As I was making notes about each of the neighborhood, I found that there were quite a few differences and similarities between one another. In Crown Heights, it was evident that the place didn’t have the best reputation and did have a lot of history with crime. Due to the majority of Jewish and Black people residing there, a sort of racial tension is created. There is also a roughness amongst them due to the Jewish Patrol singling out people of color. Although it might be somewhat a cultural melting pot as said, the interviewees feel mostly connected to their own ethnic cultures. Most opinions included “people get easily offended”, “scared” and “wish they were friendlier”, forming a sort of negative image in my head. It is also not the cleanest places. However, with all the things said, a lot of people also said it is slowly getting more fun, up and coming, making me think if people carried a lot of the past Crown Heights into the present.
Yorkville sounded quite opposite of Crown Heights because it had clean tree line streets with water on the sides. There are all rise buildings for the young, the professionals, and the retired. It is a family orientated neighborhood with a touch of relaxation and liveliness. It is like a very private community with amazing public schools and lot of parks. However, the transportation, construction and controversies put Yorkville a step behind. The construction takes away from the store fronts, slowing down their businesses.
On the other hand, Jackson Heights has a plethora of cultures, ethnicities, colors, spices, and is extremely worldly. It was the liveliest neighborhood out of all with many languages being spoken, especially by Latinos and south Asians. The architecture speaks out with its low rise, vernacular buildings having their private gardens. The transportation and food doesn’t leave you disappointed either with two airports and all train lines connected. However most of the American stores are converted to Indian stores and rents slowly moving up due to demand. Nonetheless there is a feel of integration and physical sense of community in this neighborhood.
Harlem is huge and covers every aspect from history to amusement. It has the African American history embedded in its housing and Sugar Hill neighborhood. Many physical constructions are a part like shops, market for cultural souvenirs, theaters, restaurants etc. Some buildings and street names based on famous figures and kings represent cultural memory. Due to the Porto Ricco settlement in Harlem, there is a lot of Latino music, food and emphasis on art. There are museums for cultural appreciation and learning of art. Public schools and colleges are open for the immigrants. It is prominent that a lot of activity happens in Harlem.
Red Hook resembled to Crown Heights the most out of all others because of its description. It is a poor neighborhood with drug dens, theft problems and one was liable to get shot. It was surrounded by ports making it a residence for a lot of Italian and Irish immigrants. There is a sense of community within the people who’ve grown up together and sense of security amongst that community. There was also lack of infrastructure before and then the storm disrupted everything again. It sounded like a protesting neighbor because of the expressway problems and crimes. However, with more American people moving in, the policing has been improved and art community expanding too. Red Hook is on the road of improvement and development.
I decided to choose Crown Heights because I wanted to go outside Manhattan and also explore Brooklyn since I have heard quite a bit about it. Crown Heights looked very contrasting to Manhattan in its sense of community and cultural diversity which made me question if there are actually only 2 evident ethnicities? It also sounded like a very apprehensive place due to its reputation and the crime stories and I love mystery although it could be risky. I also looked at the distance from my residence and it was very similar to Harlem which is in Manhattan, so I decided to go there. I also saw a few more pictures of that place which made me curious about its architecture and layout.
