Ann Kochupurackal, Milan Mathew, Radhika Patel, Devina Persaud

Welcome ladies and gents, to Flushing, home of the Flushing High School Devils, the New York Mets, and a melting pot of diverse cultures. Whether you’re looking for the most authentic Asian cuisine, an ancient herbal remedy or an impossible-to-find Japanese comic book, Flushing is the place to go. So grab your chopsticks, put ‘em in your back pocket, and let’s go for a ‘wok!’

Right on the intersection of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard, two of the busiest streets in Flushing, lies the Queens Borough Public Library branch at Flushing, the first library in Queens. It was first established in 1858 on a subscription basis, but became a free circulation library in 1869. The Flushing library led way for the creation of other libraries like Steinway, Hollis, Queens Village, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Long Island City, and Astoria – currently called the nucleus of the present Queens Library system – all of which eventually joined together with a charter into the Queens Borough Public Library in 1901. Flushing Library, however, joined only two years later. The current building was under construction from 1996 to 1998, and officially opened at 41-17 Main St, Flushing, NY 11355.

If you look around the perimeter of the library on a weekday afternoon, the area would be buzzing with children and adults of all ages. The library is located in a prime transportation area – the 7 train stops nearby, and more than 5 buses stop in the vicinity. This allows the library to always have a constant stream of people going in and out. Flushing Library in particular is home to young children because it has the largest children’s room in the Queens Library System. Adolescents appreciate the space because it is in the proximity of many schools. And adults enjoy the Flushing library because of all of the services it provides.

You would think that a library would only consist of books, magazines, and more books. Yes, Flushing library holds over 50,000 books, videos, periodicals, and other library materials open to the public. Not a big fan of books though? No worries! Flushing library, as well as the other libraries in the system, host a myriad of cultural activities and programs that cater to the needs of a diverse population.  The library hosts adult literacy programs, environmental conservation programs, and New Americans Programs (which assists new immigrants in adapting to life in America and programs that celebrate the culture of the diverse ethnic groups in Queens). Flushing library in particular has collections of books and videos in many languages, including Bengali, Chinese, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian,Spanish, and Urdu. These programs and resources make the library very significant to the Flushing community because makes it easier for immigrants (like the Chinese) to assimilate, and provides a place for people to meet and work in the middle of the busy neighborhood.

The Queens Library system has become one of the largest public library systems in the United States, comprising some 62 branches throughout the borough. It serves the Queens’ population of 2.2 million and is an important part to all of the communities it is located in.

After reading and enjoying the cultural activities at the Flushing Library, the New World Mall is the place to be to socialize and get all of your shopping needs taken care of. Located between 41st Avenue and the congested street of Roosevelt Avenue, approximately 3 blocks away from the library, the Mall offers more than just what a traditional mall offers. Because of its location in the heart of downtown Flushing, the mall attracts thousands of residents within Flushing and beyond. 

Back in the late 20th century, the plot of land that the mall is currently on was actually part of Caldor, Inc, a discount department chain founded in 1951 by Carl Bennett and his wife. The company suffered from bankruptcy and was liquidated in early 1999. For several years afterwards, many attempts at a new retail store in the area failed. However, the New World Group, a company owned by several prominent Chinese businessmen, began a project in 2009 that would take about 2 years to create to create the largest indoor Asian mall in the Northeast.

Need to buy some electronics? Check. Some exotic herbal teas and remedies? Check. Need to do all of that with a freshly manicured set of nails? Check. NWM features 108 shops, all of which offer a variety of Asian and non-Asian retailers, which is why it appeals to such a broad range of demographics. It also has a food court with several ethnic restaurants and cafes, like Kung Fu Tea (very good bubble tea, I must say), Zheng Zhou Noodles, and more of largest Chinese dim sum restaurants in the Tri-State area. The food here comes in large servings, and is definitely a bang for your buck. (On a side note, there’s no cell phone service in the food court, so it’s just you and your food – and anybody else you deem worthy to partake in a meal with – for a good period of time). There’s also a karaoke lounge and underground valet parking garage present on the premises. The mall also has a supermarket called J-Mart Supermarket on the first and second levels. J-Mart has everything you need all in one place – seafood, meats, produce, and grains. It features a large selection of groceries ranging from American, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese. This selection is a reflection of the neighborhood outside of the mall, which is very diverse in Asian cultures.

New World Mall, known as the largest east coast Asian mall, allows residents and customers to fulfill all of their errands and shopping needs in one place. It’s amazing how all of the amenities of this mall fit into such a small plot of land, in one of the most congested areas in Queens and can serve about 1,500 patrons. With most of the signs written in an Asian language, it’s quite hard getting around for a non-Asian. However it fulfills its purpose as a place, like the Flushing library, where people can congregate, socialize, and get things done.

Once you’re full of dim sum and your nails are all manicured, it’s time to do even more shopping in the jam-packed land of Flushing!

The third stop on our walking tour is the bustling Hong Kong supermarket. Walking a few blocks down Main Street towards 37th Avenue, you will see a transition from an Americanized Flushing to a truly Chinese Flushing. The Hong Kong supermarket is a national chain, founded in 1981 with its flagship store located in Monterey Park, California where it is still among the popular Asian supermarkets and has its headquarters, here in New York City. Today they have 13 branches, which is not only well-known among Chinese- American consumers but also non-Chinese consumers.

This supermarket serves as a way for Chinese-Americans get goods that are mostly available in China and other Asian countries.  When I first entered the supermarket I was welcomed by fish sellers yelling in Chinese telling me to buy their variety of fish. As I delved deeper into the supermarket, there were a variety of fruits and vegetables that I was unfamiliar with. There were no English signs in sight, everything was written in Chinese, Korean and Japanese. There were many other products that were on sale that wouldn’t be found in any other American supermarket. There were bins filled with lychee, bumpy bitter melon and hollow-stemmed water spinach. There were walls lined with rows of dry goods, among them Thai, Japanese, and chinese condiments, spices and sauces, wonton, wrappers and candies as well as Western-table essentials, like peanut butter, milk, and orange juice. Not only were traditional foods available, there was a whole aisle devoted to housewares such as rice cookers, plastic and ceramic plates and bowls, teapots and saute pans. What really caught my eye was the refrigerated section which had frozen dumplings. As a souvenir from the trip I had bought a pack of frozen dumplings, which turned out to be really tasty.

When my group and I went to visit the supermarket after school one day, we were pleased to see many house-wives and their children doing the grocery shopping for the week. The children running to their moms with pocky sticks asking for an after school snack, while the women were picking out dragon fruits, bok choy etc.

The Hong Kong Supermarket serves as a home away from home to these Chinese immigrants. Since culture is mostly communicated through food and different cuisines the Hong Kong supermarket serves as a medium for non Chinese people to understand Chinese culture and explore new food options. Along with that, it allows for the Chinese to stay in touch with their roots and make traditional foods in their home and extend those recipes to their children. While smelling a little fishy let’s head on over to the Flushing Meeting House!

After visiting the rich cultural foods from the Hong Kong Supermarket, continue down Main Street and make a right at Northern Boulevard to visit the fourth stop on this tour: the Flushing Meeting House. It was first established in 1695 as a place of worship for Quakers and it is used to this day. In fact, this meeting house is the country’s second oldest house of worship in continuous use. Although there is an acceptance of Quakers in Flushing now, it wasn’t like that when the neighborhood was first established.

Before America won its independence from Britain, New York was a Dutch colony, which was originally called New Netherlands. The Quakers, also known as the members of the Society of Friends, came to Flushing to flee from religious persecution in England. However, Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of New Netherland, saw these members as radicals and alienated them from the rest of the colony. With the help of the colonists living in the area, the Quakers in the end received a well-deserved welcoming to the colony. In 1650, a letter called the Flushing Remonstrance was signed by 30 citizens of Flushing, not Quakers themselves. This letter told the authorities that the colonists refused to collectively punish, banish or persecute the Quakers and they reminded Stuyvesant that under colonial law, freedom of religion extended to all.

Once the Quakers received the freedom to practice their own religion, they started working on helping others experience that same freedom. In 1718, a Flushing Quaker by the name of William Burling wrote one of the first pamphlets criticizing slavery. Although he didn’t call for the extreme of condemning slavery, he urged his readers to question it. By 1776, when America was fighting a revolution for freedom, the Quakers in New York had already condemned slavery even though the entire state had legalized slavery until 1827.

The Quaker’s friendliness towards the African American slaves didn’t come only through condemnation of the act of slavery. In 1800, the Quakers in North Carolina joined the New York Quakers in opposing slavery and sold their slaves up North so that these New York Quakers could free them. This sale soon became smuggling, which later became a part of the Underground Railroad. Most of the Underground Railroad stops in the New York area were in Manhattan, but recent research turned up evidence that many slaves were also smuggled into Quaker homes in Flushing. These slaves were later brought into Whitestone and crossed the East River to the Bronx so that they can eventually end up in Canada.

This is an important stop on this walking tour because it shows the origins of the Flushing neighborhood before more Asians came to it. The meeting house is established as a National Historic Landmark, an Individual New York City Landmark, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It shows the history members of the Society of Friends have made while struggling against religious intolerance, slavery, and injustice. If you want to learn more about the Quaker’s history or religion, become a Quaker for a day! There are meetings for worship every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. and the house is open for tours every Sunday.

The fifth stop on our walking tour, just around the corner from the Flushing Meeting House is the Flushing Town Hall. If you make a left on Linden Place, the marvelous structure is on the right side of the street. Located just on Northern Boulevard, the town hall is the official government building of Flushing. The beautiful landmark, noted as a New York City Landmark in 1968, is a 2-story brick building. Many may notice that the architecture of the town hall does not “match” well with the other architecture of the area. That is because its design stemmed from the Germans, using a style referred to as the “Rundbogenstil” style. It was originally constructed in 1862.

Historically, the Flushing Town Hall has served a variety of purposes throughout its existence. During the civil war, conscripts from Long Island were sworn into the Union Army right at the Town Hall’s assembly hall, while the ground floor was home to the civic offices. During the late 19th century, the town hall then began to be used for some opera and travelling theatrical performances. Not too long after, the town hall was used, yet again, for another purpose. From 1902 to the early 1960s, it functioned at the main courthouse of the area, and with the extension that was constructed in 1904, it also served as a jail (whoa, there!).

While it is clear that the Town Hall has always been a hub of activity, it did suffer considerable neglect, and subsequent damage, from the late 1960s to the late 1980s. However, after a hunt in 1990 by the Queens Borough President for a good nonprofit to manage the town hall for a longer period, the FCCA, or the Flushing Council on Culture and Arts was selected to restore the landmark, which they did by developing an amazing center for the visual and performing arts.

Today, the Town Hall includes an approximate 300-seat concert hall, gallery, classroom, and garden for outdoor events. In fact, the venue is so stunning and full of culture, that it is often used for weddings and other major occasions. Who knows, maybe one day when passing through this bustling part of Flushing, you may photobomb a couple or two!

In my opinion, what is most impressive here isn’t even the countless opportunities the FCCA has to offer, but the enrichment that the center as a whole has provided to the community. Flushing, and even NYC as we know it, has evolved to be a hub of business, transaction, and not necessarily where one is able to stop and appreciate the history of something. However, the Town Hall, having lived through many landmark events such as the Civil War, has continued to preserve its history, and provide opportunities for the public to experience this as well. When visiting the Flushing Town Hall, you can experience a jazz performance, world music, puppetry, dance, school programs, interactive workshops, and much more! The Town Hall continues to serve as a unifying, central part of Flushing which can bring people together, not only teaching them about what Flushing has been through in the past, but it can also allow them to build new memories.

If you would like to visit the Town Hall, maybe you would like to consider attending an event, some of which include the Monthly Jazz Jam, the upcoming “Tango, Soul, & Passion: Piano Music from Japan & the Americas”, the “Ba Ban Chinese Music Society: Along the Yangtze River”, and many, many more! Tickets are available at the box office at the Town Hall, with student ticket prices available if you purchase them in advance. Worried about getting there? No problem! The Town Hall is easy to get to by subway, or car (there is free parking for patrons!), so there is no reason not to go!

The sixth stop on our adventurous tour will be the Flushing High School right off Northern Boulevard and Union street, towards 35th Street. Flushing High School is the home of the Devils. It was founded in 1875 and it is considered the oldest public school in the city. By, 1891, the school was growing and more room was needed and the current structure was built. In 1899 there were only six graduates with a faculty of seven. The school has won a reputation and a place of honor in the borough, the city and state.

Flushing High School is home to 2,186 student. The school is made up of 52% Hispanic students, 23% African American students, 20% Asian students ad about 4% white students. It was designated as a landmark by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1991.

Since this school is set in a predominantly immigrant community, the school offers many extra curricular programs like ESL classes. These classes help students whose second language is English, and help them become more proficient. Along with that the school offers many programs that allow students to have exposure to possible career options. For example, they have the Thurgood Marshall Academy for Legal Studies, Academy of Business and Entrepreneurial Studies, and Environmental Maritime Math and Science Institute. These programs allow students to learn more in depth about law, business and medicine, for possible career options like lawyers, entrepreneurs and doctors. 

Once you visit the Flushing High School Devils, return back to Northern Boulevard, head east along the boulevard, and turn right on Bowne Street. After walking one block down Bowne Street, the Bowne House Museum will be on the left side of the street. This museum is preserved to honor John Bowne, one of the early New Netherland colonists, since the settlement was originally his house. He was mostly known for his courageous defense against religious persecution.

When the director general Peter Stuyvesant banned colonists from associating with the Quakers and prohibited Quakers from practicing their religion, John Bowne openly defied the ban and allowed the Quakers to hold their services in his home. He was also one of the colonists that signed the Flushing Remonstrance. for his defiance, Bowne was arrested and imprisoned in 1662. To make matters worse, when he refused to pay the fine or plead guilty for his “crime,” Stuyvesant exiled him to Holland, where Bowne successfully argued his case to the Dutch West India Company (the company which sponsored the colonial settlement of New Netherlands). Stuyvesant was then ordered to permit the Quakers to worship freely. After winning his case, Bowne returned back to Flushing victorious in 1664 and the principle of religious freedom was established in the colony. His and other Flushing residents’ actions in defense of the Quakers’ religious freedom helped establish principles that evolved into the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

In 1946, a group of local Flushing residents founded the Bowne House Historical Society for the sole purpose of purchasing Bowne’s house and opening it as a museum. The house has been operating as a museum since 1947. This colonist is important to this tour because not only did he carry a huge impact on Flushing history, but he also shows his influence on the Flushing neighborhood. The street the house is located on is named after him and there are two public schools in Flushing (one elementary school and one high school) that also honor his name. If you would like to learn more about John Bowne or his courageous fight for religious freedom in the New York Colony, contact the Bowne House Historical Society to book a tour around the house!

The last stop of the walking tour is the Chinese Community Center of Flushing. In order to get to the CCCF, continue heading south on Bowne Street towards 38th Avenue for around ten blocks, turn right on Cherry Avenue, and turn left onto Union Street. The center will be on your left.  As the farthest and last stop on our walking tour, this is arguably one of the most historically, and socio-economically important sites on the tour. The CCCF of New York City is a local, grassroots organization composed of many dedicated individuals, volunteers, and community leaders, all with the common goal of improving the community of the greater New York Metropolitan Area. Before I go any further into explaining the significance of this organization, I would like to emphasize here that although it is the Chinese Community Center of Flushing, their programs and staff are not limited to the Chinese-American, or even Asian-American population of Flushing, but instead the population as a whole.

The CCCF was founded in 2011 by Howard Sang, a community activist and now-chairman of the organization. The Board of Directors, along with their team of educators, physicians, and many more enthusiastic members all contribute to an enriching, resourceful center where the people of Flushing can to for help.

The services of the CCCF are extensive (and when I say that, I mean that). The broad categories of programs are: youth programs, adult education, social services, senior social adult day care, chinese culture program, and table tennis. While the tour is not long enough to go into detail on all of the components of each program, I will highlight some of what I see as the most useful programs they have to offer. For the young adults, there is free SAT Prep, where educators prep high school students, instilling “confidence and awareness”, preparing them through classroom instruction and practice exams. Upon learning of this opportunity, I was, in fact, very jealous that I did not grow up in Flushing. Living on Long Island, I never had such an opportunity, was instead of force thousands of dollars for an SAT tutor, which not only put financial stress of my family, but was also taught by an undergraduate student, not even a certified-teacher like at the CCCF! In terms of their social services, seniors are provided with free health screening by trained clinicians, who offer services such as free sugar and blood tests. As a matter of fact, volunteer physicians also often come to the center to give our free flu vaccines. I find this very impactful to the community, because often in large communities such as Flushing, it is easy for the senior citizens to get “swallowed up” for a lack of a better term, their care neglected. However, the CCCF makes their welfare a priority, revealing the emphasis their culture puts on the care for the elderly.

I won’t elaborate more on the services offered, because those are easily accessible on their website. But, what I will say is, the CCCF is a prime example of a genuine, non-profit organization that only seeks to provide aid and relief to a large community that may not get it otherwise. Upon hearing about the CCCF, one may turn away, saying that they are restricted to serving only the Chinese-American population of Flushing, but this is not the case. Their great efforts are accessible to anyone in need, and this not only provides solidarity of the Flushing community, but it also demonstrates their commitment to community and charity.

So, if you live in Flushing, make sure to visit. If you don’t live in Flushing, still visit. I hope that you will all be as surprised, inspired, and in awe, like I was. Be it the supermarkets or the Bowne house, Flushing is a niche in Queens, NYC that is home to innumerable cultures, languages, and minds. However, this busy neighborhood stands to prove that despite the overwhelming size, ever-busy streets, and language barriers, all it takes is a group of people who love their city, appreciate its culture, and will contribute in their own way to retain its value, for a city to become great. Although one may think directly of produce and fresh seafood when they hear Flushing, our research, and this tour, shows the hidden gems of Flushing, and all its little treasures to the cultural mosaic New Yorker’s are proud to call our city, New York City.

 

Works Cited

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“Flushing Town Hall.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2016.

“Flushing High School – Insideschools.org.” Flushing High School -Insideschools.org. Insideschools, 2016. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

“History: Early History and Organization.” Queens Library. N.p., 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2016.

“Hong Kong Supermarket.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

“New World Mall – New York’s Largest Asian Indoor Mall.” New World Mall – New York’s

Largest Asian Indoor Mall. New World Group, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

Ravo, Nick. “Caldor, in Bankruptcy, to Shut Its Stores.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Jan. 1999. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

Strausbaugh, John. “The Melting Pot on a High Boil in Flushing.” New York Times. The New York Times Company, 2 May 2008. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

“The Bowne Family Biographies.” The Bowne House Historical Society. The Bowne HouseHistorical Society, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.