Summer 2012 Newsletter - LaGuardia Community College - CUNY

median income of $170, 486 in an online blog titled Census Pinpoints City’s Wealthiest, Poorest
Neighborhoods by Arun Venugopal. Similarly, if one were to take the 1, 2 (to Wakefield, east 241
St, where I live,) the D (to East 205 street), the 4 (Mosulu Parkway), or the 5 (to Dyre Ave),
going uptown towards the Bronx he or she will find less glamorous and more poverty stricken
areas, besides the traditional attractions of the Bronx Zoo and Yankees Stadium. According to
an April 2010 report published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene,
the percent of residents living in poverty was highest in the borough of the Bronx. One
can also take the 1 (to South Ferry), 2 (to Wall Street), 4 (to Bowling Green), and 5 (to Bowling
Green), in the opposite direction to downtown Manhattan to wealthier areas such as Tribeca
and Wall Street, a center of power, wealth, and financial activity. These subway routes allow a
passenger to see and experience dramatic change and contrast in the standard of living of many
New Yorkers and educate people about how there is a growing economic disparity in many
neighborhoods in New York City.
Beyond the economic disparities in the city’s neighborhoods one can also find change, contrast
and diversity in the ethnicity of New Yorkers and its neighborhoods while traveling in and out
the subway system. On any given day in New York City, an individual will normally see a diverse
array of people from a variety of different ethic backgrounds stepping into a typical city subway
train. For instance, the 7 train is well known for providing transportation to a diverse group of
New Yorkers. It travels from Main Street in Flushing, Queens to 42 second Street-Times Square
in Manhattan. While traveling on this train, one can observe change, contrast and diversity in the
ethnic backgrounds of native New Yorkers., because the 7 train travels along Queens Neighborhoods
that have been traditionally settled by immigrants from around the globe. According to
New York Times reporter Bille Cohen, who documented different routes of the New York City
public transportation system in January 2008, the 7 train line is “ known as the international express
because it runs from Queens to Manhattan making stops in neighborhoods that are Chinese,
Irish, Italian, Greek, Turkish Romanian, Indian and Mexican, just to name a few”. As a result,
on any given stop along the 7 train, one can experience change and diversity in the ethnic
backgrounds of Native New Yorkers and their neighborhoods in Queens. Riding a subway train
such as the 7 line gives an individual a firsthand educational experience to the fact that Queens is
the most diverse county in the United States.
Another firsthand experience of change and diversity and contrast in the ethnicity of native New
Yorkers and the look of their neighborhoods can be found on the 2 train line traveling from the
North Bronx to Wall Street and the financial district in Manhattan along 7th ave. If an individual
took the 2 line from the North Bronx at 241st street- Wakefield they would notice that most of
the subway passengers are mostly from Hispanic and Caribbean backgrounds. The majority of
the ethnic composition of the 2 train line would stay constant from 241 street-Wakefield in the
North Bronx to125 street-Harlem in Manhattan; however, once the 2 train reaches 96th street,
there is a dramatic population shift in the ethnicity of most subway passengers on the 2 line. At
this stop, the 2 train cars become flooded with New Yorkers who are for the most part, Caucasian.
Many neighborhoods on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and south of the famous black
neighborhood of 125 th Street-Harlem are mostly populated by White New Yorkers. The dramatic
population shift in the ethnicity at 96 th street is one of the biggest examples of change and
contrast in New York City that can easily be witnessed by anyone riding the subways. Furthermore,
riding the 2 train line provides a firsthand learning experience about the city’s native populations
because the experience of the ride allows an individual to become more culturally aware
of the fact that the Bronx is the only borough in New York City where its white citizens are not
a majority of the population.
The most striking and prominent examples of change, contrast and diversity in New York City
can be seen throughout the city’s geographical and subway landscape. A dramatic example of
change in scenery and landscape throughout the city’s subways can occur when a passenger stepping
into a train beneath the city streets in Manhattan at one moment to eventually find himself
or herself looking at the Brooklyn Bridge while standing in one of the several trains that travels
on the Manhattan Bridge, which is adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge. The ride over the Manhattan
Bridge, which connects Manhattan to Brooklyn, could be represented by the N, Q, B or D
train lines, since they all travel on the Bridge. Many New Yorkers often travel back and forth on
the subways on a daily basis without ever realizing that most train stops are underneath the bor-
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