Please respond to this post with the neighborhood you are planning to profile for assignment #4. (See this post for additional instructions for that assignment that do not appear in your syllabi.)
For the digital component of your assignment (if you decide to have one), you can use this site or a tool like Silk to collect images, audio and/or video. Contact me if you have any questions about how best to do this.
Have a lovely break!
Inwood.
I would like to focus my 4th assignment on the Lower East Side.
I’d like to profile the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx.
Koreatown.
Forest Hills.
Jamaica, Queens
I chose Jamaica, Queens because it’s literally close to home (I live a short bus ride away) and I wanted to focus specifically on the change in Jamaica Avenue as the shopping center for the Queens community. I used to shop there a lot but my family and I started going to Jamaica Avenue less and less over the years for our shopping excursions. If it’s at all possible, I’m trying to focus on the change in businesses on what people from Queens call “The Ave”.
Patrick and I are going to do Marble Hill
Jamaica Estates.
Jackson Heights, Queens
Brooklyn Eight Avenue
Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood that has historically been very Italian-American, but as that population has aged and diminished, it has recently become occupied by Chinese, Mexican, and Russian immigrants, as well as by other groups. Living in this area for the past two-three years, I’ve witnessed the neighborhood evolving and the old groups clashing with the new.
Thanks for all these. this is a terrific range — appreciate so many of you willing to go far afield. look forward to having everyone’s neighborhoods posted by start of class tonight. Also, don’t forget to add a sentence or two explaining why you chose the neighborhood you did.
cr
I want to profile the South Beach area of Staten Island. Firstly, I think Staten Island doesn’t receive enough recognition, and secondly, I am interested in learning about the demographic of this area of the borough I live in and especially interested in hearing the effect of Hurricane Sandy on the neighborhood(which was, in many cases, massive).
Main Street, Flushing – Despite living there, I confess I really don’t know much about the history of the town or the stories the people of the town have. I will try to focus less on the Chinatown, Koreatown, and the Indian population and focus more on the minorities who live there.
Marble Hill – This neighborhood is a stop on my commute to and from home and I have always been curious to find out more about it. More broadly speaking, the Bronx has always been an enigma in my mind so it would be interesting to understand its culture, demographics, etc.
I will cover Arthur Avenue. (It’s where I lived for the first two years of my life)
Koreatown – Within one city block there are so many types of businesses – bookstores, jewelry stores, and various types of restaurants. There’s a lot to explore in just a sliver of Manhattan.
East Harlem – we have done site visits, readings, and I am also currently reading a book written by a man who grew up in the neighborhood, about growing up in the neighborhood. East Harlem is so rich with cultural and history, plus with so much research and attention already paid..
Dane and I will be working on Flushing.
The Lower East Side.
Little Italy
Little Italy has been the long, forgotten jewel of NYC neighborhoods. Most of the original traces of Italian immigrants have disappeared. Although still a main attraction for tourists, the size of Little Italy has greatly diminished in the past few years. In fact, many fear that it will soon become extinct. The rise of rent have left many original restaurant owners to go out of business and old tenants to move some place else. Furthermore, the growth of Chinatown has pressured the existence of Little Italy as the borders between the two neighborhoods have become less distinctive. In my paper, I plan to discuss the history of Little Italy, from its origin to its current condition. I will conduct interviews with both old and newcomers alike, and find out their different perspective/attitude on the change of the neighborhood.
Re. choosing your neighborhood, PLEASE! add a couple of sentence re what you chose as you did. It will help you focus your paper and it will help me understand your focus when I’m reading it. Thank you! cr
I’m profiling Baychester, a neighborhood in the northeast Bronx. I chose to profile Baychester because it’s where my sister-in-law is from and I have spent a lot of time there. I was always eager to explore The Bronx, a part of the city that (in my mind) is often neglected. I haven’t been back to Baychester since my sister-in-law moved upstate to Poughkeepsie, so I’m excited to go back and talk to the people I met over the years.
Me, Fadi, and Stelios are profiling Forest Hills. I choose this location as it is not only along my commute route, but because of the significant contrast in the area. The LIRR literally divides the red-stained houses of the residential area (which is reminicant of the houses in Garden City and Hewlett) and the main commercial district, which runs along Austin St. In addition, the area is considered above average in prosperity when compared to other areas in the city. I wanted to investigate how these people lived and felt about their neighborhood, hoping to strike an analogue between the community of Forest Hills and the many communities on Long Island.
Adding more detail to my neighborhood choice: Inwood appealed to me at first because I understood it as a home for aspiring actors, singers, musicians, etc who could not afford the rents downtown. It seemed to have a really young, bohemian population. With my research, I want to find out whether that impression of Inwood is really true…and I’d also like to explore how that young, hip community coexists with the Dominican immigrant community in the neighborhood. Inwood seems to have a neat ethnic dichotomy between these two groups.
I’m going to focus my final paper on Central Harlem. It interests me because of it’s rich history, intense culture, and current revival. Since I already live in Harlem and am planning on living here in the future, I would love to learn more about it. The area is full of interesting people and places. I’m excited to earn more about it!