As the 7 train climbs overland and clatters noisily into Queens, the demographic shift in the subway car is perceptible. Skin tones get darker, hemlines lower and necklines higher.
The car slowly fills with Koreans, Hispanic families and middle- aged Indian men reading the newspaper.
Incomprehensible chatter fills the air and boils down to a babble as the train pulls into Roosevelt Avenue stop.
The train empties out as groups scurry into their different enclaves to either enjoy a lazy afternoon or get down to business.
No Habla Espanol!
As I get off the Roosevelt Avenue stop and walk across the rows of Mexican and Colombian restaurants, young panhandlers try to sell me fruits that I have never seen or Arepas I have never tasted.
I ask an old man minding a newsstand for directions. He responds in rapid Spanish. He notes my expression of total and utter incomprehension and waves me away from the Spanish side towards the Indian Side of Jackson Heights that starts at 74th street.
Is it just me, or does this place smell like Home?!
I knew I hit home-base, when I see the chaos on the streets. If we are what we drive, then the random parking, the honking and the abject jaywalking showed me the reassuring presence of less civic minded Indians.
A harassed looking traffic cop, explained to me as she wrote out a ticket to a protesting young Indian male ‘They would rather park on this one crowded street than go down three blocks and find some empty places’. Sounds just like home!
Loud Punjabi music blares in "Little India" - Jackson Heights (Pic: Smriti Rao)
The air gets thicker with music at each step. Loud Punjabi music blares from outside shops selling the latest Hindi, Punjabi and devotional music. A turbaned Sikh man hands me a leaflet for newly opened Mehak Beauty Parlor and says, in what can only be interpreted as a reprimand “Eyebrows- Wax!” I pass.
The market on 74th street, with the South Asian shops pulses and pounds like any other market from back home. This could be Delhi, Dhaka or just plain Jackson Heights.
With an estimated 250 small and medium-sized businesses – the South Asian community (including Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi and Nepalis)- works within a two block radius from 74th street to 76th street.
A relaxation of the immigration policies during the Kennedy Administration led to a sharp increase in immigration during the 1960’s. Thousands of Asians and Latin Americans arrived on the scene making Jackson Heights their home.
It prompted some people to call this section of Queens ‘The Ellis Island of the 20th century’. By 1965, South Asian and Latino immigrants settled into their neighborhoods giving rise to ‘Little India’ and ‘Little Colombia’
On 74th street, my greedy eyes spot a Kebab King in the corner, zoom into Jackson Diner which is ‘world famous in New York’ and then settle on Delhi Heights – one of the many places where one could drop by for authentic Indian Cuisine.
The choices have now expanded to include restaurants that serve Afghan, Tibetan and Nepali cuisine.
If you would rather whip up your own Dal Makhni or make a mean Paneer Tikka, then Patel Brothers is a virtual Wal-Mart of spices as you try and pick all the ingredients that go into a home cooked Indian meal. Patel Brothers also boasts of a clientele that comes in not just from New York City but also New Jersey and Connecticut.
God Tussi Great Ho!
Eagle Theatre in Jackson Heights screens all the latest Hindi movies
But apart from the food and shopping, Little India’s cultural aspirations would be miniscule if it did not include a large bit of Bollywood. At Eagle Theatre, visitors and residents of Jackson Heights get their weekly dose of drama and fantasy song and dance sequences.
Audiences sigh and clap and indulge Bollywood’s absurdity as two long lost brothers unite half way across the world thanks to matching tattoos on their arms.
Hard core hindi movie buffs can hop off the ‘7’, trade popcorn for samosas and immerse themselves in 3 hours of magic and mayhem.
Beneath The Business
Beneath the frantic throb of business on 74th street however, there’s a hum of anxiety. Rising rents and a lack of proper parking space on the main strip worries traders.
At the JMD Mall, which proclaims to be the first South Asian mall in New York – the tension is tangible. K K Sharma, a long time employee points outside the window to a parking meter.
‘It’s a big market, but there’s no open parking. Customers want to shop, but they double park on this street, then get tickets. They have no place to park their cars’.
3 stores down, Mudassar Khan of Khan Electronics agrees with Sharma. He adds skyrocketing rents as one of the other reasons why business on 74th street is floundering. Thanks to the high connectivity with Manhattan and the rest of New York, real estate values in the commercial area have shot up, increasing rents to a level that’s unaffordable to most of the small Mom and Pop stores in the area.
As a result, many of them have shut shop. Sitting in his small shop stacked with electronic goods, Mudassar points out that he pays $6000 a month as rent and barely makes a profit.
The existence of the Jackson Heights Traders Association is crucial to these businesses. It provides them with not just a means of redressal in an area, dominated by traditional rivals – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; but also allows the traders to formulate programs that promote cultural harmony.
Mudassar says he looks forward to the Diwali program – which not just has DJs and hindi music, but also draws in a huge expat crowd from across NYC and New Jersey. It’s not just great entertainment but also good business.
Together, But Separate:
But despite the South Asian community coming together for trade and cultural purposes- just a few blocks down- The Latino side of Jackson Heights, with a mixed population of Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, stays on its side of the fence.
Traders from both sides don’t mix and don’t see any reason to. Bill Rubino, of Stanley’s Home Furnishings on the Latino side of Jackson Heights has worked in the area since 1961. He says he never goes over ‘to the ‘other side’ except to get his ‘hair cut and eyebrows done’.
Part 2 of “In Jackson Heights” will have more about the neighborhood and feature the famed Garden Apartments.
