Hip-Hop Reverberates in a Silent World

By COREY KILGANNON for NY Times, March 29, 2007

Things are done differently at the Lexington School for the Deaf in Queens...

...The school, in Jackson Heights, also brought in Alina Bloomgarden, a longtime producer at Lincoln Center, to help create and direct a hip-hop production called “Breakin’ Thru 2,” a semi-fictional drama told through break dancing and hip-hop music and interspersed with film and video clips. Written by Ms. Bloomgarden, the story parallels the school’s effort to stage a break-dancing musical. Since the entire cast and crew was deaf — down to the technical director and costume designer — Ms. Bloomgarden’s instructions were relayed in sign language...

Photos from Opening Reception for Elliot Lloyd's "GHETTO GIRLS"

Opening Reception for Elliot Lloyd's "GHETTO GIRLS"

Thursday, March, 22nd 2007 from 6pm to 9 pm
Y Gallery
32-70 85th Street (corner with Northern Blvd)
Jackson Heights, Queens, NY 11370

Y Gallery is pleased to present “Ghetto Girls,” by Elliott Lloyd. Consisting of one hundred twenty-five sketched portraits of youngsters he worked with in New York City between the years 1990 to 1993, the show provides both a glimpse into a social “nether world” and visual evidence to shatter barriers.

This tension is reflected in the controversial title "Ghetto Girls." The exhibition itself forces us to reexamine our notions of the word "ghetto" and reflect on what it means to us individually and culturally. The youngsters, mainly teenagers, were cared for by the City in a congregate home, where they were sheltered after the shattering of their birth families. They shared their lives under one roof.
These congregate homes since have been closed, without notice. Perhaps their disappearance fits the literal meaning of the word ghetto, since, politely, one does not notice the nether world.

The girls ranged from age fourteen to nineteen, some even younger. The artist simply aimed to make them feel beautiful and special. He included requests by each youngster as to hair placement and style, or jewelry to be portrayed, in order to portray her as she wanted herself seen. Each also received as many copies as wanted. Elegant gilded hardwood frames complete the onlookers’ rapport with the same purpose of putting the “best” foot forward, in the presentation at the Y Gallery. The onlooker relates to the portraits, so that the beauty of the young people portrayed contradicts the conditions of the portrayals’ initial setting.
According to Lloyd, the most profound expressions of the individuals seen became visible only when the girls were "…very quiet and introspective. In the time it took me to finish the drawing, I was able, I believe, to capture the elusive inner self which can only be shown when the mind is clear, or blank. In a way, when you are not thinking about anything, you're really thinking about everything."

It’s Abhishek v/s SRK in NY

by Arun for naachgaana.com, March 21, 2007

..The Jackson Heights area...is dominated by Bollywood at the moment, and the subjects of these two billboards seem too close to be a coincidence...

Boy Wonder

By RAAKHEE MIRCHANDANI for The New York Post, March 18, 2007

(via 'Boy Blunder' from Sonia Faleiro's blog)

EXPLAINING SANJAYA'S UNLIKELY 'IDOL' SUCCESS

...MOST "American Idol" fans - and pretty much anyone who has ears - will agree that Sanjaya Malakar is the worst finalist ever. He's so awful that every week you can see the shock on the judges' faces when he survives. Even Paula Abdul expresses disbelief.

Sanjaya can't carry a tune, has awkward stage presence, makes Carlton Banks-like dance moves and flaunts insane follicle fluctuations. Yet the first South Asian contestant to appear on "Idol" returns week after week.

So how does the 17-year-old do it?...

...To test the theory that Indian-Americans are part of his voting bloc, we headed to Jackson Heights, where we met 17-year-old Anil Singh, who says he watches "Idol" and votes for Sanjaya because he feels he's just like him.

"I like him because he's desi [an Indian person who lives in America] and isn't afraid to pursue his dreams," says Singh. "Plus, it would be cool to have a famous singer who's Indian who sings [American] pop music."...

Restaurant Opportunity In Jackson Heights

from Craigslist

...Business for quick sale in the Heart of Jackson Heights (74th Street) ... This restaurant will be a turn key investment from day one !! 110 seating capacity, finished Kitchen, long lease with less then market rent... ASKING FOR ONLY $150 K. For This area, its a steal price...

Diversity in Jackson Heights

By KERRY ELEVELD from the New York Blade, Friday, March 09, 2007

In its singles issue last year, Time Out New York (TONY) tagged Jackson Heights, Queens, as the neighborhood where 21- to 39-year-olds make up a third of the population, but it seems the area’s emerging gayborhood has more of a couples composition.

The Blade was lured to Jackson Heights (JH) one Friday night after a cascade of articles about its fine food (Moving for the Food, New York Times, Dec. 31, 2006) and how it was a “homeworthy ’hood” (TONY, Feb. 1-7, 2007) were followed up by e-mails from our readers about its growing enclave of gay denizens... But they all moved here for about the same reason: It’s cheap and the spaces are beautiful... Christopher Goeken described the first day he and his partner of 14 years, Glenn Magpantay, began their search to buy in JH. “I’ll never forget, we got out of the car and I couldn’t believe how it felt like a European city on some of the streets,” he said. “If you get away from Roosevelt Avenue where all the bars are, all the restaurants are, you’ve got these beautiful gardens and these beautiful old buildings built in the ’30s.” They found their dream apartment that very same day...

Jax Hts. art draws on diverse cultures

By Adam Pincus for Times Ledger, 03/08/2007

...The intense irises painted on plastic lids and arranged in a grid filling the plate-glass window of an art gallery in East Elmhurst draw a passer-by's eye like candy.

Eung Ho Park, 49, a Jackson Heights resident born in South Korea, created the work and several others either drawn or made of common objects now being exhibited in a show at Y Gallery until March 18...

...Park said his show at the gallery came about through serendipity. He was returning to his home in Jackson Heights after parking his car on 85th Street near the gallery last summer when the inaugural show in the gallery caught his eye.

He had his portfolio with him, showed it to Jurado and they hit if off, he said. That led to the show...

...Y Gallery, located at 32-70 85th St. in East Elmhurst, is the only fine art gallery in the area.

It opened in July 2006 to increase the presence of art and culture in the diverse neighborhood, (Curator Cecilia) Jurado said.

The show runs through March 18, when there will be a closing party from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The Big Apple May Never Be Known as the Big Sparerib, but It’s Smokin’

By PETER MEEHAN from nytimes.com March 7, 2007

AMOR was what she called me. Not honey, not sugar, not sir. Amor — as in Spanish for love — was what the counter woman tacked onto “thank you” when I paid my tab at the Ranger Texas Barbecue, which operates out of the back of a locals’ bar called Legends in Jackson Heights, Queens... New York’s barbecue scene may be missing a lot of things — like dirt roads and screen doors and decades of deep-seated tradition — but love for barbecue in the city is strong. And in the past couple of years the product has caught up to the passion. Restaurants that hobbled out of the gate have hit their strides. The best pits in and around the city have gotten better... For beef ribs, there’s Ranger Texas Barbecue in Jackson Heights...the beef short rib — a fantastically fatty and flavorful cut that almost no place in the city has found a way to mishandle — was absolutely spot on...

RANGER TEXAS BARBECUE at Legends, 71-04 35th Avenue, Jackson Heights, Queens; (718) 803-8244.

Water Main Break Turns Queens Neighborhood Into Icy Mess

from NY1 March 07, 2007
(with video)
A water main break has turned a Queens neighborhood into an icy mess this morning, making life difficult for residents and businesses.

The break happened shortly after 2 a.m. at 75th Street and Broadway in Jackson Heights...Train service was briefly disrupted but has been fully restored in the area...

5 Boroughs Ice Cream

from jockohomo March 05th, 2007

...'5 Boroughs Ice Cream' began on the owners couch in Astoria, Queens...They thought, “what if there was an ice cream flavor for every neighborhood in the city?” Inspired by the different neighborhoods and the people who live in them, they saw NYC as an inexhaustible source of flavors-hoods...
...Flavors include:

Upper West Side Rich White Vanilla
Jackson Heights Mangodesh
New York’s Finest NYPB
Bay Ridge Amaretto Amore
Bakla-Wha?!
South Bronx Cha Cha Chocolate
Staten Island Landfill
Soho...

(Scroll over Mangodesh to see 'Jackson Heights' packaging)

The Patel Brothers

by Brian from New York Daily Photo, March 05, 2007

...Welcome to the only Indian food chain in the United States. The Patel Brothers now have 35 stores across the US, primarily along the eastern seaboard with stores also in Detroit, Houston and Indianapolis. They distribute Raja Foods and Swad ("taste" in Hindi). All total they are doing $140 million in sales annually...

...The photo is of the Patel Brothers grocery on 74th Street in Jackson Heights Queens...

Latin record shops thrive despite changes in music business

By CRISTIAN SALAZAR Associated Press Writer for Newsday, March 2, 2007

...
For many Latin Americans like Jimenez, the source for their music _ a cultural bridge between their lives in the U.S. and their homelands _ is the neighborhood Latin record shop. These stores have proliferated in New York's immigrant neighborhoods in recent years and have survived even as the retail music industry that caters to English speakers faces grim prospects...
...Many of the independent Latin record shops also cater to specific nationalities. In the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick, for instance, it's easy to find retailers focusing on Ecuadorian music. Jackson Heights is where many get the latest in "grupera" music from Mexico...
...During a recent visit to about a half-dozen Latin record shops along Jackson Heights' main commercial artery, business appeared to be steady, with customers of all ages browsing and buying, all to a steady background of music from Latin America...

Rob Swift

by Crooklyn for Crooklyn's Classics

...Turntablist Rob Swift was born Robert Aguilar in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood of Queens...
...After graduating from Baruch College with a degree in psychology, Swift joined one of the top scratching groups of the '90s, the X-Men (later known as the X-Ecutioners)...