WOODSIDE, QUEENS

For the next 10 weeks I will be living in Woodside, Queens or 'Little Manila'. This part of the city has a large Filipino community, but it is also home to a large variety of different cultures. Roosevelt Avenue showcases these different communities, from the old Irish bars to the Filipino restaurants. Relatively un-gentrified, this part of New York feels much more gritty and raw than the more polished neighbourhoods of Manhattan. I will undoubtedly enjoy living here and getting to know the neighbourhood.

---

The Woodside Melting Pot

The T-Mobile store plays only Latin music. The local delis sell lucky bamboo plants on the pavement. Elderly ladies push laundry carts to the nearest laundromat. Filipino men sit on benches off Roosevelt Avenue sipping beers at 11am. Jollibee is packed with families, everyone is speaking Tagalog - this could be Manila. A Latina nurse in light blue scrubs wearing pink neon Sketchers walks an elderly woman down the sunny high street. The ‘c99 Store’ sign has letters at least four feet tall. Nothing inside is actually c99. The shop selling meat for Korean bbqs sits next to the store selling colourful saris. You can see the wheels of the train as it rattles above you on the elevated railway. In my apartment I am met with a sticker on the mirror that reads ‘Jesus Loves You’ everytime I brush my teeth. On the front door a sign reads ‘we are Catholics, please don’t try to change our religion.’ The apartment is packed floor to ceiling with boxes half full, ready to be shipped off to The Philippines for Christmas. My bedroom looks out onto a small overgrown yard, the neighbouring windows are only a few metres away.