From The Peopling of New York City
When researching how Jackson Heights is represented in Journalism, I found that articles mainly concentrate on three aspects of Jackson Heights. The food, the diversity, and the real estate. In a New York Times article, Jackson Heights was called, "A utopia of diversity" and "its own world of private gardens." This same article, which is trying to sell Jackson Heights for its Diversity, says "People are from all over. Nobody teaches us to get along. It just works."
After doing several interviews I found that some find this to be true; however, it seems as thought the majority of the people in Jackson Heights do not agree with this statement.
After my group set out to interview residents sitting in Espresso 77, Starbucks, and Dunking Donuts.
I interviewed two women sitting in Espresso 77. One mentioned that she definitely feels an ethnic divide. She said the people of Jackson Heights do not get along. She mentioned that the conflict begins with between people who are coming into Jackson Heights with more money and the older residents of Jackson Heights. She said this people stand out among the people who have lived in Jackson Heights for longer because they are very arrogant and show off about their money, while the older residents are more humble. The second woman mentioned that she feels the most tension in the co-ops. Those newcomers to Jackson Heights, are willing to pay more money for the apartments, driving real estate prices up. Also, she mentioned that the conflict is more of a class conflict than an ethnic conflict.
On the other hand, the couple interviewed in Starbucks, felt like "divide" was the wrong word to use. They felt no ethnic divide and they said they they enjoy the variety in Jackson Heights and they utilize it. When asked about the conflicts between ethnic groups, they immediately gave a short answer-no conflicts.
The people in Dunkin Donuts would not sit down for an interview, even though it was a Sunday.
