Monday, December 1, 2014

A tale of 2 communities

From Cleanup Jamaica Queens:

Two big differences between a place like Forest Hills (a mostly community of white) and Jamaica (mostly a community of color). One is the quality of people, while Jamaica has many bottom of the barrel type slobs that bring down a community, Forest Hills does not. But the biggest difference, quality of life issues would NOT be tolerated in Forest Hills by the powers to be, while in Jamaica, the powers to be (including our BLACK elected officials) allow quality of life issues to exist because they do not enforce laws, allow people to do whatever they hell they want (and the folks know this) and really don’t seem to give a shit.

While the 103rd “The Untouchables” cannot handle all of this shit, (I mean they are police officers who have other issues to deal with), the other city agencies need to step up to the plate and our elected officials, including Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, need to really address these issues in communities of color. The following quality of life issues are not new, but just are not really being addressed and lack of enforcement is allowing this to continue again and again. I am sure not one single of the below issues exist in Ms. Melinda Katz’s hood, so why should they be allowed to exist and continue in Jamaica. I will tell you, because it is a color of community and the powers to be do not really give a shit and the people here are not being loud enough of the bullshit and nonsense going on.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe, There's a lot of crap happening in Forest Hills including illegal curb cuts, oversized houses, cemented front yards, illegal dumping, illegal housing, and yes, illegal parking on sidewalks. You may have to search a while, but you'll find similar issues you are facing, maybe not on the same scale as in Jamaica, but we are getting there. Keep up the fight!

Anonymous said...

Same "Crap" all over Flushing !

Joe Moretti said...

Anon stated "There's a lot of crap happening in Forest Hills including illegal curb cuts, oversized houses, cemented front yards, illegal dumping, illegal housing, and yes, illegal parking on sidewalks."

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Really, a LOT OF CRAP in Forest Hills. While I have noticed it has gotten a little dirtier on Austin Street with litter over the years, I certainly have not seen a huge amount (or any) of what you are talking about and I visit Forest Hills often. Not saying you are making this up, but if this exists, it is extremely small and hidden.

The photos I took for this post are all within a few blocks of each other (some on the same block), just a few, and all of this shit exists all over Jamaica, block after block after block. You cannot walk more than two blocks minimum, without seeing some kind of crap and quality of life issue.

You might want to take photos to back up all those statements to put it in a better context.

Anonymous said...

Joe,
Guess you don't visit Forest Hills all that often. Vacant store fronts on Austin Street. Illegal delivery scooters and electric bicycles all over the place, running down one ways the wrong way, up sidewalks, etc. Illegal contstruction all over near the High School. And let's not forget the illegal late night parties and drag racing that go on in Flushing Meadows Park which keep the local residents up all night, all summer, and that the local pct seems unable to do anything about.
If you haven't seen this, as you say, I suggest you take a walk off queens blvd/Austin street and visit the area around the High School and near the service rd.

Gary W said...

Just for educational purposes, what happens if I park my car in front of an illegal curb cut? Other than pissing off the owner, will the city write a ticket?

Anonymous said...

IMPRESSIVE Parking job !!

Anonymous said...

There's a huge graffiti covered abandoned piece of crap in FoHi (I mean Forest Hills) called PArkway Hospital. What RKO Keith's is to Flushing, Parkway Hospital is to Forest Hills.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
IMPRESSIVE Parking job !!

You stole my line.....that took some skill to pull that off!!

Anonymous said...

You might want to check out this earlier QC article on slummy 67-70 Yellowstone. Take a look at the slide show. One of the comments even references Jamaica. Who's forcing the a-hos who own this dump to repair it and clean it up? And yeah, Austin St. is getting notso hotso. There's a Stop Work order on the construction next to Bare Burger. Exo blasts music from their indoor sound system out onto the street. The "Diamond Boutique" employs a guy to scream at the top of his lungs on the street all day, shilling for them. And New Town Grocery remained for years with a birdshit-covered rag for an awning and graffiti-covered metal gate. Also, Austin Public's crappo LED sign is soooo classy. I could go on, but the point is FoHi ain't what it was.

Joe said...

Nothing new---we have this on Decatur street in Ridgewood. (between Seneca & Cypress) Dude has hydraulics to swing cars behind the gate next to his garbage cans !!
Been going on 4 years now.

Anonymous said...

Here's the link to the article on the nasty Yellowstone building, referenced above.

http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2014/05/forest-hills-apartment-complex-has-seen.html

joe moretti said...

Let's be realistic, none of this shit in Forest Hills compares anything to Jamaica or some of the other neighborhoods in Queens

Anonymous said...

What makes a neighborhood is the people that live there, and as much as it pains me to say this, the fact is African Americans do not hold the powers to be accountable. If there is a major detrimental issue in Forest Hills, you can bet folks are calling their representatives and making a fuss. AA do no do that enough for their neighborhoods. Jamaica also has a large poor population that can not manage even their lives, how can one expect them to participate in civic duties? The middle class AA neighborhoods are okay, the not so middle class neighborhoods are almost always rundown. This has always been like that in America, wish it was not.

Anonymous said...

there's more illegal curb cuts in astoria than ive see anywhere else in queens. doctor's row. rules don't apply to people with money, apparently.