November 4, 2012, Sunday, 308

User:Jbroome

From The Peopling of New York City

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t area for her. She denied the fact that there is violence in the area and in her cognitive map she made no distinctions in any parts of the neighborhood. So from this interview you get the perspective of a person that does not live in Jackson Heights.
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Interesting facts I gained from each article we were supposed to read about Jackson Heights


A. The African .American population is very low even though Jackson Heights borders on two small neighborhoods Corona and East Elmhurst have high A.A population B. “restricted residential community” stopped blacks and Jews from presiding in Jackson Heights, it was ruled illegal in 1940 so Jews moved in but Blacks were still discriminated in being included in co-ops even when the Fair Housing Act was passed C. “unique yet loosely defined” → Jackson Heights D. garden city model emphasized light, space and greenery E. Neighborhood Problems White parents complain when their children have to attend school in Astoria while the Latinos are in Jackson Height Schools, “rezoning plan” made to build more schools in the Jackson Heights area for white kids .. “Why would people buy houses in J.H if their kids have to go outside to attend school?” ii. Where do you draw the boundary line for J.H? iii. Church – different ethnic groups might have the common God but they have different congregations and rarely come together, Rev. Austin Armitstead pastor of the Community United Methodist Church (1974 – 1995) preached the value of diversity to help cultural transition easier. Dr. Ronald Tompkins continued where Armitstead left off. iv. JHCDC – founded in 1979 is a nonprofit organization serving Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst as a housing rights advocate trying to help low incomerenters against the conversion of rentals to co-op F. Queens Democratic machine vs. N.Y.C Landmarks Preservation Commission i. Headed by Donald Manes, the Queens Democratic Machine was pro-growth and he tried to block or modify landmark designations in Queens, his movement became unsuccessful b/c of his suicide and corruption and his successor Claire losing influence ii. N.Y.C Landmarks Preservation Commission designed a section of Jackson Heights as a historic district, to stop modifications of buildings so they remain as they originally were. More over 200 buildings and private homes btw Roosevelt and 34th Ave. from 76th to 88th St. Landmark districts were imposing severely on property owners b/c they could not alter buildings w/o commissioners approval and must obtain permit for even minor work G. JHBG – (Jackson Heights Beautification Group) tries to preserve certain standards and show J.H is a good neighborhood. (Street cleanups, walking tours of neighborhood, grafatti removal, drug and crime removal, etc) H. Action Jackson – represented members of co-op buildings, against local businesses that have not supported the landmark standards. I. Property rates have risen even tho the population of J.H is 50% foreign born J. “church that houses four separate congregations is a metaphor for the whole community”. They do not worship together but share the space while they worship separately.


Notes from Fear, Desperation and Hope in J.H

A. Immigrants escape: 1. War 2. Poverty 3. Opression B. The Muslim areas after the 9/11 attack was more westernized. Muslim restaurants realize that people suspect them to be connected to al queada and as a result they changed their clothes to be more American and they showed nationalism wearing “I love America shirts and flags. C. Clean up mess of 9/11 used immigrant labor exploited their need for money and they were in danger, no protective gear and cleaned nasty areas D. MAN forms center to teach foreign people how to speak English E. List of names of the more than one thousand muslim men who have been detained since 9/11 F. Why are they so selective of peole who want to learn English ? (One in every four) G. Author said that we look after the foreign and tell them how to survive in N.Y but when 9/11 happened he looked at them for answers b/c the foreign have been through times like this

Notes from Intimate Strangers: Immigration to Queens

A. There are no hotels in J.H, no one visits B. A woman living in J.H all her life has never stepped over the other side of Roosevelt in her life C. The boundaries are drawn in Roosevelt Ave. b/c local older residents scared of change believe in stereotype that immigrants raise crime and drug rate D. White ethnics → only belong in community if u live there, speak English, certain standards of decorum, be good neighbors E. “living in a place and not being of the place “ neighborhoods can have multiple communities instead of one joined one itself – separate but parallel courses

``` The struggle for space essay about Jackson Heights

          Coexisting separately leads to many struggles in communities. In my mind there is no doubt that the residents in Jackson Heights struggle over the issue of not having enough space. As the article “Intimate Strangers: Immigration to Queens” points out “community is a space distanced from the rest of the world, separated by some sort of boundary, where what remains enclosed somehow has a unitary nature”. The residents of Jackson Heights are far from united with different ethnic groups may live side by side with one another. All of these ethnic groups hardly communicate, interact or compromise on the issues or events that affect their community. 
           If the residents of Jackson Heights all have different visions for the neighborhood but fail to interact with each other, many struggles will develop within the community. As shown by Phillip Kasinitz, Mohammad and Randal Doane in the “Chapter 8: Jackson Heights New York” in 1960 the community was 98.5% White with a total of 81,038 people while in 1990 there is 39.8% White, 41.3% Hispanic and 16% Asian and other with a total of 84, 979 people. In the span of 30 years, the amount of white residents has declined about 60%. They were not prepared for the changes that occurred in the neighborhood. Overcrowding was becoming a serious issue and the residents were literally struggling for space. 
          The problem that is seen here is that the population is increasing when the area is not.  This not only creates parking problems, sanitation issues and rising commercial rents but also an increase of the amount of students in public schools. The community school board wanted white children to go to schools in Astoria because the schools in

Jackson Heights were filled with Latino children. White parents were outraged with this plan and eventually it was decided that another school would be built in Jackson Heights. However, the most frustrating of these changes to the older residents are the changes of the atmosphere of the neighborhood. The three-block section of 74th St is dubbed as Little India. It is filled with dozens of South Asian businesses particularly for their culture. Roosevelt Ave is dubbed Little Columbia for the same reason for the South Americans. These areas of Jackson Heights may give the community profit but the white residents are upset that the “familiar community turned foreign”. They believe that these areas have disrupted the atmosphere that they are accustomed to.

         Thus the issue of the boundaries of Jackson Heights develops. Where does Jackson Heights begin and where does it end? The white residents believe that Jackson Heights ends on the north side of Roosevelt while the Latinos and Blacks disagree. The Latinos and Blacks believe Roosevelt Avenue is a part of Jackson Heights. Organizations such as the Jackson Heights Beautification Group have disowned Roosevelt Avenue as a part of Jackson Heights because Roosevelt Ave is known for a high crime and drug rate. This issue can be considered a struggle because it shows that the white residents do not want to accept the Latinos as members of the community. As soon as bad events are associated with one of the ethnic groups, the community disowns them. That is not a sign of unity but one of strife.
         It is evident that there is a struggle over the space in Jackson Heights. The white residents and the foreign-born residents coexisted in the neighborhood without communicating and as a result all the residents had to deal with issues such as the overcrowding, identifying the borders of Jackson Heights and cultural diffusion. 

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