Adam Ellick writes in his article, “In Queens: A Melting Pot, and a Closed Book,” about his move to Jackson Heights because he was interested in uncovering one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Queens. Throughout his experience, he found it very difficult to assimilate to Jackson Heights, even though he had lived in other countries. As a matter of fact, he says that he was “destined for outsider status” (1). For instance, at an Irish pub, everyone was on a first-name basis, so it was hard for him to befriend locals. Also, at the Korean karaoke place, a worker first allowed only Koreans to enter (later accepting him and his friend after an awkward 5-minute conversation). This demonstrates how the “ethnic underworlds” are difficult to gain access to. These ethnic enclaves formed for immigrants to have a similar place to their homeland, so I think that it was hard for Ellick to fit in because he was deemed an “average white man” by them. Thus, immigrants would stick to interacting with those of the same ethnicity. This is why I believe the old Korean lady was reluctantly letting him in; she thought that he would “disturb” the ethnic homogeneity.
In other anecdotes, Ellick could not enjoy his hobbies of jogging, biking, and photography and be comfortable with the people surround him. When he jogged in the neighborhood, laborers unloading trucks would judge him as if he was a criminal. When he biked in Flushing, the father of a woman who flirted with him whisked her off. And when he took photographs of pedestrians and street vendors, they dodged him as if he was holding a rifle.
Although other residents in the neighborhood negatively judged Ellick by his appearance, I think that it was partially his fault. I believe he failed to penetrate, experience, and describe the “ethnic underground” of Jackson Heights because of his personality and beliefs. Because he lived in developing nations for six years, he probably had the preconceived notion that other people would be be welcoming and hospitable. However, in these ethnic enclaves in Queens, most of the immigrants of the same culture are uninterested in learning other people’s cultures since they are just trying to survive and support their families in American communities.
I thought it was interesting when Ellick says that he “signed a lease with a girl named Manhattan” (2) because moving from Queens to Brookdale in Manhattan has given me a taste of both worlds. Manhattan is definitely different from Queens demographically; Kips Bay has more affluent, white residents while my neighborhood Bayside has more lower middle income Asians. With this being said, however, I have never felt closed out in Manhattan. I embrace every restaurant, café, museum I encounter, which I believe Ellick lacked. It seemed as if he was actively looking for acceptance as opposed to just embracing and trying to learn about the community around him. He could have been more open-minded and tolerable with the people in Queens. Ellick’s article definitely brings up the question of why intermixing people of different races, even in the same neighborhood, is so difficult.
