(2010-2012) – “Traffic-Free Plaza Roils Little India In Queens”
Sarah Maslin Nir
Nir’s article discusses the new pedestrian plaza on 37th Road between 73rd and 74th Street in the heart of the Little India area of Jackson Heights. The city repurposed one block of the road to resemble the haven for pedestrians that Times Square has become synonymous with. In doing so, the hope was that the plaza would create more space and decongest the nearby Roosevelt Avenue. Aesthetically, this new plaza does not quite resemble its Times Square model with only a handful of traffic-blocking boulders and rickety picnic tables. Even more of a problem has been the implications it has had on many local business owners who contend that since being created, the plaza has been a hinderance on sales and overall foot traffic. Without the car traffic or the Q47 and Q49 busses that used to stop on the block, many claim business has waned by nearly half of what it use to be. Furthermore, the customer base of Little India is less foot traffic as opposed to people from outside of Jackson Heights who now find it difficult to find parking and navigate the roads.
On the other side of the coin, some pedestrians enjoy the new plaza and the benefits it has created. It definitely relieves the area of some of its congestion and has a sort of calming effect amidst all the commotion in Little India. However, the same people that point out these positives also make note of another challenge the plaza faces – cleanliness. Piles of garbage spilled from trash bags, cardboard boxes, and cigarette butts are all common sights which is certainly of concern.
In presenting these contrasting views of the new plaza, the article debates whether the plaza is in fact a good thing for the community or if its presence will only hurt business and present an eye-sore to outsiders.
Source: Nir, Sarah M. “Traffic-Free Plaza Roils Little India in Queens.” The New York Times 19 Mar. 2012, Late – Final ed., sec. A: 15. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.
(2000-2010) – It’s Not a Tour. It’s a Stroll With Your New ‘Aunt Tilly.’
Joseph P. Fried
Fried’s article discusses the practices of Big Apple Greeter, a nonprofit group of about 300 New Yorkers who give their time to show off various parts of the city to visitors who seek more than the familiar sights. Lynn Brooks, the founder of the 14-year old program, said she started the group because of people she met in her travels outside the city who actually feared coming to New York. The hope of the Big Apple Greeter group is to dispel this feeling by showing the uniqueness of different neighborhoods in the city from the point of view of a local person who knows the area very well or perhaps has even lived in it. The article talks about a tour led by Suzanne Paliotta, a retired New York City school teacher and Forest Hills resident, of Jackson Heights for a small family from the Netherlands to provide an example of what the Big Apple Greeter group does. Paliotta shows the family the Little India area, saying, “It’s been Indian since the ’80’s” and then turns onto 37th Avenue to point out the Latin America influence on Jackson Heights. She also mentions the history of the area to the visitors, explaining the perplexity of a place that became so diverse when it was initially intended for middle-class white residents.
Source: Fried, Joseph P. “It’s Not A Tour. It’s a Stroll With Your New ‘Aunt Tilly'” The New York Times 15 May 2006, Late – Final ed., B1 sec.: 3. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.
(1990-2000) – NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: JACKSON HEIGHTS;
Amid the Houses, Bodegas Grow in Queens
Norimitsu Onishi
In this neighborhood report, Onishi brings the unauthorized conversion of houses into businesses ranging from auto-repair shops to bodegas into the lime lights. This problem, he posits, is even more alarming in neighborhoods such as Jackson Heights where there are high concentrations of recent immigrants from countries where setting up shops and businesses out of the home is a common thing. Immigrant entrepreneurs may have done their part to revitalize the neighborhoods that they now reside in, but this particular practice has been problematic. It results in zoning violations, the alteration of houses, a sense of congestion as additions have been wedged between buildings. All of this distorts streetscapes and changes the lives of residents who have to learn to adjust to a bodega or beauty salon being located where a house should be. In response to this growing practice a law was passed by the City Council in March of 1993 that made it possible to close businesses operating out of residences if they are found to be a public annoyance.
Source: Onishi, Norimitsu. “NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: JACKSON HEIGHTS; Amid the Houses, Bodegas Grow in Queens.” The New York Times 28 Aug. 1994, Sunday Late – Final ed., sec. 13: 7. LexisNexis Academic. Web. 2 Apr. 2012.
