Jackson Heights Life

Heard the jingle blaring from my apt near 79th st /34 ave too.  Can't remember which night over the weekend, but was after 10pm.  Found it a bit odd as well.

The whole equation doesn't make sense to me.  Low volume (and low margin stores) should not equal high rents.  I'm not questioning your friend's research - I just don't understand how such a market is sustainable.  If JH residential apartment rents were higher, people wouldn't rent the apartments and would live elsewhere in the city, creating vacancy and leading to lower residential rents.

On the other hand, 37th avenue doesn't appear to be low volume to my untrained eye and perhaps the dollar stores have a higher profit margin than I might guess.  I've never taken an economics class, but there must be a demand for the rents to remain high and there must be potential profit - at least for some types of stores - for there to be demand.

In addition to the other daycare locations mentioned, there is also Rainbowland by Travers Park.  It is cheaper than Little Elms, but they don't take babies under 8 months of age (and they group 8-18 month olds together).  Little Elms on the other hand starts young - maybe 6 weeks? - and groups the non-mobile infants together.  My wife and I have a 3 month old and currently have family helping out during the day, but we are planning to make the transition to daycare when our daughter is around 6 months old.

I'm on board with those yearning for improved quality of life.  Some parts of J.Heights are just beautiful and a big part of what sucked me in 5 years ago when I moved here.  But other parts are often so dirty and unpleasant - namely the areas closer to the subway.  That dumpster on the west side of 75th between Roosevelt and 37th avenue that is right on the walk to the subway and out most mornings is perhaps the worst consistently bad smelling thing (during the summer) I've ever encountered.  My wife and I love taking long walks around the neighborhood, but rarely do we venture south of 35th avenue and we increasingly walk north of Northern for variety (though 34th avenue in the 70's & 80's is still my favorite including some of the adjoining blocks).  I've lived in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan's Chinatown, the East Village, and Williamsburg - and I don't mind gritty as an interesting change of pace, but our neighborhood just has the wrong kind of 'grit' for me I guess.

With regards to comparisons to Williamsburg or Astoria, Jackson Heights may be missing some of the cool restaurants and outdoor cafes, but the architecture in Jackson Heights (north of 37th Avenue at least) is so much nicer.  Williamsburg to me was one of the ugliest places I've ever lived.  I work in Manhattan so I can get my fix of trendy shops and restaurants there (not that I'd mind a few more here).  I'd just rather my neighborhood at home be a little cleaner.  I mean, littering is against the law, right?

Thanks to Restaurant Week I made my first visit to La Fusta last night.  The $20 special included a salad, a beef empanada, half a skirt steak, flan and a glass of wine.  Service, food and ambiance were excellent.  The full menu looked inviting so I'll be back. Three days left for more discoveries!  This was a great idea, and like other Restaurant Weeks around the City it ought to be held twice a year.   :coolsmiley:

Went to La Fusta last night and was told they are not participating in restaurant week this year.  I even asked a second waiter to make sure, since we had seen it listed on line and read the review above, and was again told no.  Was already sitting down and had consumed a bunch of bread so we still ate there - and by the end didn't really mind since the food was very good, but would have been nice to get the deal.  In any case, they certainly shouldn't be advertising it if they aren't participating - though I find it very odd that they would honor it one night and not the next.

Went in earlier today.  Produce section had good selection and GREAT prices.  Don't know if this is just an introductory thing since they just opened, but will definitely go back to find out.  Didn't look around rest of the store too much but it was pretty clean and nice.

I think the transit ranking is the biggest crock, but if you look at how the other queens neighborhoods stack up (change the priority of every other category to zero) it appears to do the ranking based on how far the neighborhood is from Manhattan.  That's pretty narrow minded.

i use time warner, but i get flyers in the mail from RCN all the time (and the offers seem to get cheaper and cheaper).  from the flyers it doesn't seem like it has to be building wide, but i've never really looked into switching so i don't know.  i did look into verizon fios 1.5 yrs ago, but they still hadn't run their fiber optic cables through JH.  that may have changed by now, so may be worth checking them out too.