CLICK THE MENU ITEM ABOVE FOR A MORE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
THE WEST VILLAGE: There is no neighborhood like the West Village (Greenwich
Village, the village). Its a diverse neighborhood that has a life of itself,
flowing with artists and musicians, and actors.
In the mid-19th century, however, as the city spread north of 14th Street,
the Village became the province of immigrants, bohemians, and students (New
York University [NYU], today the nation's largest private university, was
planted next to Washington Square in 1831). Its politics were radical and
its attitudes tolerant, which is one reason it became a home to such a large
lesbian and gay community.
ABOUT SOHO: Starting at Houston (pronounced how-ston) Street, walk south down Broadway, stopping to browse the stores and vendor stands between Houston and Prince streets. The sole remaining museum on the block is the New Museum of Contemporary Art, devoted exclusively to living artists. Within the Prada store at 575 Broadway, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has created a high-tech setting for the Italian house of fashion. Several art galleries share these blocks as well, most notably at 568 Broadway, which houses 10 galleries, and the trendy Armani Exchange store on the ground level.
ABOUT CHELSEA: As Broadway marches north and west across Manhattan it Chelseaforms a series of squares beginning with Union Square at 14th Street. The square itself hosts a popular Greenmarket, and before Christmas, a crafts market. In this neighborhood are some of the city's trendiest restaurants lining Park Avenue South up to 23rd Street. Madison Square, the site of the original Madison Square Garden, is dominated by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower and the Flatiron Building (20-stories and triangular). It was once the end of "ladies mile," the city's most fashionable shopping district along Broadway and Sixth Avenue; this area still has great shopping. To its east is Gramercy Park, a small, fenced park acessible only to residents of its surrounding townhouses. Theodore Roosevelt was born in this neighborhood.
Published: January 1, 1984
photos and map of Bayside
JOE Friscia has vivid recollections of
his father selling fish from a three-
wheel pushcart on dusty Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, in the 1930's.
Now, the third generation of the Friscia family is selling fish on the same spot, at Joe's Bayside Fish Market. But the dirt road is long gone. In its place, Bell Boulevard has become one of Bayside's main commercial avenues.
There are many more stores like Joe's Fish Market - places like Parker's Hardware, Kraus Paint and Wallpaper and Tanenbaum's clothing store - that have been familiar to Bayside residents for more than 50 years.
This is not surprising, since many of Bayside's 71,000 residents have lived there most of their lives and maany families date back several generations. ''Once people come here they usually stay for good,'' said Edythe Rogozinski, a real-estate agent in Bayside for 28 years.
For decades Bayside was a typical small suburban community with a one- room schoolhouse, colonial-style homes and a volunteer fire department - a quiet farming area with a cigar factory as its only industry.
But in the early 1900's Bayside became known as the ''Beverly Hills of the East.'' W. C. Fields and the actresses Norma Talmadge and Marie Dressler lived there to be near the movie studios in Astoria. Another prominent resident was the boxer ''Gentleman Jim'' Corbett. The rich built homes on the waterfront of Little Neck Bay, where they sailed yachts and partied on broad lawns. So many of them lived there that Corbett Road was dubbed ''Actors Row.''
Most headed west when Hollywood became the movie capital, but the marina and yacht club they frequented are still there on Little Neck Bay.
After World War II, land started becoming scarce in Bayside as plots were quickly bought for one-family homes. The community that once had several golf courses no longer has any, and real- estate agents say that just about every patch of available land has been built on.
Today, many consider Bayside one of the more desirable places to live in New York City because of its townlike atmosphere and easy access to Manhattan. ''Bayside has become one of the most desirable and stable communities around,'' said Charles J. Belamich of Bell Realty.
The community is bounded by Little Neck Bay on the north, Union Turnpike on the south, the Cross Island Parkway on the east and Francis Louis Boulevard on the west.
For commuters, there are several express buses to Manhattan and buses that connect to the end of the Flushing subway line. The Port Washington line of the Long Island Rail Road has a stop at Bayside; starting today, a monthly commuter ticket will cost $84 for the 25-minute ride.
Bayside has mostly detached one- and two-family houses. In recent years, however, there have been a number of illegal conversions into three- and four-family houses. Barnard Haber, chairman of Community Planning Board 11, which covers most of Bayside, blames high property costs for the problem.
One-family homes range from $85,000 to $270,000. Six years ago, Mr. Belamich said, he sold 50- by 100-foot plots for $19,000 or $20,000. Today, the same size would cost $80,000. ''But even then it would be difficult to find,'' he said, ''since a plot that size is usually not available.''
Three-family and smaller homes are taxed at the citywide rate of $9.10 for each $100 of assessed valuation and are assessed at 17.35 percent of the market value for a new home. The tax on a new one-family house costing $150,000 would be $2,368 a year.
But in the last two years, much of the market in Bayside has been shifting to condominiums. Five new projects have opened, with more than 2,000 units.
''Sales have been phenomenal,'' said Richard Goodwin of Stanley Thea Associates, the marketing sales agent for the Bay Club, Bayside's largest condominium complex. ''We average more than one sale a day.''
The Bay Club has a three-story health and fitness center and an electronic security system. When it opened in June 1981, it was charging about $90 a square foot. A one-bedroom apartment of 900 square feet sold for $80,000 to $85,000. Now, the Bay Club is selling units for almost $130 a square foot.
THOUSANDS of rental garden apartments were built in Bayside after
World War II under the Government's Section 608 program, which provided low-interest mortgage loans to veterans. But with the rising cost of fuel, homeowners found them expensive to maintain. The buildings had no insulation in the roofs or around the pipes.
''These apartments were not built to last a long time,'' said Helen Philbin, manager of Community Board 11. ''They were built to provide quick housing for veterans.''
Like many areas in northern Queens, Bayside found that the only solution to their deterioration was to convert the apartments into condominiums. One such project is the Parkridge, a 179-unit condominum complex with apartments selling for $70,000 to $160,000.
The median family income in Bayside is $29,500, compared with $16,000 citywide and $20,506 for all of Queens, according to Michael Levine, the director of community development at the city's Department of Planning.
Many residents shop in small stores, such as the Charmet Dress Shop and Kurtzberg's Stationery and Photo Supplies, that line Bell Boulevard. But there are also shopping centers nearby in Bay Terrace and Oakland Gardens.
A variety of activities are offered at the Bayside Senior Center, and the Y.M.C.A. has many programs for families. There are day, night and weekend courses for college or noncollege credit at Queensborough Community College in southern Bayside. The community's three parks have tennis courts and ball fields.
Eight of the nine elementary schools and both junior high schools in Bayside belong to District 26. The one remaining school belongs to District 25. ''Eighty- three percent of our students score average or above average in standardized math and reading scores,'' said Stanley Weber, executive assistant of District 26.
The older students go to Bayside or Benjamin N. Cardozo High Schools, or Francis Lewis High School in Flushing. All three have advanced-placement programs and more than 85 percent of their students go on to some form of higher education.
BAYSIDE HIGH SCHOOL has an extensive remedial and special- education program. Cardozo produced five National Merit scholarship semifinalists and two Westinghouse Science Talent Search winners last year. Francis Lewis has an international baccalaureate program in Geneva, and a math and science institute associated with IBM. Bayside is one of New York's safer communities. The biggest crime is auto theft. ''It's a problem because this is an area where most families generally own more than one car,'' said Officer Wayne Schneider, head of community affairs in the 111th Precinct.
Statistics show that since this time last year auto thefts have decreased to 1,529 from 1,941 in the 111th Precinct. Also, felonies are down to 4,115 from 5,166.
''This is an area where people take crime precautions and follow through on crime-prevention methods recommended by the precinct,'' Officer Schneider said. There are also three volunteer patrols and a private patrol sponsored by the area's civic associa
''The people are the same but the place certainly has changed,'' said Celia Greenfield, a longtime Bayside resident who owns Parker's Hardware on Bell Boulevard with her brother, Edward. ''I can still remember when the fruit and vegetable truck used to deliver to our homes.''
