Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Valentines to Jackson Heights

These two letters appear in this week's Time Out New York in response to its "Why Queens?" cover story previously mentioned here:

TONY crosses the river to slum it

Such great heights

TONY's designation of my Jackson Heights neighborhood as a simmering up-and-comer was a bittersweet account. True, the myriad food selections are truly a block-to-block marvel. But your scribe was off-balance when claiming a move here would be a lonely endeavor. In fact, Jackson Heights breathes a homey, small-town community feel despite its international diversity. Neighbors know and care for each other, and welcome the newbies. I'm proud to call this home.

- Alfonso Quiroz, Queens

As someone who moved to Jackson Heights two years ago, I read with interest Daisy Carrington's article about my neighborhood. Though I thought she glossed over some of the great things about JH, such as the prewar co-ops and huge manicured gardens, I did think she hit the nail on the head in one respect: Among the neighborhood's best attractions is that people like the author's friends rarely leave their hipster enclaves to visit it.

- Mike Novak, Queens

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The second letter was a witty retort to Ms. Carrington's somewhat inane explaination for not giving Jackson Heights a chance.

Maybe she should ditch her hipster friends; they're gonna abandon her anyway when she gets tried of "slumming" in Bklyn and moves to Murray Hill to be with her real group!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I wasn't the only one that realized how ridiculous that article was.

Her reasons for not liking JH were that it's too far from Manhattan and from her friends in Carrol Gardens.

1) It's a far easier and quicker commute to midtown from JH than it is from Carrol Gardens.

2) Who the fuck cares how far it is from her friends?

Anonymous said...

People who are truly "hip" to things around them are visionaries. They look beyond the usual and apreciate real value, be it in music, art or neighborhoods. The "hipster", on the other hand is a narrowminded follower! He wants to be "hip" but he fails to do so . He's too busy being afraid of stepping out of his fellow "hipster's" credo lest they call him "un-hip"! Dig?

Anonymous said...

As a former Queens resident, JH is one of the most amazing nabes I've been to. And TONY shld FIRE THAT woman for a work assigment that ended up her being more concerned with her so called friends rather than enjoying what she shld be writing about. And blive me when I say true friends don't care where you really live!!!

Anonymous said...

After reading that article about Queens in TONY I was relieved to see that Ms. Carrington declared Jackson Heights "Too far away". I would prefer that Jackson Heights remain as it is is, a wonderful, comfortable community that is not overrun by hipsters or ruined by over development. Let her enjoy her Carroll Gardens and keep Jackson Heights the beautiful secret that it is.