Hollis in AMNY
Recently, amNew York ran a profile on Hollis, in eastern Queens. I’ve mainly known Hollis as the place where a colleague of mine lives, and as the home of Colin Powell, so it was interesting to read this summary about the area. It’s a suburban, quiet neighborhood most of the time, and a local realtor says he feels safe walking around late at night. The area did get wider attention via Run-D.M.C.’s “Christmas in Hollis”.
It’s a black middle-class neighborhood full of one-family homes. However, like in a lot of places in Queens, some of these one-family homes are getting knocked down and replaced with 2 or 3-family homes, and even McMansions. According to the article, Councilman Leroy Comrie is hoping the neighborhood can be downzoned, saying that overcrowding is more of a problem than crime or drag racing. Saywalah Kesselly, the director of the African Center for Community Empowerment, is in agreement: “We’ve had no new parks or schools, no new recreation centers to accommodate the new population, so there’s overcrowding in the schools, a lack of recreation opportunities.”
To me, it sounds like a pretty nice neighborhood, and it’s becoming more diverse with increased hispanic and south asian populations, although it’s not clear in the article if these people are moving into existing housing stock or are contributing to the overcrowding. But the article frames their addition to the community in a positive way. The eateries and coffee shops have some delicious sounding offerings, too.
- City Living in Hollis [amNew York]
