Simon Man, Meet Forest Hills

Ever since I was three years old and I moved from my grandparents' apartment in Midtown Manhattan to this genuinely suburban town called Forest Hills, I discovered what home really meant.  Home meant having a place to run to when you're sick of your family, your friends, and all the things that could possibly bother you at a specific time.  Home also meant being proud of where you live, where you go to school, where you hang out in the summer. 

As it relates to me, I went to school here, at Our Lady of Mercy, a slightly smaller Catholic school.

After eight years of a private education, I switched gears and headed into the public sector of education, enrolling in Russell Sage Junior High School 190.

With a combination of friends with different religious backgrounds and different races, I developed a love for this neighborhood like no other.  I knew people on every block and I could head over to the local basketball courts and play a pick-up game with whoever was there.  Home not only meant being comfortable with where you existed, but knowing that it shaped who you are and the backbone of who you are to become.

History of Forest Hills

The Rich History of Forest Hills 

Forest Hills was first settled in the 1600s by English settlers who bought the land from Native Americans for three clay white pots. Consequently, at first, the town was named Whitepot. Yet in 1906, a successful businessman named Cord Meyer bought 600 acres of land in Whitepot, and he named it Forest Hills for its close proximity to Forest Park. In 1909, Margaret Sage bought 142 acres of land from Meyer and she came up with the idea of a planned community and as a result, built the Forest Hills Gardens. This was the first and oldest of planned communities in the country. Many well-known architects at the time had a hand in the project,including Fredrick Olmstead, Jr., son of legendary Olmstead Sr., who designed Central Park in Manhattan. He modeled this private community to English-style homes, embellishing Tudor and Colonial aspects on every house. He took a liking to curved streets and a local park, saying that one can increase the values of the houses in the community. In 1911, the Long Island Rail Road Company built a station right outside the entrance of the Gardens, and President Teddy Roosevelt spoke at the opening ceremony. Today, the Station Square is paved with bricks to commemorate the event.

Forest Hills today is made up of a very diverse community. It is both very urban and rural. Austin Street and Metropolitan Avenue include a huge variety of shops, some modern and some antique, that cater to any consumer’s needs. Yet when you hit the residential area, especially the Gardens, you can experience the peaceful atmosphere of the neighborhood.
Many famous people have lived in Forest Hills. Some notable celebrities include Ray Romano, Jerry Seinfeld, Donna Karan, and Helen Keller. The neighborhood is also home to Spiderman; Peter Parker lives at 20 ingram Street (one of the streets).

Archaeology of Forest Hills

Forest Hills has been home to me ever since I was three. Located in the heart of Queens, it is a neighborhood that both feels like a small Long Island town and some parts that let you know that you’re in New York City. Forest Hills has a major commercial aspect, which revolves around Continental 71st Avenue and Austin Street. Here, you can find anything urban, like Starbucks and Barnes & Noble, to something a little more local, like Martha’s Country Bakery. 

Forest Hills is also known for its high class residences, especially the section known as the Forest Hills Gardens. For us people who live there, we just call it the Gardens. It is a maze of streets that go in and out and disappear into one another, so for outsiders, it is practically impossible to navigate. Forest Hills used to be home to the U.S. Open at the Tennis Stadium but now that the U.S. Open moved to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, the stadium now serves as a private recreation center for locals.
Forest Hills is known for its good academics. As New York City is structured educationally, most people strive to get a home in the neighborhood so their kids can attend our schools. Our Lady of Mercy, P.S. 144, Russell Sage Junior High, and Forest Hills High School all have a long-standing history within the neighborhood.
Unlike what Pratt described in her contact zone article, Forest Hills is a truly united neighborhood. People know each other by name and neighbors are usually pretty close to one another. Moreover, since the neighborhood is somewhat diverse, differences in race, ethnicity, and religion don’t stop us from getting to know each other. People on the bus can just start talking to each other without any awkwardness that you get from anywhere else. It is what makes us different from most other New York neighborhoods. We aren’t afraid of contact zones and we make our imagined neighborhood a reality.

Areas that Need Some Work

               Forest Hills is often referred to as “the Queen of Queens.”  Both residents and visitors enjoy the diversity and the abundance of resources available in this neighborhood located in the heart of the borough.  99% of the time, if you ask any person who has been to Forest Hills, he or she will tell you that the neighborhood is one of the best they have ever seen.  The neighborhood is readily accessible by bus, train, or the LIRR, and it has both a strong residential aspect and a wide variety of business that give it a strong commercial aspect.  There are many good nursing homes and senior centers in the area, and it boasts one of the best educational districts in the borough.  Yet since the place is so self-sufficient that the government often forgets to provide proper funding.  Quite on the contrary, the government is punishing the neighborhood and draining the wealth of its residents.

                One of the big problems in Forest Hills is adequate parking.  Austin Street, the main shopping area in the entire neighborhood, is a very narrow street often jammed with overflowing traffic.  Cars are double parked all over the place waiting for a parking spot, while buses carrying a load of passengers are struggling to get by and continue its route.  Moreover, recently, the police has been very watchful on the street, monitoring the parking 24/7 and handing tickets out before the meters even expire.  As Congressman Anthony Weiner describes it, “It’s a parking ticket tsunami.  It’s wild what’s going around on Austin Street.”

                Much to the dismay of the many small business owners on Austin Street, the lack of parking and overeager police officers handing parking violations have forced consumers to look to shopping malls for their needs rather than enjoy shopping locally.  Obviously, consumers must feel that frustration of parking a car for $100 just for getting a cup of coffee that’s worth $3.  Moreover, as the economy is still trying to get out of a slump, they are attracted by the big sales of big businesses as opposed to looking on the street that they pass by everyday and appreciating the service and the exclusive goods that they can buy here.  Recently, Weiner released a report to the city indicating a major drop in business in Queens, citing less expendable capital as the primary reason for the drastic slump and asking the government to be “more hospitable to small businesses.”  He proposed creating strong small business associations in every level of government and creating a website that showed shoppers local stores that may sell what they want.

                Forest Hills is also a very self-involved neighborhood, especially the richest part called the Gardens.  Non-residents are not allowed to park in this section of the neighborhood, and the people who live here prefer to keep to themselves.  Moreover, the neighborhood as a whole has a very rich history, and a generally cohesive residence makes visitors feel especially out of place.  Although it isn’t necessarily a flaw of a community, we can be much more welcoming in allowing others to appreciate everything that Forest Hills has to offer.

Self-Assessment

When I first got the assignment of writing about our home, I was not the most excited for exploring my own neighborhood and using the lenses of an outsider to look at my own hometown.  Yet when I began doing research on the history of the community and seeing how everything grew from one small point, I became intrigued by how a typical society is run and how mine compares to others in New York City.  Although I began this exploration already possessing a strong sense of pride for Forest Hills, knowing the complete background of the town and finding out the weaker aspects of the town in terms of societal standards gave me an even stronger sense of a Forest Hills-er. 

I think I did really well with the archaeology and the genealogy of the town.  Forest Hills has such a rich history and compared with all the other neighborhoods in New York and Long Island, it is still one of the best places to live in, by far.  I struggled with finding the various problems for the town because I felt that the neighborhood is very self-sufficient and compared with other “needy” neighborhoods around the tri-state area, Forest Hills satisfies its residents with all aspects of society.  Our representatives in the city and state council have done a good job voicing our citizens' opinions in the government.  We have a good educational system, our kids do community service, and we maintain a nice balance between commerce and residence.  With this, I leave you with the best neighborhood in Queens, Forest Hills!