Though I have not lived in Jackson Heights, I would say I am pretty familiar with the South Asian/Bangladeshi part of the neighborhood. Growing up, I often visited the area with my family and I gave it an unofficial nickname: “mini Bangladesh.” Jackson Heights, particularly 37th ave and 73rd-77th streets, was a pleasant and adventurous home away from home that I enjoyed almost every week. My mom and I would venture out into the lively part of Queens and take the next available R train to 74th St station, where we would then walk to her favorite store, Indian Saree Palace (ISP). I think I have spent over 100 hours just sitting and waiting at the front of the store while my mom shopped. But I didn’t mind. There were actual Bengali people here. Random strangers that I would call “uncle” or “aunty” simply because they were Bengali.
I’ve lived in Oakland Gardens, Queens since the mere age of 2, and simply put, there were no other Desi families in the neighborhood for the last 16 years. In elementary school, I was not only the only Bengali student in the class, but also the only South Asian student. So, embarking to Jackson Heights to run errands or visit family was always a nice change of pace. I knew that there was always a strong sense of community in the neighborhood when I was 10, but I was gladly surprised to hear from Eishika and Nazaha that the sense of community hasn’t changed for the most part.
While cultural appreciation is still heavily seen in Jackson Heights, as Nazaha said Bangladeshi’s can experience Latino culture through their food, heritage, and identities and vice versa, there now lies a larger concern: gentrification. Both Eishika and Nazaha mentioned the rise of gentrification in Jackson Heights, which especially came to light after the opening of a new Starbucks. I, for one, was disheartened to hear about this as there are so many unique restaurants and coffee shops in the area — Starbucks was simply not necessary. Gentrification is essentially a process in which lower income urban areas are altered by wealthier people moving in, changing housing, and bringing in larger businesses and corporations. While this sounds like a positive effect, it comes at the cost of displacing the current low-income (and often minority) groups that were living in the region long before the wealthy arrived.
Eishika explained how gentrification in Jackson Heights caused many people to move out of Jackson Heights, resulting in a loss of community. With the lower-income residents leaving and the wealthy migrants arriving into Jackson Heights, property prices and the cost of living skyrocketed. The sense of community seemed to fade just as she moved out. On the economic side, Nazaha mentioned how many small businesses were forced to shut down. These are just some of the effects of gentrification: loss of community, increases in property taxes, the displacement of local residents, and the liquidation of small local shops and businesses.
And so, Jackson Heights is not exactly as it was 10 years ago when I would sit impatiently at ISP. There’s now a Starbucks a few blocks down, a deli that’s so fancy it has an LED light chandelier inside (Shah’s Deli on 37th ave and 75th St), and commercial buildings left and right. Even the Wendy’s has been renovated and looks like it could be a high quality 3 star restaurant. It is likely that all of this was a result of gentrification in Jackson Heights. Gentrification in such neighborhoods often worsens wealth inequality, widening the gap between the rich and the poor (Miller). Simply put, it manifests the idea that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The people who get affected the most by this are undoubtedly people of color.
It is time to put an end to the developing gentrification of Jackson Heights before we lose the neighborhood completely. Instead of gentrifying the neighborhoods, there should be an implementation of positive development methods focused on the local residents of the neighborhood (National Low Income Housing Condition), such as funding that allows small locally owned businesses to flourish and prosper. This would also empower communities. That is how I would like to see Jackson Heights in 15 years. For now, however, Jackson Heights continues to be the cultural hub that has a place for just about everyone.
References
“Gentrification and Neighborhood Revitalization: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?” National Low Income Housing Coalition, 5 Apr. 2019, nlihc.org/resource/gentrification-and-neighborhood-revitalization-whats-difference.
Miller, Lindsay M. “We Need to Change How We Think About Gentrification .” National Civic League, 4 Feb. 2019, www.nationalcivicleague.org/national-civic-review/issue/winter-2019-volume-107-number-4/?popup=true.
