From Queens: The Brand Residents Don't Buy
Residents' Views
The image of Queens differs for every resident depending on whether one is an immigrant or a native-born. The resident interviews span from Astoria to Far Rockaway and are influenced by social, economic, and political factors. These varying views of Queens became apparent during interviews with residents in the several neighborhoods our class studied.
In Corona for example, Laitl, an immigrant from Israel, was a new resident to this neighborhood. She particularly liked the availability of public transportation and the affordability of housing. She had only moved about a year ago from Manhattan, and so her familiarity with Corona was not as detailed as that of other residents. Particularly in this neighborhood, we found that one of the major reasons why immigrants like to live in this area is its inexpensive rent.
On the other hand, Joe, a native-born Italian-American who is the retired owner of the original Corona Italian Bakery, said, "You couldn't find decent housing and enough million-dollar homes [in Corona]". As the influx of Latino immigrants settled in Corona over the past two decades, the neighborhood experienced "white flight" and many Italian-Americans began to move into the areas bordering Corona, or to Long Island. Joe now lives in a large house in Bayside.
Several of the native-born Italian Americans who were interviewed no longer live in Corona, but continue to work in the area. World War II veterans from the VFW in Corona felt that the neighborhood was "going down" because there was no longer a strong community bond. The veterans also feel that Corona receives less funding and care than the rest of the borough, and also that Queens as a whole is second to Manhattan. They specifically referred to the city's recycling campaign in 1989, where Corona did not receive any of the recycling cans that were distributed to other nearby neighborhoods, such as Flushing.
 Corona: Michael from The Lemon Ice King |
 Corona: Sonny WWII Veteran |
The Queens government boasts of Queens' vibrant urban atmosphere while still being suburban. However, some residents do not like this- they would prefer it if Queens were one or the other with no in-between. One particular resident from Howard Beach said, "I would love to see more culture infused into Howard Beach, as well as an extreme makeover home edition for most of the houses here." A Long Island City resident expressed anger at the gentrification and building of luxury high-rises instead of more low-income, affordable housing.
This point of view is shared among several Queens residents who are reluctant to see the type of development that Mayor Bloomberg and the local government proposes, for it tends to push aside the real concerns of residents. Willets Point in Flushing, for example, is a plot of land adjacent to the former Shea Stadium which Mayor Bloomberg plans on gentrifying using his Willets Point Redevelopment Project. Members of the Queens Congregations United for Action and other community-based organizations believe the city should provide low-income affordable housing and financial support for job training programs rather than support the construction of a hotel, convention center, and housing that surrounding residents will be unable to afford. Furthermore, should Bloomberg's plan be approved, the development will displace over 1,300 blue-collar workers and 250 businesses that work in this area. In fact, the two new immigrants we interviewed in Corona are most concerned about decreasing job opportunities in the area. Mel, a worker in a hair salon from Santo Domingo, pointed out how empty the salon was throughout the day.
Many others also believe that the government is not living up to the standards that the community expects. Father Hoffman from St. Batholomew's Church in Elmhurst emphasized his concern about the city and local government, saying that social service is not really serving the community anymore but rather the personal agendas of the political leaders. He added, "service has been taken out of 'social service.' " As a member of a community based institution, he was very proud of his contributions to the neighborhood because he felt that the people in general receive more help from the church than from the city government. In Elmhurst, the presence of over fifteen churches and other religious institutions revealed just how important these institutions are for the people. Father Hoffman added, "The church is the most helpful to people because it brings them together and actually does a service for them."
During our walking tours we also asked our interviewees to draw cognitive maps of what they thought their neighborhoods looked like. Furthermore, when observing these maps we wanted to know what people prioritize as the most important services or stores in their neighborhoods. A teenage Chinese immigrant who came to Elmhurst as a child stated that Queens Center Mall was the main center of his neighborhood, followed by the Elmhurst Hospital and a Queens Public Library. He noted the lack of government buildings in his neighborhood as well as his least favorite place, the Hong Kong Supermarket, a dirty and unorganized place. "There's also a sweatshop on the corner of Hong Kong Supermarket that is one-hundred percent illegal. The place is depressing and smells bad." When asked what would improvements he would like to see in Elmhurst and/or Queens, he asked for more trash cans, better control of illegal activity (particularly public marijuana use and littering), and English-learning centers; he has observed that more than half of the residents in Elmhurst do not speak fluent English.
A college student from Sunnyside expressed his neighborhood's need for increased police activity to control gangs. He also felt that increasing the budget for public education is needed to decrease class sizes and keep certain courses in the curriculum. As an illegal immigrant who came to Queens when he was seven years old, he wanted more immigration rights and an easier way to attain a Green Card and citizenship.
A young lady from Richmond Hill, near Jamaica, wished more jobs were available. Her family had moved to America for better jobs and Queens was a "good," safe, cheap neighborhood that was easy for immigrants to move to due to the established ethnic enclaves.
 A cognitive map of Jamaica from a Mexican immigrant |
 A cognitive map of Jamaica Estates from a Taiwanese resident |
Generally, most of interviewed residents of Jamaica express their approval of living there due to its proximity to the commercial sectors and venues, as well as the accessibility to various modes of transportation. Mr Hernandez, a Mexican immigrant working in the cleaning business, ended up living in Jamaica out of necessity because of his currently low income, and also for his educational pursuit of learning English at a nearby public learning center. He enjoys the option of going to places full of people on busy streets, such as Hillside Avenue and Jamaica Avenue, while at the same time enjoying the tranquility and privacy living in a semi-suburban community. Living in Jamaica for three years, Mr. Hernandez's only complaint is the sometimes boisterous parties held by his neighbors. He likes the idea of living in a diverse town where he can easily fit in.
In the suburban side of Jamaica Estates, Mr Hsu, a computer technician for Motorola, likes Queens for similar reasons that Mr. Hernandez does. The intriguing part of their responses is not what they actually said about Queens, but what they did not say about Manhattan. Manhattan represents the brunt of New York City's brand, and Manhattan has had a lot more influence on representing the city; however, these two residents of Queens seem to be in sync with the Queens' branding of multiculturalism. It is evident that the Queens brand is gaining momentum and differentiating itself from just being "another borough" of New York City.
 A cognitive map of Flushing from Linda Watson |
 A cognitive map of Flushing from Allen Azon |
 A cognitive map of Flushing from Father Chase |
Queens may be a poly-ethnic borough, but it is also one of the most segregated boroughs. When looking at racial demographic maps of the borough, we see just how segregated Queens is. Michael, a worker at the Lemon Ice King in Corona commented that twenty-five years ago, everybody knew each other around the neighborhood and hung around Spaghetti Park. Today, however, the sense of community no longer unites its people. One can observe that while there are immigrants from many nations in Queens, heavy immigrant concentrations are only found in pocket neighborhoods. For example, once one moves away from Main Street in Flushing and walks towards Roosevelt Avenue, the ethnicity of people changes as you walk. When interviewees across the neighborhoods were asked about their main concerns for Queens improvement, several responses were common: 1) keeping housing affordable, 2) improving education quality for children, and 3) providing stronger law enforcement.
Some residents also think that Queens suffers from over development and "tweeding", which basically entails private gain at public expense. The Flushing Willets Point Corona Local Development Corporation for instance, plans to make "area-wide" and "large scale" development of 60 acres of privately-owned downtown Flushing at the expense of the surrounding neighborhoods and roadways. This is especially disturbing considering this particular LDC is being given a grant from the government which is coming from tax payers dollars. This grant is also supposed to go towards the "redevelopment of blighted and dormant land-" something that this area of Flushing is not.
The Gotham Gazette stated in an article about projects in Queens that, "Re-zoning for new development is often done without planning for new schools, transit and other services, nor does it entail measures to deal with existing service deficits or the myriad problems that face communities. In some, neighborhoods that have undergone massive rezoning... residents are now up in arms because new high-rise luxury development has overtaxed the capacity of local schools and transit...PlaNYC did not look at the city from the perspective of its hundreds of neighborhoods or incorporate the vast experiences and histories of its neighborhoods."
Manhattanites also have a vested interest in neighborhoods on the western edge of Queens. In these neighborhoods, such as Long Island City and Astoria, the close proximity to Manhattan makes them prime areas for gentrification to attract wealthy Manhattanites out of overpriced Manhattan. Residents in central Queens are more concerned with overcrowding. These neighborhoods, for example Flushing or Corona, have greater numbers of immigrants than other neighborhoods and the large numbers of people in the neighborhoods gives them a crowded feeling. In the neighborhoods on the eastern border of Queens, like Far Rockaway and Howard Beach, the areas themselves are too far removed from Manhattan to be of much concern to the city. Instead, residents are left to deal with their own problems. In wealthier areas like Howard Beach, that is not a problem. In places like the Rockaways, however, the lack of city funding proves detrimental to community needs.
These are all instances showing what the community wants and what they feel about what they're getting. Clearly, they want services and projects which they aren't getting. In place of this, they're getting projects they don't want. Aren't they lucky?
To learn our method for this project, please click next.
