5 posts tagged “jackson heights”
Perhaps no one else but myself cares about this, but Bette, the tree planted in December, 2007 outside my window as an early holiday present (okay, it was actually part of the million tree plan initiated in NYC by Mayor Bloomberg and Bette Midler's New York Restoration Project) deserves an update. Here, the before, middle and after spanning just under two years:
Before:
First Spring (April 2008), and now with a collar of stones around the tree base:
Full bloom, June 2008, complete with water skirt:
So, I'm carrying this over from LiveJournal, though I'm sure it's spreading all over the universe.
Consider this a kind of sponsorship, the way people sponsor walkers when they hoof it for a good cause. Only neither one of us actually has to do anything -- you just have to comment, I just have to write a check.
For every unique commenter on this post between now and noon on Saturday, March 28th, I will donate 50 cents to my local library: The Jackson Heights Library in Jackson Heights, Queens, up to an amount of $200 (I'm cross-posting this on my blog, too).
Totally easy: You comment here, I cough up dough, and the library gets more books. You don't have to be brilliant in your comment, just say "I love libraries" and that'll be good enough.
You could also cross-post this yourself and just post the link to your own library pledge.
Note: The pledge is per commenter -- so you can leave 50 comments, but it'll still only be 50 cents. But by spreading the word -- and maybe linking to this post -- you can send your friends here to comment and also raise more money.
Inspiration: The WriterJenn blog, which was linked to by my friend Rose on LJ.
As someone who doesn't actually have a printer right now, the library has been a godsend: It's kind of a PITA to hike over there and sign up, but when I need something printed, they're there for me, 7 days a week. It's clean and mostly quiet and I get what I need pretty speedily. Anyone who knows me at all knows I've been a library fiend for years, once cutting class in elementary school to just go read. Geek! Geek! And yet, who doesn't love a library?
So thanks for making this possible!
(Cross-posted from Facebook)
Arrr, she is a fine tradition we have here in Jackson Heights: The cutting of the hair of the dog.
Just in time for the temps to hit 100, Ciara got herself all shaved off on Friday after almost a year without a groom. (I know, I know, but it's more than I pay for my own haircuts and I've learned to trim her toenails so sue me!) Rainbow Pet Supplies did a nice job, if you're in the market in the Queens area.
Here she is, all fresh and clean and wide-eyed.
For reference, this is Ciara after her first "cut it all off" grooming in June 2003, and I think we've come a long way, baby:
By the way, folks? It's goddamned hot here in New York.
At this time of year, everyone's thinking about what might get left under their tree.
Me, I actually got a tree!
Well, me and the rest of the Jackson Heights neighborhood. I heard this tremendous drilling sound outside this morning while getting ready for work and discovered they were digging up the sidewalk. Who knows why? The city has its ways. Maybe, I thought, we're getting more cable. Or wi-fi. Or something.
When it all stopped, they'd left a sapling behind!
Before (a few years ago), the view outside my bedroom window:
I feel like I got a gift!
When I left today to head to the subway stop I turned down a side street and discovered the actual tree fairies: They were digging up sidewalk and planting the little guys all over, which was very exciting. I know Mayor Bloomberg came up with this "million trees" idea, but I never thought it'd end up in my backyard (figuratively speaking, as I don't have a backyard, and if I did it would smell like fried onions).
I shall call it Bette (after the Divine Miss M, who is also behind the project).
I hold no illusions about the neighborhood where I own property (that is, my one-bedroom): With Manhattan real estate officially certified insane, and the best parts of Brooklyn gentrified and cutesiefied and thus largely priced out of reasonable possibility of ownership, that means all eyes are slowly turning to Queens. Long Island City, Astoria and Forest Hills have long been on the list of desirable places in this borough, which still gets no respect. At least in the Bronx there's fear (for what that's worth, however inaccurate). And in Staten Island, everyone figures you're a suburbanite. But Queens often gets the giggle of being somehow ... low-class. As Betty's sister noted on "Ugly Betty" one night (I paraphrase), "We live in Jackson Heights. Our yards smell like fried onions."
Not true: We have no yards. But I digress.
Suck it up, folks -- Queens is the place to be. And that's good for me. I like living here, I like Jackson Heights a lot, and as I've noted here and there with some glee, the rest of the city is taking notice. I'm all fine with gentrification, frankly. It means my apartment is worth more. And so when I sell it, I can actually retire to somewhere nice and pay off on the place. I'm all about thinking towards that 15-20 year future, assuming I'm still here at all. Some may wail and gnash their teeth about gentrification, but I'm looking forward to it.
But, I've always noted to folks, we're a long way off. How do I know? We don't even have a Starbucks. Not that I would go there, I don't even drink coffee, but even Astoria has a Starbucks.
That changed today. From The New York Times' Sunday Real Estate section:
Jackson Heights, Queens, has in recent years become a favorite destination for young couples and families priced out of Brooklyn neighborhoods like Park Slope and Carroll Gardens.
Michael P. Carfagna, the owner of MPC Properties in Jackson Heights, says many of these displaced Brooklynites are drawn to Jackson Heights for its prewar buildings, especially those with large blocklong interior gardens. He began a marketing campaign last year with advertisements that described the area as “More Park, Less Slope.”
Prewar studios within the historic landmark district in Jackson Heights range from $139,000 to $179,000. Prewar one-bedrooms there cost upward of $250,000, but those in postwar buildings outside the district can cost less than $200,000. Mr. Carfagna has several such listings, including a $183,000 one-bedroom in a postwar building at 33-15 81st Street that requires a down payment of 15 percent.
Buildings west of 82nd Street and within easy walking distance of the main subway station at Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway, where the E, F, R, G and 7 trains converge, tend to be more expensive. The E and F trains run express and are only three stops from Manhattan. Buildings in the high 80s and low 90s carry lower prices; they are still close to the No. 7 train, a local line, but a long walk to E or F trains.
According to Mr. Carfagna, many of the young Brooklyn and Manhattan transplants work in creative industries or new technology. “They come for the diversity and all the great food out here,” he said. “They see it changing and gentrifying, and they want to get in before it goes up and gets too well known. Let’s call it a cheap but good date.” The area also appeals to empty nesters, he added, particularly ones who lived here when they were younger or have relatives who never moved away.
Mr. Carfagna saw plans for a Starbucks in the area as proof that it had finally arrived. “Starbucks really does its homework before moving in,” he said.
Emphasis mine.
Now, I need to find out: If your building was built in 1941, are you pre-war or post-war? Aren't we just "war"? And if so, how does that fall on Mr. Carfagna's continuum?
Starbucks, bring it on.
