Pesso’s Italian Ices serves everyone of all ages and backgrounds in the community of Bayside, Queens. Bayside is known to be a diverse, upper-middle-class neighborhood having an immense number of parks and schools; in other words, it is a typical suburb in a city. When Stella and I walked around the area of the Italian ice shop, I noticed that the majority of the pedestrians were White and Asian. Of course, this is a subjective observation of Bayside, but the data from Social Explorer speaks to this notion. In fact, Bayside has changed and stayed the same in many different ways from 1980 to 2013. In 1980, 96.7% of the neighborhood’s population was solely White, 2.5% of the neighborhood was solely Asian and Pacific Islander, 0.1% of the neighborhood was solely Black, 0% of the neighborhood was American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut, and 0.6% of the neighborhood was composed of other races. Thirty-three years later, the residence of White people dropped to 52.2%, Asians alone increased to 39.5%, Blacks or African Americans alone increased to 1.7%, American Indian and Alaska Natives alone remained 0%, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders alone raised to 0.3%, other races alone increased to 4.7%, and people identified having two or more races rose to 1.7%. This census data demonstrates how Bayside became more diverse as years progressed, but it is still mostly composed of Whites and Asians. This is probably due to the fact that in the 1600s, the English bought Bayside, which contributes to many affluent Italian-American, Irish-American, and German-American families relocating there in the mid-1900s. Moving forward in time to the present, there has been an influx of Chinese-Americans and Korean-Americans, many of whom are from the area west of Bayside – Flushing, which is known to have a predominantly Asian population. The four maps below compare each race (White, Asian, African American, and others) in 1980 and 2013, and the two tables represent race percentages in 1980 and 2013.
Comparison of total asian population in 1980 and 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
Comparison of total black population in 1980 and 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
Comparison of total other race population in 1980 and 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
Comparison of total white population in 1980 and 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
Race percentages in 1980 – Source: Social Explorer
Race percentages in 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
According to Social Explorer, slightly older people have come to reside in the Bayside neighborhood. More specifically, in 1980, this area was mostly composed of people ages twenty-five to thirty-four, which was approximately 16.6%. People ages thirty-five to forty-four composed 11.5% of the population. And in 2013, there was a decrease of people ages twenty-five to thirty-four, dropping to 13.9%, while there was an increase of people ages thirty-five to forty-four, raising to 17.2%. Furthermore, from 1980 to 2013, kids ages five to seventeen decreased from 18% of the population to 13.9% of the population. The decrease of children might be due to how more people do not want to have children. People tend to try to have financial support first, but later on, they change their minds and want to just enjoy their lives. In addition, kids nowadays are not always financially feasible. People have student loans to pay off, there are medical costs of giving birth, and lifetime financial commitments. Especially since Bayside has become such a business-oriented neighborhood, people would want to focus on their jobs and careers. Below are tables of age percentages in 1980 and 2013.
Age percentages in 1980 – Source: Social Explorer
Age percentages in 2013 – Source: Social Explorer
The median household income (in 1979 dollars) in 1980 was about $20,439. While in 2013, the median household income (in 2013 inflation adjusted dollars) was about $69,183. In addition, the ratio of income to poverty level has decreased in Bayside from 1980 to 2013. The ratio of income 200% or above poverty level has dropped from 81.5% to 74.9%. This data means that less people are doing okay and more people are struggling economically in Bayside. This may have been caused by economic downturns, overpopulation, unemployment, etc.
Pesso’s Italian Ices is relatively an extremely successful business. Although people usually associate ice cream with kids and the percentage of adults have increased in Bayside, the ice cream shop has been able to attract people of all ages (well, everyone is a kid at heart). Also, due to the fact that this shop is opened all-year round, unlike many others that are only opened during the spring/summer, people are able to enjoy these frozen treats any time during the year, even when it is cold. So Pesso’s definitely always meets a local demand of milkshakes, Italian ices, sundaes, etc., even if you do not want to travel because they also serve by UberEATS, which delivers the dessert directly to your door. It is also reasonably priced, so anyone could afford to purchase and indulge in these sugary treats. If you’re looking for a hospitable, low-priced ice cream shop, even if there is a blizzard outside, Pesso’s is the way to go!
