Jackson Heights: Then, Now, In Future A Global Village
BY AUSTIN H. ARMITSTEAD
pride and the coming together of different nationalities from all over the world. The Olympic torch signifies an inextinguishable flame bridging history, the present and the future. This concept of the global village, uniting all corners of the world and linking past, present and generations yet unborn and history yet to be made is embodied nowhere so well as in the community of Jackson Heights.

The Jackson Heights Beautification Group, formed in 1988 to revitalize the community for which it is named, gave area residents an opportunity to take responsibility for their destiny and that of their neighborhood. They planted gardens, eradicated graffiti, adopted parks, organized cleanups held concerts and staged a spectacular Halloween Parade every year. Doris Derik-Wurgler editor of the the group’s newsletter, “Views From the Heights”, keeps residents informed about what’s happening. The JHBG also made an investment in the future when members raised $13,000 over the course of three years to provide copies of Jackson Heights From Ice Age to

Space Age by Rudy

Greco, a local attorney.

Illustrated by

talented local schoolchildren

and intended to

convey the message of

the community’s history to

children and inspire pride in the

neighborhood, Jackson Heights

From Ice Age to Space Age was five

years in the making. With Citibank

as one of its major sponsors, the

book was distributed free to fourth

grade students at local schools and

became part of the curriculum.

The children of new immigrants are assimilated to life in Jackson Heights, New York City and America while retaining the best elements of their native cultures through the fine schools in the area and their dedicated teachers and staff. Whether public, private or charter, the schools of Jackson Heights demonstrate to the students who attend them that different cultures and skills and diverse viewpoints are essential to the growth of the community. It is no accident that Jackson Heights’ own charter school, The Renaissance School at 37th Avenue and 81st Street, was named for a period in human history when diversity, an eclectic outlook and the flowering of human knowledge made possible the stupendous advancement of civilization.

Jackson Heights does not look only to the new and different as the source of its growth. Older residents who settled in the neighborhood years, even generations ago, bring their accumulated wisdom to civic organizations, religious groups and everyday life. All ages welcome diversity that remains strong even while those from different nations and cultures become part of the Jackson Heights community. The collaboration between residents of different ages and backgrounds is seen everywhere— in the variety of stores that line neighborhood commercial streets, at bus stops, in libraries, and especially in the neighborhood schools.

Like the Olympics, a spirit of cooperation permeates Jackson Heights, now more than ever before. The neighborhood is blessed to be witness to this coming together of people from all over the world, adding their unique culture, color and spirit of the life force that has always been here.