena Blvd., streets are usually lined with apartment buildings one side and multiple unit houses on the other. This type of orientation is peculiar since it is hard to classify a neighborhood when it displays both the characteristics of a suburb and a city. With the influx of immigrants and migrants into Flushing continuing, a setup that satisfies both renters and homeowners is necessary, and having both houses and apartment buildings satisfies the majority of the residents.
The majority of the houses and apartment buildings in East Flushing were built before 1940. Therefore, the structures often have structural issues, which discourage people from living there. Almost 40% of the total housing units are 5-unit or more houses, as opposed to 23% being separate detached houses.7 This reinforces the idea that East Flushing is, in fact, a lower-middle class community, since living in a house with multiple units saves money. Sometimes, apartment buildings are built on top of stores, which is another testament to how crowded this neighborhood is. In the future, even more measures will be taken in order to increase space for the seemingly perpetual migration to Flushing.
East Flushing has several educational institutions. Most are small private preparatory academies for younger students. There are a few elementary and junior high schools, such as Junior High School 189 and I.S. 237, that dot the area, but are not prevalent. There are no high schools within the borders of East Flushing, but some are present in the surroundings of the neighborhood, like Flushing High School and John Bowne High School, which are located on Northern Blvd. and Main St. respectively. This is expected however, since East Flushing is considered to be a mostly residential neighborhood. The only university near the location is Queens College, which is located adjacent to John Bowne.
In addition to educational institutions, religious institutions are also spread throughout the area. Religious centers for many religions can be found in East Flushing, including those of both major world religions and ones that are more unheard of. The largest Hindu temple in North America is located at the intersection of Bowne St. and Holly Ave., where thousands of people from all over the nation visit and pray. A mosque can be found on Colden St., adjacent to the junior high school I.S. 237. Churches seem to be the most prevalent religious institution, implying that the majority of residents in the area are Christians.
East Flushing, being a purely residential neighborhood, does not have too many cultural institutions, unlike its neighboring Downtown Flushing and other surrounding areas. Flushing Town Hall, located on Northern Blvd. is perhaps the most important historic cultural landmark near East Flushing, being over 150 years old. There are also many recreational parks located in and around the area that can be considered cultural landmarks. The Queens Botanical Garden and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, for example, are extremely vital to the neighborhoods identity. The New York Hall of Science and the Queens Museum of Art, located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, are visited by people all around the country and the world on a regular basis. Although these institutions are not within the official borders of East Flushing, they are crucial towards representing Flushing as a whole.
Citations
1see East Flushing Rezoning
2see Analysis: NYC 2000 to 2010 Demographic Change
3see Analysis: NYC 2000 to 2010 Demographic Change
4see City-Data
5see City-Data
6see City-Data
7see City-Data
References
“Analysis: NYC 2000 to 2010 Demographic Change.” Center for Urban Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/>.
“East Flushing Neighborhood in Flushing.” City-Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/East-Flushing-Flushing-NY.html>.
“East Flushing Rezoning.” NYC Department of City Planning. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/east_flushing/index.shtml>.
Foner, Nancy. New Immigrants in New York. New York: Columbia UP, 2001. Print.
“Maps: NYC 2000 to 2010 Demographic Change.” Center for Urban Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2013. <http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/blockmaps.htm>.
