Thesis Statement

To promote diversity of public schools in Forest Hills, the public school system increased funding to these schools so they will attract intelligent students of families of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. This affectively increases the diversity of the surrounding neighborhood.

Chapter XV

I cannot decide either to agree or disagree with Jacob’s views in chapter fifteen because I have not witnessed the progress of slumming and unslumming. I can on the other hand validate some of what she has written. I use to live within walking distance from Coney Island and during that time the neighborhood I lived in I considered a slum. My family and I lived on the second floor of a two floor apartment building, sharing a two bedroom, one living room, one kitchen and one bathroom apartment with another Asian family. The place was a disintegrating, insect and rodent infested hell hole. We knew this was only a temporary arrangement until my parents had saved up enough money to move and so we made no attachments or improvements to the place. The day we finally moved out, we left the place as is the day we moved it, decaying.

Chapter XIII

The title of chapter thirteen is “The self-destruction of diversity”. I agree with the author, Jane Jacobs’s, argument of self-destructing streets. I am observing today what Jacobs is describing in her book. In my own neighborhood at the cross section of Austin St. and 71^st Continental Ave in Forest Hills, there use to be all sorts of small privately owned stores, two or three banks and maybe one or two corporate chains. I remember there use to be this one convince store on 71^st Continental Ave. that I would frequent back in junior high. Now it is a Duane Reade. Most of the block has turned into large corporately owned chains. In the two blocks from Queens Blvd. to Forest Hills Station there are now six or seven banks, a Duane Reade, a Ride Aid, a Boston Market, a McDonald, a Radio Shack and six or seven small stores. So far these two blocks are almost completely taken over by big money and I hope it doesn’t grow any further and completely squeeze out all small businesses.

Research Articles

GEIST, W. E. “About New York: Melting Pot Bubbles in Rego Park.” New York Times (1857-Current file) Apr 24 1986: B1.

This article presents the emerging diversity issues in Queens’s public schools at the time. The main focus of this article is on Halsey Junior High School in Rego Park, Queens. The principal at the time when the article was written was Domenick Uzzi who remarked “The diversity can be annoying.” The student body represented countless countries and spoke 34 different languages and dialects. Roll calls for the teachers were the most difficult part of the day because of the unfamiliar pronunciations and difference in the way first and last names are arraigned. Most of the foreign students adopted English nicknames but they changed them at their own liking which added to the confusion. The only hope of sorting and categorizing these students were by their pocket translation dictionaries. Beside the confusion most teachers enjoyed teaching at the junior high school. “Teachers said they found the mix stimulating and energizing, if sometimes confusing.” They were amazed to discover how fast the students where learning English and assimilating American culture. They also believed because of the diversity the students learned tolerance and acceptance. Even the teachers themselves learned a thing or two about the cultures of their students and how strict schools operated in their student’s native countries.

SENGUPTA, S. “In Queens, Integration Tool Skips Racially Isolated Schools.” New York Times (1857-Current file) Feb 23 1999: B1.

This article describes the efforts made by the public school system to create magnet schools in an attempt to draw private school white students back into public schools and create more racially mixed public schools. Magnet school are public schools, “which offers special programs intended to attract students who will take a school closer to what the Government considers the ideal mix of 50 percent white and 50 percent minority group students.” The article is mainly focused on Community School District 28 which is Queens. Most of the $5 million allocated to District 2, out of the total $95 million in grant money, from a Federal program intended to promote racial integration was divided in favor of the northern district, consisting of Forest Hills and Rego Park, where the schools are already racially integrated instead of the southern district, mainly Jamaica, where the schools are predominately black. District officials decided to favor the northern district because of two main reasons. One, by giving most of the money to already racially integrated schools will attract more white students if not then at least prevent them from leaving. And two, because most previous attempts to attract white students to southern district schools have failed. The officials also mentioned the southern school received a portion of the $8 million from another Federal program for poorer schools.

Interview

Interview Questions

1. What is your name?
2. How long have you lived in this neighborhood?
3. How has real estate prices changed since you moved in?
4. How has the neighborhood physically changed since you moved in?
5. How has transportation accessibility changed since you moved in?
6. How has public safety changed since you moved in?
7. How has health care changed since you moved in?
8. How has the ethic diversity changed since you moved it?
9. How has the average age of your neighbors changed since you moved in?
10. How has public recreation changed since you moved in?
11. How has the neighborhoods economic distribution changed since you moved in?

Chapter IX

In Chapter nine the author explains her views on the size of city streets, how they affect the flow of pedestrian traffic and how the flow of traffic affects businesses on city streets traffic. Jane Jacobs has observed that New York City streets are too long. These long streets isolate and funnel pedestrian foot traffic away from the long side of streets towards the short side of streets. The flow of foot traffic is the livelihood of smaller businesses in the city. Businesses that are in the middle of these long streets are effectively isolated from the flow of foot traffic. Shorter streets allow foot traffic to flow more freely between both sides of the street. Jacobs explains blocks should be long enough to hold a diversity of businesses but short enough to give these businesses plenty of chances to turn corners and be exposed to foot traffic as much as possible.

Neighborhood Demographics

I moved into my neighborhood back in 1994. I was thirteen at the time and the first school I attended was Russell Sage Junior High School. I didn’t know much about the people in my neighborhood. However I observed as I explored my surroundings and from the people I meet in school that most of the neighborhood was Caucasian. I later learned that the neighborhood was predominantly Jewish.
Most of the kids that I first befriended were Asian and that was only because there weren’t that many of us and we all sat at the same table during lunch period. None of them lived on my block. The closest one who was a Japanese kid lived five blocks away and another who I believe was Thai lived seven blocks away the other direction. I have noticed though in the last five years there have been more Asians around my neighborhood and according to the US Census in 2000, 17.6% of Queens County was Asian and by 2006 it had risen to 21.2%.

Home Description

The pre-1950 building I chose to describe is my house. It is one of a batch of houses commissioned in 1932 and completed in 1943. It is a standard two floor one family house with a one car garage in the backyard. When looking at the front of the house the door is on the left and there are three windows to the right of it.
There are three rooms on the first floor: the living room, the dining room and the kitchen. The front door opens into the living room. Against the right wall are a row of desks, in the middle of the room is a sofa set and against the left wall is the television set. There is a wall with an archway separating the living room from the dining room. In the dining room on the right is the dining table set and on the left wall are the stairs that lead to the second floor. Under the stairs there is a small closet. Dividing the dining room and the kitchen is a wall with a door. In the kitchen on the right wall is the refrigerator, a cabinet set and stairs that lead to the back door and another staircase to the basement. In the middle is a medium sized table and on the left is a small bathroom, the stove and the sink.
On the second floor there are three bedrooms, a bathroom and a closet. At the top of the stair case is the bathroom on the left side of the house, the bedrooms on the right and the closet behind the stairs. In the bathroom on the left is the toilet, the sink and the bathtub against the back wall. Next to the bathroom is the first bedroom. In that room is a bed and the stairs to the attic. Next to that is the second bedroom which is used as a study. Next to that is the master bedroom.
In the basement there are four rooms, a boiler room, a small bathroom, a large main room and a small side room. Once you walk down the stairs leading from the back door you can walk into the main room on the left or the laundry/boiler room on the right. In the laundry/boiler room is the water heater, the boiler and two washing machines. On the right wall is the door to the small bathroom. In the main room there is a closet on the right and a door leading into the side room.

Building description

The post-1950 building I chose to describe was once a warehouse. It had been abandoned before I moved into the neighborhood. I’m not exactly sure when it was renovated, but I know it was around 2000 give and take a few years. The building is roughly ten thousand square feet, plus or minus a thousand feet with a parking lot in the front. It is rectangular in shaped and made of brick and cement. It was renovated as a standard large commercial complex for big-box retail stores. It is divided into three sections to house three different stores; Trader Joe’s and Staples are located on the first floor while Michaels is located on the entire second floor. All three of the store names and logos are located on the top portion of the second floor. I believe there is also a basement to this building. You can see that the building is raised above street level, which causes me to believe there is a basement. There are only two openings to the building, one in the back for shipments and delivers and the main entrance in the front for customers. The inside of the building looks like your average large department store with false drop down ceiling and rows of florescent lighting, long isles that run from the front of the store to the rear and the atmosphere is controlled with central air conditioning. My description of the building is lacking details because I haven’t been there many times. I have only been to Staples a few times and have never even set foot in either of the two other stores. The best description I can give of the store is actually the impression it makes on me. Everything about the build screams factory line to me, from the perfectly rectangular shape of the build, to the identically measured rectangular bricks and the straight lined ninety degree windows. There is no personality, no fluidity and no life to the building. Everything is just so straight forward and perfect, designed like a Lego toy a child can easily follow the directions and build, a representation of modern industrialization of mass production and uniformity.

Chapters VII & VIII

In chapters seven and eight the author describes what she believes is necessary for a business to survive. I agree with Jane Jacob’s arguments. Business’s can’t survive on sporadic rush of customers alone. There definitely needs to be at least a steady low flow of customers and I speak from experience. When businesses only have lunch and dinner rushes employees get use to the fast and slow trend and they tend to become comfortable with the slow pace and then when they get hit with the a rush, service suffers. But when there is a steady flow of customers and they don’t get a chance to sit still they are always alert and observant of the customers needs. But this is not the only factor that determines if a business will survive. I also believe there needs to be a selection of services and products business can provide. Usually a mix of services and products instead of just one is the best and of course location, location, location.

Neighborhood Demographics

The New York Times. Real Estate. 11 Feb. 2008 <http://realestate.nytimes.com/community/profiles/Queens-Forest-Hills-kew-Gardens.asp>

This site the site for The New York Times newspaper. The real estate page is mainly for real estate listings. There is a section on demographic data that gives a quick overview of the neighborhood you are looking in.

United States. U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Census Bureau. April 2000. 11 Feb. 2008 <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/36/36081.html>

The US Census Bureau collects data on everyone living within the United States and its territories every ten years. The last census was in 2000 and the next census is in 2010.

My Street

I live on a postage stamp street with sixteen nearly identical houses on both sides of the street. There is a triangle park at the three way intersection at the end of my street. The first picture is the street I live on and the second picture the triangle park at the intersection of my block. I really don’t know the people who live on my street. For several years after I moved into the house that I live in now. We were the only Asian family in a five block radius. Now there is an Asian family across the street and one on the other side of my street. My parent’s English was never very good so they mostly keep to themselves in fear of being caught up in a situation where they would not be able to communicate their side of the story. So in the thirteen years I have lived on my street we have only meet the neighbors to our immediate left and immediate right. My neighborhood is mainly a residential neighborhood. Every morning I see my neighbors one by one get into their cars and head to work. The ones that don’t drive to work wait with me at the bus stop. At the bus stop everyone is in their own little world. They are either reading, listening to music, like myself, or just waiting and minding their own business. Most of the time everyone knows the bus comes every fifteen minutes. Nobody ever talks to anyone else unless it is to ask “Have you been waiting long?” My street, my neighborhood, lacks the social street life described by Jane Jacobs. The park at the intersection of my street is hardly ever used. On the few occasion that I have seen anyone they are either kids hanging out or someone taking a rest and not interested in started a conversation. The only attempt there is of any social life is the once in a while block party. Most of the time everyone in my neighborhood moves about their daily lives as if in a bubble. Not wanting to be disturbed on their way to their destinations.

Chapter III

This chapter the author describes the difference between a street that has a social life and a street without one. City planners have long misunderstood social street life. Comments like, “This is deplorable! If these people had decent homes and a more private or bosky outdoor place, they wouldn’t be on the street!” are completely wrong. There is a certain sense of security, responsibility and privacy that goes with streets that have a social life. People who live on the same sociable streets enjoy the security of knowing who their neighbors are, the responsibility to their neighbors to keep the streets clean and safe for each other’s children and the knowledge of their neighbors not being too noisy as to invading their own privacy. Streets that have a diversity of stores enjoy all if not most of these benefits, but in a more formal manner, where these stores act as a social hub where more than socialization and information sharing takes place. Streets that lack a social life looses out on these benefits and create a sense of anonymity where strangers can come and go as they wish.

Forgotten NY and St. Savior's

1. Forgotten-ny.com is a site dedicated to rediscovering the hidden and forgotten treasures of old New York, a glimpse into the history and wonder of how and why New York City is the greatest city in the world. The site contains rediscoveries such as retro street lamps and street signs, lost in time train stations and buildings and once upon a time trolleys and tracks. All of these forgotten wonders can be found in all five boroughs. And most of what is on the site are what we see, but miss, in our daily lives, rushing from one place to another taking for granted that they are there. The site also has a section where people can come together and petition to save and restore historical landmarks. There apparently is also a book of the site by the webmaster Kevin Walsh. Who incidentally had been noticing these marvelous relics since he was a child and decided to share his discovers with everyone else after moving to Queens.

2. At the lower left hand corner of the site is a section titled “The fight to save St. Savior’s” This section of the site is dedicated to the preservation and landmarking of a 159 year old gothic style church, St. Savior’s, erected in 1847 after the Maurice family’s European trip, pioneers of Maspeth. Attention was called to this forgotten church when plans for a housing development in place of the church were unveiled in early 2006. The community of Maspeth does not wish to lose their beloved landmark or the overdevelopment of the land. The spokesperson leading the fight is Christina Wilkinson, chairperson of the Juniper Park Civic Association. The fight has been long and hard and after two years of back and forth litigations and general public protests, there is no sign of salvation. “On January 22, 2008, notice was posted that Always Fast expediting firm will be obtaining demolition permits for St. Savior’s Church in Maspeth, Queens.” But the community of Maspeth is not giving up. There struggle has not gone unnoticed and now they are calling on the City, calling on you and me to act and bring their case before the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Introduction

The introduction of the book “The Death and life of great American cities.” is basically a direct attack on orthodox city planning. The author, Jane Jacobs, makes this point very clear from her opening sentence, “This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding.” The first couple of the paragraphs she briefly tells you what the goal of her book is. What she thinks is wrong with the way cities are planned and how cities should be planned. For the next several paragraphs she seem to go into a rant about how vulgar, grotesque and self-destructive American cities are, using New York, Boston and Chicago as her examples. Then she finally goes into what she thinks is wrong with orthodox city planning principles. Giving examples of the influences that shaped these principles. And finally she explains why these principles are counterproductive and self-destructive to the growth of large cities.