Interview Questions

I will be interviewing the owner of Joes Pizzeria in my neighborhood

1. How long have you lived in this neighborhood?
2. What do you like most about this neighborhood?
3. What attracts you to this neighborhood?
4. Have you seen any dramatic changes in this neighborhood?
5. How much of an impact does Cardozo High School have on your store?
6. When you remodeled, did it benefit you?
7. How many stores since you been here, opened and closed in this neighborhood?
8. Do you make of a lot of business having your store at this exact location?
9. Do you know most of your customers?
10. Have you franchise your store?

Bayside

Bayside has its many communities such as Oakland Gardens, Bayside Hills, Bay Terrace, Lawrence Manor, Tall Oaks, Weeks Woodlands, Bell Court and Bayside Gables. At first, Bayside was filled with Italian families. Then later most of these communities in Bayside filled with Chinese, Greek, and Korean families. Many of these communities have modern development-style housing, privately gated community, mixed architecture, and larger apartment buildings.
Along with these beautiful communities are hundreds of acres of parks. Alley Pond Park, Fort Totten, Cunningham Park, Little Neck Bay running path and park, John Golden and Crocheron Parks, and Alley Pond Environmental Center has gorgeous picnic areas, hiking paths, several ball fields, and golf courses. Communities have parties, games, religious practices, sports, etc. here the parks of Bayside.

Bayside Real Estate prices went down in the past year for about 10 percent. Housing mostly consists of condos, co-ops, apartments, 1-family houses (semi and non-attached), 1-family houses, and 2-family houses. For co-ops, prices range around $150k-500k that consists of a 1 bedroom to 3 bedrooms. Condos prices range around $200k-&700k that also consist of a 1 bedroom to 3 bedrooms. 1-family housed (attached) prices estimate up to $400k+ and 2-family houses estimate up to $750+.

Bayside has the best schools in Queens such as Benjamin Cardozo High School, Bayside High School, and M.S. 74. In Bayside, you can find major banks such as Flushing Savings Bank and Washington Mutual along with health clubs such as Bell Plaza Sports Club. As many can tell, Bayside is defiantly one of the most beautiful communities in Queens.


About.com. "Bayside Queens Neighborhood Profile." John Roleke. <http://queens.about.com/od/neighborhoods/p/bayside.htm>

Living In Bayside

"It's a place with nice trees and big parks right there in the city of New York" said Thomas Van Riper, "There is a real sense of community here that's hard to find anywhere else in the city". Thomas Van Riper is a real estate broker who came from a family that has lived in Bayside during the Civil War.

Bayside has been trough its many transformations as well as most communities. What was once a farming village has later altered into a glamorous movie star estate at one point. As of now, Bayside is more beautiful then ever with its astounding parks and gorgeous real estate making Bayside one of the finest places to live. "Its schools are ranked among the best in New York, its violent-crime rate is one of the lowest and its community activism is ever evident" as said by John Arundel in The New York Times.

The New York Times. "If You're Thinking of Living in: Bayside". EVE C. GUILLERGAN January 1989. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507E7DA1238F932A35752C0A962948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3>

ALLEY POND PARK

As the wind goes by, you could hear the leaves blowing in the wind, the birds chirping as you’re walking down its long paths while jumping over its streams of water. I must’ve walked trough Alley Pond Park a million times since I moved to Bayside. It’s completely gorgeous and it goes on forever. I’ve rode my bike down its steep hills, roller blade across its dirt paths, and jogged between its long trees. Several Events takes place here in Alley Pond Park, as well as parties, games, gatherings, etc. that’s fills the park with people from all ages to come and enjoy.

As there are many parks here in Queens, Ally Pond Park is the second largest. There are 655.294 acres of Alley Pond Park, inside 26 acres of recently constructed playing fields. What makes this park extremely interesting is that there is a long passage that takes you all the way to Brooklyn as well as Manhattan. It is said that in 1790, George Washington himself traveled the route of Alley Pond Park touring Long Island. Later in 1935, the park opened to the public giving people an unsterstanding of its park’s history and environment. As your walking trough the park, there are glimpse of its park’s past as well as its present.

The scenery is beautiful and the people are delighted to have the privilege of walking trough Alley Pond Park. There are playgrounds placed all over the park along with fountains, baseball, soccer, football, and basketball fields. Millions of dollars was spent to assure that everyone is satisfied and safe. There are also several buildings reconstructed, picnic areas renovated and offers bird sanctuary, tennis courts, bridle paths, bicycle paths, etc. One can say that Alley Pond Park is tremendously unique.

When you enter the park you see children running around, people of all ages jogging, exercising, playing every sport imaginable, climbing trees, biking, meditating and enjoying life. The park is opened to anything and anyone but is safe at the same time. There are park rangers all over to guide you incase of a problem. So it is safe to say that the park guaranteed that the park will continue its glory and reputation for generations to come.

New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. "Alley Pond Park." <http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12062>

Benjamin Cardozo High School

Sarah Kamboj

09/11/07

Benjamin Cardozo High School

This picture shows the main part of Benjamin Cardozo High School. Established in 1966, Benjamin Cardozo High school is a public school operated by the New York City Department of Education. It is commonly referred to as just "Cardozo" or as students like to call it "dozo". Cardozo was named after Benjamin N. Cardozo who, at first was a chief judge of the New York Court of Appeal and then later served as a judge of the U.S. Supreme Court. Cardozo is located in Bayside, Queens where students come from all five boroughs to attend. The school offers the following programs; Contract Law, DaVinci Research program that focuses on math and science, and a competitive Performing Dance program which students are selected a rigorous audition process.

Statistics show that Benjamin N. Cardozo High School is one of the most victorious high schools. Wikipedia states that "Some have rated it among the best public schools in the city, in 1998 Newsweek magazines rated it one of the top 100 school in the United States". Cardozo has an enrollment of 4,200 students with class sizes around 34 students, its attendance is 91%, and its graduation rate is 88.7%. It has a 7 year graduation rate 92.7%.

At Cardozo between classes, instead of annoying bells to indicate the changing of periods, they play music. All types of music, ranging from classical to hip hop. Another interesting aspect of Cardozo is its "42 street", which is the main hall that every student passes at least two to three times a day. It is by far the busiest area at Cardozo.

Being a graduate of Cardozo High School, class of 2007, I can honestly say Cardozo High School is an extremely interesting and unique school. There are dozens of activities; clubs, volunteering possibilities to choose from and competition amongst students are very high. With such a large student body attending Cardozo High school one can only imagine the many ethnicities. In Cardozo there are 22% whites, 18% African-American, 14% Hispanics, and 47% Asians. Being exposed to different cultures and religions at Cardozo High School and its belief in tolerance and acceptance has definitely made me a better person. I know why Cardozo is also known as "A school with a heart".

http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=1075

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardozo_High_School_(New_York_City)

MY BLOCK

09/06/07






Benjamin Cardozo High School in Queens has over 3, 500 students attending, bringing together students from all five boroughs, Queensborough Community College (QCC) with its enormous student body, M. S. 74 having over 800 students, P.S. 203 and P.S. 46 both having over 500 students each are all located just a couple of blocks away from a huge shopping center filled with the finest restaurants that students today crave. Students call this block "Springfield" due to it's location on Springfield Blvd. Everyday before and after school, students of all ages go from one store to another, to purchase goods from the variety of products being sold. With its assortments such as Dunkin' Donuts, Mc. Donald's, two famous pizzerias, several delis', two super markets, a number of Asian restaurants, two café's, and a Subways/Nathan's, Springfield floods with people consuming all the products available. With having so many schools so close, businesses on Springfield generate an enormous amount of capital daily.

Among the many stores that occupy Springfield Blvd, the one place students hang out the most is Joe's Pizzeria, also known as "Joe's". Recently Joe's, under new management, transformed into Fried Chicken/Pizzeria making it better with more options to choose from to satisfy students' pallets. However, the pizzeria in order to add a chicken area had to sacrifice seating space. In the past Joe's was filled with hungry and tired students. Joe's was a place to sit, eat and relax. It became a habit for many students to automatically walk into Joe's everyday to talk about their day and eat. Although, the pizzeria was famous for its delicious pizza and its ideal location it is now a place where students quickly get their food and move on to the next location. Nonetheless, Joe's Pizzeria holds a great deal of memories for many students in this area. For my parents, it is where they went to eat on their first date, in 1982.

Another store which is popular amongst students on Springfield is Subways/Nathan's. This store was also a recent addition to this popular place. Students storm the doors everyday to go in and purchase their food and hangout. Even though, it is located only a couple of stores away from Joe's Pizzeria, there does not seem to be any loss of customers. They each offer different types of food. Because it's both Subways and Nathan's (hotdogs), the store offers a wide variety of foods to choose form. Although, this store is a new edition to the Springfield area, it is an area filled with students on a daily basis. As with Joe's, I am sure that Subways is also going to be a place where good memories will forever be cherished by many.

Along with these two popular eating places just mentioned, there are a number of other various eateries to choose from. Springfield is by far the meeting place for many teenagers and also those students' attending Queensborough Community College. It is where they go daily to hang out, talk about their day and problems, study, as well as make new relationships. It is also a great location to open a business geared towards students and the concept of having a good time. Springfield is easily accessible by car or public transportation. Therefore, Springfield Blvd is the number one spot in my neighborhood.

Curbed
Gothamist

Forgotten-ny.com

Forgotten-ny.com

Sarah Kamboj

September 2, 2007

If you ever have some free time or have the desire to gain knowledge about New York's hidden fascination, sign on to the Forgotten-ny.com internet site. It is a fascinating website about New York. From alleys to the parks, from subways to the numerous cemeteries, this website is a grand tour of New York. This website incorporates everything one craves to know, notice, and gain knowledge of regarding New York. There are updates with references to recent events in New York as well as astonishing, mind-boggling, unimaginable sites, (for example: animals, waterfalls, etc).

I clicked on several links from Forgotten-ny.com, and found myself amazed with the numerous information it had to offer. The one that drew my attention first was "Queens Crap", mostly because I was born and raised in Queens. This page had blog entries updates on recent events, opinions, facts about New York. For example; the most recent blog titled "Building Wall Collapses in Jamaica" dated September 1, 2007 where a building collapsed on Thursday morning of August 30, 2007. Interestingly my mother was explaining to us about this event because this building was right across from the building my mother works. There was a video clip of the tragic event which helped me to visualize and unfold the incident.

Another blog entry I found extremely interesting was posted on Thursday August 31, 2007 titled "Riders Give 7 a 'C Minus'", because I often ride the 7 line when I go to the city, shopping with my best friend. This blog entry had a picture of a report card given to the 7 train. The report card indicated various categories and the specific grades it received. For the 7 line's availability of Metro Card machines it received a grade of B-, for its cleanliness of station it received a grade of C-, for its courtesy and helpfulness of MTA employees it received a grade of C, for its lack of graffiti it received a grade of C+, for its station announcements it received a grade of D+, and for its adequate room during rush hour it received a grade of D. Its overall grade, to my surprise was a C-.

Also, there was a picture that caught my attention on the home page, "Hunters Point, Queens on the Edge". This picture was of a store in Hunters Point and a man with a book bag standing on the side facing the store and walking towards it. Hunters Point is one of the many communities in Queens. It states that "Hunters Point is a community in Queens on the edge-in more ways than one". When clicking on this picture it gave me an entire tour of Hunters Point and all the magnificent sites and facts about this community. I learned that Hunters Point literally sits on the edge of Queens and Manhattan and sadly it is in the process of being taken over by tall buildings and development.

There were various other information and links on this site which interested me as well. This site's purpose is to teach New Yorkers and Non-New Yorkers about New York and all of its amazement. It has information regarding its history as well as the amazing events which occur on a daily basis. For anyone who is curious and interested about learning more about this wonderful place and also those who can reach out and have the desire to help the community in some way should find out more about Forgotten-ny.com. I know that I will be using this site often to learn more about New York.