Forest Hills is a neighborhood in Queens with a very unique history. Up to the early 1900s, Forest Hills was entirely farmland. After the Queensboro Bridge was built, developers like Cord Meyer bought privately owned farms to form the neighborhood. Meyer was the one who gave Forest Hills its name. With the help of the Russell Sage Foundation and Margaret Sage, one of the first planned communities in the United States came to exist. Subway lines built from the 1920s to the 1950s modernized Forest Hills even more.

The Long Island Railroad station at Forest Hills divides the neighborhood’s commercial zone and residential community. To the south of the railway station, we found quiet streets full of private homes and beautiful gardens. This section of Forest Hills is known as Forest Hills Gardens and has an interesting history. The Forest Hills Gardens Corporation owns the streets and municipality services. It also makes sure that the buildings are kept to their 1908 Brick Tudor styles. Though this part of the neighborhood is privately owned, anyone can walk or drive in its streets. This community was planned to resemble the Hampstead Garden suburb in London, UK.  

The north of the railway station is a lot different. Between Austin Street and 71^st Avenue, we found lots of different stores. As we walked by and looked around, people were able to tell that we are not from Forest Hills. We were just amazed at the sharp difference between the two sides of the railway station. This side of the railway station had everything that someone may wish to get. Banks are everywhere — some banks are even attached to each other. There are also many fast food and ethnic restaurants. Just outside of the railway station, a small Israeli restaurant fills the street with the aroma of falafels and kebabs. Down the street, there were a couple of McDonald’s chains, Mexican restaurants, and a huge Greek restaurant that caught every walker’s attention.

We also passed by several cellphone stores. Some hire people to hand out flyers to people walking by their store. Bookstores such as Barnes & Noble, eye care stores, pet stores, food stores, and gyms only add to the list of things that one can do in Forest Hills. The only problem is that not everyone has enough money to enjoy the goods and services that each store has to offer. Despite the financial hardships, this section of the neighborhood is still very dynamic and diverse. This made it hard for us to find people who have time to chat. People were either rushing to take public transportation, go to McDonalds or anxiously scratch a lottery card. We actually had to enter stores and walk near a park to find people who have time to talk to us.

This brings us to our first two interviewees in our trip to Forest Hills. Outside of McDonald Park, a very outgoing and friendly fifty-four year old man and his wife were sitting on a bench petting their dog, Sam. As we approached them, we greeted them and said that the weather finally lets us have a nice walk in the park.

We started asking them questions about how it is like to live in Forest Hills. They were able to give us useful answers, because they lived in Forest Hills for more than twenty-four years. They got to see the neighborhood change in its highs and lows. Originally, they are from Philadelphia and came to New York City because of better job openings.

The man said the residents in the neighborhood are mellow, the schools are good, and there are many good restaurants. In his free time, he walks with his wife and the dog. People acknowledge each other.  Every time he walks by, people he knows and doesn’t know say “hi” or “good morning”. Even if they don’t say anything, they still nod.

He complained a lot about the economic situation. He said the prices and rents in Forest Hills are “mind-numbing” but still less expensive than some places in Manhattan. He knows people who moved from Midtown to Forest Hills to seek affordable rent. He also noticed that many young people move to Forest Hills with their newborn children. People starting families need to build themselves up until they are able to afford living in more expensive places. He believes that no matter who you are or where you’re from, you can still make it as long as you have a good idea.

He complained a lot about “homeless behaviors.” There are waves of homeless people that come twice a year and disturb the beauty of the neighborhood. He accused some homeless people of public indecency, because they move their bowels at night on the bushes in the local parks. The residents in Forest Hills could not relocate those “mentally ill” people after many failed attempts. Relocating homeless people is not only a problem in Forest Hills, but in many parts of the United States, as well. He argued that the government must reform the mental health care program and make sure that homeless people do not hurt other citizens and ruin things that people enjoy in their free time. His wife briefly told us about a homeless man who beat a woman leaving the 71^stAvenue/Forest Hills subway station at 11:00 P.M. They said the neighborhood is safe during the day, but is often dangerous at night. They highly recommended walking in groups in case danger is faced. The man said, he would be “half-scared to death if his wife had to buy a milk carton that late at night.”

After we finished talking to this couple, we went to a deli on Austin Street and Ascan Avenue to buy water. As we paid the cashier, we told him that prices have been on the rise lately. He agreed with us and said that over the past three to four months, prices soared more than ever before. He said he lives in the neighborhood only because he owns a store there. He said people leave Forest Hills and other places in NYC to go live in other states. When we asked him about where they usually go, he said that the people that he knows of went to the south to avoid paying New York’s high taxes. After leaving India, he lived in the US for eighteen years. When he first came to Forest Hills, there were many White American Jews. However, over the past years, he saw many Asians (mostly from China) living in the neighborhood.

Forest Hills is home to about 83,728 residents. Of those people, 41,056 people (about forty nine percent) are born outside of the United States. The most common ten countries of origin are China, Russia, Uzbekistan, India, Colombia, Ukraine, Israel, Poland, Japan, and Korea. Forest Hills is home to the largest Uzbek community in New York City. Many Central Asian Jews, mostly from Uzbekistan came to live in Forest Hills in the 1980s. They are referred to as Bukharian Jews.

From the 1920s to 1940s, Forest Hills became the home of many second generation American Jews. In the 1920s, the average rent in Forest Hills was very high- about twenty-five dollars a month. Jews were one of the fewest ethnic groups that were able to pay this amount every month. In the 1940s, Jews became officially recognized as middle class citizens. Without a doubt, the backgrounds of people living in Forest Hills have changed over the years. When we were walking in the streets, we did not find as many Jews as we expected.

After we left the deli, something strange caught our attention. There were two Metro PCS stores one block away from each other. When we crossed the street, there was a vacant store that had a sign with the new address. We walked up the street to the new Metro PCS and asked if we could talk to an employee. The man we talked to grew up in Forest Hills and moved out when he was eight. Despite saying that the community is comfortable, he does not recommend living in Forest Hills. Like the deli owner and the couple at the park, he complained about the economic recession. He said the store is “broke”, because they do not get a lot of customers and the cost of staying open is higher than it seems. When we asked him what happened to the vacant store, he said they had to move because the rent was too expensive. He complained that they had months when the cost of keeping the business open was higher than the store’s income.

After spending a day in Forest Hills, I appreciated the neighborhood more than I ever did before. The different people we talked to told us many interesting stories that will leave a lasting imprint in our minds.

After leaving Morocco, my family lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Bay Ridge is home to many Arab-Americans. Every time I walked around the Bay Ridge Avenue subway station, I felt less nostalgic to Morocco. The presence of Arabic words on store signs and the friendly Arab voices made the new atmosphere a lot more welcoming. The large Arab population in the nearby zones schools helped my three siblings and I make new friends. Outside of Bay Ridge, my family struggled to understand non-Arab cultures.

Just three stops away from Bay Ridge Avenue on the R train is 95^th Street. I worked there every weekend at a small pharmacy to help my father pay the bills. The surroundings of this station are totally different from what I am used to seeing twenty-five streets away. The people spoke unfamiliar languages, dressed differently, and ate differently. Right across the street from the train station stood a Roman Catholic Church. That was the first time I saw a church up close. Being predominantly Muslim, Morocco has very small numbers of Christians and churches. On Sunday mornings, a dozen people entered the church as I watched them from the other side of the street. I questioned why other Americans from the neighborhood did not join them inside the church. If many Americans are Christians, why do more people attend the small mosque on Bay Ridge Avenue than people attend this church? The small mosque on Bay Ridge Avenue was very crowded that I always struggled to enter it. The church was approximately three times the size of the mosque. This means that more people can easily fit inside the church. This question baffled me for a long time. It was later in school when I learned that urban areas have less religious people than rural and suburban areas. This did not answer my question. Before coming to America, I lived in Casablanca, Morocco. Casablanca is a very large and technologically developed city. Despite its urban setting, Moroccans prayed five times a day at the call of the Azan.

During my first school year in the U.S., I visited Times Square and Rockefeller Center with the rest of my history class. That trip marked my first visit to Manhattan without my parents and siblings. On the train, I was amazed at how different ethnic groups coexisted in the same space. In North Africa, it is unlikely for Moroccans to coexist with Algerians and indigenous Sub-Saharan people. My observation agreed to the relationship between setting and liberalism. However, it did not explain why urban Americans are tolerant towards those who are different.

The teacher told the class to exit the D train at Rockefeller Center. While the other students just followed the teacher, I was walking around myself in circles. I started to think that my definition of “an urban city” might be different from the American definition. In Morocco, I never saw that many people use mass transportation. The only time half of these people were gathered was either at a street festival or a parliamentary election queue. In Morocco, people seemed to know each other very well. In New York, everyone seemed anti-social and unwilling to start conversations. Is this because New Yorkers have a lot on their mind? Or is this because not all New Yorkers speak English?

When I left Rockefeller Center station, a whole new world opened to my eyes. I was surprised to find so many cars and people on the same block. People did not have a chance to talk to one another. There was no space for two or three people to gather in a corner and start a conversation. Everyone walked down the street at different speeds without paying attention to others around them. Taxi drivers were either waiting for a green light or were racing each other down the avenue. Everything was very dynamic. As I walked to Times Square, I got dizzy from the bright lights on tall buildings and the noises from the cars rushing past me. It is unfair to consider Casablanca an urban city after coming to NYC. Even Brooklyn was very distinct from its neighboring borough. Brooklyn was a lot quieter and had less people on its streets. Brooklyn did not have as many people, cars, and tall buildings near its subway stations. Brooklyn was just a dead borough if I had to compare it to Manhattan. When I returned back to Brooklyn, I was very fatigued. I did not ask my family members about their day. I was sure their day did not involve as much action as mine. After silently eating, I went to play basketball with my friends in Leif Ericson Park until dusk.

Brooklyn was home to about two million people. Since Brooklyn was mostly residential, many people from Brooklyn went to Manhattan for work. The commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn was very tiring, slow, and long. Many people from Bay Ridge took the R train and transferred to an express train to reach Manhattan. Most of them worked five or six days a week from morning till evening. By the end of the day, many people sleepwalked on their way home. Friday was the only day when people had a dull smile on their tired faces. The weekend was a time for people to restore their energy and be ready to return to work on Monday. This dry and monotonous lifestyle gave a more logical explanation for the lack of miscellaneous activities. At the end of the day, everyone was more concerned about having food on the table. People had no time or energy to show their dislike towards other ethnicities. Everyone lived in New York just to make money. Money was the only thing people lived for. 

Will Newman’s Immigration Story:

Since its establishment by the first Europeans, The United States of America has always been one of the most popular destinations that people desire to immigrate to. The most common pull factors that attract people to come live in The United States are to seek religious freedom, a higher economic status, and a more secure future for themselves and their children. Since transportation was very primitive up to the middle of the twentieth century, the first American destination for many immigrant families was Ellis Island- an island located at the south of Manhattan, New York. The classmate whom I interviewed, Will Newman considers himself to be a third generation immigrant. Ellis Island was the first destination that Will’s ancestors arrived to when they came to this country.

Will Newman’s family has a very compelling immigration story for one to learn and contemplate on its many rich qualities. The maternal side of his family is mainly of Irish ancestry. His great-grandmother, Huddy was born and raised in Ireland and came to New York in the 1920’s. She worked as a maid in New York in order to provide a decent lifestyle for herself and her family in this new and different society. Huddy was very impoverished in Ireland and became lower-to-middle class by conscientiously working in the United States. Will’s great-grandfather, Tuohy, was also born in Ireland and held a job at a department store when he came to New York. The great-grandmother and great-grandfather settled together in Yonkers, New York. Will’s grandmother, Mildred was the youngest of her five siblings. Mildred’s parents were very stern and distant from her that she treated her friends as if they were part of her immediate biological family. Her siblings were much older than her so she became friends with them as she became older and more mature. Mildred’s family emphasized hard work and as a result, her siblings became very successful individuals in their unknown fields. Will’s grandfather is a second generation American who was mostly raised by his grandmother, because his mother was unable to take care of him. Will’s great-granduncle worked in advertising and frequently travelled to Japan. He befriended Japanese immigrants and opened successful restaurants in Midtown Manhattan. Until now, the restaurants still exist and Will’s family still keeps in touch with their Japanese friends. Will is very distantly related to an Irish rent collector who was murdered in cold blood for his support of the English Monarchy and for his very arrogant and overall unpleasant personality. A story about this Irishman was written in the New York Times, but Will was not able to retrieve it from the Internet. Despite the fact that Will claims that he finds the story fascinating, he is still not very proud of this man’s actions nor of his tragic death.

Will’s paternal ancestry is also very unique and diverse. The ancestors of Will’s paternal grandmother, Dorothy Houston have resided in the United States since the 1600s. They settled in the Midwest and just like many Midwesterners at the time, they were farmers. Will’s paternal great-grandfather, Thomas lived in Budapest, Hungary and was a middle-to-upper class citizen. He was a banker and an owner of many buildings. Shortly, after Thomas escaped from Hungary for religious reasons, communists sieged his buildings in the 1930’s. In the late 1930’s, Thomas moved to three different countries. He left Hungary to go to Vienna, Austria and then left Austria to go to Paris, France. His last and final migration occurred when he moved to New York in the early 1940’s. Thomas remained in the continent of Europe for a very short time after leaving Hungary, because Jewish people were targeted by the Fascist Nazis and were put through abysmal living conditions that involved physical, economic, and emotional hardships.

Will’s paternal grandfather moved with his father (Will’s great-grandfather) to various places in Europe before coming to the United States. Will’s grandfather was a jokester and a dilettante of the card game, bridge. Unfortunately, Will has a very vague memory of his grandfather, because he passed away in the 1990’s when Will was a young child. Will’s father grew up in Stamford, Connecticut and was the youngest of his three siblings. Will’s mother was born in Manhattan, New York and grew up in Westchester, New York. The setting of her upbringing is described to be suburban with a New York City influence. Despite the NYC influence, the place still possesses the essential qualities of offering a relaxed and comfortable life.

One very bizarre story that Will learned from his mother deals with his aunt who currently resides in Switzerland. One time his aunt brought a pie to avoid entering her Irish relative’s home empty-handed. When Will’s aunt went to knock on their door, the household violated normal hospitality and sentimental etiquette by taking the pie from her and shutting the door behind on her face! This story is very hard to digest, because it makes the listener curious about the reasons behind a person’s acceptance of a pie as a gift from someone that s/he apparently despises and wants to deliberately ignore. There were no sufficient pieces of information provided during the interview that can address the reasons behind this very peculiar moment.

Will Newman’s family immigration story is very unique, because his maternal and paternal sides of the family came to the United States for various reasons- religious and socioeconomic. Will is very glad that he grew up in Westchester, New York and that he was not forced to relocate to different places, whether for economic or religious reasons like some of his ancestors. He is also very thankful that his ancestors come to the United States. He believes that if he were to move to the United States as a first generation immigrant, he would have experienced the commonly known cultural and economic challenges that all immigrants, especially those of the twenty-first century encounter during the first few years of their emigration.