My husband and I moved to Jackson Hts 5 plus years ago, not for its 99 cent stores but for it's diversity and it's potential. My husband is an immigrant from the Carribean and I am the granddaughter of one. My mother grew up 10 blocks from my current apartment. We are both college educated but are solidly middle class in income and ethic. Please, is there really something wrong with wanting besides 99 cent stores, bodegas and money transfers? The Spanish restaurants are wonderful, but noise and garbage and illegal conversions are not. Moderate gentrification is not the threat that everyone thinks it is. After all, isn't that the same thing that immigrants aspire to? They leave their home countries for a better life, a better home. They want their children to go to school, get good jobs. Worrying about places like Espresso 77 is pointless. Believe me, if someone wants to take the colossal chance of opening up a small business with the way the rents are around here, they should be supported. and doing I've been there only a few times to pick up a coffee (yes, I admit it- I like good coffee!) and it seems like a modest and nice place. While walking my dog, I've run into a guy who's also a musician who entertains there every once in a while: yes, he is hip because he's an artist, but he's also a husband and father. He works a in a city job to support his family . He came to JH because he wanted a nice place for his family to live. This is a normal guy, with normal concerns like anyone else. He's a decent guy and I want more hipsters like him in JH. Let's have some true diversity in Jackson Heights and make it a nice place for the people who live here and those who want to live here.
