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Can Queens Be Gentrified?
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 23, 2010
Modified Oct 24, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 23, 2010
Modified Oct 24, 2010
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Corona, Queens. Photo via nrvlowdown's flickr
This week amNewYork asked: Is Queens going Brooklyn? The borough, at 110 square miles, is huge—so there's certainly room for experimentation—but what about gentrification? The paper talks to Borough Historian Jack Eichenbaum, who says of its size: “Outsiders may perceive a complicated whole, but insiders mostly relate to their neighborhood rather than the borough as a whole.”
Eichenbaum added that it's not likely to become a gentrified borough of cool micro-nabes, however, saying: "Queens was built in more 'suburban style' for the lower middle and middle class," and the "simpler quality of original structures" may stave off over-gentrification (the Observer blames a lack of brownstones).
Can the Queens "vibe" the paper speaks of overcome this lack of brownstones? One local author and chef told them, "As innovative as Brooklyn is—and I wish we could have a little more of that here—we lack the striving self-consciousness of it." Plus, if it was good enough for Kerouac... they will come.
Tagged
gentrification
queens
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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