Jackson Heights: What's Real

From Decoding New York

Jackson Heights. Sign for Korean church services.

Jackson Height’s landscape is a reflection of its people. According to the 2000 census, about 65 percent of Jackson Height's population is foreign born, well over the City's overall estimated 40 percent. Though certain groups like the neighborhood’s Indian and Columbian populations may be called especially visible, the groups could hardly be called dominant. Even in the heart of Little India one may enjoy Italian baked goods, an Afghani dinner, or a Greek falafel.

There is no doubting the authenticity of the people and amenities of Jackson Heights. Far from a tourist location, the ethnic restaurants, stores, and services of Jackson Heights are intended for the neighborhood’s ethnic residents. In a city more and more aware of the marketability of ethnicity -- whether or not that ethnicity is one’s own -- Jackson Heights is a breath of fresh air.

Jackson Heights. An all Spanish book stand on Roosevelt Avenue.

Spanish-language travel agencies and other services are scattered across the neighborhood. A Korean Church offers Korean language religious services. Cornucopias of newspapers in dozens of languages appear in just about every deli. Jackson Heights is tailored for its residents, a somewhat rare phenomenon in a city increasingly aware of the exploitability and profitability of ethnicity.