Hello everyone, I hope you all are enjoying the summer. I’m currently writing this post on my birthday. I wanted to share some reflections and provide some insight in the local Jamaica community.
Table of Contents
Life Reflection #1: Growing Pains
Life Reflection #2: Reading Journey
Community Insight: Immigrant Energy
Community Insight: Meet Jamaica- NIMBY Capitol USA
Reflection #1: Growing Pains
“Money is not everything but it’s a necessity for living”
Living at home provides a security blanket, but also encourages complacency. At age 36, I feel that I have not grown or accomplished much life goals as compared to my peers. Once I get steady income, I can finally start living (NYC is expensive and I want to support local businesses) while building a community reputation. I have been actively applying for jobs with the particular interest in working with the city of New York or other impactful organizations. I’m trying to manifest this. However, the job market is exhausting and soul-sucking, where I write several passionate cover letters and receive no feedback and there is no guarantee that it was even read by a human. Yesterday, I received news that I was selected for a competitive political candidate training program for first generation immigrants (i.e. New American Leaders). I’ll be heading to North Carolina, mid-August.
Reflection #2: Reading Journey
“Ten years ago, I never imagined myself as a reader.”
I’ve recently started to read a hefty (950 pages) novel, Shantaram. I’m currently halfway through. It is masterfully written and captivating. Without spoiling too much, the novel is based on the author’s real life experiences where he is an escaped convict from New Zealand who settled in Bombay authentically living in the slums and involved with the black market. The novel delves deeply into Bombay culture, slum life, philosophy, ethics, justice and much more. At one point, during a tense conversation, I genuinely reacted with shock and anticipation from reading dialogue… I digress.
I seldomly read books for fun or entertainment. I have the propensity to be addicted to games, which is pure consumption. Reading can expand my imagination, knowledge, introspection, and most importantly, encourages me to engage the world, and my internal self, which includes my darker feelings. My reading procedure is to take a break after each chapter allowing me to process the material, and also complete other tasks.
In respect to the opening quote, it may shock some people given my intelligence, but I had dyslexia and some other learning disabilities that made me unable to comprehend fiction [I would literally get a headache after a few pages]. Many years ago, I disclosed my “shameful” secret with a close friend and they helped me take the first steps in reading. I have made great strides since then. I would to thank all my friends.
Community Insight: Immigrant Energy!
Yesterday, I went to a panel about the history of the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning (JCAL). JCAL had a lot of ups and downs within the last decades. One of the panelists, Janet Henry, described her early engagement with JCAL stating that the organization is fueled by the energy of passionate persons, though burnout is inevitable when there is limited support. The major challenges that JCAL face is
Almost all the cultural activities are placed in Manhattan and Brooklyn
Funding source is primarily public, and not private, increasing vulnerabilities
Priority of focus was between local and broader appeal
How can JCAL tap into new development money from the broader business district?
During the reception, I chatted with Janet about a variety of topics. She mentioned that the most powerful driving force for community change is immigrant energy. Many of the early migrants from the Black diaspora after the Civil War and World War One were very engaged to build and transform their surrounding community. She explicitly stated that immigrant energy is not restricted to a literal immigrant, but can also be someone moving to a new location… I’m bringing Jamaica, a dash of Minnesota!
Community Insight: Meet Jamaica- NIMBY Capitol USA
For the Minnesota folks, the equivalence of a local district council in NYC is the neighborhood Community Board. I reside with the Queens Community Board 12, which comprises several neighborhoods, which is mostly south from my residence (Cambria Heights, South Jamaica, etc). I seldomly visit these areas because 1) they are at the “other side” of the train tracks; 2) separated by industrial space; and 3) primarily residences. A majority of the residences are single family homes and there is large large senior population.
Side Note: Jamaica neighborhood has now become a Bangladeshi hub; though it is split into three different community boards /districts (i.e. how gerry-mandering is used to maintain existing influence).
I’ve attended general board meetings and transportation meetings for Queens Community Board 12. The meetings themselves are quite animated, and the residents take notice of board members voting. I’ve observed that the engaged civic organizations are local black church congregations, and the majority of participants are senior black women. For almost every proposal, they have taken a NIMBY (Not-In-My-Back-Yard) stance. Here are their positions:
No to any biking infrastructure! It is a cardinal sin for any biking expansion and road alterations if any parking is removed. The city of New York to expand biking infrastructure to the other boroughs and not just wealthy Brooklyn and Manhattan Several members indicated numerous times that they like their cars and this will be a car-centric neighborhood. They state it’s a suburban community and they wanna keep it that way.
Side Note: The biking infrastructure and attitude of drivers is absolutely atrocious. There are no bike lanes, and the drivers are rude and aggressive. I’d like to push for a biking campaign, “Who Owns the Street?”, is needed to advocate family-friendly streets. We need to switch from car-centric to family-centric streets, which may involve engaging with immigrant and Latino families to be civically involved.
No city E-scooter program! This has been recently implemented. They are annoyed that people park the scooters in annoying places. Their primary complaint is that they were informed too late, and adamantly against the implementation of it. Every day on Facebook, they show pictures of parked scooters in appropriate areas, and encourage neighbors to complain to the city.
Side Note: From my neighborhood walks, I see so many YOUNG people using the scooters including friends exploring them for the first time, couples riding, and even a father and daughter experience. Of course, these people are not in the Facebook group.
No to any high-density housing! It is a cardinal sin to add more housing because it will increase congestion and less street parking available. There was a board vote to approve a 100% affordable housing apartment in the area (best deal you can get). The vote barely passed. The discussion was contentious with residents expressing concern of parking, neighborhood character, and domino effects of more housing developments.
No to any zoning changes (i.e. the city of YES proposal). The city wants to do a complete overhaul to zoning, making some single-family units into multiple-family unit housing, and remove parking requirements. As you can imagine, they are not pleased.
No to migrant shelters! This is understandable given how poor the area is already is.
No to anything that gives them slight discomfort or provides no direct benefit.
From my assessment, members of Queens Community Board 12 are in complete opposition to any initiatives of the city because they distrust the city due to lack of meaningful input, ignoring board requests/ decisions, and poorly enforcing city laws (asshole drivers and illegal parking). In other words, the heart of the disagreement is trust, not substance. Personally, as a community and family-first advocate, this is a difficult community to work with for various reasons. I won’t give up, and hope to work for the city and be the bridge between the community and the city.
Thank you for reading! I don’t know what the next post will be about. Maybe after going to the training for new immigrant leaders. Stay tuned.
Sustain-Abu 