Writing Skills

The following is a research paper presented for my history of New York City architecture class. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Jackson Heights: The Garden District

At the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York, with zip code 11372, Jackson Heights is a beautiful neighborhood that extends from Roosevelt Avenue until Northern Boulevard and from 69^th to 90^th Street. The architectural history behind the design of its handsome apartment buildings and the cultural, economic and social factors that contributed to the development of Jackson Heights are worthy of analysis. After a description of what I believe is the essence of this neighborhood, I will explore what seems to me the reason why this neighborhood works so well in terms of its urban design.  

First, I believe Jackson Heights is a very well organized neighborhood.  When analyzed as a grid, the avenues act like boundaries to define the commercial and residential areas.  In addition to this, the built environment long the street is consistently made of residential buildings with great entrances and ample front yards. The commercial zone on 37^th Avenue extends all the way from Junction Blvd to 74^th Street. This is where all the stores, offices, restaurants and cafes are located, making this avenue the place with the most dense pedestrian circulation and socialization.  Along 34^th Avenue, there is a bicycle path that runs from Broadway to Flushing Meadows Park; every day along this area, there are people running, biking or simply walking their dogs. 

Some streets are of particular interest, reaffirming the famous multifaceted demographics of Jackson Heights. An example of this is 74^th street which, from Roosevelt Avenue towards 37^th Avenue is transformed into Little India. In every store here, the front windows are decorated with colorful saris and exotic Indian jewelry. The sounds and beats coming from the music and video rental stores fill the air with the essence of this vibrant culture.  And the buffets and restaurants invite the curious pedestrians to indulge in a cuisine of flavorful herbs and spices.

There is also 82^nd Street with its iconic significance as the major shopping street in Jackson Heights. With wide front windows and elegant English gables, the former Queensboro Corporation Building stands in the corner of 37^th Avenue and 82 Street. Designed by architect Robert Tappan, this block was originally intended for commercial traffic. Today, there are still remnants of the English gables, highlighted by Daniel Karatzas in his book A Garden in the City, where he mentions that they were so highly admired that the Queens Chamber of Commerce gave (82^nd Street) a design award in 1929. Today, this block has been renamed Calle Colombia Way because of the large Colombian community in this area and the influence of Hispanic chambers of commerce.

No mastery in the subject is required in order to appreciate the architectural richness of Jackson Heights; just a walk around the neighborhood on any given day is enough to notice the beautiful essence of its apartment buildings and the openness of its urbanscape. These six-story high, masonry buildings with inviting main entries, are all decorated with elements from different architectural styles giving them uniqueness within an organized context.

There are many qualities of Jackson Heights that make it the great neighborhood it is today. Some of them are the cultural diversity, the restaurants with cuisines from around the world, the well planed distribution of its residential and commercial areas and the way that this neighborhood is in harmony with nature.  Living here is a wonderful experience, thus, like most residents of Jackson Heights, I feel the neighborhood is so pleasant to the public because of the sense of openness provided by its green spaces.

Recognized as a historic district in 1993, Jackson Heights is a quiet neighborhood of broad streets and ample sidewalks, with many trees and beautiful gardens. It is a community of elegant six-story apartment buildings, some of them with private parks, that were built from the 1910’s through the 1950’s. 

It all started around the early 1860’s, when John C. Jackson, the President of the Hunter’s Point, Newtown and Flushing Turnpike Company, completed Jackson Avenue. By then, the area now known as Jackson Heights, consisted of swampy farmland owned by the Leveriche and Barclay families. It was called Trains Meadow and it was considered a part of Newtown (which was later called Elmhurst).  The existence of Jackson Avenue and the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 made Trains Meadow a good place for land speculation. The same year, the Queensboro Realty Company, lead by Edward A. MacDougall, became the prime buyer of land. By May 1917, with the opening of the elevated subway line and the completion of the Roosevelt Avenue Station, the area gained further popularity which attracted more developers. The land was now connected in a matter of minutes with the iconic Grand Central Station.

Jackson Heights, the first residential development of its kind, got its name after Jackson Avenue, (route that was renamed Northern Boulevard in 1921), and because of the higher ground that lies within a portion of the area.  It was developed between the two World Wars and planed in such innovative way that  it became a point of national and international interest.  According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, this community of cooperative garden apartments, “reflects important changes in urban design and planning that took place during the first three decades of the twentieth century.”

But what where the strategies used in the development of Jackson Heights that gave it architectural relevance? There are several reasons supporting the idea that the use of the green spaces was an important element when this residential community was planned.

The approach for the urban planning of Jackson Heights was highly influenced by two important architectural movements of the time. One was a local movement that took place at the end of the nineteen century known as the “model tenement”. This was an attempt to improve the living conditions of apartment dwellers in New York City.  The other one was a movement of style that arose at the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe:  the “garden apartment”, also known as the “garden city”. The term “garden apartment” referes to a ground-floor apartment with access to a garden or other adjacent outdoor space. It can also be defined as a two or three-story apartment buildings with communal gardens, generally located in the suburbs.

With these two driving ideas the first apartment complex built by the Queensboro Corporation was developed and the term "garden apartment" was coined in 1917. The apartment complex was Laurel Court, which at the time it was finished was also the tallest residential building in Jackson Heights. The Queensboro Corporation built about 15 of these garden apartment complexes; however, the largest and most glamorous were constructed during the 1920’s, when the development was going through its golden era. During this decade the Queensboro Corporation completed garden co-ops like: The Hampton Gardens, The Chateau, The Towers and other buildings that evoked their English and French influence in their architectural style. These apartments offered nine-foot ceilings, fireplaces, and sunrooms. The buildings, being only one apartment deep, made possible for every unit to have a view of the large private garden at the center of the block. At this time Jackson Heights had its own golf course on 78^th Street where Dunnolly Gardens is currently located.

With the integration of commercial, institutional, recreational and transportation facilities, Jackson Heights was thought of as an alternative to the typical urban neighborhood and attracted middle-upper class families. But nothing lasts forever and changes in economy affected the blooming of Jackson Heights. During the Depression of the 1930’s the construction of these block-long co-op developments slowed dramatically. The Queensboro Corporation decided to focus on the construction of single-family "garden homes," which were clusters of attached and semi-attached houses that shared the backyard . The Queensboro Corporation then coined the term “English Garden Homes." These were luxurious houses constructed of brick, with most of them having fireplaces, garages, high ceilings and oak floors.

One important tactic that influenced the planning of Jackson Heights is that each rectangular block created by the street grid system was treated as a single unit of planning and design instead of individual lots to be developed separately. This stratergy made it possible for the construction of the interior gardens and private parks that dubbed Jackson Heights as the Garden District.

During the 1950’s, the post war blooming economy made the construction of more apartment co-ops possible. This time, in order to house more residents, the construction of higher-density housing often prevailed over the garden co-op ideal. And by the 1960’s Jackson Heights began to attract new immigrants coming from around the world broadening its diversity. Nowadays, the demographics in Jackson Heights are the most multifaceted in New York City. In the 2000 census report, fewer than 20 percent of the households in Jackson Heights reported that English was the only language spoken, more than half also speak Spanish. There were more than 30 languages calculated including Arabic, Chinese, French (including Cajun and Creole), Greek, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Russian, Urdu and Yiddish among others.

Overall, out of all the assets that make Jackson Heights such a great neighborhood; its architectural history plays the most important role.  With a succesful urban planning that took in to acount the importance of a healthy exposure to nature; Jackson Heights provides to its residents a wonderful balance of  built environtem and green space.  The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission mentions in its Report of 1993 that Jackson Heights is one of the earliest neighborhoods in New York to introduce the "garden apartments" and "garden homes." These housing concepts  work so well because of the sense of openness provided by the surrounding green spaces. These not only gave Jackson Heights the name of the Garden District but also excellence in terms of its urban design.

Bibliography

1.      Harris, Cyril M., Ed.  Dictionary of Architecture and Construction, 3rd ed.  New York, NY:  McGraw-Hill, 2000.

2.      Jackson, Nancy B. “A Neighborhood Traveled in Dozens of Languages” New York Times July 17, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/17/realestate/17livi.html?fta=y. 26 May 2011.

3.      Karatzas, Daniel.  Jackson Heights, a Garden in the City: The History of America's First Garden and Cooperative Apartment Community. New York,  NY:  Jackson Heights Beautification Group 1998.

4.      Myers, Steven L. “Council Votes Historic District In 38-Block Section of Queens” New York Times  http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/27/nyregion/council-votes-historic-district-in-38-block-section-of-queens.html. 26 May 2011.

5.      Walsh, Kevin. "Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst." Forgotten NY Neighborhoods. Apr.-May 2006. http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/jacksonheights/jackson.html. 26 May 2011.

6.      Saunders, Jeffrey A. “The Jackson Heights Garden City Trail” MPC properties http://mpcproperties.com/jacksonheightshistory.php. May 26 2011.