Pesso’s Italian Ices is located in the neighborhood Bayside, Queens. It serves delicious cold treats like ices, ice creams, and milk shakes to locals in town and visitors from outside the area. While walking along the block where the shop was, I noticed that Bayside was very residential and suburb-like. Green space largely spanned the streets I was walking on; houses had grass lawns in the front, the sidewalk was marked incrementally with trees, and the playgrounds and parks were big. There were rarely stores that marked the corner of every block. Most stores, ranging from diners, nail salons, and supermarket, dominated a few blocks long, separate from the rows of houses. Because these are all personal observations, it is still important to delve into the past and current context of the neighborhood Pesso’s Italian Ices is located in using maps and tables that document numbers. Pesso’s Italian Ices opened in 2004, so I began to examine the neighborhood around the year 2000. For present day, I studied different categories in the year 2015. Between these two years, 2000-2015, there are many things that have changed and stayed the same.
Regarding race, the population is primarily made up of White and Asian people. In 2000, about 74.98% of the population was white while 18.138% of the population was Asian. Only 2.6% of the population was Black or African American and 0% was American Indian and Alaska Native. Fifteen years later, we see a few shifts. Although half of the population (50.2%) are still White, Asians now make up 34.5% of the population meaning the percentage of Asian people increased by 16.4%. The percentage of Black or African Americans or American Indian and Alaska Natives are now close to 0%. Because Bayside is located closely to Flushing, an area predominately Asian, the influx of Asians could have occurred because people from Flushing were moving out to Bayside.
Race of Population Left: Year 2000 Right: Year 2015
White Population of Bayside Top: Year 2000 Bottom: Year 2015 Darker orange color means a greater percentage
Asian Population in Bayside Top: Year 2000 Bottom: Year 2015 Darker colors indicates a greater percentage
Bayside is also known for being a wealthy area of New York City where upper-middle class people reside in. In 2000, the average household income was $99,515. About 41.5% of households make between $60,000 to $124,999. However, the bulk of that percentage (17 % of it) lies in the range of $100,000 to $124,000, which is the general income of the upper-middle class. Only 5.6% of households make less than $20,000. In 2015, the average household income has not changed by much. It is now $99,567, which is a $52 difference. About 38.2% of households make between $60,000 to $124,999. This decrease in percentage of this range of income can be explained by an increase in percentage of the incomes that are $125,000 or greater. Four percent of households make less than $20,000 which is a 1.6% decrease from the year 2000. From this information, it is clear that this area is wealthy.
Household Incomes of the Population Left: Year 2000 Right: Year 2015
We can also the affluence reflected in the low percentage of poverty that is present in Bayside. The tables show the ratio of income in the years 2000 and 2015 to the poverty line. Under 1.00 means the population is doing poorly, 1.00 to 1.99 means the population is struggling, and 2.00 and over means the population is doing ok. In 2000, 9.4% of the population was under 2.00, meaning they were either poor or struggling. The majority of the population, 90.6%, was above 2.00. In 2015, there has been a 10.2% increase of people who are under 2.00 and a 10.1% decrease in the people above 2.00. However, despite this, the majority of people in Bayside still do not experience poverty.
Ratio of income to Poverty Level Top: Year 2000 Bottom: Year 2015
Lastly, to understand what the people of Bayside do for a living, I examined different occupations that people had. In 2000, the male and female employed population of ages 16 and over mostly worked in management, business, and financial operations (12.2% of females and 21.4% of males) and professional and related occupations (31.9% of females and 36.3% of males). In 2015, the same categories of occupations for females and male workers still dominate. About 50.2% of males and 57.9% of females work in those two categories. As a small business, Pesso’s Italian Ices would probably fall into the category of business operations.
Percentage of Population Working in Different Occupations Left: Year 2000 Right: Year 2015
Pesso’s Italian Ices may seem like a small part of this large neighborhood, but it plays a big role in connecting the people who love eating treats and desserts. The role this business plays in relation to the context of the neighborhood is providing those cold goods and meaningful connections. The White and Asian dominated population of the neighborhood should not have an effect on number of customers the small business receives because the owner Gideon Pesso states that there is no specific nationality that comes to his store. Most people like ice cream so Pesso’s Italian Ices is there to fulfill that craving. The neighborhood is also affluent, so I do not suspect that money should be an issue when it comes to purchasing ices from the shop. Additionally, a good percentage of people are involved in business operations in Bayside, so Pesso’s Italian Ices will probably not have a shortage of workers if needed because the residents there seem to display an interest in occupations of the business category. It would not be unusual for people to go to Pesso’s Italian Ices to be trained to scoop ice cream, make orders, and communicate with customers. Overall, Pesso’s Italian Ices meets this local demand for its specialties of cold, sweet treats. It’s a friendly part of the neighborhood where people can visit all year round to indulge in their guilty pleasures of ice cream.
