Red-stained rooftops define the signature landscape of Forest Hills. They can be seen right outside of Station Square. It’s the first thing you see when you step off the Long Island Rail Road at Forest Hills Station. Station Square’s red brick road and antique façade are representative of the private community that makes up the southern half of Forest Hills, known as Forest Hills Gardens. Looking around the private neighborhood of Forest Hills Gardens, you would think it was a suburban town in London. You wouldn’t be wrong in thinking so. Forest Hills Gardens was designed and built in the 1920’s, led by renowned architects Fredrick Law Olmstead Jr. and Grosvenor Atterbury. This private community was designed to be a cottage town, mimicking the English Village atmosphere found in England. The houses in this area are very well ordained, with roof tiles the color of red wine, cobble stone foundations, and elegant dormers designed with wood bracing. All of the buildings and houses in this private community are based on Tudor and Georgian style architecture. The uniformity of design adds a sense of a close-knit community for the residents who live here. This private community is the oldest section of the neighborhood, as well as the first to be developed into what is current day Forest Hills.
Forest Hills has had a long history of Jewish residents. This was a result of the relatively high mortgage prices ($25 per month) of the housing in Forest Hills Gardens. Working class and lower middle class families clearly could not afford this. This unintended side effect of the Forest Hills Gardens project kept lower-income citizens from living in the area, reserving it for the middle and upper middle class. At this time, second generation Jewish families were increasing in socioeconomic status, rising to become a significant member of the American middle class. This was due to a combination of factors, including the degradation of the large extended family, lower birth rates, and overall modernization of living patterns. Grandparents lived in the same house as their children, and took on the job of raising grandchildren while the parents took this time to focus on careers or education. This ultimately culminated into a significant growth of Jewish middle class families, with Jewish men taking on managerial and official positions, and Jewish women getting jobs as teachers and clerks. This also allowed many young Jews a chance to take advantage of the free college opportunities and studying to become doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, and accountants. This ensured a spot for the Jewish population in the middle class.
The Jewish community in Forest Hills began to develop, with the founding of the Forest Hills Jewish Center at Kessel St. and 69th Ave in 1929, as well as the construction of several synagogues. The influx of people to Forest Hills was catalyzed by the completion of the LIRR Forest Hills Station and the electrifying of the rails in 1909. Commuting to Manhattan now took only 20 minutes. This was especially important to Jewish families. Unlike other ethnic groups, the Jewish middle class were “more willing to leave home and live independently.” This meant that the Jews were more inclined to commute to work and live independently from home than other ethnic groups. This, along with the atmosphere of the private housing project in Forest Hills and growing Jewish community, persuaded many Jewish middle class professionals and families to move into the neighborhood.
Later, in the 1980’s, a large number of immigrants from Europe and Asia moved into Forest Hills. A significant population of Russian Jews from the region of Bukhara in Uzbekistan (Also known as the Bukharan Jews) immigrated to Forest Hills exclusively. The already-established Jewish community, along with the immigration of other Russian Jews probably influenced the decision of the Uzbekistani immigrants to settle in Forest Hills. This immigration event led Forest Hills to have more Uzbekistani people than any other neighborhood in the City of New York today. Along with the Russian and Uzbekistani Jews were the Chinese, who moved in large numbers to both Forest Hills and neighboring Rego Park in the 1980’s. The Chinese and the Slavic Jews together make up 40% of the forty-one thousand foreign born immigrants that currently reside in Forest Hills. In total, Forest Hills has a population of eighty-three thousand residents, with roughly 50% of residents being foreign-born immigrants.
As I walked down the Forest Hills station platform with Fadi and Stelios, we noticed the stark division between the northern and southern side of the tracks. The LIRR literally divides the neighborhood of Forest Hills, with Forest Hills Gardens on the south side, and the commercial district of Austin St. to the north. Beyond Austin St. is the throughway of Queens Blvd. and the residential apartments and offices that lie on the north side of the Boulevard. The Forest Hills – 71st Ave. subway station is located along Queens Blvd. Ascan Ave. This station has both express (F and E) and local (M and R) train service, making it a major stops in Queens. Beyond Queens Blvd. is residential housing between 71st Ave. and 62nd Drive. You can find many Russians and Asians living in this area. Forest Hills High School, a major high school in Queens, is situated on 67th Ave. and 110th Street. The area north of 71st Ave. looks very much like a populated suburbia, with single and two-family houses on every block, and the occasional apartment housing. They’re not as lavish or majestic as the cottages in Forest Hills Gardens, but they are nevertheless homely and comforting.
The commercial area of Austin St. is where many people, both locals and visitors, come to shop and hang out. Austin St. is very busy compared to the quiet and calm streets in Forrest Hills Gardens. There are many cafes, restaurants, delis, eye care stores, banks, and various shops of all kinds along this road. Greek eateries, Jewish bakeries, and Mexican cafes are just a few of what can be found on Austin St. We took a walk along this road to get a feel of the people that shopped and lived here. It was a Saturday morning and everyone was out and about. We saw Joggers, mothers and fathers with their children, elderly couples, and young adults on the sidewalks, talking and chatting with each other. To me, it almost felt like a small town with the people of a city. In fact, according to the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, the motto for the store merchants in Forest Hills is:” We are large enough to serve you and small enough to know you.” This motto clearly reflects the sense of strong community in Forest Hills.
While perusing the commercial district, we met a storekeeper of a convenience store a block away from Ascan Ave. along Austin St. He was a Southeast Asian immigrant who came to Forest Hills in 1996. When he arrived, he noticed that the majority of those that live in Forest Hills were white and Jewish. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing flux of Asians moving to live in Forest Hills, a growing trend in Queens. Another resident of Forest Hills added to this, saying that, in general, newlywed couples and young families of all ethnicities have been moving in to Forest Hills. The reason for this is no surprise. One fifth of the population is over the age of sixty five, which lends to the neighborhood a “calm constancy” that growing families look for. Families want a place where they can settle down and have a constant and steady life as they foster a child into adulthood. The low crime rate, good value of rent, and middle class community, along with local access to great public schools like Forest Hills High School, all add to the desirability for expecting families. It’s like a pocket of suburban comfort and tranquility in the middle of a city.
Despite this, the economic situation in Forest Hills has been getting worse. In recent months, the price of living in Forest Hills has risen, resulting in price increases of all goods and services. Another man, who worked at a nearby Metro PCS shop, agreed with this, saying “People are broke, man.” In fact, every person I talked to in Forest Hills agreed that the financial situation in Forest Hills is the most prevalent and problematic issue affecting the community. One man went as far as to say that the prices in Forest Hills are “mind-numbing”. The rising property values threaten the current residents who don’t have the financial security to take on the rising expenditures. The security of a good neighborhood comes with the price of paying for the value of it. Although the prices in Forest Hills are bargains compared to equally valued neighborhoods in Manhattan, it is growing to be more than what the residents can chew.
The people that live there now are mostly progressive in their beliefs. We met a heavyset man with his wife and dog, Sam, at McDonald Park along Queens Blvd., and we got into a discussion about gay marriage and economic entitlement. He supports gay marriage and opposes welfare states. Although this is just one person, various reports on Forest Hills agree that Forest Hills is leaning towards progressivism. This may be due to a large variety of factors, but the most prominent one may be the influx of younger people into the area, as well as a progressively minded elderly population. Remember that the elderly populations that currently live in Forest Hills are the children of the Jewish middle class that were the first among many to adopt a modern lifestyle of independence and living away from home. These progressive ideals carried on for years after, up to this day.
It’s clear that Forest Hills has remained relatively constant in its makeup and texture since its conception, a distinctly unique trait of this neighborhood. Unlike other neighborhoods like Harlem or the Lower East Side, Forest Hills has kept its original settling population, the white middle class Jews. Also, unlike other neighborhoods, the ethnic diversification in Forest Hills is gradual and smooth. People of all races and backgrounds are moving in to Forest Hills, and there is no noticeable ethnic tension between the ethnic groups. In addition, the gentrification process that is causing major transformations in some neighborhoods like Park Slope and Bedford-Stuyvesant is non-existent in Forest Hills. The neighborhood was already gentrified at its conception. Given this, the current trends in New York City as a whole only serve to further support the gentrified community in Forest Hills to continue its constant direction.
One thing that stuck with me as I left Forest Hills was that the sense of community and comfort I got just by standing on the street of Austin St., the heart of Forest Hills. The man in the park confirmed this, saying “People who I know and who I don’t know say ‘Hi!’ when I pass by. It’s a very friendly community.” It’s certainly the type of community to start a family in. One co-op and condo newspaper, The Cooperator, even called Forest Hills “The Queen of Queens”, citing its rich community and culture. Above all, the safety of the neighborhood is unparalleled in the city. One of the residents told me “If my wife has to go out to buy a carton of milk at 11 o’clock at night, I won’t be scared for her life at all”. It’s no wonder why they call the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills “The Snooze Precinct”. All in all, the community in Forest Hills is surprisingly strong. The man in McDonald Park gave a final word of advice for anyone who wishes to move to Forest Hills: “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from, can make it in if you have a good idea. This neighborhood is welcome to anyone”.
