Auburndale is a neighborhood in the northern part of Queens, New York. It has a predominantly White demographic with a significant Asian population. Auburndale is a really quiet residential community but has seen significant developments as of recent. These include an influx of new businesses and home development. Due to these factors as well as the area’s excellent District 26 schools, property values in Auburndale have increased dramatically. The New York Times stated that Auburndale “echoes of Olde England” because of the Tudor houses that permeate the neighborhood. There is also significant park space in the neighborhood for baseball and other outdoor activities. When thinking of my childhood, the times spent in the parks of Auburndale are some of the happiest moments. Auburndale is where I grew up. I went to elementary school through high school here and still reside in Auburndale to this day. Growing up in Auburndale, I have seen the linguistic landscape change and adapt to represent us. It has grown to represent our demographics and tastes, our students and languages, and our cultures and heritages.
In Auburndale, there has always been a significant Italian population. This population is reflected in the many businesses and signs around the neighborhood. It has never been difficult to find an Italian restaurant or pizzeria here. There is even an Italian restaurant right on my block called “Piccolo Sogno”, which is an Italian phrase that translates over to “little dream.” The restaurant’s storefront is depicted in Image two. Upon entering Piccolo Sogno and other Italian establishments, it is not unusual to see menus in Italian with an English translation in a smaller and different font. This practice is distinct from other areas in Queens and even New York City as a whole in that most Italian restaurants typically do not have any Italian on their menus. Such a linguistic characteristic of Italian restaurants and pizzerias demonstrates the prevalence of Italian culture in Auburndale. It signifies the pride that Italian residents of Auburndale have for their language. Additionally, with such a demand for Italian products, Auburndale has various Italian meat markets. One of which is D’Alessandro, pictured in Image three. This market has served the community for as long as I have been alive. A bull with the writing, “since 1957” on D’Alessandro’s storefront well represents their longevity in the community. D’Alessandro had built a tradition of having its sales promotions on the wall over the middle section of the market. Despite its storefront being predominantly English, the promotions in the store also have Italian and Chinese translations. In Auburndale, there is a surprisingly large amount of tasks that you can accomplish without the English language, and shopping for meat is one of them. According to NYC Planning, 31.4% of Queens Community District 11 residents, which represents Auburndale and its surrounding neighborhoods, identify themselves as having limited English proficiency. This percentage is 8% higher than the NYC average. If all of Auburndale had a homogenous, English-based linguistic landscape, the neighborhood would be neglecting a big percentage of its population. Auburndale represents its people.
The neighborhood has always been a great school district with a great number of elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. This is reflected within the linguistic landscape with Auburndale having an enormous number of school crossing signs. As supported by Image 4, these signs often indicate lower speed limits and higher fines to discourage speeding. Additionally, the same image also depicts a regular encounter when driving in Auburndale, speed bumps. There is always the word “BUMP” painted on the pavement before speed bumps but this linguistic aspect of Auburndale is often missed by the common eye when driving at night. Image 5 illustrates one growing linguistic aspect of Auburndale. Camera-enforced speed limits signs have been greatly implemented and continue to be implemented in Auburndale to protect our large student population. Going to school here has also exposed me to many different linguistic aspects of Auburndale. I and many other kids going to elementary school in the neighborhood typically found ourselves at the neighborhood library after school. We were always greeted with the “Queens Library” sign, seen in Image 6, that has been a friendly sight in Auburndale. Seen through a linguistic lens, the neighborhood really places emphasis on student safety and catering to their needs.
Upon attending Baruch College though, I was exposed to important linguistic aspects of Auburndale that I previously have not encountered. When waking up late, I would take the Long Island Rail Road that got me to Penn Station in under thirty minutes opposed to the subway that took an hour. I saw different groups of working-class people in the train station as well as the same sign that greeted me every time, “AUBURNDALE”. At the time, I was not informed of the importance this sign and station held to the neighborhood. I later found out that the entire community’s growth and development was attributed to the Auburndale station. When analyzing Image 1, Auburndale station is actually one of only four landmarks identified in the map of Auburndale. This marks its significance as the neighborhood hub. Without the construction of Auburndale station, perhaps my family would have never settled down here. The “AUBURNDALE” greeting never meant so much. Adding on, there is another sign that reads “Direction to New York” in Image 7. The sign gives off the impression that the station is oriented towards Manhattan and that many residents of Auburndale frequent Manhattan for work, school, and etc. Auburndale station is an example of how the neighborhood’s linguistic landscape has history and serves the interests and activities of our people.
IMAGE 10 Another aspect of Auburndale’s linguistic landscape that has adjusted to the demographics is the closing of Walbaums, a longtime grocery store, and the opening of H-mart, another grocery store. Well, as the reader, you might ask: What is reflected? Isn’t this just a replacement of grocery stores? The short answer, no. Auburndale has recently seen a rapid increase in its Asian population. Waldbaums was no longer bringing in many customers due to high competition between American supermarkets. H-mart was now open in its place and became a huge success because it catered to the Asian population. Auburndale residents no longer had to take a 15 minute trip to Main Street, Flushing to buy Asian groceries. They now had one close by. H-mart is now a prominent name in the community and they sell primarily Korean products. As depicted in Image 10, many of the products are represented by Korean labeling. The aisles in H-mart are labeled in both Korean and English. However, its storefront as represented by Image 9 shows no indication of Korean culture at first glance. It is after examining the “H” in H-mart where you find Seoye or Korean calligraphy. The “H” is illustrated by brush strokes, a characteristic of the visual art form. Upon visiting Auburndale, doing a quick examination into its many shops can tell a story of its tastes and demographics.
Heading north and away from the supermarkets, you eventually run into Northern Boulevard. Northern Boulevard is where the highest concentration of businesses emerge in Auburndale and is home to Gyro World, a greek restaurant. Gyro World is a neighborhood favorite. They even bring in patrons from neighborhoods such as Astoria and Manhattan just to have their food. From the outside looking in, you can immediately tell that they serve Greek fare. There is a sign by the door that displays the Greek alphabet accompanied by a Greek and American flag. There are signs outside the restaurant with words such as “Souvlaki”, a popular greek dish. Every linguistic aspect of Gyro World represents greek culture. On the other side of Northern Boulevard, a small plaza is branded a linguistic landscape that reminisces to H-mart’s linguistic landscape. As represented by Image 11, almost all of the businesses in the plaza have Korean characters or surnames. Even the flag hanging over the plaza is Korean. These are professional businesses such as law firms, wealth & tax management, and realty services that serve the strong Korean community in Auburndale. This pattern demonstrates the community’s need for Korean in its landscape.
Auburndale is a tight-knit community in Queens. Despite Queens being known as the “World’s Borough” with over 160 languages being spoken, Auburndale does things a bit differently. The neighborhood has a small and specific variety of tastes and demographics that may or may not change as we head towards the future. What will not change is that Auburndale will always represent its tastes and demographics through its linguistic landscape. Next time as you take a drive through, see what you can pick up about the next generation of people here.