Sunday, October 5, 2008

New York Times visits Middle Village

Since a housing boom in the 1920s, this two-square-mile pocket of Queens — the generally accepted boundaries are the Long Island Expressway, Cooper Avenue, the huge Mount Olivet Cemetery and Woodhaven Boulevard — has enjoyed the kind of lifestyle one might expect in suburbia farther afield.

It’s a neighborhood where the mothers pushing strollers through the various parks are actually strolling. No texting. No ramping up cardio. Nary an iPod in sight. The lack of a Whole Foods or Citarella is made up for by a scattershot assortment of specialty stores: bakers, butchers and grocers run less by district managers and more by local shopkeepers who know your name and your children’s names.


A Halfway Point Where People Tend to Stay

Sounds like a horrible place to live, doesn't it?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

First up, the quote that made me barf. Where would we be without the NY Times writing yet another article about Queens and mentioning "Archie Bunker"? They must have it preset in their copy editing software:

Queens in general is packed with the squat single-family homes of the sort that were made famous by Archie and Edith Bunker of “All in the Family” in the 1970s, and George Costanza’s parents in “Seinfeld” 20 years later.

Now, the quote that made me laugh!:

Mr. Crifasi, who has been selling real estate in Middle Village since 1974, said about two-thirds of the buyers and sellers were “locals playing musical chairs in their hometown, none of these yipsters who have been moving into places like Astoria or Williamsburg.”

Yipsters?!?? I think Mr. Crifasi is showing his age here. He seems to be combining the Yippies of 1967 (Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin) with our present day Hipsters. Or perhaps Yipsters are Hipsters who speak Yiddish?!?

But I admire people like Mr. Crifasi, he's actually quite cool in his obliviousness to the superficial trends. He simply lives his life, and has been doing the one thing that he's obviously very good at, real estate, since 1974.

Anonymous said...

What gives off the greater stench: The CSX garbage train or a reporter from the Times?

Both stenches are no good for any of us, and repel decent people.

If you had to keep one stench, which would you get rid of as the more dangerous?

At least stinking garbage doesn't claim to be anything else.

Anonymous said...

Most single-family properties sell for $500,000 to $700,000, with some new condominiums near the M line subway terminal going for $300,000 to $400,000.

WHAT?? In a neighborhood where the median income is not even $70,000, houses sell for $500K to $700K?!?! It's about time housing prices in NYC collapsed for good! Can anyone on a $60K income actually afford an honest 30-year mortgage with 20% downpayment to buy in Middle Village?

Anonymous said...

Some "Corner Guys" should have grabbed that reporter and kicked he or she right in the ass back to the city.
That was a story to block bust the "Archie Bunkers" and MV people who dont want "change"
The reporter may as well said FREE STEAK go get it !

Reporters are 90% no dam good, and the remaing 10% cant get there shit past the editing desk without endless suger coating and PC Crapola.

Media = No F_ Good

(Unless your Paris Hilton or some pregnant Illegel female already with 4+ Mestizo huérfano de padre's