Silent gentrification in the heart of Queens

A Counter White Flight. New York City

Long Island City and Queensboro bridge are the door to Queens facing the East River. the “manhattanized” skyline will be further developed towards the interior of the borough as well it’s opposite pole, Flushing.

Woodside, between Jackson Hts and Corona is mostly populated by Filipinos. Queens, New York.

Roosevelt Avenue parts the heart of Queens, the huge borough of New York City. From Jackson Heights to Corona up to Flushing, the avenue is the spine of an interconnection of micro enclaves. Mexicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Indians, Filipinos, Bangladeshis, Koreans and others from around a hundred of communities share and, at the same time, divide South and North urban zones.

A Remodulation between Bloomberg’s legacy acceleration and de Blasio’s call to curb

Roosevelt Av. with its double layered circulation parts the heart of Queens. From Jackson Hts to Corona up to Flushing, the boulevard is the spine of an interconnection of micro enclaves. it is one of the densest commercial corridors in the city.

The Roosevelt axis with its double layered circulation (express F and 7,E,R,M trains / road) quickly connects to Manhattan beside distributing the local flows. Despite being traditionally host for prostitution, drug dealing and all activities aimed to exploit illegal immigrants and workers, the area shadowed by the F and 7 train tracks is today subject to a remodulation, being accelerated by Bloomberg’s administration legacy: rezoning of Western (Long Island City) and Eastern (Flushing) poles will make place for tall commercial, congress and residential spaces and will squeeze in a vise one of the densest commercial corridors in the city, pushed predominantly from the already “Manhattanized” Long Island City.

Shops managers in Roosevelt Av. tailored their business to current residents. A number of owners fear now that they'll be soon priced out of the neighborhood due to a BID combined with a residents major turnover.

The development of a BID (Business Improvement District) for all the blocks in between was started, but later shortened by 10 blocks, cutting out those from 104st onwards. And it is still a target for critics by a number of business owners who fear they'll be soon priced out of the neighborhood.
In the meantime, the interposed de Blasio’s call to curb luxury developments, preserve affordable housing and protect tenants, focuses on a large scale (all the 5 boroughs) and is a long term plan (ten years). It must deal and harmonize with an opposite process which has been already drafted and with a narrower focus.

A “counter white flight” and domino effect

The BID is still mostly on paper and difficult to decipher hence to anticipate its major consequences is not yet possible. However quietly the initial symptoms of a change are already noticeable to the keen observer.
Few of the old retail spaces along the Avenue have been already cleared to make way for new stores and shops of all types: grocery, drug and pharmacy chain, fancy PCs and phones, branded shoes as well as modern style cafes and condos.

Typical teen and bridal dresses in a Latin American shop window. These dresses are used mostly to celebrate the girls’ 15th anniversary (Quinceanera). Also they used to be sent to relatives in their country of origin as gifts. Roosevelt Av. / Elmhurst, Queens.

La Gran Uruguaya is a cafeteria in Jackson Heights which is very popular between the local Uruguayan community

Parents pick up their sons up from school in Jackson Heights.

Also most disadvantaged immigrants are now being pushed out as leases expire: rent signs hanging in the street became the litmus test to determine how prices raised fast over a short time on the residential bid.
On the other hand, the area is being subject to an increasing influx of mid-class young families, singles, professionals relocating on their turn from those areas of Manhattan that more suffered from an intensive upscaling process. A sort of “counter white flight”, that induces a domino effect, from Manhattan (occasionally passing also through Astoria, Roosevelt Island or Slope) down to the bottom of Queens.

Parents pick up their sons up from school. Middle class families are breaking in the intensely diversified social pattern of Jackson Heights in a sort of “counter white flight”. A shared education for the new generation, particularly helps the breaking up of enclaves and barriers.

Señora Acero (Iron Lady), series aired by Telemundo TV. Spanish is the only language used in the majority of the borough’s signboards. For the newcomers, nothing remains but to adapt, until a likely consistent gentrification process will reverse linguistic habits. Corona, Queens

Breaking in the new communities

In the backstage of Jackson Heights’ intensely diversified social pattern, the presence of young mid-class people isn’t a rarity anymore. Relocating from upscaled areas of Manhattan they can still afford local rising prices.

Newcomers find convenient to live in the area at just few express stops commute from Midtown and Downtown. They find all kind of facilities right in their neighborhood, schools included. A shared education for the new generation, particularly helps the breaking up of enclaves and barriers.

Parents pick up their sons up from school in Jackson Heights, Queens.

They also feel relatively safe, today that’s definitely not the Bronx nor Red Hook. Breaking in new communities seems more a deal than a hurdle.
The already intensely diversified social pattern started to quietly include a white (of European ancestry) presence where in the past it was more a rarity.

New York City , USA.