Then and now: The story of Jackson Heights

Written by Manmeet Sahni

Jackson Heights, Queens is an ethnic mélange of several world cultures. The neighborhood’s landmark buildings hint at its rich history. Recently, waves of immigrants have added to the neighborhood’s texture through an overlapping of ethnic sights, sounds, and smells. The earlier immigrant communities — Italian, Jewish, and Irish — cohabit harmoniously with newer waves of immigrants from countries like India, Pakistan, Thailand, and many countries in South and Central America. The neighborhood is a viaduct between the old wave and the new.

Located in the northwest region of the Queens borough, Jackson Heights is the fourth-largest immigrant neighborhood in the Greater New York City area, according to the 2013 report The Newest New Yorkers. Out of all the New York City boroughs, Queens is the borough with the highest percentage of immigrants. In 2013, 35.5 percent (more than one million) of the borough’s population were immigrants. According to the report, 6 in 10 people in Jackson Heights are immigrants, with more than 70 nationalities living in the neighborhood.

A bird’s-eye view of Jackson Heights, Queens. Source.

Jackson Heights: Now

In an immersive documentary called In Jackson Heights (2015), renowned American filmmaker Frederick Wiseman portrays the ever-changing façade of the neighborhood. The only constant being the neighborhood’s physical structures.

“I thought [Jackson Heights] was both visually and historically very interesting,” Wiseman says.

In the documentary, Wiseman explores Jackson Heights as it is, without the addition of dramatic elements. Instead, it is the everyday drama on the streets that vies for our attention. In the documentary, city councilman Daniel Dromm explains part of the reason this neighborhood is so captivating: “There are over 167 different languages spoken in Jackson Heights.”

In his Kickstarter video, Wiseman expands on that diversity, saying, “[This] community is the new face of immigrant America. I found it very fascinating to have the opportunity to make a movie about the day to day life of these people as is expressed in their ordinary experience in work, in the stores that they run or shop in, or in the schools.”  

The documentary portrays the struggles of new immigrants and their desire to preserve cultural traditions while immersing themselves in the city they now call home.

“People are concerned about the same things that people anywhere [are],” Wiseman says. “They are concerned about [finding] schools [and] places to live, not getting cheated in their jobs, get[ting] paid properly, and [their] children getting [a] good education. Those are all normal issues.”

Jackson Heights in the 1990s, prior to its 20th century development. Jackson Heights Beautification Group.

Jackson Heights: Then

In the early 1900s, Jackson Heights was not yet a fully developed neighborhood and the part of it that did exist was then known as the Trains Meadow section of Newtown, a township part of the Newtown county at the time which stretched from the East River to the Flushing River. In 1901, the construction of the Queensboro Bridge began, significantly impacting the neighborhood’s development and infrastructure. Eventually, the neighborhood was re-named after John C. Jackson, president of the Hunter’s Point, Newton and Flushing Turnpike Company, which built the first trolley line in 1859 across what is now known as Jackson Heights.

Jackson Heights is known for its pre-war co-op garden apartments that helped make up for the dearth of community parks in the neighborhood. The area is said to be one of the first in the United States to foray into the “garden city” movement, one of the hallmarks of 20th century urban planning. The idea behind the innovative housing projects built in the early 1910s to 1950s was to “alleviate the inferior housing conditions in New York” by creating a living space that had architecturally roomier construction and featured private green spaces, often spanning an entire city block. For instance, one of the well-known prewar co-ops is a 1920s structure called The Towers situated at 81st and 34th Avenue. With eight buildings and a block long courtyard, this co-op is hard to miss.

Historically, these green spaces attracted city dwellers that longed for pastoral living spaces and wanted to get away from the cacophonous city life. At the time, the neighborhood attracted the white middle class, as Jews and African Americans were not allowed to reside in the neighborhood until the mid-20th century, after the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act and the Fair Housing Act were passed.  

The Fair Housing Act ensured provision of equal housing opportunities regardless of race, creed, or national origin. As for the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act of 1965, a watershed moment in the history of immigration law in the United States, it removed the stringent quota-based immigration policy set up in the 1920s, replacing it with “a preference system that focused on immigrants’ skills and family relationships with citizens or US residents.” The passing of this act opened up avenues for immigrants from Mexico, Latin America, Asia, and other non-Western countries to come to the US. As a result, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Jackson Heights saw a massive influx of immigrants from South and Central Americas and Southeast Asia, among others.

A street view of Jackson Heights. CUNY.

Jackson Heights: Looking forward

The historic district of Jackson Heights, established in 1993, spans the core neighborhood between 76th and 88th, Roosevelt Avenue, and Northern Boulevard. Despite the high rises that have mushroomed throughout New York, the historic district of Jackson Heights has managed to preserve its architectural integrity, keeping skyscrapers at bay. Today, many housing options in the neighborhood are attracting professionals who are unable to keep up with rising rent in Manhattan and other boroughs.

In recent years, many real estate agents have flouted rent stabilization and rent control laws in New York City, resulting in skewed rental prices throughout the boroughs. Unfortunately, the steep rise in the cost of housing in Manhattan will likely have an adverse ripple effect on neighborhoods like Jackson Heights. With affordable housing prices and a less-than-30-minute commute to mid-Manhattan, Jackson Heights is a desirable neighborhood to live in. Many activists and local residents have begun to fear that the things that set Jackson Heights apart (i.e, its diverse and integrated community, affordability, and green housing options) could ultimately be the cause of its gentrification.

The gray area of the map shows the historic district of Jackson Heights. Source.