Moving to Queens NY and need racial Demographics (New York, Hilton: cheap apartment, lease)

[yodel]

I think that cyntmac made a good point that income is a better indicator than race for crime levels. The OP asked about race to assess the area's safety and no other information. There are middle/upper middle class neighborhoods in Queens which I'm quite sure are not high crime areas, but the OP seems to think that he would be a target for crime in any minority area. It's the assumption about the people behind the question that I find to be offensive. And why not ask the obvious question - is this a safe area?

[cyntmac]

Even if you don't judge this OP you still have to admit that he asked about "ethnic groupings" and nothing else. He really wanted to know more than that as evidenced by his second post-placed almost 3 weeks later. Ethnic groupings does not seem to be all that the OP is interested in. The first post does not make that clear. I'm not saying that it is wrong to post a question like this under any circumstances. I'm just saying that it makes no sense to be that vague. The OP also did not give his race/ethnicity.

If someone bothers to give that info it might make sense to bother to respond to a question like this. Even then some of the responses may completely ignore the OP's race/ethnicity which would not make sense in an instance like this. I once responded to an OP who was requesting a "professional Black culture" and when I neglected to mention a town (it was Hoboken) with basically no Black culture-several posts followed criticizing that. I guess they were recommending that area for some reason but I have no idea why as it was not what the OP was looking for. If OP bothers to give that kind of info then the response should bother to contain relevant info in return.

In this case I thought this thread was a waste to respond to as OP just alluded to "so called ethnicity" but was probably talking about more than that and could not be bothered to clue us in.
In real life there are many more minority people who ask these kinds of questions in my experience. When whites ask or fixate on this stuff-it does seem a little suspect but there are legit reasons for asking and I would not criticize this OP if he would have been more specific in the very first post. Whites are not very good at talking about ethnicity/race in general. It seems to sway to the really PC end of the spectrum or the more bigoted/ignorant end when this is discussed. City-data seems to reflect this from what I have noticed. If you prefer to live predom among your own kind-I will not lecture you. I just feel that it is your business and I don't know the people who post on here anyway. This one was just too vague to gleam if that was even the issue for this person.

[justone321]

Why would anyone in the entire USA think there is an entire neighborhood "RESERVED" for their specific ethnic group??? Especially in NY. What happened to "give me your tired and your poor..."?

[cyntmac]

In regard to NYC it is a pretty strange way to inquire on this. It made the entire thread seem suspect as far as sincerity goes.
I mean- "moving to NYC and need racial demographics". Where can I find info on ethnic groupings?.....LOL

[mead]

Are you kidding me? the New York Metro area is possibly one of the most segregated areas of the country.

We'll take the tired and poor, but most people just don't want to live next to all of them.

Originally Posted by justone321

Why would anyone in the entire USA think there is an entire neighborhood "RESERVED" for their specific ethnic group??? Especially in NY. What happened to "give me your tired and your poor..."?

[mead]

Well I think generally when a poster asks about demographics or crime in an area this is just code-speak among white people as to whether white people can live in that neighborhood and feel safe.

If a poster writes something about diversity then that is just code-speak trying to find out whether minorities can live in a certain neighborhood and not be hassled. Generally I believe this comes from black people, sometimes from hispancis. If the poster is Chinese/Indian/Korean they usually won't beat around teh bush and generally will just state where they are from when they are looking for a neighborhood. Of course sometimes progressive white people are interested in living in a diverse neighborhood, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

I really don't think much more can be read into this than that.

How is it somewhat suspect when a white person asks about demographics, and not so when a minority does the same thing? Isn't what's good for the goose, good for the gander?

Originally Posted by cyntmac

Even if you don't judge this OP you still have to admit that he asked about "ethnic groupings" and nothing else. He really wanted to know more than that as evidenced by his second post-placed almost 3 weeks later. Ethnic groupings does not seem to be all that the OP is interested in. The first post does not make that clear. I'm not saying that it is wrong to post a question like this under any circumstances. I'm just saying that it makes no sense to be that vague. The OP also did not give his race/ethnicity.

If someone bothers to give that info it might make sense to bother to respond to a question like this. Even then some of the responses may completely ignore the OP's race/ethnicity which would not make sense in an instance like this. I once responded to an OP who was requesting a "professional Black culture" and when I neglected to mention a town (it was Hoboken) with basically no Black culture-several posts followed criticizing that. I guess they were recommending that area for some reason but I have no idea why as it was not what the OP was looking for. If OP bothers to give that kind of info then the response should bother to contain relevant info in return.

In this case I thought this thread was a waste to respond to as OP just alluded to "so called ethnicity" but was probably talking about more than that and could not be bothered to clue us in.
In real life there are many more minority people who ask these kinds of questions in my experience. When whites ask or fixate on this stuff-it does seem a little suspect but there are legit reasons for asking and I would not criticize this OP if he would have been more specific in the very first post. Whites are not very good at talking about ethnicity/race in general. It seems to sway to the really PC end of the spectrum or the more bigoted/ignorant end when this is discussed. City-data seems to reflect this from what I have noticed. If you prefer to live predom among your own kind-I will not lecture you. I just feel that it is your business and I don't know the people who post on here anyway. This one was just too vague to gleam if that was even the issue for this person.

[cyntmac]

Good for the gander if the OP would stop speaking in "code" and state their specifics. The speaking in code is too much. I think whites do that way more than any other group.(the code thing) Maybe it is the fear of being called a bigot. If you spend much time on city-data you will notice the "so called progressives" much more than out in the real world. I have noticed that when someone non-white asks these questions they come out and say "I'm Black" or whatever. I didn't think that this OP was sincere as should be obvious from my previous posts. Had he been straight forward I would have answered this thread when I first saw it.

So called progressives, middle of the roaders, bigots and anyone else are wasting their time beating around the bush as far as I am concerned. Just come clean and I will not judge. Code speak, threads that state "seeking diversity", vague questions like "will I fit in?"- all a waste of time unless they include some substance. I have posted on this before and much of the time the OP has some notion in their head that even they can not define. It makes you wonder why they bother? Are they just coming here to be entertained?

[Manhattan-ite]

Cyntmac,

And why do you bother? I mean, your posts are mostly rants against the people posting here, the forum, the questions asked, the cities, whatever. You're not a happy person, obviously! You don't like anything.

But you do bother answering and writing lengthy posts while saying "why bother". I'd say it doesn't make sense. If I see a thread that is not worth my time, I just stay away from it. But writing 500-word posts and say "why bother" as you do is just plain bizarre, I'm sorry.

Mead: You are right. New York City and its metropolitan area is one of the most segregated areas in America. The "how-come-they-ask-for-race-data-if-this-is-diverse-New-York" discourse is bull**** and simply not true.

It is sad, but whether because of economics or personal preference, people in our great city mostly do not mix with other, and we are divided in ghettos.

[cyntmac]

Originally Posted by Manhattan-ite

And why do you bother? I mean, your posts are mostly rants against the people posting here, the forum, the questions asked, the cities, whatever. You're not a happy person, obviously! You don't like anything.

But you do bother answering and writing lengthy posts while saying "why bother". I'd say it doesn't make sense. If I see a thread that is not worth my time, I just stay away from it.
Mead: You are right. New York City and its metropolitan area is one of the most segregated areas in America. The "how-come-they-ask-for-race-data-if-this-is-diverse-New-York" discourse is bull**** and simply not true.

It is sad, but whether because of economics or personal preference, people in our great city mostly do not mix with other, and we are divided in ghettos.

Oh please give me a break. The personal attacks are getting old. You don't like someone's posts so you say they are an unhappy person. Low blow. Some of the posts were fine here but the OP was a joke and that was obviously my point. There is nothing bizarre about it. I bothered to respond only after this OP posted a second time - 3 weeks later. I stated this several times!! The original post was not worth my time. I agree-just stay away from those threads. I responded 3 weeks after the fact to make my point. I could have responded the same day the thread was started.

Are you really living in a ghetto? I've never noticed that you were sad about that before. I thought everyone who did not live with you in McManhattan was invisible or at least unfabulous.

[jvinc]

I would recommend either Forest Hills or Bayside in Queens. Both are nice neighborhoods - Forest Hills is (as another poster mentioned) somewhat congested - citified, in that it is urban, with many businesses and busy thoroughfares. That said, it is a great neighborhood with plenty to offer, in terms of restaurants, nightlife, etc., as well as some lovely homes (though very expensive $$$$ - think over $500,000). You could probably get co-ops or condos there for much less, depending on what you're looking for. Forest Hills is good because it's a little bit closer to Manhattan (1/2 hour on the subway, 15 minutes by LIRR).

Bayside is a little more out of the way- you can get there on the LIRR (about 25-30 minutes), and it has a lot of nice shopping areas and a bit more of the "suburban" type feel, without actually being the suburbs. Again, it's pretty pricey, but everywhere in NY is. Overall, both are fairly safe and nice neighborhoods to live in. I also heard (?) from some people that the Bayside schools are OK - but I'm not speaking from personal experience, so I can't be too sure about that - maybe someone with kids can give you a little more input.