Jackson Heights

Cosmopolitan life with added flavors

By Patrick Verel | Special to amNewYork

October 5, 2006

A stroll through Jackson Heights is like a ride on Disney's "It's A Small World," without the obnoxious song. Fewer than 20% of the 67,000 residents speak just English, and you're more likely to find tortillas than cheeseburgers on a local menu.

And just when you've got it pinned down as a freewheeling ethnic enclave, bucolic, suburban-like splendor greets you in the form of blocks and blocks of comfortably spaced, garden-enhanced pre-war apartments. Oh, and it's also home to the second largest gay population in New York City.

Michael Carfagna, a broker at MPC Properties and long-time resident, says he's seeing more folks from Brooklyn and Manhattan moving into the area. Although some of the pre-war co-ops have private gardens comparable to Gramercy Park, and a ride on an express 7 train gets you to midtown Manhattan in 15 minutes, he says the neighborhood hasn't earned the cache of other hoods.

"We've never had the kind of buzz [of] Park Slope. It's very tied to the individual building, so it varies wildly," he said. In the early 1920s, Edward A. MacDougall's Queensboro Corp. began building the five- and six-story garden apartments that form the heart of the neighborhood. It was meant to serve middle- and upper- class families from Manhattan.

Ironically, it was originally off limits to Jews and minorities. The area is still popular with families, but the ethnic makeup is among the city's most diverse. Most residents own their apartments.

Sarita Gonzalez, a sales person at Playa Real Estate who has lived in Jackson Heights for 33 years, said the biggest improvements have been on Northern Boulevard and near Corona. She fears affordable apartments are becoming scarce.

"The average people here are working class, they're not rich," she said.

That seems to be the message most national chains get. Both Carfagna and James Hubschmitt, broker and owner of JH Landmark Realty, said they've agitated for retailers like Starbucks, only to be rebuffed.

Hubschmitt thinks it's only a matter of time before Jackson Heights draws even more young professionals.

"They like it because it's very close to Manhattan, and they like the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood. It's a pretty cool place to bring friends and show the mix of the neighborhood."

Find it
The borders are Northern Boulevard to the north, the Brooklyn Queens Expressway to the west, Roosevelt Avenue to the south and Junction Boulevard to the east.

Real estate

What's selling
-A 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom co-op on 82nd Street between 34th and 35th avenues: $360,000
-An 825-square-foot one-bedroom co-op on 76th Street between 35th and 37th avenues: $263,000
-A 500-square-foot studio co-op on 35th Avenue between 79th and 80th streets: $176,000
-A 1,166-square-foot two-bedroom co-op with fireplace and garden on 80th Street between 37th and Roosevelt avenues: $466,000
-A 1,250-square-foot three-bedroom, two-bath co-op with fireplace and garden access in estate condition on 77th Street between 35th and 37th avenues: $525,000

What's renting