Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Bungalow blight

From The Real Deal:

Photographer Lynn Guarino recently toured the Far Rockaway's remaining bungalows to capture how they have become dilapidated and worn down over time due to shifting demographics (see slide show at right).

Guarino said that in the 1940s, "Far Rockaway was pegged as 'the new Hamptons,' and the bungalows were popular vacation destinations for New Yorkers," but when the city built low-income housing in the area, its tourism industry declined. A local preservation group called the Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association has made preserving the bungalows its mission.

"I wanted to show in the photos the impact the city has of making or breaking neighborhoods depending on the zoning laws and types of housing they build," Guarino said.

11 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

You want to see some popular vacation destination architecture built for the masses? Check out the tent dwellings - that's right, tents - surrounding the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ. These are highly fought after each beach season and the tenants keep them and the surrounding area immaculate.

Anonymous said...

Low income housing.........it's not the housing, it's the people(i use that term loosely)that reside there.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Old Astoria Village. Make them 150 year old houses.

Anonymous said...

You mean it has nothing to do with the fact that this place will be underwater in 20 years?

Anonymous said...

i say tear those shacks down and rebuild something decent.

Anonymous said...

Sand is sand. A poor place to build anything. The bungalows made a lot more sense there than the low-income housing. In the event of hurricane, we will have a real tragedy.

Anonymous said...

At the end of the film, "Dirty Dancing," the Catskills hotel owner mentions that less people might be coming back to the mountains, as a new trend of travel to Europe was developing. The Rockaways, Long Beach, and other "local" destinations saw similar fates.

It became easier to travel to Fire Island and Hamptons. The cost of airline travel decreased. There were migrations to the Greater New York suburbs, the southeastern USA, etc.

The notion that one had to rent a bungalow by the seashore within reach of the "city" by subway gradually faded away as people and society changed.

Jeff with one 'f' said...

Who wants a bungalow near housing projects?

Society didn't change, a neighborhood was destroyed by the city's inept try at social engineering. Just like East New York and Coney Island.

Anonymous said...

East New York was actually block-busted by the Mafia. That one was no accident.

Anonymous said...

Its a bit of everything rolled into one, where nobody want to take blame or credit. I love listening to people who talk about Long island as if you cross some magical bridge for hundreds of mile to reach the land of golden cupcakes and perfection. Do a little research and you will find out that if you look at old addresses in Queens for instance... 122-12 Montauk street, St. Albans, Long Island.
Thats right Queens is part of L.I.
What people tried to create was a "place" that is "exclusive"...exclusive of what they feared, exclusive of the unknown, because they feared it. And what you have now is towns in L.I. that a LOT of well to do folks cannot afford either.
I dont blame people for their fear, and though I am a person of color...I want a safe neighborhood, my neighbors to be kind and respectful, people to be law abiding. Its just sucks to watch people bail out of fear. Of course dont stay if its real danger, but maybe for once get to know your neighbor before you draw your conclusions

Queens Crapper said...

Until 1898, there was no Nassau County and Queens ran right up to the Suffolk County line.

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