Friday, September 14, 2007

AM-NY profiles Woodhaven

Nearly 200 years ago, Woodhaven was "Woodville" -- the name was later changed to distinguish the area from its upstate New York counterpart -- and home to two racetracks, drawing in tens of thousands of onlookers.

City Living: Woodhaven, Queens

Now that the tracks are gone, Woodhaven's bustle is mostly limited to Jamaica Avenue, a commercial strip shielded by a ribcage of elevated train tracks. The surrounding area has a suburban feel characterized by a close-knit, familial atmosphere.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

black and white kid playing together. Nice to see.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wonderful community
with variety and a real sense of place.
I hope some "developer"
doesn't decide to come in and bash it
with Mc Mansions .

Anonymous said...

"Although the area's ethnic makeup -- Guyanese, Jamaican, Chinese, Indian, Eastern European and black, among others -- qualifies the neighborhood as one of Queens' most diverse, locals are proud to say that everyone gets along"

Ah, paragraph 3, the iron-clad dimension that every crap of paper on Queens must contain - also good to keep out potential troublemaking yuppie gentrifiers, too.

Frankly, surprised they even showed a white kid.

Anonymous said...

Woodhaven will be a shithole in five years, if it isn't so already.

Anonymous said...

woodhaven AKA jamaica ave. is horrible there is absolutly NO where to shop. All the ave has is bank drugs stores and 99cents store and you MUST speak spanish to work in any of the store on the AVE. So so much for the americans that live here you must commute to another place for work

Anonymous said...

I LOVE WOODHAVEN...its MY NEIGHBORHOOD! I've been living here for over 10 years and I believe its GREAT although it has gone through some changes over there year. Believe me I would know. I'm only 18 years old and I have eyes, I see things. I have witness the evolution, as well as the deterioration of this neighborhood which is mainly due to youngsters that live here. I see a lost of "kids" doing things that they shouldn't and it makes WOODHAVEN look bad. Overall it is a great place to live but the only thing I would like to emphasize on is the further expansion of business(new stores) in MY NEIGHBOORHOOD.

Anonymous said...

I also hail from Woodhaven, and have been a resident of this town for about 13 years. The neighborhood has changed but i'm seeing more positive changes than negatives ones. There should be more buisnesses here and i think in time there will be, especiall because there are more young people - not hoodlums but- a more professional, hipster looking crowd has started moving in. mostly, you can see the new transplants at the thai resturant on 86th, or the art gallery on 80th. I even see them at the laundrymat. it wasn't so a couple of years ago. the diversity is amazing here and while we do have the ignorant, pants around the knees kids, the neighborhood is safe and clean and feels like a community. We have a tree lightning festivial of our own, and a street fair in october. the woodhaven block association does a lot of good for the community. It feel more like a small town than a just a regualr neighborhood. I'm 23 now, and lived most of my life here. I couldnt imagine leaving now. my home is woodhaven,ny.

Caro said...

I noticed the hipster types move in too! I love Woodhaven. I've lived there for 25 years. I've seen it change and I mostly blame that on over population. Originally I lived near 76th street. That area is still not good but getting better. While the area closer to woodhaven blv is still good but not as great.
I try to support the older business that have been there the longest since the people there are happy to talk about the neighborhood. I miss plaster palace most of all.

Anonymous said...

I too have lived in woodhaven for quite some time, since 94 when I was young.. It used to be a good neghborhood.. I remember actually being able to play hide and seek back on 91st.. To be honest, it's the garbage called mcdonalds that spawned in Jamaica ave and 91st that destroyed the neighborhood slowly... I witnessed the ghettofication creep up and destroy the community.. No longer was it safe to just play outside, there was a sense of distrust for people.

Regardless, those were the days..

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