“BEEP, BEEEEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.” The sound of blaring car horns immediately hits your ears as you take your first steps into Jackson Heights. The sensory onslaught does not end there though, as your eyes and nose are attacked by the bright and foreign scripts and smells all fight to capture your attention the minute you step out of the International Express’ 82nd St station. As you hear the rickety and overbearing sound of the 7 train rattling away overhead, you begin to feel as if you’ve been dropped into a mysterious land where cultures from all across the world have come together. A Colombian bakery across the street, a halal cart on the corner, a Nepalese restaurant down the block, and a Bubble Tea cafe behind you are among the various things you see as you survey your new and overwhelmingly foreign surroundings. This image, though, represents just a small portion of Jackson Heights.

Typically thought of as a hub of cultural interaction and unity, Jackson Heights is often considered a “migrant’s enclave” (Gill, 2011). This, however, does not accurately represent Jackson Heights. Before becoming the modern-day metropolis it is today, Jackson Heights played the part of urban middle-class suburb (Gill, 2011).

First purchased in 1908, the plot of farmland that was to become Jackson Heights was envisioned to cater to middle-class white city-dwellers who longed for more greenery and a better balance between urban and suburban (Cerquera, 2012). In order to appeal to the target audience and really put Jackson Heights on the map, the buildings had two very distinct features: the use of the “garden apartment” complex and the mixing of vastly different architecture styles. The “garden apartment” complex refers to a series of buildings that are built around a collectively owned and maintained garden. This type of design was quite progressive for the time and provided a residents with a more personal and intimate nature experience without having to ever leave the city. The “garden apartment” complex, however was not the only attraction for potential buyer. The combination of various architecture styles, such as “past French Gothic mansard roofs, neo-Georgian gabled dormers, and Italian Romanesque/Renaissance towers,” only increased the appeal and allure of Jackson Heights, even to this very day (Gill, 2011).

The Jackson Heights described above, however, is very different to the one we see today. Today, Jackson Heights is characterized by the large apartment buildings and myriad of ethnic stores and restaurants. What caused and when did such a radical transformation occur? The answer to that is twofold. The larger six story elevator apartments, which are more commonly seen now, were erected during the Great Depression because they were seen as a safer, more practical investment as opposed to the more expensive “garden apartments” (Cerquera, 2012). The change in demographics and business came post-World War II, following the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965. As discussed in class, this act eased many of the harsh restrictions previously in place regarding immigration from Latin America, Asia, and the Caribbean. The passage of 1968 Fair Housing Act, which effectively reinforced the housing discrimination policies that were already in place, served as another impetus for the movement of immigrant and minority groups into inner-city and ghetto areas. The final player in the creation of the modern, multicultural Jackson Heights is the formation of various civil and political organizations to promote equality between cultures and minority groups. An example of this would be the creation of the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project and numerous gay rights organizations, following the murder of Julio Rivera, a gay Hispanic bartender (Cerquera, 2012). These three factors spurred the creation of the politically and culturally diverse Jackson Heights that we explored and that many New Yorkers know.

Understanding the rich history of Jackson Heights provided us with an image of a neighborhood with deep cultural and political ties and a strong sense of unity; however, this picture was incomplete, it lacked a human element. In order to discover the humanity of the neighborhood, the emotion and experiences of the residents, Josh and I spoke to several people that we encountered. Their greatly differing backgrounds and views helped us to better understand the constitution of the area. Interestingly enough, among the people we interviewed, there was a general feeling of safety and a welcoming/accepting atmosphere.

The first person we talked to was an old Colombian man named Guillermo. We asked Guillermo about his experience here in Jackson Heights and how it differed to his life back in Columbia. Guillermo grew up in Medellín, one of the major cities in Colombia. He told us about how he grew up in the slums of the city. He said “We [Guillermo’s family] were always poor. We never had much to eat or many toys to play with but we always were happy.” As Guillermo grew older he left the slums, and his home, in order to get work in the main part of the city. He found a job at a cafe as a busboy, eventually working himself up to the manager position. By the time he had reached the manager position, the Medellín cartel started to take root in the city. One night, as he was closing the cafe, Guillermo witnessed a drug deal go awry. As he rushed to rescue the poor victim, Guillermo got dragged into the struggle and was knocked unconscious, as well. When he woke up, Guillermo decided that he needed to leave the country, for his own safety. After having arrived here, Guillermo was forced to get a minimum wage job at a deli in Jackson Heights. He said that at first things were no different from back in Columbia. There was a strong Hispanic community already here, a great number of whom were Colombian as well, so he felt more welcomed. But just like back in Medellín, there was a lot crime when he first got here. Since he worked the evening/night shift, Guillermo had a slight fear of being attacked on his commute to and from work, especially after his experience back in Medellín. He added, though, that he has seen crime fall drastically since when he first moved here.

After hearing Guillermo’s story and realizing how much he knew about the community, we asked him about his opinion on the changing demographics of the area, the arrival of more Asian and South Asians and how he dealt with that change. He told us that when the Indians first started moving in, he was initially against it. He remembered some of close friends moving away from Jackson Heights and instead of other Colombians or Hispanics, Indians moved in instead. He says that he attempted to avoid interacting with them at first, wanting nothing to do with these foreigners. Eventually, after a few years, he realized that Indians were here to stay and as such accepted them as a fundamental part of Jackson Heights. When asked about the contribution of the Indian community to the area, he admitted that the Indian community has added a vibrancy and spice that was not present in Jackson Heights prior.

Another person we talked to was named Nazreen. Nazreen is a young Egyptian American who also wear a hijab. She has spent most of her life in Jackson Heights, after her parents moved here from Egypt. Growing up, Nazreen learned both Egyptian Arabic and English. When asked about what Jackson Heights taught her growing up, Nazreen said “Jackson Heights taught me that I do not need to sacrifice my faith or culture in order to make a place for myself in this world.” She explained, saying “In high school, I struggled with self-identity and making friends. Things got so bad that I seriously considered casting aside everything my parents taught me- my culture, morals, faith, everything. One day, I decided to go out for a walk, just down the block and into the main shopping areas. As I walked and looked around, I saw so many different people and places all coexisting with each other, and in even in their coexistence, they all maintained their indivduality. It was then that I realized that by simply accepting who I was, I would be able to easily make friends.” Nazreen’s story showed us a side of Jackson Height’s that we had not encountered before. While Guillermo’s story showed us the tolerance and acceptance found in Jackson Heights, Nazreen’s story showed us the successful fusion of a variety of cultures to create a society in which all cultures were unique and distinct, but still a part of the whole. A community where there were no one culture or ethnicity was viewed as superior, but all coexisted with each other on even footing.

After listening to the many stories of the inhabitants of Jackson Heights, many of which could not be told in this paper, our picture of Jackson Heights was complete. A neighborhood initially meant for white middle and upper-middle class, Jackson Heights has undergone a radical transformation to become an ethnically and culturally diverse landscape. More than just a collection of minorities sharing the same space, Jackson Heights shows how various cultures from drastically different parts of the world can successfully come together to create a fully functioning neighborhood which can politically unite to institute fundamental change at both a local and city level. The cultural and political amalgam that is Jackson Heights is sure to provide both visitors and potential residents with experiences that lead them to rethink their understanding of cultural interaction.

References

Gill, J.F. (2011, February 4). A Migrants’ Enclave Attracts a New Breed. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/realestate/06living.html

Cerquera, Y. (2012, November). Is Jackson Heights New York’s Most Eclectic Neighborhood?. Highbrow Magazine. http://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1756-jackson-heights-new-yorks-most-eclectic-neighborhood

Astoria, the neighborhood of Queens that is right along side the East side river where many who know it adore it and love it. It is one of the few places in NYC whose rent is rising, but not so high that it is being gentrified. Many view this neighborhood as a friendly neighborhood, which still is true to the New Yorker spirit. Much of the community is Greek, but recently the neighborhood has welcomed in slews of different immigrants from all around the world. Many are currently leaving Manhattan for the lower rents in Astoria. There is diversity in this neighborhood, a rich history, and a long lasting heritage of immigrants. It is also the site where many of the big time blockbusters of today are filmed, making Astoria not only a neighborhood, but a beacon of the arts. Its true New Yorker spirit, combined with its inclination towards the arts, and its lower rent, makes Astoria something special. Most who live here are happy with their neighborhood, and most agree that Astoria has a certain appeal to it, one that hopefully is not lost as the city continues to grow and change.

Astoria has come a long way from its beginnings, it has become a home for diversity for the arts, and a city outside of Manhattan, but it did not start that way. Back when the town was originally being created New York did not exist like it did today. Manhattan was all there was to the city, and the rest was essentially farmland dotted with houses every now and then. Originally Astoria was called Hallets cove (Astoria.org). However, in the 1830’s John Jacobs Astor, then the richest man in the world, and by todays standards he would be among the top ten, invested $500 dollars in Hallets Cove (Astoria.org). From then on the village would be known as Astoria, and the name never changed. Astoria became popular for its arts in the 1850’s when Steinway and Sons began to build their world famous pianos and built buildings for their employees (Astoria.org). Many of the residents around the area of Steinway Street love the history of the relationship between the workers and owners at Steinway, it has become part of the tale of what Astoria is. The Steinway Family even provided schooling for their workers children, in English and German. At this point most of America and New York’s immigrants were German. The 20^th Century would see Astoria become the beacon of Greek immigration in New York.

Astoria soon would become the village of the Greeks in the 1950’s as much of Greece began to immigrate to Astoria. It is claimed that today Astoria is the second on the list for the most Greek speaking population, second to Greece. This is because a massive demographic shift occurred in the 20^th Century as tons of Greeks flocked to New York, particularly Astoria. Soon after that much of the population would continue to change (Shepard, Astoria). Joe Salvo reports that the current diversity of immigrants into Astoria is greater than anywhere else in the city. Greeks, Bangladeshi, Arabians, Mexicans, Egyptians, Tibetans, all come to Astoria (Slavo, Newest New Yorkers). Many of these groups are part of the second big wave of immigration to Astoria that occurred around the 1970’s and 80’s. Currently Astoria is one of the ten largest immigrant neighborhoods in the city. In total there are ten different ethnicities in Astoria each amounting to about 5-7% of the population of Astoria, with 10% being native-born Greeks (Salvo, Newest New Yorkers). This high influx of Greeks in the early 50’s establishes a main part of Astoria’s culture, its food. One could ask a random person on the streets of Astoria what to eat, and they will say Greek food. In fact Amy, a recent resident of the Ditmars area of Astoria stated, “I just can’t eat enough Greek or Italian food. A bunch of new bars have also opened up along Ditmars as well.” Which is an example of the growth Ditmars has recently had, previous to the past couple of years, it was not well known for its bars and restaurants.

Almost everyone around Astoria agrees that it has a very happy and friendly atmosphere, a true neighborhood. Natalia, a stranger walking out of the subways in Astoria told me that she used to live here and said “I loved it this summer when I lived here!! The rent is a lot cheaper than it is in Manhattan and it has a nice friendly atmosphere with shops, a lot of Greek restaurants and cafe’s.” Many of the people around Astoria agree with this. Indeed Astoria is full of little Greek restaurants and barbershops all along the boulevards. There is Steinway Street where the old village that the family built for their workers still stands. Then inside the grid of streets that was created when Astoria and Long Island City joined the New York City are little connected houses. Most of these are two story red brick houses. Some look very much like a rendition of a brownstone, some more like the buildings seen in eastern Queens, with capes and triangular roofs. The community look was quaint. The NYPD crime records show that Astoria sees about 1887 crimes per year (NYPD crime map). This is about the same per person as it is in Bayside or Flushing Queens. Which means that the safety many find in living in Astoria is real, although a robbery is still possible.

Astoria has the M, R, N and Q subway lines run through it, making it easy to get to Manhattan. Many interviewees stated that they liked the closeness to Manhattan. But many of these subway lines are overhead. There are the constant noises of the trains cackling overhead at major boulevards. But for the commute from this quaint neighborhood, it’s worth it. Then there is the huge Amtrak bridge that can be seen from anywhere in Astoria. This is one of the parts of the town that I found the most interesting. There where these huge walls of concrete, with arches over the streets that looked magnificent and huge. The Hells Gate Bridge rises slowly for a mile, with at least 5 major arches that go along its way(Forgotten NYC). It must have been a massive engineering project. I asked a couple of residents on the street near one of the massive arches, one that was about 100 feet tall. He said, “They are huge, but they aren’t ugly and they don’t do what a elevated highway would do, there is some antiqueness to them, they are more monuments then they are concrete arches.” Indeed the arches do look a lot like the Roman arches used in the aqueducts, and are a beautiful sight that only adds to the interest of the neighborhood, but also helps it to become this friendly neighborhood everyone agrees it is.

Despite its history of Greek food, and its Neighborhood feeling, there is a more particular allure to Astoria. Partly because it has not yet been gentrified, and still has a true New York spirit, whatever that may be defined as. It is also because the town is a major hub of the arts. Many major movies of the past and present are shot in the Kaufmann Astoria Studios. Both of the popular Men in Black films were shot there, according to my brother who goes to school in Astoria. My brother also notices that they are filming the new movie “Tomorrowland” at Kaufmann Astoria after he read the signs. There is also the museum of moving picture. But, many residents agree that Tony Benet had an influential effect on Astoria. One person I interviewed stated that “the arts are very important to this city, and Astoria is where a lot of it happens.” Astoria does indeed love the arts; at least, this is also where a lot of art is taught. Astoria has a large sum of special talent programs in its schools. One of which is the Louis Armstrong middle school, which has special talents programs for many of its kids. Another is founded by Astoria favorite Tony Benet, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts (Inside School). The school is one of two major art specialized high schools in the entire NYC DOE district, the other being LaGuardia. One person I interviewed on the street in Astoria said that there is an “influx of artists not being able to afford Brooklyn rents.” Which means that combined with the teaching of art in the public schools, Astoria’s long history of arts back to the Steinway family, and its current influx of New York based artists makes Astoria a beacon, not just of art, but of New York art. When asked what’s the difference between Brooklyn and Astoria, one resident retorted “smaller number of those annoying hipsters! what’s better than that?” This is another example of the fact that Astoria has maintained its New York attitude, while changing and becoming an artsy place.

In the end it is the combination of the history, the people, the neighborhood, and the arts that makes the name Astoria so beloved in todays New York City. Astoria is one of the biggest and most diverse immigration spots in the city. It has long been the home of the Greeks, but now is welcomingly the home of many other different types of people from all over the world. There is also this neighborhood feeling, this quaint little feeling that so many of its residents love so much. But what adds to the name Astoria even more then its friendliness, or its diversity is its pure New York spirit and its art. Astoria is a major hub of the arts, especially in the filming industry. But while many artists in New York City move there for the lower rents, which cause the rents to rise, gentrification has not yet become a problem. As long as Astoria remains the neighborhood that has the New York attitude, it will be the Astoria that so many love today, the little city of art and great Greek food, only 20 min away from Manhattan by subway.

References

-“Astoria History,”Astoria.org, 2012, May 10, 2015. http://www.astoria.org/astoria-history.html

-Shepard, Richard. “Astoria, a Greek Isle in the New York City Sea,” New York Times, NYT.com, November 15, 1991, Used on May 10, 2015.

-Salvo, Joe, “Newest New Yorkers,” NYC.gov, 2013 edition, May, 10, 2015

-“NYPD Crime Map” NYC.org, 2015, May, 10, 2015. http://maps.nyc.gov/crime/

-Walsh, Kevin, “Astoria,” Forgotten NY.com, 2014, May 10, 2015. http://forgotten-ny.com/tag/astoria/

-“District 30.” Inside Schools.org, NYC DOE, 2015, May, 10, 2015. http://insideschools.org/districts/queens/district-30

By Mark Solter & Claire Lynch

As one walks down the battered streets of Brighton Beach, a few unique characteristics capture and hold one’s attention almost immediately. These include the almost deafening sound of rusted metal clanking beneath a moving Q train, the intoxicating smell of fresh pierogies emanating from several bakeries, and the heartwarming sight of aged babushkas feeding seagulls on the boardwalk. The Eastern European enclave hosts some of the most exciting spots in the city thanks to its proximity to the Atlantic as well as its plethora of thriving authentic small businesses scattered all along Brighton Beach Avenue.

The neighborhood, often dubbed Little Odessa (because of the immense amount of immigrants from the Ukrainian city), is home to primarily Russian speaking people. In fact, according to statistics from the U.S. 2010 census, 72.9% of the population of Brighton Beach was born abroad. This accounts for the fact that over 35% of the neighborhood’s population does not speak or understand English. Brighton Beach is actually home to the highest population of Russian immigrants in the United States. The average resident is about 50 years old, almost 15 years older than the average New Yorker. This is because the neighborhood hosts a massive amount of seniors who left after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

With what began as a getaway for the rich elite of Manhattan, Brighton Beach has become a neighborhood of immigrants, starting with a large influx of Jewish citizens in the early 20th century from other neighborhoods in New York like the Lower East Side, Brownsville, and East New York. The impact of this new Jewish population was tangible as this new population began to get involved in local arts and politics. Along with dominating the local Democratic clubs, the Brighton Beach Music Hall was converted into a Yiddish Theatre in 1918 due to local pressure.

The population of this neighborhood really began to diversify the in the 1930’s and 1940’s with a stream of immigrants escaping the oppressive regimes of the European Nazi and Fascist governments. Along with the large population of Russian immigrants who emigrated from the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, Brighton Beach began to host immigrants from Pakistan, China, Vietnam, and Mexico, despite federal immigration initiatives meant to restrain immigration from these countries to the United States. Measures such as the shift from street names to street numbers, or “places”, in the area were meant to help new immigrants who didn’t speak English learn their way around. Because of a lessening in the previously strict Soviet immigration policies, Brighton Beach’s population began to become more representative of its current ethnic makeup with an influx of Ukrainian and Russian Jews in the late 1970’s. With almost forty thousand Soviet Jews arriving in Brighton between 1975 and 1980, Brighton Beach became the largest population of Soviet Union immigrants in North America.

The 1970’s were not only culturally significant for the neighborhood of Brighton Beach, but also economically resonant. In the 1960’s and early 1970’s, (before the aforementioned influx of immigrants from the Soviet Union), New York City faced an economic downturn, public programs received major cuts, inevitably hurting some of the city’s more vulnerable populations, especially immigrants. With less money flowing into development and program, crime increased dramatically. The deterioration was palpable, with the physical neighborhood reflecting these economic woes: businesses were leaving, landlords stopped renovating and caring for their properties, public work renovations stalled. In the face of these tribulations, another significant demographic shift occurred in the neighborhood; the youth and middle class families were moving to different parts of New York with a stalled economy and a decrepit infrastructure in their wake, leaving an increasingly elderly and impoverished population behind. This change manifested itself physically as landlords transitioned apartments into “single occupancy housing” catering to the elderly, families on welfare, and the mentally ill. Brighton Beach (like other neighborhoods in New York) also experienced high rates of homelessness in the early 1970’s, which can be attributed (although not exclusively) to the closing of governmentally run mental hospitals, or “halfway houses”, after city-wide austerity measures. Despite the difficulties that Brighton Beach faced in the early 1970’s, by the end of the decade the neighborhood was starting to recover (more investment, a decrease in crime, a growing middle class), due to the flood of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants. Like a breath of fresh air, these immigrants saved Brighton Beach.

One particular senior, a man named Igor Izrailov, remembers the culture shock he experienced after he came to New York with his son. “The people born in this country do not understand how good it is. I jump into politics right away, and thank God everyday for freedom and safety. My American coworkers are not same. They do not vote. They complain all the time about not enough vacation days, or too much work. As long as I am healthy enough to work, I work till I die hopefully,” he recounts in his broken English. This difference in cultural approach to civil duty is actually quite entrenched in the neighborhood. Igor explains the reason as a result of having known what life is like when these liberties don’t exist in the first place. “I know what it is like when you cannot vote at all, so I am not spoiled like the Americans are. I try very hard so my son knows he has best opportunities available,” Igor says as his voice breaks from emotional pressure.

This cultural difference also manifests itself through politics as well. While Brooklyn is often regarded as a staunchly Democratic area, Brighton Beach is almost wholly Republican. An amateur statistician would come to the conclusion that Brighton Beach is an anomaly, but a quick survey of its residents would provide the basic rationale behind this unyielding red community. Igor’s political ideologies are generally reflective of many of Brighton’s residents, and can provide insight into the reason behind why the neighborhood votes republican year round. “The Americans do not understand how bad communism is. My son comes home and shows me how he learns about Marx in school, but it did not work for me. Us Jews were hurt, and we had access to very little. They ran out of bread in Kiev all the time. People who vote Obama do not know how important private companies are because they lived who lives without ever knowing powerful state taking away freedom from people. For the first time I see two shops selling the same thing side by side, something you never see in communism. This is what makes private market beautiful. That is why I want no government influence in things,” Igor yells whilst slapping his hand on the table. This is the rationale used by many of these immigrants in the neighborhood, but it is restricted to generation. Igor regretfully admits, “My son voted for Obama. Many of our kids are now spoiled and vote for democrats because of what they learn in schools. But we have more experience than them. They think we are clueless immigrants, but we lived longer and try to teach them that what they want is only fantasy. Still, I don’t think they will ever listen, and Brighton will be as democratic as the rest of Brooklyn when we grow old.”

Although Brighton Beach began as a posh beach getaway location, it became a haven for some of New York’s newest immigrants, fleeing famine, oppression, and poverty. Its inhabitants have had an incredibly significant impact on the politics and cultural identity of the area, making it unique from other neighborhoods in Brooklyn. As you walk down Brighton’s infamous boardwalk, the impact that Ukrainian and Russian immigrants have had on this neighborhood for the last quarter of a century ago can still be felt, from the small pierogi and tea shops to the Russian language newspapers to the groups of babushkas out for their afternoon walks.

Lyudmila is one of these stereotypical babushkas with deep wrinkles running across her face, like rivers, and a scarf tied around her head depicting vibrant sunflowers. She came from Minsk, Belarus in the late 90’s and settled by the water because it would be the first time she’d ever seen the ocean in her life. Like most of the seniors on Brighton, she lives off of pension and resides in one of the many massive apartment buildings scattered across the area. “I come late, so I do not know English like young people. I can only afford little apartment, but my son now moves to New Jersey,” she says. Lyudmila’s typical day involves walking across Ocean Parkway in search of Borscht, getting some traditional Russian fairytale books or toys for her grandchildren from the Saint Petersburg store, and staring with wonder at the new Oceana buildings. The Oceana condos serve the more affluent residents of the neighborhood. While 29.4% of the population lives below the poverty line, the younger immigrants who were able to assimilate quickly had access to more resources and in turn could eventually afford living in this private community. Lyudmila’s deep wrinkles tell the story of a young working girl who was never blessed with a specialized career. As she opens her eyes wide, she exclaims “The young people can do everything. They become doctors and pharmacists because they learn English fast, and the rest of us live in red brick buildings with no pools or gates.”

Brighton Beach reflects the different stories of its residents. To the young and sprightly immigrants who took to english quickly, it looks like beautiful condos and secure gates protecting you from outsiders.To most seniors, it looks like a small apartment that is often left empty during the day in favor of a trip along the boardwalk with a cabbage perogie. To the jaded middle aged shoppers, Brighton looks like grey noisy bustling Russian shops hidden in the shadow under the train railing. However, regardless of socioeconomic status, Brighton will always smell like escape and opportunity as the smells of the ocean and potato dumplings converge into a homey aroma. Brighton will always look like little Odessa by the sea to those who found comfort in keeping their culture intact in an expanse spanning only 10 blocks.

Located in the northwest corner of Queens, Astoria is a neighborhood noted for its diversity, close proximity to Manhattan, and European feel. It boasts a population of 154,000, many of whom are immigrants. Once considered a mostly Greek neighborhood, Astoria has seen an increasing Arab population as well an influx of young college professionals who have changed the feel and rent rates of the neighborhood. Despite its location just across the East River from Manhattan, Astoria hasn’t urbanized in the same way as parts of Brooklyn such as DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights. Instead, Astoria maintains a residential feel with its sprawl of low-rise buildings.

The northwest corner overlooking the East River toward Randall’s Island was originally called Hallet’s Cove. In the early 19^th Century, it became a popular recreational destination for Manhattan’s wealthy. Fur trader Stephen Halsey, in order to get financial support from millionaire John Jacob Astor, renamed the area after Astor. During the 19^th Century, the area saw population growth spread from the river inland.

Astoria has always been a destination for immigrants. An influx of German immigrants in the 19^th Century included Henry Steinway, who founded the world-renowned piano company Steinway & Sons in Astoria, transforming part of the neighborhood into a manufacturing village. Echoing the immigration patterns of the rest of the city, Astoria welcomed Irish immigrants in the late 19^th Century and Italian immigrants in the early 20^th Century. Following the end of immigration quotas in 1965, the neighborhood’s Greek population quickly rose to become the prominent Greek neighborhood of New York City. In recent years Astoria has seen an increasing Arab population.

One walking in Astoria would not realize that it’s located just across the East River from Manhattan. Notably, Astoria has relatively few buildings taller than five stories. Most residential streets feature lawn-less brick houses or apartments two to three stories in height, though some houses have plastic cladding. Major commercial roads feature the same three to four story brick apartment building with storefronts at the street level, though new clothes stores on Steinway Street are popping up in their own separate one-story buildings. Walking along Ditmars Boulevard, one notices the number of finer restaurants and cafes, a sign of the neighborhood’s changing demographics. Astoria has several parks and playgrounds, which coupled with sidewalk trees gives a more residential, open atmosphere.

Transportation in Astoria is most noticeably marked by the elevated BMT Astoria Line, which casts eternal shadow on 31^st Street up until the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station. The line is serviced by the N and Q trains, which run into Manhattan and then Brooklyn. Bus service is also popular, especially the M60 Select Bus Service which runs from the Upper West Side to LaGuardia Airport through Astoria. Both the N Train and the M60 appear to be crowded, even during off-peak hours. Besides mass transit, many of the residents own cars; however, finding parking can sometimes be a challenge. The Grand Central Parkway runs through Astoria, allowing easily access to Upper Manhattan, the Bronx, or the rest of Queens and Long Island.

Health and education in Astoria are satisfactory compared to other parts of New York City. Mt. Sinai Hospital operates its Queens branch in Astoria, and many specialists and urgent care centers exist next to stores along major roads such as Steinway Street and 31^st Street. In terms of education, 84.2% of residents have graduated high school, and 42.9% have graduated college with at least a bachelor’s degree. Public education in Astoria is run by the New York City Department of Education, with several elementary and middle schools visible when walking through the neighborhood. Parochial and private schools enjoy popularity as well from the Greek Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim populations. Notable high schools include Long Island City High School, which is located in Astoria instead of Long Island City; St. John’s Preparatory High School, a Catholic high school; the Young Women’s Leadership School, an all-girls private school; St. Demetrios High School, the only Greek Orthodox high school in New York City; Frank Sinatra High School, a performing arts high school; and the Baccalaureate School for Global Education, rated by U.S. News and World Report as the best high school in New York City.

Astoria has a relatively low violent crime rate: according to NYPD data on criminal complaints, there have been 3 murder complaints and 5 rape complaints in the past year in Astoria. However, while the violent crime rate is low the theft rate is higher than the New York City average. In the past year 125 burglary complaints have been filed, 0.0008117 per capita per annum, almost twice as high as the city average of 0.0005255 per capita per annum. Similarly, complaints for grand larceny auto and petit larceny are higher than the city average. One resident attributes it to the gentrification of the neighborhood. “With the rich folk, there’s less violence. It’s pretty safe, and people don’t die. Now that the richer people are moving in, criminals from other neighborhoods are visiting to steal from them.” The resident recalled a personal story. “One time we forgot to lock the car door. It was 4 AM and I woke to see out my window that somebody was near our car. It turns out they opened our unlocked door, didn’t find anything of value, and just moved on to another one. People in this neighborhood should lock their cars at all times.” Residents agree, however, that Astoria is a safe neighborhood overall.

New York City is considered one of the most diverse cities in the world, with its population separated into neighborhoods which each tend to cater toward one ethnic group. Astoria, however, it itself considered to be a diverse neighborhood by itself. According to the 2010 Census (which separates Astoria into three neighborhoods: the small “Old Astoria”, the southern “Astoria”, and the northern “Steinway”), the demographic breakdown of Astoria and Steinway are as follows: Astoria: 49.2% White, 4.5% Black, 16.2% Asian, 1.4% Other, 2.2% Mixed, 26.5% Hispanic; Steinway: 65.6% White, 1.8% Black, 10.5% Asian, 0.8% Other, 1.9% Mixed, 19.4% Hispanic. Looking at the numbers, one notices the low percentage of black residents, noticeable when one walks in Astoria and sees mostly Whites and Hispanics, with some Asians. With regards to age, Astoria leans more toward young adults than children. The demographics by age are as follows: Astoria: 16.5% under 20, 43.5% 20-39, 26.6% 40-65, and 11.3% 65 and older; Steinway: 16.2% under 20, 40.8% 20-39, 29.5% 40-64, and 13.6% 65 and older. This may indicate the gentrification of the neighborhood, but it may also indicate the immigration of adults from other countries. According to census data, 66% of Astoria residents and 70.5% of Steinway residents live in a family household.

However, the numbers don’t portray the diversity of the neighborhood as well as actually walking through it. Starting on Broadway and Steinway Street, one finds the Broadway Branch of the Queens Library. There the library workers display some diversity: most, if not all of them are women, but they’re White, Black, Arab, and Asian, ranging from young adult to almost retirement age. The foreign language section of the library features books in Chinese, Greek, Korean, Hindi, Russia, Spanish, and Arabic. Notably, there are twice as many books in Arabic as there are books in Greek. Walking north along Steinway Street, one sees the new stores and boutiques offering formal dresses, semi-formal dresses, brand-name sneakers, along with several Brazilian salons. One is tempted to label this part of Astoria “superficial”. Besides clothes stores, lower Steinway has an unusually high number of toy stores in an age of electronic entertainment. When asked whether Disney Princesses or Marvel Heroes were the best selling, one storeowner replied, “Minecraft”, indicating that sales of toys are indeed connected to video games.

Further up Steinway the stores fade from fashion and transition to Middle Eastern food stores, service stores, and a surprisingly high number of hookah lounges. Women are less likely to be seen hanging on the sidewalk compared to men, who spend free time talking in Arabic or English. One storeowner, bored by the little traffic during the day, makes conversations while selling cumin. Here there aren’t single-story standalone stores. Instead stores are located at the ground level of three-story brick residential buildings. To the side, one sees a mosque before crossing the Grand Central Parkway. Further up the street, Steinway Street itself becomes more residential and stores almost disappear. To the side in Ditmars Park, one can find older Greek men playing bocce, an Italian game. White, Black, and Arabic mothers watch their kids play in the playground. One resident noted that her daughter sometimes made new friends from strangers and the mom herself made new friends out of the daughter’s playmates’ mothers.

Turning right on Ditmars Boulevard, one passes the Steinway Reformed Church and St. Irene of Chaysovalantou Church. In a bakery, a seemingly non-Greek dark skinned employee speaks to his boss in Greek, while children who just celebrated First Communion eat at Loukoumi Taverna with their families. Turning around 180 degrees back to Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street, Astoria immediately gains a European feel with cafes and open front restaurants, including Greek restaurants. These eventually transition to less-pricey eateries toward 31^st Street, where the neighborhood’s Italian side shows. Walking under the BMT Astoria Line, one can see South American food, Chinese food, and a halal cart going south. In a park near the Grand Central Parkway, one can see mostly black teenagers playing basketball and several high school students escaping to the park after class. Along the entire journey passersby come from a plethora of ethnic groups and cultures barely suggested by just the demographic data.

Despite the diversity, there appears to be little tension between different ethnic groups. Instead, conflicts arise from a different division: income and class. In recent years Astoria has followed the trend of Brooklyn and has slowly become gentrified. Young professionals, unable to afford Manhattan rent, move to the relatively cheaper Astoria and drive the rent up. As a response the neighborhood reacts by introducing pricier restaurants. As one resident said, “There are more joggers, more fitness centers, and more “trendy” stores.” She however notes that rent control will prevent an immediate displacement of the older inhabitants for a while. Meanwhile high-rise projects in the south intend to offer gorgeous views of the East River and Manhattan; of course these apartments most likely won’t be affordable for working class families, leading to opposition to these projects. In another decade or two, Astoria may or may not gentrify in the footsteps of Williamsburg and Park Slope before it.

As a residential neighborhood with amazing diversity and a unique history, Astoria is one of the best-recognized neighborhoods of Queens. It is not just a Greek neighborhood but it is a special subset of diversity in a borough known for diversity in neighborhoods. Astoria offers low crime, excellent education, and easy access to Manhattan for currently affordable rent. It is a neighborhood with a unique culture that may eventually be replaced due to decreasing birthrates and increasing young professional arrivals.

If you wander into Borough Park about an hour or so past midnight on the first night of Passover you will see festively lit homes and hear singing and laughter spilling out from open windows long into the night. Walking around in the quiet, you will hear, as the locals’ Seder nights come to a close, people singing the sweet songs of my childhood; songs that have been sung at Seders around the world for thousands of years.

Though the original architecture of many Borough Park homes in not quite so old as the traditional Passover hymns, it is still far from contemporary; the detailed moldings on the attached brownstones reminiscent of the turn-of-last-century architecture in the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan. More and more, however, developers have been replacing the single-family Victorian and brownstone homes with multi-family, custom-built condominium apartments. These developments are necessary to provide room for the second-fastest growing population in Brooklyn and one of the largest communities of Hasidic Jewry in America.

The majority of Borough Park’s residents are first and second generation Americans whose parents and grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe after World War II. However there are still enough residents from that initial generation of immigrants to rank Borough Park on the list of “Top 20 Neighborhoods in NYC of the Foreign Born” in the most recent city census. Raizy Jacobs, an English Professor at Borough Park branch of Touro College, told me that when she was growing up, she assumed that all Jewish grandparents spoke Hungarian. She still remembers her surprise upon hearing a summer camp friend’s grandmother speak an unaccented English. “It just seemed that she couldn’t be a Bubby, not with an accent like that.”

Borough Park has been jokingly called the “Jewish Capital of the United States,” and indeed there are few communities in America with such an abundance of kosher food, Jewish schools and synagogues. Hebrew and Yiddish signage abound, reminding people of upcoming hazzanut concerts, begging prayer requests for the elderly and the infirm and offering help through various community service organizations. Though the neighborhood’s population is densely packed – with more than 140,000 residents living in the 2.07 square miles that delineate the neighborhood – Borough Park is a warm and friendly place. Mothers smile at each other on 13^th Avenue as they rush to pick up groceries before their children return from school and children congregate on the stoops afterwards sharing nosh from the local Hungarian bakeries as they trade stories in Yiddish.

The majority of “Boro Parkers,” as the locals have named themselves, speak Yiddish as their first language, only learning English as they enter preschool, where their days are split between Judaic and secular studies. According to city-data.com, 26.2% of the population doesn’t speak English well or at all, however with the proliferation of Yiddish speaking jobs in the Hassidic community, many people don’t find that this hinders them in their professional lives. Traditionally, the ultra-orthodox Jewish community hasn’t sent its children to pursue college degrees, with only 6.5% of the neighborhood population attending any level of college at all. Over the past decade though, the fall of manufacturing and skilled labor jobs around the city has led to a rise in poverty in the ultra-orthodox neighborhoods. With a record 34.9% of its population below the poverty mark, Borough Park ranks as one of the poorest neighborhoods in the five boroughs.

Despite the financial setbacks, entrepreneurialism abounds in the neighborhood of Borough Park. Year-long programs teaching skills like graphic design and entry-level programming are equipping the next generation for a new set of jobs, and as always, business can be created wherever there is a need. Efraim Daskal is one such entrepreneur. At the age of 20 he learned to code in a series of technical classes offered in the Lower East Side so he could support his wife and new baby. He spent many years working long, grueling hours in various offices in Williamsburg. One weekend a friend of his asked him to fill in for a sick member in a local singing group. While singing is not always a lucrative career in a city filled with artists, in the Hasidic community, a singer is a steadier profession with paying jobs available every night during high wedding season. Efraim fit in so well with the singing group that they asked him to join as a permanent member. Eventually this inspired him to leave his position as a programmer and start his own business repairing musical equipment for local bands. He loves his new profession.

Efraim and his wife Shifra both grew up in Borough Park, where they are now currently raising their children. Until recently they had been living in a small 700 square foot rental, but when a condo went on the market across from a cemetery at the edge of the neighborhood, Efraim grabbed the opportunity to buy it. With the exponentially rising population rates, property in Borough Park is becoming scarce. The high demand has led to steep spikes in real estate prices. Small concessions, like living near a cemetery or the elevated train allow savvy shoppers to maximize on what funding they do have.

For Efraim and Shifra, this condo is a godsend. Their growing family has outgrown the small rental, and rising rent prices pinch their bank account every month. After months of discussing possible moves to Rockland County or New Jersey, a friend of a friend mentioned the condo to Efraim in synagogue one morning. He headed to the real estate office as soon as he could. Of his five siblings, three still live in Borough Park, and the other two live within a 45 minute driving distance. Efraim loves living within walking distance from his parents: he even runs his repair shop from their garage. His new condo is near his favorite synagogue and close to where his grandparents used to live on 18^th Avenue. He chokes up a little when he remembers walking over to Bubby and Zeidy Wercberger for Shabbos meals, mentioning that he wants his own children to have the same proximity to their grandparents. Efraim doesn’t mind his prospective neighbors in the cemetery. “I’ll put up a big fence, and no matter what, I know they won’t have any complaints. What more can you ask for in a neighbor?”

Efraim isn’t the only twenty-something in Borough Park choosing to stay and raise his family within the community of his youth. More and more young couples are moving into Borough Park’s smallest rental spaces right after marriage with the hopes of saving up for an apartment of their own. The borders of communal “Barapark” have expanded well past the central shopping of 13^th avenue. The neighborhood is reflecting the growing twenty and thirty something population with new, trendy restaurants constantly opening – a third kosher sushi bar just opened a couple of weeks ago on 13^th – extending their hours well into the night. There are all-women’s yoga classes and Yiddish speaking personal trainers. New synagogues open frequently led by a cohort of youthful Hasidic Rebbes paving the way for specific niche congregations, allowing younger people to have a voice in the community’s decisions.

Borough Park wasn’t always bustling and cosmopolitan. Originally named Blythbourne by Electus Litchfield in 1887, the space that is now called Borough Park was once a small community of cottage homes relatively close to Manhattan Island by train. In 1902 the neighborhood was absorbed into a larger sized area dubbed Borough Park by the state senator William Reynolds. As the train systems around Brooklyn and the city expanded, Italian and Jewish immigrants from Western Europe began moving into the neighborhood. The famed 13^th avenue filled with Jewish pushcarts and pickle sellers hawking their wares. After the liberation following World War II many Jewish survivors and refugees from Eastern Europe began moving into the neighborhood, attracted by the preexisting synagogues and kosher institutions. By the 1970s Borough Park was predominantly Hasidic, as many of these immigrants’ children chose to settle near their parents to raise their families.

Levi Licht remembers moving to Borough Park in 1964. His family had moved to New York from a displaced persons camp in 1949. They tried a few locations around the city, settling first in Crown Heights near the growing Chabad community of Eastern Parkway. Unsettled by growing tensions in the neighborhood, his parents moved to 51^st street in Borough Park so that their neighborhood could be safer for their sons. Real estate was much more affordable then, and his parents bought one half of a two-family attached house for $5,250. Levi still remembers the exact amount more than 50 years later because his parents couldn’t afford to pay a penny more. The real estate agent was so desperate to get the property off of his hands that he was willing to pay another $250 out of his own pocket to make the deal. Levi laughs at this memory, since Borough Park is now, more than ever, a sellers market. He grows pensive though, at the economic difficulty this provides. The average property cost in Borough Park according to city-data.com is $847,700, and he has watched with consternation as his children struggle to afford living in the area.

Levi’s first memories of Borough Park were those that he shared with his Yeshiva classmates. He tells stories of riding the trains around the city, and biking up and down the streets of the neighborhood. Initially, his family was the first Jewish family on the predominantly Italian block, but as time went on, the Italians moved away and more Jewish families moved in from Crown Heights and Canada. He and his wife Sima moved into the other half of the split family home, next to his parents, in 1974, and they have lived on the same property ever since, moving next door when Levi’s mother passed away.

According to Levi, Borough Park was different forty years ago. He says there was more of a communal feeling then between all the Hassidic sects. It didn’t matter which Rebbe you followed or how strict your dress code was; everyone was relieved to have survived the war and grateful for community. Now, he says, the communal growth comes with pros and cons. There are more children and grandchildren than, he thinks, any of the survivors thought possible. There are myriad kosher institutions and community service organizations taking care that no one in the community is left hungry or alone. However all this advancement comes with greater demands for conformity and more socio-religious obligations. “I remember when a fellow Yid [Jew] was just a fellow Yid. We all worked hard to make it in America together, and we reached out to support each other on the way up. I hope the younger generation will understand the value in a community that values every member too.”

Greenwich Village, known simply as “the Village” is located on the lower western side of Manhattan, bordered by 14^th Street to the north, Houston Street to the south, Broadway to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. While Greenwich Village started out as a center for Bohemian and avant-garde culture that underwent extreme gentrification (all four zip codes in the Village were ranked among the ten most expensive in the United States in 2014, according to Forbes), the Village is perhaps best known for practically birthing the modern LQBT movement. I was fortunate enough to sit down and interview Eugene, a gay man who lived in the Village from 1973, where a man through a bottle at him for marching in a gay pride march, until 1984, when AIDS ravaged the neighborhood.

Greenwich Village started out as a prosperous residential area during colonial times. During the early 1800’s, Greenwich was housed New York State’s first penitentiary, Newgate Prison, which was located on the Hudson River at West 10^th Street. On March fifth, 1911, Greenwich tragically became the site of one of the deadliest and most infamous industrial disasters in the history of New York City: the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. 146 people—mostly young girls who were Jewish and Italian immigrants—died either from the fire, smoke inhalation, or by intentionally jumping to their deaths from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors. Many of the deaths could have been prevented if the owners had not locked the doors to the stairwell and exists in an attempt to stop workers from stealing. However, the fire did lead to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards, which may have saved countless lives.

Greenwich Village has traditionally been an enclave for avant-garde and alternative culture. Throughout the twenties and thirties The Village became a budding artistic community, aided by the presence of small presses, art galleries and vaudeville theaters. Cherry Lane Theater, located in Greenwich and established in 1924, is New York City’s oldest continuously running theater. The immigration of musicians, poets, writers, and artists during the late forties and fifties contributed to the rise of the Abstract Expressionists and The New York School of Poets. During the fifties many Beatniks, seeking to escape oppressive social conformity, migrated to Greenwich Village (as well as San Francisco), preceding the hippie scene of the next decade and influencing writers such as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Throughout the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Greenwich Village supported a vibrant music scene with clubs like the Village Vanguard, which hosted big-name jazz acts. The folk rock movement has roots in the Village, where the members of The Mamas and the Papas met, and folk icons like Dave Van Ronk and Bob Dylan lived. Many other popular icons started and/or routinely played in Greenwich Village Nightclubs, such as Jimi Hendrix, Barbra Streisand, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, and the Velvet Underground. Unfortunately and ironically, the cultural impressiveness of the Village has increased the desirability and popularity of the neighborhood, which in turn has contributed to rising rents, leading the types of people who popularized the neighborhood in the first pace to emigrate in search of cheaper places to live.

The influx of artists, writers, musicians and the like created a very progressive culture in Greenwich Village. The Village’s liberal environment paved the way for the immigration of a sizable homosexual population. Greenwich’s liberal environment and the various social movements of the late sixties became catalysts for the Stonewall riots, widely regarded as the most important event leading to the gay liberation movement. On Saturday, June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn. Both the patrons of the Inn and the crowd gathering outside, fed up by the continued police harassment of homosexuals, took a stand and a riot broke out. Protesters, enraged that one of the only places that they could be themselves was raided, began taunting and throwing objects at the police, who eventually beat the crowd away. The next night, even more people gathered outside of Stonewall and rioted, until the police dispatched a riot-control squad to disperse the crowd.

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to interview Eugene, who lived in The Village from 1973 until 1984. While Eugene was not present for the Stonewall riots, he gave me some insight into the gay culture of Greenwich Village. Gene described the Village as being very liberating, “you could go to Christopher Street and be a human being, and hold your boyfriends hand”. In addition, Gene very frankly mentioned all of the opportunities for anonymous sex. Because of his conservative, catholic, Queens upbringing, this was a very exciting, strange, and intimidating place. Gene characterized the dichotomy between living in Queens and living in the Village as being “like he grew up in Kansas and was now in Oz”. In order to put myself in his shoes, Gene instructed me to “imagine that only place in the whole world that you could meet a girl was in a dark bar in a strange neighborhood,” because outside the Village, there were no open gay relationships. The fact that being openly gay was not accepted anywhere else contributed heavily to the gay culture of “bars, booze and sex,” as Gene put it. “It was liberating,” Gene remembers, “but not terrible healthy”.

The gay culture of the Village during the 70’s, Gene recalls, revolved around bars and restaurants. Jeanne’s Patio, on Greenwich Street, was a “step above a diner,” that served as a gay gathering place with a gay staff and welcoming atmosphere. Gene would also frequent the International Stud, a bar where a whole act of Harvey Firesteins’s Torch Song Trilogy takes place. Gene remembers the Stud, and a number of other bars, had a backroom where people would have sex. Gene also briefly mentioned that he and his friends would often frequent 9^th Circle, and Boots and Saddles, both located in the Christopher Street area. In addition to bars and restaurants, gay culture in the Village also revolved around the Gay Activist Association (GAA), a political and social organization of which Gene was a member, that organized protests, harassed politicians at City Hall and at their homes, and pushed for changes in the law.

As our interview progressed, I began to ask Eugene questions about himself in order to get a better idea of who he, a Village resident of twelve years, was. Gene told me that he grew up in a very catholic family in Queens, where he attended catholic school for thirteen years. When he came out of the closet, Gene left the Catholic Church. After ten years of alcoholism, Gene went into Alcoholics Anonymous, which helped him overcome his alcoholism and rekindled his spirituality. After trying once more and failing to find a place in the Catholic Church (because “being gay in the Church was a paranoid existence), Gene found The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, an Episcopal Church located in Greenwich Village. While Gene no longer lives in the Village, he is an active member of St. Luke’s, where he is currently in the process of becoming a deacon. The Episcopalian Church, according to Gene, is one of the most progressive and excepting of all the Christian Churches, and St. Luke’s had the first openly gay bishop of all the mainline churches in New York City. In his professional life, Gene teaches the deaf and blind to travel, works as a sign language interpreter and a low vision specialist, teaches advanced topics of orientation and mobility (an online, graduate level course) at Salus University, and teaches a similar graduate level course once a year in Bangkok. Gene is unmarried, has not had a partner in “a long time”,” after losing the “love of his life” and dating on and off.

As my interview with Eugene winded down, I asked him why he left the Village. Gene responded that his time in the Village ended with the AIDS crisis. In the early 80’s HIV desolated the gay population of the Village. The most emotional part of my interview came when I asked Gene if he had know anyone with AIDS, expecting that he knew a handful of people with the virus. “I have a list of 53 friends that are dead because of AIDS,” he responded, “and that is a relatively small list”. Gene, who “was never one to get laid much,” left the Village when the growing paranoia about sex took a toll on the social activities of the Village.

Demographically, Greenwich Village in general has a population of approximately 22,785, the overwhelming majority of which are white. According to city-data.com, the median rent in Greenwich Village in 2011 was $1,788. The average household size is 1.7 people, and the percent of married couples is 23.4%. The percentage of foreign-born residents is 17.6%, less than half of the New York City average of 37.2%. Compared to the New York average, Villagers tend to have higher education, with a high average of Bachelor’s, Master’s, professional school, and doctorate degrees (Gene, with a doctorate in health administration falls in this category). The village is also, not surprisingly, home to the largest gay and lesbian population in New York City.

The Village remains mostly a residential neighborhood, characterized by historic and attractive brownstones, and some of Manhattan’s best restaurants and bars. The most popular school in the area is P.S. 41; an elementary school founded in 1867 and ranked a perfect ten on Greatschools.org. The New School, located mostly in Greenwich, is known for their “student-directed curriculum,” which does not require general education courses and encourages students to explore before focusing on a major. Also in the neighborhood is NYU, which has been there since the 1830’s, and owns most of the area and buildings around Washington Square Park. The school’s expansion has lead to conflicts with preservationists trying to preserve the Bohemian culture of the neighborhood. Washington Square Park is both the center of the Village, and the largest and most prominent of its various parks, known for the marble arch, modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and the large fountain and wading pool renovated by Robert Moses in 1934. After St. Vincent’s Hospital, the primary admitting hospital for those injured in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, closed down in 2010, Lenox Hill Hospital opened an emergency medical center on 7^th Avenue between 12^th Street and 13^th Street and became the primary healthcare center for the neighborhood. Traveling to and from all of these places in the Village is made possible by extensive public transportation, as Greenwich is serviced by the A C E trains, the B D F M trains, the L train, and the 1 2 3 trains in addition to the M5, M7, M11, M14, and M20 buses.

The very last question I asked Eugene was “how much do you think the world has changed since your time in the Village?” Gene responded by telling me that he “ has changed more than the world,” and asked me to guess how many LQBT people have passed us by during our lengthy interview. “While society has changed and people are more excepting,” he said, “it is still uncomfortable, and even dangerous, in most places for a gay couple to hold hands”. This is the very reason that I was interested in profiling Greenwich Village; for a time, it was the only place where people like my friend Eugene could go to feel they were completely welcome, completely free, and complete human beings.

A few weeks ago, I was sitting by the pond in Prospect Park under the beautiful shining sun, enjoying the breath-taking scenery with my good friend Noah Maxwell by my side. We were throwing pieces of coconut biscuits we had picked up from a Haitian bakery on the other side of town into the water for the ducks to eat. The sounds of African drumming filled the air, though we could hear nearby Latinos playing bachata music as they grilled chicken for the barbeque they were having. It was at that moment that I realized I was surrounded by a mini representation of the world. I was at the center of a series of interconnected webs drawing from different areas of the globe, a whole slew of cultures passing by me.

Prospect Lefferts Gardens is in some ways a reflection of Prospect Park itself. The park is a meeting ground for the different ethnicities that comprise the surrounding neighborhoods, and serves as a center of various cultures and values. Prospect Lefferts Gardens (shortened PLG) is a neighborhood spanning a small portion of the Brooklyn area. I discovered on my journey that PLG has a mini snapshot of many different cultures including Haitian, Dominican, Ghanaian, West African, Jamaican, and Caucasian. The neighborhood is home to many groups of immigrants, mainly Caribbean, but PLG is now included in the discussions of gentrification and real estate development, as the neighborhood is home to many beautiful brownstones and townhouses.

Before discussing my journey and discoveries, I think it’s important to give a more “on-the-books” generic description of Prospects Lefferts Gardens. It is a small neighborhood located in the Flatbush area and central part of Brooklyn, just south of Crown Heights. It is bounded by Empire Boulevard (formerly Malbourne Street) in the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, New York Avenue to the east, and Ocean Avenue and Prospect Park to the west. The name is a combination of the nearby neighborhoods, including Prospect Park, Lefferts Manor, and the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. PLG welcomes people of all races and cultures, with a large population of immigrants from Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rica, Asia, and in recent years, black and white middle class working New Yorkers (Leimbach 2004). The population is roughly 168,000, and the neighborhood is easily accessible from the No. 2, 5, B, and Q subway lines.

PLG has been called Brooklyn’s “best-kept secret” by many real estate developers and sociologists. This is mainly due to the number of beautiful brownstones that span the blocks of Prospect Lefferts Gardens. There are luxurious and historical late 19^th and early 20^th century townhouses that are a mixture of architectural styles, including Romanesque, Neo-federal, Colonial Revival and neo-Georgian (Leimbach 2004 and Pomorski 2015). Interestingly enough, PLG contains more than 800 historic buildings that have been designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee (Leimbach 2004). Prospect Lefferts Gardens really is beautiful, and as we walked I was in awe of the gorgeous architecture and structure of the limestone and brick townhouses that we passed. The leafy green old maple trees just added to the scenery, and created a serene and peaceful environment that gave me the illusion that I was not even in the city anymore.

Although the brownstones were absolutely stunning, what really surprised me was the vast contrast of housing that was evident on several blocks we passed. On one side of the street, there were beautiful homes like those pictured above, but on the other side were run-down small apartment buildings. It was like night and day within a single block. There is a stark difference between the rent-stabilized apartment buildings versus the single-family brownstones, often times just a few steps away from one another. According to The Observer, many of the townhouses are selling for more than $2 million dollars in today’s real estate market (Pomorski 2015). A major cause of this difference in housing is the zoning within the neighborhood, which many have been trying to change since 2008.

Besides the difference in housing, there is quite a mixture of people within the neighborhood. On one hand, there are newcomers from other areas of the city that have been priced out of their old apartments, many hailing from Park Slope on the other side of Prospect Park, where rents have skyrocketed and led many people to find decent housing in PLG. Besides the newcomers, there are people who have lived there for generations in the same townhouses, and then there are recent immigrants to the United States who have moved to PLG to find the comfort of being surrounded by similar people to share experiences and values with. As Leimbach writes in her article,

“People have either lived here for ages or moved in within the last decade, drawn to the interracial blend as well as the stone row houses, which are considered more affordable than their counterparts in Park Slope” (2004).

Prospect Lefferts Gardens is, despite the vast diversity, considered a tight-knit and friendly community, and I can even support that statement, as I felt incredibly welcomed when I visited the neighborhood. Everyone talks to each other and greets one another, even if they are complete strangers. Noah and I were walking down one street, and a man from across the way yelled to us, “I better see you next week!” So we walked over to him, and it turns out he was a member of the church choir, located just a few houses down. He invited us and asked us to come to the service next week, and how they would love to have us. It was incredible, not even knowing this man and him wanting us to be a part of his place of worship. As we walked further down the block, we passed the church they were talking about, The Episcopal Church Saint Gabriel’s, and gathered outside were at least thirty people, and many of them smiled at us and greeted us so warmly! Noah and I were shocked to say the least, because it was a large Caribbean and African group, and here we were like sheep in a herd of elephants, yet welcomed as if we were one of them.

We turned down the block and out of the corner of my eye I saw a blue awning that read “Haitian Bakery and Eatery.” I grabbed Noah and we went inside, and I just had a feeling this would be a great place to get information, and it truly was. When we went inside, we recieved some funny looks from some of the patrons, and the man behind the counter was hesitant. Many of the people we talked to were skeptical to speak with us, and the worker did not give many answers. He was born in Haiti, and he came here about 2 years ago. When we asked him if he liked it here, he did not reply, which makes me think that his experience has not been the greatest. We asked him for a recommendation of what food to buy, and so he gave us a traditional Haitian pastry, coconut biscuits.

As Noah paid for his treat, I turned around and started talking to an older man, who looked to be about in his sixties, and he was absolutely the best interview we had that day. Eugene is a Haitian immigrant who came here in 1974 and is a school bus driver. He has both kids and grandkids here. Every summer, when he is off from driving, he makes a trip down to Haiti. He loves PLG, because there are many Haitians and island cultures surrounding him. However, Eugene said that “This country, is mi corazon”, meaning that the United States is his heart. He loves it here, and said “America opened so many doors for me. Those who don’t make it here are the ones that don’t like it. They are not disciplined, and they have not worked hard enough.” He became very passionate, and he continued to preach the importance of working hard and saving money, not spending it all. I think the most inspirational thing he said to us was, “Even though I love it here, I cannot forget my home country. You cannot move forward if you forget where you came from.” He loves his ability to travel between his “two homes” and to mix his Haitian and American cultures together.

As we neared Prospect Park at the edge of PLG, we found this small dead-end street with more townhouses tucked neatly on the side. We ventured down the private road and outside was a woman planting flowers. Her name was Kate, and she was Caucasian, so it was a surprise to see her amongst a predominately African and Caribbean population. Kate was priced out of Park Slope, so she moved in with her mother to this townhouse that the mom had purchased 15 years ago. She talked about how the rent was cheap here (although many people said otherwise) but that she loved the little private courts and drives that were hidden throughout the neighborhood.

Eventually, Noah and I decided to take a break in the park and sit to enjoy the beautiful weather. Although we received a couple of other interviews along the way, those did not impact me as much as those of Eugene, Kate, and Jennifer who I will discuss shortly. As we were feeding the ducks some of our Haitian baked good, out of the corner of my eye I saw a small white dog, and me being the dog lover I am, ran over to ask to pet him. Walking Douey, as we found out his name was, was Jennifer, a young woman in her thirties. She walks her dog around the loop in prospect Park, and said,

“It’s really cool, just to walk around the pond here. It’s like walking through ethnic circles. There’s the Latino area over there, the African American area behind you where  you hear the drumming, and the Greeks usually hang out by the tennis courts. On Sundays you can see a whole bunch of Jews walking around too.”

Jennifer explained how the area has changed drastically over the course of the twelve years she’s lived there. Although she lives on the other side of the park opposite PLG, she knows that about two years ago the rents skyrocketed, and townhouses began to cost upwards of one million dollars. She suddenly began to get a little sassy, expressing her discontent with a sky rise building behind us in PLG. She said, “You see that building over there? I hate it. It’s horrible and they should never have built it. They spent forty million dollars to re-do the park and make the architecture all flow together, and then the giant building was constructed and it ruins everything!” It really was an eyesore, looking around seeing beautiful trees and scenery and then all of a sudden a giant piece of metal rising high into the sky.

In many ways, Jennifer is right, and real estate companies are beginning to move into PLG, and “gentrification is happening there. It’s happening everywhere” as a passerby Josh remarked to me. As of 2014, 10 projects were in the works to create luxury rentals or condominiums in the neighborhood (Gregor 2014). Some welcome the new developments, as it will provide more housing for many people, but others are worried, as it will push rental rates upward. This may displace large portions of the highly immigrant community who may not be able to afford such high rents.

After thanking her for her time, Noah and I decided to follow the music we heard. We journeyed to the eastern most area of the park, right against Prospect Lefferts Gardens where we saw a drumming circle. It was a little area officially designated as “Drummer’s Grove.” Surrounding the grove were tons of people from all different racial groups, watching and enjoying the music, some dancing, and others just passing by on roller blades or bicycles. What was even more incredible was the circle itself. All one had to do to play in the circle was bring a drum, find a spot, and start playing. Whites, Latinos, Jamaicans, Haitians, and West Africans were all drumming together, just going off of what the other person was playing. It was truly amazing to see so many different types of people making beautiful music together.

Prospect Lefferts Gardens is a really interesting, unique and for lack of a better word, cool, community. On one hand, PLG provides homes to various groups of immigrants, allowing different cultures to run side by side each other and interact with one another from Haitian, to Dominican, to West African, and to Caucasian. It is a place where immigrants, such as Eugene, have come to call their home and have given them a tight-knit neighborhood to settle in. For others, such as Kate, PLG is a place with beautiful, yet affordable housing. For the newcomers, it is a place with beautiful architecture and scenery where they can raise families in the luxurious townhouses and brownstones immersed in lush greenery and flowers. Prospect Park allows these different cultures to come together and meet, just as they did in the drummer’s circle. Prospect Lefferts Gardens is ultimately a neighborhood that although the center of gentrification and real-estate developers, it is a home to so many different New Yorkers. In a world where people are constantly divided, a community like Prospect Lefferts Gardens provides unification and a sense of family and home. After all, there’s no place like home.

Sugar Hill is a sub-neighborhood in Harlem’s Hamilton Heights. It is bounded by 145^th street to the south, Amsterdam Avenue to the west, 155^th street to the north and Edgecombe Avenue to the East. The first non-native settlers in this area were farmers from France, Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands who were offered the land as a grant by The Dutch West India Company.

With the construction of the New York State-financed Croton Water Aqueduct in 1842 and the growth of New York City, especially the construction of new transportation links such as railroad stations at 135^th street and 145^th street in 1879, this region began to lose its rural character and was rapidly urbanized. Several rows of houses built in a variety of styles such as Beaux Arts, Queen Anne, Dutch, Romanesque Revival and fashionable apartments described as “French Flats” span across this neighborhood. Soon, it was considered one of New York City’s most beautiful neighborhoods. These buildings attracted middle-class and professional people, mostly Irish, Germans and Italians.

However, during the 1930’s when the Harlem Renaissance was in full swing and an increasing black population occupied Harlem’s housing, many affluent African-Americans began to discover Hamilton Heights. Part of this area became known as Sugar Hill, reflective of the sweet and expensive lifestyle that was enjoyed there. The neighborhood’s most elite addresses were 409 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue where famous African-Americans such as Aaron Douglas, the great muralist; W.E.B Du Bois, founder of the NAACP; Thurgood Marshall; the first African American Supreme Court Justice, legendary musician Duke Ellington and a host of others lived.

Nonetheless, during the 1950’s and 1960’s, flight to the suburbs, poor building maintenance, and abandonment of property contributed to this neighborhood’s decline. However, it still retained its beauty; and in 1974, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated a significant portion of the neighborhood a historic district. In 2000 – 2002, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic district, which honored the architectural heritage of this neighborhood as well as the important cultural, and historical role sugar Hill has played in African-American History (“Neighborhood”).

            The total population of the Hamilton Heights neighborhood between 2007 and 2011 was 51,069 with about 12,000 living in the Sugar Hill section; this makes up 3.2% of Manhattan’s population (Lobo and Salvo 60). As of 2010, out of the 12,000 residents, 45.7 percent are black, 10.6 percent are white, 38.6 percent are Hispanic and the remaining 5.1 percent are from countries such as Guyana, China, Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados, Ghana, Guatemala and others (Gregor, par 5). Considering this neighborhood’s Irish, Italian and German population in the 80s, its African-American dominated population during the Harlem Renaissance and its mixed population now, one can rightly say that this neighborhood’s ethnic makeup has changed significantly over the years.

The residents of Sugar Hill today are mostly working class citizens and young adults who take advantage of the neighborhood’s accessible transportation system to get to work and or school. One man, Joseph Moore, who recently moved to this neighborhood from Long Island, said that the easy and quick transportation to his workplace in downtown Manhattan was one of the reasons why he moved to Sugar Hill. He continued that with the express train, he can travel downtown to work in “just 15 minutes.” These workers mostly occupy apartments in the neighborhood with their families. Since such residents leave to work early and return late, the neighborhood is less active during the weekdays. Also, The school age residents in this neighborhood are generally levelheaded and as such, are barely seen when school is in session. Brett Robinson, a family man who grew up in the neighborhood said that all the three children he raised in Sugar Hill have graduated or are in college today. As an African American, he attributed most of his and his children’s successes while living in Sugar Hill to the precedent left by the successful and famous African-Americans who once brought life to the neighborhood. Living where they once lived and hearing about them, he said, encourages you to become more and achieve more in this country where Whites dominate because the lives the lived show you that it is possible to achieve success as an African American.

Housing in this neighborhood is quite affordable, Typically, studios range from $1,350 to $1,700 a month; one-bedrooms from $1,500 to $2,000; two-bedrooms from $1,800 to $2,500, and three-bedrooms from the low $2,000s to $3,500 (Gregor, par 8). However, most houses and apartments are in need of serious renovation. Moreover, there are several buildings in this neighborhood that are being renovated as part of the New York City Affordable Housing project. This should make housing in this neighborhood both up to standard and even more affordable in the near future. Aside from the major roads that run through Sugar Hill making for the easy movement of vehicles to and from this neighborhood, MTA buses Bx6, Bx19, M3, M100, M101 and trains A, B, C, D are available in this neighborhood. The 1 train also runs nearby along Broadway. With his accessible transportation, one can travel from Sugar Hill to almost all parts of New York City within a reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, the neighborhood school P.S/I.S 210, which serves about 468 kids from pre-k to grade 8, was given an overall grade of A by the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) in 2013. A dentist office, Rent-a-Center, Foodtown and an assortment of small restaurants, dry cleaners, laundromarts and specialty shops that brings this neighborhood close to self-sufficiency are scattered throughout Sugar Hill. “Almost everything we could possibly want is right available here in the neighborhood or at least close by,” said Mr. Moore.

In terms of appearance, many, including Mr. Robinson, have identified Sugar Hill as one of the most gorgeous sections of Harlem. Marked by graceful row houses and elegant apartment buildings, Sugar Hill’s classic townhouses dripping with Victorian details are a sight to see. A walk through the streets of Sugar Hill takes one on a walk through European architectural history. The houses are built in a variety of styles such as Beaux Arts, Queen Anne, Dutch, Romanesque Revival, Victorian Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival (“Neighborhood”). The 12.8-acre Jackie Robinson Park, which has a recreation center, a swimming pool, ball fields, playgrounds and a band shell serves as a major source of relaxation for this neighborhood’s resident. Isaac Johnson, a retired 68-year-old man who was born and raised in Sugar Hill said that his major source of enjoyment living in the neighborhood is this park where he usually goes to swim. Commenting on the neighborhood’s jazz history, he mentioned that several jazz concerts are hosted at this park during this summer to remind the neighborhood of its rich past. Two smaller parks where residents usually sit and relax as well as where kids play basketball and such are also present in this neighborhood.

The neighborhood is also home to the Dance Theater of Harlem, which has classes for residents and also hosts performances. Also, a newly built museum, The Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling is scheduled to open this year. Some historic and notable buildings in this neighborhood include the Bailey House on 10 St. Nicholas Place, which was built for James Bailey of the Barnum and Bailey Circus, 409 and 555 Edgecombe Avenue apartments where famous personalities such as Babe Ruth, Thurgood Marshall, and W. E. B Du Bois lived and other architectural beauties.

            The culture of this neighborhood is really a unique one. Just like Mr. Johnson who said that his parents were the one’s who originally moved to Sugar Hill during the Harlem Renaissance, most of Sugar Hill’s African-American families have been living there for as long as they can remember. Reflective of the time when Sugar-Hill was vast dominantly African-American populated, about five African-American churches are present in the neighborhood and the residents are extremely religious. However, over the past few years, it appears as if this neighborhood’s demographics is shifting faster than census can keep up. Just between 2000 and 2010, the percentage of black residents shrank from 62.5 percent 45.7 percent, while white residents increased from 2.3 percent to 10.6 percent and Hispanics grew from 31.4 to 38.6 percent (Gregor, par 5). This increasing diversity, “is a very good thing especially when it comes to the foods available in the neighborhood,” said Mr. Johnson. To meet the diet needs of this diverse neighborhood, most local restaurants have diversified their menus. Foreign-based restaurants have also sprung up as well. A prime example of such is Mama K’s soups and salads, a restaurant in the heart of Sugar Hill and Mr. Johnson’s favorite spot. Foods served there ranges from West-African stewed beef to Asian sushi, a truly diverse menu. Another example is Tsion café and bakery, a café whose owner traces her roots to Ethiopia. This restaurant serves the Sugar Hill neighborhood with exotic Ethiopian foods ranging from injera rolls with shiro to sambusa with lentils, another reflection of the diversity within this neighborhood. Moreover, The local school, P.S. 210, not surprisingly, was 97% Hispanic for the 2013 – 2014 school year, according to Insideschools.org; a perfect reflection of the growing Hispanic population in Sugar Hill.

When asked what makes Sugar Hill so special and unique, Mr. Johnson, after a long pause, said, “three things: the history, the people and the architecture.” Being one of the most historic neighborhoods in Manhattan, most of Sugar Hill’s residents are aware of its past, which they allow it to affect how they live. Most parents, especially African-Americans have set high goals for their children and themselves as well solely due to the history of African American successes that brought this neighborhood its fame.

Also, with crime at a low due to frequent police patrols and security cameras installed all around the neighborhood, residents are usually outside deep into the night interacting with each other. Since most of Sugar Hill’s residents have been living there for a significant period of them, most residents know each other and share great bonds. As Mr. Johnson said, the streets of Sugar Hill become very lively during the summer. With most residents sitting on the steps leading to the houses and loud music playing from various locations, life bursts on the streets of Sugar Hill. Despite this internal bond, the old residents are accepting of outsiders who move into the neighborhood especially during this time when most of its buildings are being sold or rented and its diversity is increasing rapidly.

As regards issues facing this neighborhood, the major is the threat of gentrification, especially due to the fact that most of its buildings are in need of serious renovation. As of now, this neighborhood’s gentrification is limited to a few sections between 150^th and 155^th street. However, residents fear that it would spread to the interior of Sugar Hill and possibly threaten to eradicate these old buildings that embody the rich history of Sugar Hill.

Nevertheless, Sugar Hill remains one of Manhattan’s finest when it comes to beauty, culture, history and demographics and its residents are proud to be living in such a “sweet” neighborhood.