Jennifer Ingrao
10/3/12
Feature Article Writing
Professor Bernstein

Neighborhood Faces Story: Final Draft
A Gem of Astoria

The smile that beamed from Anne Ramodhar’s face as she opens the door to Bakeway Café on 31st Street in Astoria, and squeezes her petite body through a space barely big enough for a small child, did its part to light up the small café.  She apologizes for being seven minutes late, for one of her twice weekly church sessions at the Times Square Church on 51st Street ran late.

For Ms. Ramodhar, church is not only a way of life, but a hobby, passion, and a social group.   She wastes no time in jumping into her background with an ear to ear grin that possesses the air of someone excited to recap her story.  She speaks rapidly with a slight stutter that may not be obvious in a casual conversation.  Being a practicing Lutheran, she expresses the importance of Church teachings throughout the interview and provides captivating examples of what she refers to as ‘God’s hand in things.’’

“I came here from South America, a little over 26 years ago.  I was looking for a job, and after six months I went to an agency for a job to take care of elderly people, and they sent me to Astoria.  That’s I how I came to Astoria, and I fell in love with Astoria after I came to work here and I have stayed in this neighborhood ever since.”

The love is mutual between Ms. Ramodhar and Astoria, as she is an important staple in society.  An  homeowner, landlord, and member of the town who often organizes social and church gatherings, Ramodhar is an important and highly admired member of the Astoria township.  As a landlord, Ms. Ramodhar makes sure to keep the rent affordable for her tenants, as well as try to make their living experience as pleasant as possible.

“Anne has been a wonderful landlord.  And she has been very responsive to our needs.  Unlike other landlords in the neighborhood, she is not trying to take advantage of us financially. She looks out for us, like  our mothers would.  One day she even came to meet me late at night from her daughters house to give me a stamp so I could put something important in the mail, because I couldn’t get to the post office. We live in a very beautiful, safe neighborhood, but living under Anne is even more comforting,” commented Pamela Hesch, a tenant of Anne’s for almost two years.

Ms. Ramodhar was a struggling foreigner who came to New York City to make a life for herself, and that she has accomplished.  Being a single mother of two children Laura and Trevor, she worked her way from nothing to a nursing degree and a prominent position as a nurse for the corporate office of Citibank, which cares for over 10,000 employees. In her spare time Anne enjoys the fine arts in a variety of aspects.  “I would go to a Broadway show over watch a movie any day of the week,” she says.  She also loves to attend her Church, sometimes staying for three services in a row, if she is inspired enough.

She has earned a respected reputation in the city of Astoria, due to her hardworking nature and friendly personality. But there are some residents who weren’t so welcoming. “Some of the Greeks were very racist and, when I first moved in here my neighbors, they didn’t even want me to have the house.”

She goes on to describe a difficult situation when her neighbors did not want her to join their neighborhood as a homeowner, strictly because of her background.  She also discusses another difficult moment when she rented to an African American tenant, and certain neighbors were not happy about it.  She has made every effort not to allow that to diminish her happiness in Astoria.

Ms. Ramodhar describes her connection to Astoria as all encompassing.  Safety being one of the primary concerns, she also highlights the convenience of its location in proximity to Manhattan, as well as it’s shopping and restaurant locations.

She states that she has seen a huge change in Astoria that  comes back to one word: “Gentrification”.  In the last five or six years she can identify a change in the average Astoria resident, now citing young working professionals as a presence in the town, as well as a changing dominant racial demographic.

“When I first came here it was a very Greek and Italian neighborhood.  Now there are many young people, Caucasian and African American, as well as more Arabic and Asian citizens.”

Still, she embraces the change all the same and confirms her dedication to the neighborhood.  “It’s lively here, and always changing.  That’s what I love about this city.”