photo from New York Times, Oct 2012 article on Roosevelt Avenue

Images like this appear with relative frequency in the media, to which Roosevelt Avenue  has become known  as a home to drunkenness and less legal vices. For decades the crime problem has been reported as escalating despite attempts to combat it; prostitution, illegal businesses and worse have run rampant.

Perhaps logically, much of the media seizes this opportunity for sensationalist stories. Indeed one can posit that the core purpose of most publications is to sell itself, and what else sells better than the wild and scandolous. From the largest and most accredited to the smallest local or ethnic publication, many have covered this area, but do they depict  a community torn apart by its uncontrollable illegal elements, or one unified in its attempt to better itself?

THE NEW YORK TIMES:

• Stories from this Roosevelt Avenue literally go back to the streets founding in 1910

• Stories of drugs and theft appear as far back as the 1970s “January, 1970: Addict accused of 300 cab holdups in 3 months”
• An article from two decades later, specifically January 1992 “Sordid Business Booms in Queens,” describes the drastic rise in prostitution, making Roosevelt Avenue and Queens in particular the largest center of the crime other than Manhattan itself. The article also attributes this rise to the rising hispanic immigrant population (not necessarily a truthful assertion).
• The most recent article about this trend, October 2012 “Roosevelt Avenue, a Corridor of Vice,” dives into the gory details. It tells of sex trafficking, prostitution, the false ID trade and how men collapsed in drunken stupors is so prevalent that a man bled to death from stab wounds while laying on a crowded street because he appeared to be just another drunk.
• One of the few positive articles is May 1991’s “Queens, Doorstep to the Whole Wide World.” Rather than focus on the criminal aspects of the neighborhood, this article discusses the incredible diversity and success of the various ethnic communities.

It’s apparent that top tier papers like don’t have a very positive view  of the neighborhood, or at least they tend to report on its troubles rather than its success. It was difficult to find any positive articles let alone those referencing potential improvement. But perhaps smaller locally based papers have a different view.

DAILY NEWS:

• Starting with the bad, October 2008’s “Latin American women unveil N.Y.’s dollar-dance clubs darker side” again discusses prostitution and the exploitation of women, although its not directed specifically at Roosevelt Avenue.
• Similarly August 2012’s “Campaign against human trafficking in Queens”  informs us of State Senator Jose Peralta’s anti human trafficking campaign. This article more directly references Roosevelt Avenue where apparently young immigrant women have effectively been enslaved without means to help themselves.

State Senator Jose Peralta with campaign poster

• On a more positive note March 2013’s “A New Deal for Roosevelt Avenue” presents a seemingly unified support for the Roosevelt Avenue business improvement district. Then again the only people whose support is referenced are politicians, like Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras, and local landlords who would obviously benefit from rising property values.

It would seem from these articles  that local papers are also plagued by the sensationalist trend. On the other hand, at least time is taken to show the community’s desire and potential to improve even if they only reported improvements that aren’t necessarily as community driven (e.g. business initiatives like the BID rather than community projects). But do the local ethnic paper’s have a more positive view of the communities that they represent?

El Correo De Queens

• The only article referencing the situation has an extremely negative point of view. December 2011’s “Roosevelt Avenue Out of Control” slams the area as looking like “a poor sector of the Third World.” It talks about the rampant fake ID rackets, prostitution, illegal street vendors and drunken environment, saying that the ensuing chaos is “destroying… the beauty of Roosevelt.”Although, saying Roosevelt has a beauty to destroy does hint at something positive.

Roosevelt Avenue bazaar

EL DIARIO LA PRENSA

• April 2013’s, “Cell phone theft a Top Concern for Queens Latinas” also showcases the negatives the criminal element represents, but presents the community as unified in its desire to defeat the thieves and other criminals, calling it a “top concern”.
• March 2012’s “Immigrant Street Vendors Say they Endure “Modern Day Slavery”” talks about the negatives of street vendors just like El Correo, however it also expresses a sympathetic sentiment towards the vendors themselves. Rather than merely calling them criminals and contributors towards chaos, the article tells of how they are exploited, barely earning enough to survive from those who rent the carts to them. All in all a more balanced article.
• The final article I found directly referencing the BID is March 2013’s, “Roosevelt Avenue Deal Met with Hope and Concern.” This covers both sides, the possible benefits of the BID to the quality of life for residents and shoppers, as well as the suffering that might be inflicted upon the poorer residents; those who will no longer be able to afford to live and do business in the area.

These smaller papers seem to have stronger more balanced yet divided  opinions about events in their neighborhood, which is understandable. But we have neglected the newest and perhaps the most diverse form of media, the blog and online publications, forms of media that allow those that don’t necessarily have a profit motive to tell it like it is.

SPQ (Social Practice Queens)

Through numerous articles and updates for example:

• “Corona Plaza: Diagram and Research Action (January 2013) where numerous questions to study and improve the community were posed through signs and imagery.
• “Corona Plaza: A Community Place Rises (September 2012) which shows through video the triumphant formation of the plaza as a center of culture and community [check out the video http://vimeo.com/48493960]
• “Celebrating the New Corona Plaza” (August 2012) which tells of how several local organizations banded together to do just that.

Celebration at Corona Plaza on August 26, 2012 (picture by SPQ)

…SPQ paints paints a picture of an evolving community, one categorized not by its sensational and worst elements (like larger publications) but by its ordinary residents and the local organizations helping them, people who want nothing less than the best for the neighborhood and who work tirelessly to realize that goal.

STREETSBLOG.ORG 

Another stirring example of how sensationalism can overcome honesty and normality can be seen in Ben Fried’s articles on his website. In one particular article “The Jackson Heights Plaza Photo the Times Doesn’t Want You to See,” He explicitly demonstrates this issue. The New York Times published an article with this image to showcase the plaza’s supposed ineffectiveness:

He then displays his own image taken during the plazas working hours to demonstrate the difference:

The stark difference is clear, and inevitably leads us to the fact that publications do have agendas other than the absolute truth. But has our original question been answered, what is the actual media representation of Roosevelt Avenue and its community?

  The answer isn’t necessarily transparent; considering the various agendas and motives driving the mosaic of publications and peoples related to this area perhaps that makes sense. We can say however, that it seems much of the media, especially larger papers, trends toward the astonishing and startling. On the other hand, there is definitely an element that reports on the people and organizations that continue to improve the neighborhood.