Jackson Heights Life

Thanks for posting this article. I know that the handwringing over immigration and real estate has been going on in Jackson Heights since the beginning, but I would be interested to read print articles about this from bygone eras, especially from independent or otherwise "undergound" publications. Is there a historian of Jackson Heights print culture around? I know often the best sources for information on this are community members who've been around for a while...

I must confess to being shocked that Google is scanning even old magazines.

The opt-out settlement seems like a gross injustice to me. I think it is unreasonable to assume that all orphan texts want to be reborn in the 21st Century eternally searchable. When they're able to find and reproduce underground zines from the neighborhood, I'll be giving them a pass. Until then, it just grates on me that only one of the largest and richest corporations with tacky slogans like "Don't be evil" gets an exemption from the U.S. Code.

I absolutely love this interracial neighborhood for it's diversity. Here's one disturbing housing trend that I see
though, which is the homes in Jackson Heights often have many illegal tenants in basements and other parts of the
house. The fire over the weekend in Woodside had a tragic ending, in part to this practice. Can we establish
some real guidelines for fire safety while acknowledging that many immigrant groups have large families
and others in these local houses? One Open House I went to had turned a three-bedroom home in what
they called seven-bedrooms by using closets and partitions as well as the basement to make these "rooms".
Is there a government agency that oversees this? This could save lives...

There was a community forum held this past June that was meant to address the topic of illegal basement apartments.  The focus seemed to be on tenant advocacy by promoting regulations that would assist the immigrant population in finding safe and affordable housing.  Was anyone here able to attend this forum?

Illegal Basement Apartments- A community forum

Here's another NY Magazine article about JH.  This one is from is from 1987 and is called
Foreign Intrigue

So the Towers is no where near 37th, but who wants to quibble with New York Mag.
When was the issue where they called JH the Cocaine Capital of America? Something
we are STILL trying to live down?

In the September 25th 1978  New York Mag, called Gunfight at the Cocaine Corral . Still haven't found the article  :tickedoff:

Hmmm...  Also haven't been able to find this article.  Now I'm very interested in finding a copy to read.

Guess we could go to the library...sigh.  :buck2:

easy there, my library-phobic friends, you're typing to an X-librarian. Guess that is ex but X looks better.