Jackson Heights Life

Hi Jackson Heights-

A few weeks ago I launched a Social Justice Online Magazine, JustNoMore.com .  I am fortunate to be working with local photographer, Bruce Armstrong, whose work focuses on Jackson Heights, Flushing, and the 7 Train, so many of the photographs will be familiar to neighborhood residents.  The topics are national/international, but I spent 25 years working with immigrant communities here in JH, so there is a heavy focus on immigration. 

I have put a lot of heart into this project, and I hope that you enjoy both the neighborhood photos and the content.  Please take a look at the site. Click around!  If you find the content valuable, share it!  If you are just there for the pics of Jackson Heights, scroll down past the slider, and you will see the 12 most recent articles. 

Thanks,
KC

Members of our garden committe have found three dead squirrels and one dying squirrel in our garden over the past several days.  A couple of weeks back, we had those yellow signs up warning that they had put out some sort of poisons, I assume to kill pests that might effect our trees.  I love our trees, but I am extremely concerned that this poison might be what killed the squirrels, and that it could pose a threat to other animals, or more importantly, to our children.

Has anyone else seen anything unusual in your gardens?

Friday at 2:30 in the afternoon I saw a man assaulting a woman on 37th road across from the train station and the former Eagle Theater.  The man was trying to grab her cane, and she was holding on while he whipped it left and right, dragging her body in one direction and then the other.  She screamed for him to let go.  He screamed obscenities that the filter on this forum would not allow.  Both the assailant and the victim appeared homeless.  Pedestrians walked by without raising their eyes. 

Another woman, perhaps homeless as well, but much less destitute in appearance, shouted for the man to leave the woman alone.  The man then lurched towards her, flailing his arms.  She threatened to call the police, and then took out a cell phone and dialed 911, and described the incident.  She assured the woman and her female companion that the police were on the way.  The man walked away, but came back a few minutes later.  He pushed the woman with the cane again, knocking her to her side.  The woman with the phone screamed at him, and he lurched at her, arms flailing, pulling down his pants, and screaming that he was going to blow her brains out.  She called the police again, and this time so did I.  I approached the women at this point, and told them that I had called the police too, and that I would provide a report to the police of what had happened. 

Over the next half hour, nearly a dozen calls were put into 911.  The operators often insisted that the police were “already there” although they were not.  And during that half hour, the man, who was either mentally ill, severely intoxicated, or both, went back and forth  between terrorizing these women, pulling his pants down, pushing them, screaming threats and obscenities, and wandering off down the street, only to come back and start again.

When the police finally arrived, I was already late for my 3 PM meeting in midtown.  The woman with the phone and I waved at them, but by this point she was screaming hysterically, insisting that he had assaulted her too.  The police asked her what she had done to cause the attack.  I was stunned.  The original victim sat quietly clutching her cane, smiling in a way that was inconsistent with the events going on around her.  I tried to talk to the police, but the male office yelled at me, and told me to “stand over there!”  I tried to speak again, and he yelled “I said OVER THERE.”

I stood for a few minutes.  Finally, I wrote my cell phone number on the back of a business card, gave it to the officer, and said I would be available to file a report after 5 PM when my meeting was over, but that I was very late.  I stated again that the man had assaulted the women, and that he clearly needed mental health services, and I got ready to get on the train for my meeting.  A man who works in my building had witnessed the end off the incident, and asked me what happened.  I gave him a short summary, and he said “Well, you did your civic duty.”   

I didn’t feel as if I had done my “civic duty.”  But I don’t know what I could have done differently.  Other than walking with my eyes averted, like most of the people on the street. 

Did anyone attend this event this evening?  It was in front of Dante's, on the sidewalk.  I thought the venue was odd, but some people seemed to like it because everyone had a one on one with the congressman, and there was no shouting going on.

Good for Crowley for putting it together.

But the hecklers really threw me.  They were waving pictures of Obama with a Hitler style moustache, and calling him a nazi.  And they also had signs saying that Obama was under the control of a foriegn government.  England.

It was one of the ugliest scenes I've ever seen. 

The other night, after a really stressful workday, I picked the baby up at daycare and arrived home, ready to collapse, only to find out my neighbor across the hall had had a day that was worse then mine.  At 5:30 in the evening there were men tearing apart her bathroom.  The original art deco tiles that she loves were replaced by three gaping holes, and they still hadn’t found the source of the leak that was plaguing the downstairs neighbors, and they were starting to tear apart a large section of the floor. 

I invited her over, to get her out of the chaos, and she asked if I had a glass of wine.  I didn’t.   :embarassed:  I asked if she wanted to take a walk to the store with me, but neither of us had the energy.  We collapsed on the couch, turned on Sesame Street, and tried to keep the baby entertained while we both complained about our bad days.

Then I got a brainstorm.  Tomo!!!!  They even deliver wine.  Want Japanese?  Absolutely!!!!

So I go to the phone and call.  The woman who answers the phone says something incomprehensible.  I hold a moment, and then say “hello?” again.  She admonishes me, and states that her computer isn’t working.  For a full four minutes I listened to her making frustrated noises as she tried to get her computer working.  Her stress was clearly high too, and she was sharing it with me.  Finally, with no apology, she was able to take my order.

After a while, the doorbell rang, and the food arrived.  I washed the baby’s hands and put on a bib and put her in her highchair, and started unpacking the food.  My neighbor had ordered chicken tempura, but they sent over chicken teriyaki instead.  The neighbor said that was fine. 

As I was mixing some rice in the miso soup for the baby, the plumber from across the hall knocked on the door and my neighbor had to go tend to the issues at hand. 

I set the baby up to eat her rice and miso soup, and took out the California Maki I had been looking forward to.  As per my request, I got extra wasabi. 

Soy sauce?  Soy sauce? Hmmmm….. No soy sauce.  Let me check the fridge.  Oh no!  Not even any soy sauce in the fridge. 

No honey.  Don’t splash the soup.  Here, let me clean that up.  Ok.  Let me call the restaurant.  Juice?  Ok.  Let me pour you some juice.  Hello?  Hello?  Yes.  I just ordered a delivery and there is no soy sauce.

Her:  “Are you sure there is no soy sauce?”

Me:  “Yes, I’m sure.”

Her:  “Well please check again.”

Me:  “I’ve checked again.  There is no soy sauce.”

Her:  “Well what do you want me to do about it?” 

Me:  “Well, I just ordered some California Maki, and I can’t eat it without soy sauce.”

I look over and notice that the baby is waving the bowl of soup in one hand, preparing to toss it across the room to indicate that 1) she has had enough soup, and 2) that she is irritated that no one is paying attention to her.  I rescue the soup, tuck the phone between my chin and shoulder, and take her out of her highchair. 

Her:  (Sarcastically)  “Well don’t you HAVE any soy sauce?”

Me:  “No.  I don’t have any soy sauce.”

Her:  (With continued sarcasm)  “Well what do you want me to do?  Send a delivery over with soy sauce?”

Me:  “Yes.  That would be fine.”

Take the baby back into the living room and turn on Dora.

Her:  “You want me to SEND A DELIVERY OVER WITH SOY SAUCE??”

Me:  (About to explode) I JUST ORDERED A MEAL THAT I CAN’T EAT!!!  YES!  I’ve had a very stressful day.”  And I told her a bit about MY stress, given that she had taken quite a bit of my time earlier making me listen to frustrations and computer problems.  “So yes, I would like you to send a delivery over with soy sauce.”

She sighs in frustration, since I am clearly a problematic customer, and agrees to send a delivery.

At which point my neighbor comes back, and I realize that in my soy sauce crisis, I had completely forgotten that they had gotten her order wrong, and that since they were sending over another delivery, I should have gotten her the chicken tempura that she had ordered.

I know that Tomo has gotten a lot of praise on this forum.  But I’ve gotta tell you.  I don’t think I’ll be ordering up from them again. 

Well, my big air conditioner is dead.  The one that fits in the living room window, but needs to cool the living room that leads to the arch that leads to the dining room that leads to the hallway.  It was only two years old, and I bought it in desperation on a hot day.  The window is not very large, but the area that needs to be cooled is... I bought a piece of junk and got a piece of junk. 

So after hours of researching online and looking at all of the major places that sell air conditioners (PC Richards, Sears, Home Depot, etc.) I followed a link to something like "authorized Frederick dealers in your neighborhood" and found J&C Appliances and Electronics Discount, Inc on 37th Ave and 85th street.  He has a wide selection to choose from in his catelog (which has a link to his computer that gives you the specs and window size and whatnot) and apparently has a huge inventory in his Long Island warehouse.  He said he could deliver and install as early as this Monday!  (Today is Friday)  I took the specs of the air conditioner that sounded just right, and checked the price at other places online.  His purchase price was slightly higher than other places... but his delivery, installation, and haul away prices were much much much cheaper.... and the total cost was much cheaper and more convenient than any of the options I've looked at.   

He says he has been in the neighborhood for 35 years, and I'm really embarassed that I walked into his store for the first time today. 

Anyone else have experience with J&C Appliances?  Did I just discover another neighborhood jewel?  Or do I have unexpected headaches ahead?