Jackson Heights

NYT: A Charity for Children of New York’s South Asian Working Class

tellasimplestory — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:07:20 -0400

NYT: A Charity for Children of New York’s South Asian Working Class:

Nice profile of South Asian Youth Action (SAYA):

The nonprofit organization has a presence in seven schools, which are all in Queens except for one in Brooklyn, and a gurdwara, a Sikh temple, but its main base is a community center in Elmhurst, a Queens neighborhood, where kids can come after school or on weekends to play basketball, get tutoring, do their homework, meet with counselors or simply hang out.

The majority of SAYA youth are of Guyanese, Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani descent, said Udai Tambar, SAYA’s executive director, and each of the organization’s sites reflects the ethnic subgroup that is largest in that neighborhood. SAYA offers ethnicity-specific counseling, and it bills itself as the nation’s only secular youth organization for South Asians.

“If you think of identity as a Venn diagram where the different circles represent the different parts of their identity, SAYA creates a safe space for youth to explore how these circles overlap,” Mr. Tambar said. “By being a secular space, we allow youth to explore what their religion and its overlap with other parts of their identity means for them.”

So far, about 7,700 youths have participated in SAYA’s programs. According to Mr. Tambar, 100 percent of those who have participated in its Chalo College have gone on to enroll in a university, including top schools like Barnard and New York University.

Article: Black folk increasingly priced out of Brooklyn due to gentrification, many moving to East New York

tellasimplestory — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:34:55 -0400

Article: Black folk increasingly priced out of Brooklyn due to gentrification, many moving to East New York:

New York Daily News: “Black population surges in East New York as it falls across the borough and city” (via Mark):

A surge in the number of black residents has made East New York one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in Brooklyn, even as the black population across the borough and citywide fell dramatically.

The black population increased by 13% in East New York from 2000 to 2010, according to a new analysis of census data by the Department of City Planning - absorbing many residents who were priced out of other neighborhoods as the borough’s black population fell by 6%.

Moving out of neighborhoods like Bedford Stuyvesant, some black residents left the city altogether, decamping for the suburbs or the South - but many of those who stayed in the borough ended up in East New York.

Many described the move as a last resort.

“In Bed Stuy it used to be a lot of black and Latinos and the rent wasn’t bad…It used to be easy to find an apartment in Bed Stuy, but now the landlords don’t want to accommodate people in government programs because they have a demand from white people,” said Jasmine Bennett, 32, who moved from Bed Stuy to East New York two years ago.

NYT feature on Jackson Heights Cinema’s struggle to stay open

tellasimplestory — Sun, 13 May 2012 08:47:00 -0400

NYT feature on Jackson Heights Cinema’s struggle to stay open:

Mr. Gunasegaram, 52, known to his friends as Sagar, was once a prominent cinema owner among South Asian immigrants in New York City. After immigrating to New York from Sri Lanka in 1979, he gained a following by renting neglected theaters all over the New York area and showing Indian films to give immigrants a cinematic taste of home.

“People used to wait for two hours to get into my movies,” he said.

But things have changed, thanks to the proliferation of bootleg movies on DVD and the Web, as well as the increase in the number of art-film theaters and multiplexes that show Bollywood films.

“When I started showing movies in New York, you might have five copies of a popular Bollywood film in all of America,” said Mr. Gunasegaram, who lives in South Ozone Park, Queens. “Now, you have 300 copies in this country. There’s much more competition, but this is the only business I know.”

imanihenry: Youth START Video: ON STOP and FRISK — CALL for...

tellasimplestory — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:28:45 -0400

imanihenry:

Youth START Video: ON STOP and FRISK — CALL for VIDEO SUBMISSIONS on Stop and Frisk (by caitgillies)

WSJ: Elmhurst: Home to Many, More Are Coming

tellasimplestory — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:30:18 -0400

WSJ: Elmhurst: Home to Many, More Are Coming:

Neighborhood profile of Elmhurst Chinatown, discussing its population growth, its immigrant diversity (including some mentions of some favorite eats there like Lao Bei Fang), planned development of a retail shopping mall and new housing construction, and a proposed LIRR station.

“The congestion in the neighborhood was evident in the [old] library—it used to be packed,” said Nicholas Dovas, first vice president at the local Newtown Civic Association, who has lived in the area since 1990 and was a volunteer at the library.

The population of Elmhurst and nearby South Corona increased roughly 45% between 1980 and 2010 to 172,598, according to census data.

AAF study shows Asian population increases in NYC with most rapid growth among Taiwanese, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans

tellasimplestory — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:01:02 -0400

AAF study shows Asian population increases in NYC with most rapid growth among Taiwanese, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans:

While Chinatown’s Asian population declined over the past decade, the Asian footprint widened in far-flung neighborhoods from Sunset Park in Brooklyn to Murray Hill in Queens.

In a report released Friday the Asian American Federation, an advocacy and civic group, zeroed in on the city’s booming Asian population, breaking it down by country of origin, neighborhood and age.
….

The report found an increasing diversity within the Asian population. While Chinese and Indians continue to be the largest groups, the fastest-growing ethnic groups were Hmong, Taiwanese, Bangladeshi and Laotians, all of which more than doubled in size over the past decade, though some had tiny base populations. (The Hmong were the smallest, with 83 people.) Other emerging groups, though still small in number, include Nepalese, Burmese and Bhutanese, many of whom came to the U.S. as refugees in recent years.

stillspotting… “an exploration by the Guggenheim turns into a vaguely colonial exercise”

tellasimplestory — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:49:22 -0400

stillspotting… “an exploration by the Guggenheim turns into a vaguely colonial exercise”:

By Lara Pellegrinelli for Capital:

A lovely idea, but how well these compositions and the experiences created as a result of their performance ally themselves with Jackson Heights, a real flesh-and-blood community, is another matter. Like the Tenement House Museum, with its staged rooms that make the absence of their original inhabitants palpable, “transhistoria” feels disconnected from the neighborhood’s own natives, even as they physically surround the project. The Guggenheim has made a vaguely colonial exercise out of translating them for outsiders.

More photos of The People’s Walking Tour of Jackson...

tellasimplestory — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:51:00 -0400

More photos of The People’s Walking Tour of Jackson Heights today organized by Jackson Heights resident, Adhikaar member, and brunch-group member Amy Paul!

queenslove: The People’s Walking Tour of Jackson...

tellasimplestory — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:50:05 -0400

queenslove:

The People’s Walking Tour of Jackson Heights offered a view into the experiences of local immigrant communities through the work of three community groups: Chhaya CDC, New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE), and Adhikaar. 20 participants learned about these groups’ housing rights, worker organizing, language access, immigrant rights and other work to meet the needs of Latino, South Asian, and Nepali/Himalayan communities. The tour was organized by Amy Paul, a Jackson Heights resident and former Adhikaar board member.

NYPD Stop-and-Frisk in Your Apartment Building Hallways

tellasimplestory — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:25:00 -0400

NYPD Stop-and-Frisk in Your Apartment Building Hallways:

Matt Taibbi’s column in Rolling Stone on Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD’s “Operation Clean Halls” and a recent lawsuit challenging the program:

According to the NYCLU, which filed the suit, “virtually every private apartment building [in the Bronx] is enrolled in the program,” and “in Manhattan alone, there are at least 3,895 Clean Halls Buildings.” Referring to the NYPD’s own data, the complaint says police conducted 240,000 “vertical patrols” in the year 2003 alone.

If you live in a Clean Halls building, you can’t even go out to take out the trash without carrying an ID – and even that might not be enough. If you go out for any reason, there may be police in the hallways, demanding that you explain yourself, and insisting, in brazenly illegal and unconstitutional fashion, on searches of your person.

NYDN: “Housing markets in Queens and the Bronx heat up as economy stabilizes”

tellasimplestory — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:36:55 -0400

NYDN: “Housing markets in Queens and the Bronx heat up as economy stabilizes”:

Queens witnessed the biggest number of sales in the quarter, 2,919, a 13% jump from a year ago. The average price of a home in the borough dipped 2% to $391,000.

Neighborhoods that saw a bump in transactions included Flushing, Rego Park, Forest Hills and Kew Gardens.

Jim Pappas, the owner of Rock Realty in Jackson Heights, said he saw activity in Jackson Heights and Astoria begin to heat up in January. But he said it is still very tough to secure a mortgage.

“Demand is robust,” Pappas said. “It’s a combination of the weather and the interest rates, which are pretty much phenomenal. People feel the economy has stabilized. We have hit a bottom and hopefully things will stabilize.”

Over in Long Island City, condo sales sizzled, surging more than 50% compared with the previous quarter.

Greenpoint Star: “Don't close our high schools”

tellasimplestory — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:17:18 -0400

Greenpoint Star: “Don't close our high schools”:

Commentary by Albert Baldeo on the NYC Department of Education’s closures of 33 high schools:

We protest the proposal of New York City’s Department of Education (DOE) to close 33 schools and reopen them under the Turnaround method, and condemn the abrupt closures of these historic institutions.

In Queens alone, that list includes John Adams High School in Ozone Park, Richmond Hill High School, Long Island City High School, Flushing High School, Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Newtown High School in Elmhurst, August Martin High School in Jamaica and Bryant High School in Long Island City. There are about 21,000 students in total at the eight schools.

Mayor Bloomberg announced the plan in his State of the City address recently in an effort to secure about $58 million in education aid that the state has withheld because the city and the teachers’ union had yet to reach a deal on new evaluations for educators.

This ill-conceived plan was made without any real planning, strategy or parental input. Comprehensive high schools are necessary to mould our children to become good citizens and prepare them for college and careers.

DOE should be working to improve and enhance these schools in our increasingly competitive global economy. It is wrong to use state and federal programs to close these schools without even a phase out.

One of the high schools slated for closure in Elmhurst, Newtown High School, had a team of talented students who recently won a regional robotics competition and will now move on to compete in a national robotics competition in St. Louis. They had named their robot “Chen Lin Jr.”

The days were long but the payoff was a slamdunk. The Technotics Team 1635 from Newtown High School in Elmhurst won the “Rebound Rumble” competition last month at FIRST Robotics Regionals at the Javits Center, beating out 66 other teams.

4/21 Forum: No Abandoned Buildings While People Are Kicked Out of Their Homes!

tellasimplestory — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 07:20:00 -0400

What: Forum and Community Speak Out followed by a March and Demo
When: Saturday April 21. Forum at 11:00am, Action at 1:pm
Where: Hollis Presbyterian Church, 100-50 196th St., Hollis, Queens, NYC

Every day, thousands of individuals and families are forced from their homes and tossed to the curb by bailed-out banks and their multi-millionaire execs. In South East Queens, foreclosures have devastated communities, displaced individuals, and uprooted families. At the same time, banks and speculators sit on enough vacant property to house every one of the 45,000 people, including 17,000 children, who sleep on the streets and in city shelters each night. Something is terribly wrong!

Join us on April 21st for a Forum and Community Speak-Out as residents and allies come together to to say enough to values of Wall Street! Join us as we share insights, stories, and struggles, and collectively lift our voices to assert that Housing is a Human Right!

On Saturday, we will host a forum with speakers Rob Robinson (Take Back the Land), Michael Premo (Housing is a Human Right), and Laboni Rahman (O4O – Organizing 4 Occupation). They will discuss the persistent crises of homelessness, the lack of affordable, safe and adequate housing, and the foreclosure crisis, showing how each of these issues are connected and the role of the banks and speculators in the process. During the forum, community residents, neighbors, and friends will be invited to speak out and give witness to their experiences of foreclosure, displacement, and homelessness.

Come and share your story and your strength. We are the 99%!

“TOURING THE STREET FOOD OF “EL CAMINO DEL SANTIAGO” OR...

tellasimplestory — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 22:41:14 -0400

“TOURING THE STREET FOOD OF “EL CAMINO DEL SANTIAGO” OR LITTLE COLOMBIA IN QUEENS” on the Art & Lemons blog (via Feet in Two Worlds)

showand: Video of CAAAV’s tenant organizing and...

tellasimplestory — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:34:02 -0400

showand:

Video of CAAAV’s tenant organizing and anti-gentrification work in Chinatown/Manhattan, now expanding to other Chinatowns in the outer boroughs:

A short clip from yesterday’s 11 Allen Street action. It features tenant leader Helen Choong speaking about why we all need to support the tenants and fight gentrification.

showand: Video series for Civic Action: A vision for Long...

tellasimplestory — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:44:37 -0400

showand:

Video series for Civic Action: A vision for Long Island City, an interactive multimedia installation on community, resident, and artist-driven green-space initiatives for LIC/Astoria, sponsored by the Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park.

Join the The People’s Walking Tour of Jackson Heights on 4/19, 4/22

tellasimplestory — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:46:21 -0400

From Amy:

Come walk with us! Make a reservation today.

The People’s Walking Tour
A Gateway into NYC’s Immigrant Enclaves

http://thepeopleswalkingtour.wordpress.com/

Join us for our pilot tour, an interactive, “feets-on” introduction through the back streets and working streets of Jackson Heights, Queens’ quintessential immigrant neighborhood. Learn about some of the most important struggles in the city including immigrant rights, workers’ rights, housing rights, language access and gender equality.

Tickets are limited. Reserve your spot today!

Thursday, April 19th, 3 - 6pm

Sunday, April 22nd, 3 - 6pm

Meet at Chhaya CDC. 37-43 77th. Street, 2nd floor

$15 suggested donation. All donations go directly towards community organizations in support of their work and campaigns.

In partnership with Adhikaar, Chhaya CDC and New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)

Supported by the Coro’s Immigrant Civic Leadership Program in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, One NYC One Nation, and The New York Community Trust.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
the peopleswalkingtour@gmail.com

A CELEBRATION OF IMMIGRANT HERITAGE WEEK 2012

NYT: Seeking to Clear a Path Between Yoga and Islam

tellasimplestory — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:00:45 -0400

NYT: Seeking to Clear a Path Between Yoga and Islam:

As a community activist in Queens, Muhammad Rashid has fought for the rights of immigrants held in detention, sought the preservation of local movie theaters and held a street fair to promote diversity.

But few of those causes brought him anywhere near as much grief and controversy as his stance on yoga.

showand: stillspotting (queens) nyc: Transhistoria by SO –...

tellasimplestory — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:23:16 -0400

showand:

stillspotting (queens) nyc:
Transhistoria by SO – IL

Self-guided tour experience from artists by the Guggenheim’s stillspotting nyc series, this time focusing on Jackson Heights, Queens. Inspiration for how one might communicate the breadth/history of a community of color by inviting participants to visit six locations and hear three stories of people, representing experiences of immigrants, trans folks, and women.

For Transhistoria, the third edition ofstillspotting nyc, the architects at Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu (SO – IL) explore how one finds calm and inner peace in a bustling environment such as Jackson Heights. How do its residents, who often have roots elsewhere, achieve a sense of home and familiarity in a post-national living situation? And what urged them to leave their old households and countries in the first place?

Official histories on migration tend to stress economic or political motives for relocation without giving much attention to individual and cultural narratives. One important but largely ignored aspect, however, remains the flight from problematic domestic situations. Think of a young woman who leaves to escape her strict mother, a transgender individual who feels underappreciated by town elders, or a man who never returns home to his family after stepping out for a pack of cigarettes. These types of everyday stories open up a different enquiry in the search for identity and home away from home.

In two-hour self-guided tours starting from the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Ave. station,Transhistoria visitors will encounter four of these personal transhistories, selected from a series of around six indoor and outdoor spaces that frame the special experiences of these stories of migration, displacement, and finding familiarity and identity in a new place.

A ticket to Transhistoria grants access to four of six possible locations for readings in Jackson Heights, Queens, initiating from a stillspotting ticket kiosk just south of the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Ave transit hub at 40-40 75th Street. View a map of the stillspotting ticketing kiosk.
Hours are Saturdays and Sundays, April 14–15, 21–22, 28–29, and May 5–6, 11am–7pm with the last tour starting at 5pm. Visitors will receive a map, directions for a self-guided tour, and a wristband for access to four sites that they may choose from the six sites open daily. A full visit to four sites takes approximately two hours, and visitors may customize their route or make other stops along the way as there is no suggested itinerary.
Discounted rates are available for groups of ten or more. Advanced registration is strongly suggested. A program for families will be offered as part of Transhistoria on Saturdays April 21 and May 5 from 12–3pm with a story written expressly for families performed in a public space in Jackson Heights.

The concept and approach are fascinating and apparently meditate on concepts of “home” instead of finding “stillness” as was the focus in previous stillspotting incarnations. Always interested to see how outsider/insider, artist/subject, middle-class/working-class/poor and other tensions produce interpretations of the complex social/community formations of a place like Jackson Heights. More to come on this…

NYT: Profile of a Dominican woman mechanic in the endangered Iron Triangle

tellasimplestory — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 22:29:26 -0400

NYT: Profile of a Dominican woman mechanic in the endangered Iron Triangle:

Character Study: In Queens, Redefining ‘Mechanic’

Profile of Pasiana Rodriguez, a female Dominican mechanic who works in the Iron Triangle of Willets Point, an auto service sector comprised by small businesses run and staffed by immigrant people of color. Located in the shadow of the new Citifield baseball stadium, the Iron Triangle is in danger of displacement/dispersion by city-sponsored development initiatives.

She is also an outspoken critic of the city’s use of eminent domain to clear out the auto businesses here, to make way for a mammoth development project.

“They’re taking away our business — I may be driving one of those things soon,” she said, pointing to a man selling meat on a stick from a mobile lunch counter that he pedaled like a bicycle.