Mr. Tony's Interview

According to Mr. Tony, who is the owner of the one-family house at 89-30 92^nd street. He has moved in Woodhaven, this neighborhood since 1992. He tells me that here have been change a lot; the school system, the streets, more new houses have built at the cores streets, the supplies’ price have increased a lot and less people handing out on the streets whatever at day or night time. He love this neighborhood because he like its quite and clean. And his major mode of transportation is driving but sometimes he will take the J train travel the city. The last thing he tells me is, he doesn’t know well about his neighbors since they are moving in and out too quickly. He don’t even have time to know about them and they have moving out already.

Chapter 15

Although “Slumming or Unslumming” is hard for me to tell, I agree with Jacobs, for the city rebuild project or those city planners, they all watch that a slum occupant with dominant eyes is condescending and not considering personal participation recover. through respecting people lived in slum, acknowledgning their history is in the area, and set up and live in the inherent hopes of those and to the slum of the area that improve them with the a cut above other people attitude, recovering can be finished. And city planners are mistaking to think the problem of slum is money, because people who living there they do not have money to improve their living, they don’t have money to spend on improving the sidewalks, the parks and so on. But they real problem for the slum is, people are moving in and out too quickly.

chapter 13

Yet, diversity is inherently required for city work in a constructive ways and offers the foundation for perpetuity of the city, but diversity can destroy itself. As the area becomes too popular, “outstanding success” forms others, it will attract people to move in. Population over growth; there is competition for the available space. The same as my neighborhood, since 1980s the school systems are an outstanding success. It attracts many incoming migrates, especially the African American and Spanish. Schools became over-crowded, fewer funds to spend on students. Competition for the available space, there are more than one family living in a one-family house, and there will be always be difficulty finding parking spaces. Living spending are above what people can force; supply and demand - a positive correlation between demands and supply prices. And now, people tend to move out. Its outstanding success has destroyed itself.

two sources

If You’re Thinking of Living in Woodhaven, Queens; Diversity in a Cohesive Community

Diana Shaman had given an overview looking at Woodhaven since before to 1998 change. Since people who lives in Woodhaven want to “make people aware that Woodhaven has a wonderful history besides being a great place to live”, they provide cheaper prices and rents; the houses are convenient for public transportation and shops - it’s convenient for shopping, travel to the city only take 45 minutes by train, which attracts newcomers. However, due to the increasing migration, more and more people living in Woodhaven are complaining; schools are increasingly overcrowded, lack of spaces for parking, streets narrows because of one-way traffic. On the other hand, the education systems are great - high percentage of sixth graders and junior high read and do math at or above grade levels. Some high schools like Frank K. Lane High School are providing some special programs; studies in law, medicine, advanced placement courses in English, Spanish language and literature, American history and calculus.

Shaman, Diana. Diversity in a Cohesive Community. Vol. 148. [New York, N.Y.]: The New York Times Company, 1998.

For Children

In Queens, so many international ways to fulfill your desires, culturally, spiritually and edibly.

Travel around Queens by train. There are so many restaurants in different cultures. In the Sunnyside section: 33d street, 40^th street, there is an overflow of ethnicities - Irish, Hispanic, Romanian, Middle Eastern, Korean and Turkish. Over the weekends, at 43-46 42d street, near the 40^th street station, the traditional and popular music is performed by Romanian, Russian or Jewish. Next stop, at 43-01 43d street, there are Korean restaurants. At 42-20 43d Avenue, there are Romanian-European-Middle-Eastern grocery stores. “The store, owned by an Armenian family from Egypt, specializes in Mediterranean food”.

Leimbach, Dulcie. For Children, Vol. C17. [New York, N.Y.]: The New York Times (1857-Current file); Nov 10, 1995; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851-2004).

Themes and supporting argument

Woodhaven, New York have been destroyed itself by its outstanding success from others.

1) Its outstanding success has attracting more and more people moving in, then population over grow.

2) Competition for the available space.

3) Become slum, people moving in and out too quickly, because of high price of living supplies.

The idea for research paper

In Woodhaven 89-24 92^nd street, not far away form the J train station. There is a quite and nice neighborhood; 1 or 2 family houses all around. Those houses face to face and side by side look nice and neat as books in bookshelf at the library. But somehow, the sidewalk is useless, the reputation is bad, the class mobility is low. There are sidewalks but nothing, there are many cars parking on it but people. It’s said, walking alone in this neighborhood is dangerous, and so people want to keep their doors lock. But one day, people would like to open their doors and have a party on the sidewalk, and after that, they become to usual, “lock the doors”.

Since 1950s, there are many whites living in this neighborhood, but when there is one immigrant, it changes a lot. Whites have been moving out of this neighborhood. This has a negative affect for the price and the rent of houses. And because of that, there are more and more immigrants moving in. Today, there are many different races living here in Woodhaven.

Immigration has a huge negative affect for this neighborhood, whatever in economic, social, education or living in this neighborhood.

Chapter 11&12 (The need for concentration and Some myths about diversity)

In chapter 11 (The need for concentration) Jacobs had been mention the wrong way of city planer and their disciples looked at “highdensityandovercrowding” as slums and the meaning of over crowding (more than one person living in a room). But, from her views, high population density does not mean over crowding such as slum and have high density does not mean that the city has been success. As she point out, some of the high density are successful, some are not; like Greenwich Village in Manhattan, North Beach-Telegraph in San Francisco and so on. And there are many cities have low density are slums as in New York, Oakland, and Detroit. However, the population density is not the whole point of diversity. The reason for people gathered in concentration is; the grater population density is, the grater diversity it has, the better opportunity it has.

In chapter 12 (Some myths about diversity). Diversity make city alive. It means that neighborhoods or cities should be mixture, should have differences, whatever it is, like old and new buildings. As she mentions at chapter 8, old and new buildings have mixture of use, they are an economic necessity, old buildings have low rents and new buildings represent high construction cost, have high rents. And those mixture neighborhoods tended to be more successful than those are not. However, mixture does not mean that they must be “bad” or “ugly”. Homogeneity is monotonous and bored. Thus diversity is needed.

The 10 Questions

1) what is your mane?
2) How long do you living in this neighborhood?
3) What do you like and dislike about this neighborhood?
4) has this neighborhood change since you move in? How does it change?
5) What's you opinion about the change in this neighborhood? or How does the change affect you?
6) Do you feel safety in this neighborhood? and why?
7)Do you feel convenient to go shop around you neighborhood?
8) What's you major mode of transportation?
9) Do you think on increase polices and police's rights make you feel more safety?
10) Do know well about your neighbors?

chapter 9 (The need for small blocks

There is the need of short blocks for man, because at socially isolated neighborhood, people can not communicate. Socially deprived neighborhoods have blocks structured so that when commuting will take place adjacently. The Columbus Avenue is in monotony where commercial buildings dull the place. The author has her children growing up in monotony environment, but wanted to let her children experience a variety of paths. The long, monotonous blocks in Manhattan acts like a barrier which basically blocks off all of the communication or social interactions that a city or neighborhood should have. If by having smaller blocks, the commuter would have a wider variety of paths to choose from, therefore having a chance to explore the neighborhood, for e.g. buying, eating, drinking, sightseeing, etc. Thus, the relationship is reciprocal(Jacobs 186).

The Only Supermarket Around

Not far form my house; there is a big supermarket, as you can see in the picture. And it is the only one around my neighborhood. Before, I think people built it because of business, people want to gain money. But now, it is different. They built it for us also. It is the idea of maxed primary use, to make the city work, to make us feel more convenient living in this neighborhood, to make our lives more easily; we need a big supermarket around, a place that has everything we need.
I remember, before the supermarket has built, whenever I want to buy food to cook my lunch or dinner, I have to walk like 10 streets to buy them. Then I hate to cook at home, whenever I feel hungry, I will either order food or go out to eat, because there are many restaurants and stores around. But for the people who have family to take, they can not order or go out to eat at every meal. Thus they have to go to the supermarket either 10 streets away or drive event farer, and they have to buy more then enough for a meal but few days maybe a week, because they can not do this for every meal. Today, we don’t have to think about it any more. Whenever we need to cook, we can go to this big supermarket near our homes and get whatever we need.
There’s more, after the supermarket was built, neighbors tent to have better relationship. We have more often to see each others, and some times we will talk whenever we meet at the supermarket or the sidewalks.
As a conclusion, this supermarket is building in a right place. It is not only offer a convenient place for our neighbors to go but a place that where neighbors can get what they need for living in here.

The Woodhaven New Life Untied Methodist Church

For class assignment, I have been asking to find a building was built at 1950s or before in the neighborhood where I live. The first thing in my mind is “nothing”, because as I remember, I have never see any building look old as it was build here for more than 50 years. When I walk around and ask neighbors, they tell me that here only have two buildings were built before 1950s, the one is a public primary school and other one is the Woodhaven New Life Untied Methodist Church.

For some reason, I want to take a look of the more than 50 years old church. I have heard the church bell ring everyday but I have never bee there. I am not religion, so I never go to church at Saturday or Sunday. It is not point to going to church if you are not religion.

The Woodhaven New Life Untied Methodist Church gives me a first look is small, but not thing special. It is too small to compare with those church in Fashion, or church at Wall Street, a little Bell Tower with small house behind. Next to the tower, there are 3 little doors exist from the little house. The right side of the tower has a gate, and there is a little stone statue of angle, her face looks kind and she is praying. I don’t know why, she make me feel warm and safety even thought it is snowing and cold today. On the top of the statue, there is a iron tablet and it has wrote it was built at World War II and to commemoration for the honor of those soldiers who were fighting and die for defending their countries. When I see a lot of people stepping out form those 3 little doors, I go up and ask, “Why there are so many people go to the church today?” Someone tells me that at every Saturday and Sunday or holiday they will come to the church and pray, and that is “part of my life”. Like technology for toady’s people, this church is small but very important for the people who living at the neighborhood, it is part of their lives.

What is the percent of different race population in Woodhaven New York?

According to the statistics for these two websites, in Woodhaven New York; there is 47.9% of White population, 18,054. The Black or African American population is 5.3%, 1,999. American Indian and Alaska Native populations are 257, 0.7%. Asian populations are 5,155, 13.7%. Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander populations are 30, 0.1%. Some other race population is 9,544, 25.3%. And Hispanic or Latino (of any race) population is 16,414, 43.6%. As you can see, even thought the neighborhood has mixed with different race, the populations of White and Hispanic or Latino have more then half of the total population. Those two websites not only showed the statistics of population of race, but Social, Economic, and Housing Characteristics. Also you can find all those information for any place or neighborhood by typing the zip code in those websites.

11421 Zip Code Detailed Profile <http://www.city-data.com/zips/11421.html> . 2008/2/ 11
Brainy Zip<http://www.brainyzip.com/zipcodes/11/11421.html>. 2008/2/11

http://www.city-data.com/zips/11421.html

http://www.brainyzip.com/zipcodes/11/11421.html

The generators of diversity and The need for mixed primary uses

Diversity is the noteworthy part of the city; it represents accident, chaos, mystery chance and opportunity. The generator of city diversity is the immense numbers of population. Huge amount of city population can produce many different opportunity to different kinds of people for their needs, wherever for economical or living, and businesses. There are four most considerable conditions for well cities planning; “Most blocks must be short. District must have severed more than one primary function. The district must mingle buildings. And there must be a sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purpose they may be there.” For the mixed primary in the city, there should be more than one mixed primary faction and enough for different people to use whatever at the same time of a day of different time in a day. People possess more “convince, liveliness, variety and choice then they ‘deserve’ in their own right.”

Woodhaven

When you look at the picture, it is no different form most of the sidewalks in New York. But when you there, you can feel and hear the differences. In here, Woodhaven, people live in their single house whatever with black or font yard, a huge window handing with many little lines. When dark is rising, everybody will turn their little lines on. Those shiny little lines look like many stars have fail at the ground, and handing at people’s windows. However, beautiful lines at night is not the most special thing it has, living in here, you don’t need the time to remind you to do anything, because you can hear it and feel it. Every time, when your body feels hot or your eyes feel hurt form lines, and many formulary voices whatever from kids or adults, such are “did you do the homework? Want to swim at YMCA tonight? Hurry up! We will be late!” and so on, straight into your ears, you will notice that it is time to wake, morning is coming. Whenever you hear the church bell ringing, you know that it time for lunch, it is twelve o’clock. And when you smell tasteful Chinese food, piquant Indian food or fire-chicken, fire-potato instead of, don’t need for me to say it, you know it is time for dinner. There’s more, like its name Woodhaven. It will become to “Heaven” many time at each year. At spring, the season with full of lives and hopes, flowers and trees are growing. People’s font and back yards are cover with immense numbers of white flowers and flowers that fail from the trees. They look like there just have snowing. At summer time, streets are crowded with kids. Sometimes I don’t even know where those kids from. They are biking, playing and joking on the streets. Whenever you passed by, you can feel their happiness and joyful, then “I wish I can be them again. I was doing the same thing when I was their age…” those things will appear in you mind. When the fall is here, thousands of thousands leafs are failing from the trees, ground are fill with red leafs, looks like those trees are using the last thing they have, drawing a beautiful picture for us, who lives here, to show that how beautiful “Woodhaven” is. What about winner? If you want to know it, find out by yourself. Coming here at the winner snowing time, you will see the “heaven” in your eyes.

The use of sidewalks – contact

(Togetherness or nothing / private or public)

In use of sidewalks to contact with others, chooses are “Togetherness” or nothing. “The more outcome in cities, where people are faced with the choice of sharing much or nothing, is nothing.” People are willing to keeping their own privately but togetherness with the neighborhoods. As Jacobs’s mentions, in the well sidewalks public contact neighborhoods, people would love to share everything with others, helping others, giving advices and even giving their homes key to their friends when they are out from the weekends or not at home. For this kind of neighborhood, “it implies no private commitments.” Would you like to give up your privates to gain the well knowing neighborhood? It really depend on people’s believe and the level of “trust” form each others. It is not easy to trust with people that you don’t know, and it’s in America. Here are too many different races, cultures and believe. Contracting with one race in one neighborhood, and mix neighborhood, it will be less residential racism or discrimination for people to feel unsafe on their sidewalks. I don’t mean that one race in a neighborhood can have well sidewalk public contact, because there still have many social problems for people be “togetherness”. For all, event thought, people are willing to not be sharing much, they are willing to have the “exuberant and varied sidewalk life”, and they will love to pay more to move in. Again, togetherness or nothing, or private or public depend on you. (for real, i love to have a well knowing and togetherness neighborhood..and you?)

The death and life of great American cities (By Jane Jacobs)

“Like a great, visible ego it tells of someone’s achievement. But as to how the city works, it tells, like the Garden City, nothing but lies.” Architectures and city planners; highway planners, land-use planners, legislators- all of them are missing the main point while they are planning. Theories of Garden City, City Beautiful, and Modernism are just ideals of what they think of how city ought to faction but the city actually faction and the real city life. As Jane Jacobs mentioned, to plant and rebuild the city, we should look closely and small in ways of social behavior of people in the cities, economic behavior of the cities and understanding them and the problems that the cities have; changes in housing, traffic, design, planning instead of.

5 For Lighting (Streetlight themes on the Queen of Avenues)

Do you ever walking around the Washington Square at 5^th Avenues? If you don’t, you better to go for it. While you walking around, you can see many of different streetlights around the buildings and the streets.

On the corner of Washington Square Park North, the beginning of 5^th Avenue, there are especially tall streetlights. Those lights can even attachment to illuminate the Arch. There are streetlights designed by Donald Deskey who is the most famous package designer and industrial designer. And there are Shoebox lamps. They look like squares and if you look closely everything meets the other at a 90-degree right angle. There’s more. There are the most value streetlights in historical and the oldest streetlights in NY. They call “twins” or “twinlamps”. Those lights are building by the 1800s~1900s after the property owner on 5^th Avenue complained the darkness of the street, “suffers at night from darkness almost like that of Egypt.” Back in the time, people are posting one for each corner, then the cater-corner and instead of the mid-block at the end. After hundreds of years, there are only three of them leaving at today. One is at 5^th Avenue and West 14^th street, another is at 5^th Avenue and East 19^th street, Southeast corner, and the last one is at 5^th Avenue and West 28^th street. They look as a big ball handing on two opposite side of the light. And if you look carefully, there also a fire line on the top of the light and halfway up the post were used to hold flags during parades.

For real, I am not interesting at those lights or lamps. But they surprise me in some how when I reading the website. Not those streetlights but I wonder how many things around me are from the pass I don’t event know and have been “forgotten”.

Forgotten NY

From the title “Forgotten NY” we can actually know what this website is about. This web is reminding us about what we have forgotten form the passed. Things are as small as cobblestones or as big as trolleys. Something you have forgotten, and you never know.