Elmhurst, Queens

Just south of Jackson Heights, wedged between Maspeth, Corona and the Long Island Expressway, is the appealing residential neighborhood of Elmhurst. Like Jackson Heights, it originally dates back to the pre-New York settlement of Newtown. A few early buildings survive but, like its neighbors, it was largely developed during the first half of the 20th century as a semi-suburban middle class district. Unlike Jackson Heights, though, its streets form a wild and far less oppressively right-angled grid; its architecture is more varied and warmer in tone.

Though less commercial -- and not a cultural hub -- Elmhurst is still an immigrant mecca, hosting many East Asians, particularly Chinese; South and Central Americans, especially near Roosevelt Avenue; and a scattering of South Asians and ethnic whites.





Like so many neighborhoods in Queens, there is at least one Irish holdout from previous times. Here it's the Grandstand Pub and Restaurant.



Originally the Reformed Dutch Church of Newtown and Fellowship Hall, these Georgian-era Greek Revival buildings were built, respectively, in 1831 and 1858. Now it's a church complex serving local Asians.

A discreet landmark, St. James Episcopal Church/Parish Hall is a colonial remnant from 1734 later updated with Carpenter Gothic detail. A lonely classic.

A large house converted into not one but several churches: Korean, Indonesian and Hispanic, the last of which (detailed in second photo) is apparently an evangelical Hebraic congregation with a Spanishized Hebrew name not usually associated with Christianity.

Another home converted into a Pentecostal Indonesian church.

At the intersection of Broadway and Grand, this post-war apartment tower dwarfs its surroundings.
Apartments from the 1910s, '20s and '30s are far more typical.

But construction never ends, of course.

Part of what makes the neighorhood feel so pleasant and well-scaled, though, is the abundance of early 20th century Victorians, neo-colonials, clapboard cottages and brick row houses.

These beauties look nothing like any of their neighbors.

This unique development from 1930 is called Mathews Company Row Housing and features simple two-story boxes, forming a sea of yellow and orange brick along the bleak industrial edge near Maspeth.

A much less-inspired complex.

Jackson Heights, Queens

It's been a little while but, now that winter seems to be leaving us, I'll hopefully be getting out again on more walks. The spring brings us to Jackson Heights, another one of Queens' classic immigrant neighborhoods. Located just south of La Guardia Airport, between Woodside, Elmhurst and East Elmhurst, this neighborhood of gridded streets and right angles is itself a large square. Along with much of central Queens, Jackson Heights used to be part of the old community of Newtown, founded by English Puritans in the 17th century. Little of the old farming community, once called "the cornfields of Queens," remains today.

And, like much of Queens, Jackson Heights' immigrant culture is far more inspiring than its physical plant. It was built up between the 1910s and '50s as a middle class residential enclave by developers bent on standardizing basic comforts en masse.

Not that it's an unattractive or unvaried neighborhood, but each block has an intense sameness that stretches out as far as the eye can see. The effect is highly monotonous and, because of the perfect grid and the sterile and spacious streets, sometimes tedious.

But, what matters of course is that this is a dense and vibrant place of people: South Americans (especially from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina) and more newly arrived Mexicans, and a small but exotic corner of South Asians. That corner is where the neighborhood seems to begin, at the major subway hub of Roosevelt Avenue, Broadway and 74th Street.

Starting here, you'd be forgiven for thinking the neighborhood is equal parts South Asian and South American. But, in reality, the Indo-Pakistani section quickly fades into the much larger Hispanic community (with a sprinkling of whites and others). At the souther border, Roosevelt Avenue is really the main street and it runs entirely under the 7-Train El.

In the dense commercial hub of Indians and Pakistanis, restaurants abound. Jackson Diner is a neighborhood institution, with buffet Indian cuisine and a full cocktail bar.

Retailers and clothing stores which feature mostly white mannequins pack the blocks.

With a short walk east on Roosevelt or 37th Avenue, though, you are quickly teleported into South America and Mexico.

A school.

A church that offers services in Korean, English and Thai.

The neighborhood is neatly divided between sections of fairly attractive apartment blocks and perfectly suburban-feeling houses.

Strange seams separate apartment zones from houses, here early 20th century neo-colonials and late-Victorians.
Much of the northern half of the neighborhood features endless rows of brick houses and garden apartments. Some are slight and some fairly upscale.