NYC NEIGHBORHOODS
Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in Queens built between 1915 and 1940. It is known for its many different ethnicities and cultures which live together forming this community. Mainly Latinos and people from South Asia live in Jackson Heights and there are more than 167 different languages. Food is a very important aspect of Jackson Heights, because of the wide cultural mix, there are a lot of different restaurants with different food from other countries.
The main challenge in this neighborhood is the lack of public spaces like for example parks since a lot of spaces have been used to build apartment buildings.
Astoria-Ditmars
Astoria is a big neighborhood in Queens, it used to be a “blue-collar” neighborhood so it was full of factories and mainly people who worked in them. Nowadays there is a very large Greek community mixed with Asian and Middle Eastern influences.
There is still one power plant in Astoria which causes bad air pollution affecting especially the younger population. Gentrification is a big issue in this neighborhood, more people are coming every day, more restaurants and bars are appearing, which is causing smaller businesses to close and the rent prices to rise.
Red Hooks
Red Hooks is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, it had a very big port that brought a large Italian and Irish population. In 1960 the shipping industry moved along with other businesses leaving many people unemployed and Red Hook’s economy went down drastically.
Now there is a large art community and gentrification is affecting the neighborhood. More people coming and more coffee shops but rent prices are going up.
In 2012 Storm Sandy hit Red Hooks flooding and destroying many streets. This tragic event brought the community together to rebuild their neighborhood, making people unite for the same cause.
Harlem
Harlem is a very big neighborhood in Manhattan divided into smaller districts: West Harlem, Morningside Heights, Central Harlem, East Harlem, and Hamilton Heights. It was originally a Deutch village founded around 1658.
West and Central Harlem: in the 1900s a big African American community moved to this area and in the 20s and ’30s, black culture took a very important part in this neighborhood. Many artists, musicians, and businessmen took part in the Harlem Renaissance. The Apollo theater is in this part of Harlem and many stars were born there at the time.
East Harlem: Also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, has a very large Latin population. In the 1950s many Puerto Ricans moved here joining the Italians that were here before. Today it is mainly a Latin community with some remnants of the Italian Immigrants. It has a big museum called Museo del Barrio which was founded by parents, teachers, and activists in the 60s for children to learn and get involved in Latin American and Caribbean music, culture and art.
Hamilton Heights: named after Alexander Hamilton, is a neighborhood filled with different artistic schools. The Dance Theater of Harlem, created to introduce dance culture to kids. The Harlem School of the arts started out as a music school and expanded into dance and visual arts. It also has the City College which was the first public college in the US to give the opportunity for immigrants to study regardless of their socio-economical status. Hamilton Heights also harbors the Sugar Hill neighborhood which was the home of very wealthy African Americans.
Crown Heights
Crown Heights is known for the riots that took place almost 30 years ago. The Jewish and the black community faced tension, violence, and distrust after a car driven by a Jewish rabbi killed a little boy and injured a little girl. This event triggered a series of attacks between the two communities making them separate within the neighborhood. The acts weren’t antisemitic but showed resentment against the Jewish population because of preferential treatment by the government and the police.
There were many racial tensions in the neighborhood wich caused the white population to be concentrated in one area. Also, there is a Jewish volunteer patrol going around the neighborhood which doesn’t help with the tension because the black community doesn’t feel protected by it.
Now things are better, the racial tensions seem to have faded a bit and there seems to be more cohesion and unity between the Jewish and the black community, but the people still feel that there is a separation between the two of them.
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in Brooklyn known for its beaches and the Conney Island attraction park. Brighton Beach is also known as Little Odessa because of the Ukranian immigrants that moved there in the 80s after the fall of the Soviet Union. Brighton Beach Avenue is the main center for the Russian speaking community, it has many shops, markets, and restaurants. It also contains the Brighton Bazar which is a huge Russian Supermarket where you can find any kind of Russian cuisine.
Sunset Park
Sunset Park is a neighborhood located in Brooklyn. In the 1600s it was populated by the English, Finns, Deutch and later on Norwegians. Nowadays, the population is mainly Latin and Chinese.
Gentrification is a very big problem in Sunset Park. Industry City is a center for luxury brands and shops that attracts wealthy people. A lot of people have discussed whether Industry city is a good or a bad thing for the neighborhood in terms of gentrification. It has created more jobs for the people but at the same time, it’s getting more expensive to live there.
There is a very big Chinese population that has its own Chinatown even bigger than the one in manhattan. A lot of shops and markets were small business have grown through the years.
Before the Chinese community was such a big part of Sunset Park, the Scandinavian community took an important role in settling this region. Mainly in 3 aspects: the maritime history of New York, construction of buildings and the social contract and its implementation in the city.
Sunset Park also harbors the Greenwoods Cemetery, founded in 1883 it is a beautiful place to take photographs and wonder in the art and history of this neighborhood.
Bed- Stuy
Bed Stuy is a neighborhood in Brooklyn that is being slowly gentrified. Throughout the years the buildings have increased the number of apartments and stores around them. This is just like other neighborhoods that are suffering from the consequences of gentrification, rents are increasing forcing people that have lived there for a long time to leave because they can’t afford it anymore. Instead, a lot of people who can afford it are coming in to do short term rentals that end up becoming long term.
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is an island located on the East River. It didn’t use to be a residential place. There was an asylum, a hospital, and a penitentiary but in 1968 John Lindsay, mayor of New York planned to construct housing on the island. From then on, Roosevelt Island has the Aerial Tram to communicate to the city. It goes over the East River and millions of people take it every year.
I want to focus on Jackson Heights for the next couple of weeks. I decided to choose this neighborhood because I loved the wide cultural and ethnic mix that it has. I was very inspired by the fact that they have such a united and joyous community even though they come from so many different places. It should be an example for other neighborhoods or places around the world: the cultural differences complement us and shouldn’t isolate us. Since they have a lack of public spaces like parks I thought it would be interesting to find a solution to a problem like that in a neighborhood that has so many buildings.
