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Author Archives: Thomas Seubert
Posts: 17 (archived below)
Comments: 26
Protected: ‘Horsing’ Around in Forest Hills: Draft
Posted in ProfilesDRAFTS, Uncategorized
Tagged Thomas Seubert
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Median Income
I thought this map might be helpful:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/174508-blog-census-locates-citys-wealthiest-and-poorest-neighborhoods/
Posted in Backgrounder
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Forest Hills Preliminary Backgrounder
Forest Hills is a neighborhood consisting of a little over two square miles. It rests in central Queens and its boundaries approximately run from the intersection of the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Queens Boulevard, northwest to Horace Harding Expressway, southwest to Queens Boulevard, south along Selfridge Street to Woodhaven Boulevard, and then back northeast to the intersection of the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Queens Boulevard.
According to compiled 2010 Census data using tracts approximating the area of Forest Hills, the neighborhood consists of nearly 80,000 residents. Sixty-six percent of residents are white, 24 percent are Asian alone, 3 percent are Black, and 6 percent identifies as two or more races or some other race. In regards to ethnicity, only 12 percent of Forest Hills’ population identifies as Hispanic or Latino. According to the Community District 6, which consists of Forest Hills and Rego Park, there has been an increase in the population of Russians as well as Bukharian Jews, not to mention a steady rise in the Asian population. The median age in Forest Hills is 42.
According to ACS data, the median income is higher in Forest Hills than surrounding areas. The median income, per section of Forest Hills, ranges from $72,000 to over $120,00. All things considered, this indicates Forest Hills is a fairly affluent neighborhood. Furthermore, the homes in this neighborhood average value comes in at around at over $620,000, but in surrounding neighborhoods is over $100,000 less. A little more than 74 percent of the population lives in a family household, while 24 percent of the population lives in non-family households. Despite being categorized as a neighborhood predominated by homeowners, there is a nearly fifty-fifty split between owner occupied homes and renters. Fifty-one percent of dwellings are renter occupied, and 94 percent of all housing units are occupied.
There are a wide-range of business in Forest Hills. Metropolitan Avenue houses many restaurants, antique shops, and “mom and pop” stores. These include Dee’s, La Vigna, and Eddie’s Sweet Shop. Eddie’s is a century old ice cream shop. Meanwhile, Austin Street is home to many new, trendy, and chain businesses. These include Station House, Flying Pig, and Buffalo Wild Wings. The E and F lines run straight through this area.
Community services in Forest Hills include Forest Hills Senior Center, Alcoholic Anonymous, classes at the Bukharian Jewish Center, and a variety of services and classes at the Queens Community House. Schools in the area include PS 101, JHS 190 Russell Sage, Queens Metropolitan High School, Forest Hills High School, and Our Lady of Mercy School. Forest Hills is also littered with parks, including a section of Forest Park within its bounds, and many other small parks within residential areas, including Project Eden, Russell Sage playground, and Remsen Family Cemetary.
Amanda Burden Response
Julie Satow’s feature article on Amanda Burden, “Amanda Burden Wants to Remake New York. She Has 19 Months Left,” paints an unbiased three-dimensional picture of Ms. Burden. The feature starts out depicting Burden as an innovator. Satow sites many of the beatifications and transformations undertaken by Burden. Soon after, the writer dives into Burden’s interesting past which is a foil to her “innovator” title.
Satow does not, however, illustrate Burden as perfect. Many of Burden’s shortcomings are exemplified and backed by substantial sources. Julia Virtullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the Regional Plan Association and the director of its Center for Urban Innovation, attacks Burden’s idea of “contextual zoning” and how developers don’t know if their plans will please Burden. Burden is shown as indecisive and difficult to please.
By the same token, Satow expresses positive aspects of Burden’s leadership with solid sources. When talking about Burden saving a small makeshift pier in Stuyvesant Park, Satow quotes a community board chairman praising Burden’s attention to even small projects.
Satow’s feature on Burden is evenly reported, with sources coming from both sides. However, Satow does allow her own opinion to shine through in the final paragraphs of the article. Satow chooses to end with several becoming quotes about and from Burden. Readers are left with an image of Burden as a neighborhood savior, reflecting on her successful tenure as Planning Commissioner. If Satow chose to end with a quote from Julia Virtullo-Martin, this would have been a very different feature. Since her article is backed with multiple sources and viewpoints, her glimmer of admiration for Burden can be ignored; Satow produced a fair feature article.
Neighborhood Faces Pitch; Forest Hills
With the E, F, and M subway lines running through the heart of Forest Hills, this area in central Queens is just a twenty-minute train ride from Manhattan. Residents of Forest Hills love being so close to the city, using it for work and play. However, the essence of Forest Hills is anything but city-like. Local shops, family owned businesses, and antique stores line Metropolitan Avenue. Most buildings are no more than a few stories high. One of the real draws of Forest Hills, for residents and visitors, is being able to wander shady residential streets and “The Avenue,” feeling like they are far away from the crowded streets of Manhattan.
Pat McLaughlin uses this great trait of Forest Hills to her advantage. She is an English teacher at a high school in Manhattan and regularly rides the F from the Forest Hills station into the city. Although she lives just outside of Forest Hills, in Kew Gardens, most of her free time is spent in Forest Hills.
McLaughlin, is an equestrian lover and stables her horse at Lynn’s Riding School in Forest Park, located in Forest Hills. She is an ideal person to interview for a “Neighborhood Faces” article on the neighborhood. She works in a city environment, living a short commute away from her job, but is able to enjoy aspects of what most would label a “country life.” I’d like to ask her what is so appealing about this hybrid lifestyle. Forest Hills and McLaughlin give different meaning to what living in a city “requires.”
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Tagged Thomas Seubert
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Forest Hills; Neighborhood Pitch
Shady streets, antique stores, a plethora of family owned businesses, bars, shops, a horseback riding school (yes, a horseback riding school in Queens), and the first planned garden community in the United States, Forest Hills is a bustling little neighborhood in Queens that still maintains its “village-type” charm. One of the most interesting locations and cornerstones of Forest Hills and my current place of work, is Eddie’s Sweet Shop, which has been an ice cream shop for over a hundred years and boasts homemade products. Over the past year or so, a myriad of new business have opened up in the area, including Station House, a trendy bar and restaurant.
Despite the growing number of hotspots, many Forest Hills residents stay in the neighborhood for its quiet residential life, and not to mention, its strong sense of community. Forest Hills provides its residents with an AA group, youth organizations and camps at the Queens/Forest Hills Community House, and classes for all ages at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center.
This communal way of life is closely guarded. It is strange that, unlike many other New York neighborhoods, the “feel” of Forest Hills seems static. This may be because of the cost of living in the area. Homes are valued at over $620,000 in Forest Hills, over $1.5 million in the Forest Hills Gardens gated community, but in nearby Kew Gardens home values drop to barely $440,000. High housing costs may be keeping new comers out of cozy Forest Hills homes and in the new bars and restaurants.