Jackson Heights/Economy

Social and economic connections are what neighborhoods provide. Here we

Service Stores
Laundry, fruit & vegetable, bank, optometrist and other service stores are abundant.

Unique Retail
There are many stores that reflect the unique cultural mix of Jackson Heights. Two "districts" reflect some of the diversity.


 * Little India is located largely on 73rd and 74th Streets between Roosevelt and 37th Avenues, and on 37th Avenue from 72nd Street to 75th Street. The name does not reflect the actual diversity as the stores which are operated by peoples from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tibet, and Nepal as well as India. A store proprietor was once asked "What things are there were in India that can not be found in Jackson Heights?" with the response, "Nothing."
 * Little Colombia is on Northern Boulevard beginning on about 80th Street extending east about 10 blocks.

There are retail stores along 37th and Roosevelt Avenues from 72nd to Junction Boulevard, the neighborhood's eastern boundary. Here one can find shops catering to the tastes of Mexican, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and other southern neighbors. Many first time visitors are pleased with the wares of the botánic stores (often written botanica and less commonly known as a hierbería or botica) that sell folk medicine, religious candles and statuary, amulets, and other products regarded as magical or as alternative medicine. They also carry oils, incense, perfumes, scented sprays (many of which are thought to have special properties) and various brand name health care products.

Retail
Jackson Heights has an abundance of retail stores. Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenues are both lined with stores for over a mile, from 70th Street to 96th Street. Additionally, these avenues have perpendicular strips at 74th, 82nd, and 96th Streets. The vast majority of patrons to these stores arrive via foot or mass transit.

Northern Boulevard has retail as well. In years past it had several auto dealerships, but most of these have moved west of the BQE. Many refer to the Northern Boulevard area near 80th Street as Little Columbia.

There is a strip mall shopping center on 31st Avenue between 75th and 77th Streets, with about 30 stores and a parking lot.

Residents say that what you can't find in the neighborhood is available in the city (Manhattan), 15 minutes away from the Roosevelt Avenue subway.

There are six main retail areas:

37th Avenue
From 72nd Street to Junction Boulevard, 37th Avenue is chockablock with retail.

82nd
74th 82nd Strees on the blocks between 37th and Roosevelt Avenues. Stores and restaurants on and near 74th street tend to cater towards the large South Asian population in the neighborhood, with sari and jewellery stores, Bengali and Hindi music and movie retailers and many restaurants. .

37th Avenue contains a wide mix of retailers, including many grocery stores, and 82nd street contains many national chain stores located in Tudor-style buildings in the Jackson Heights Historic District. South American retailers and eateries, predominantly from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru dominate Northern Boulevard from 80th Street east to the border of neighboring Corona at Junction Boulevard.Roosevelt Avenue is also lined with various mainly Hispanic retail stores. The majority of 35th and 34th Avenues and most side streets between 37th Avenue and Northern Boulevard are residential.

Ethnic Retail

 * Little India
 * Little Columbia

Missing Retail
What would you like to buy in the neighborhood that is currently not available?

Salted and unsalted sunflower seeds. The unsalted are especially hard to find at a reasonable price.

Chain
Other than 82nd Street, which some refer to as Dayton East, visitors sometimes note that there are few chain stores in Jackson Heights. That being said, one can find branches of the big banks, a Subway, Taco Bell, and Dunken Donut on 37th Avenue, a Wendy's, Burger King, and Duncan Donuts along Northern Boulevard and a McDonald's at 76th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Chain drug stores are also found on 37th Avenue and Northern Boulevard.

Business Organizations
Several business organizations serve the neoighborhood.


 * 82nd Street BID - Serving the needs of businesses located on 82nd Street.
 * Queens Chamber of Commerce HQ for the Queens Chamber is in the Bulova Building located on Astoria Boulevard.
 * Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Economic History
In 1987, British Airways moved its United States corporate offices to the Bulova Corporate Center, a converted watch factory at the northern end of Jackson Heights. In 1999 British Airways said it would close its headquarters in the watch factory and move to a new headquarters building in a location in the New York City area by 2002, when the airline's lease would run out. By 2001 the airline said it would keep 80000 sqft of office space in the watch building, but that its telephone operations would move to Jacksonville, Florida. As of 2008 British Airways maintains offices in the Bulova building. In 2006, India's ban of the export of lentils caused a price crisis in the neighborhood.

Public Transportation
One of the key joys of living in Jackson Heights is the public transportation system.

Subway
The neighborhood came into existence following the opening of the IRT Flushing Line. In 1933 the IND Queens Boulevard Line opened with the Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street Station megastation providing access to the 7, E,F, R, and M trains. The station opened on August 19, 1933 and became a piece of the never-finished Roosevelt Avenue Terminal for the Independent Subway System.Above ground there is a new (2004) bus center. It includes one of the first green buildings by the MTA, the Victor A. Moore Bus Terminal, which is partially powered by solar panels built into the roof. These are located along the length of the sheds above the Flushing line platforms.

The station offers escalator or elevator access between the elevated 74th Street-Broadway station and the 7 train. The #7 train also stops at 82nd Street-Jackson Heights station.

Bus
The Moore Terminal provides access to the six subway lines and six bus lines (Q32, Q33, Q45, Q47, Q49 and Q53). The Q33 bus goes to LaGuardia Airport's main terminals and operates 24 hours a day. The Q47 bus goes to the Marine Air Terminal. The Q53 bus goes to Rockaway Beach.

The Long Island Rail Road Woodside station is nearby on 61st Street and Roosevelt Avenue, which is two stops on the #7 train.

Taxi
Black taxis (not the traditional Yellow cabs) are frequently available to assist with short hops. Yellow taxis are difficult to find in Jackson Heights.

Airport
LaGuardia Airport, the city's regional airport, with a multitude of flights going to destinations within 1,500 miles of the city is located on the northern border of Jackson Heights. Two city bus lines bring residents to the airport for $2.00. Additionally, the E train takes one to the Kennedy Airport shuttle.

Housing
There's a variety of good housing stock in Jackson Heights. On the southern end, near Roosevelt Avenue, are six story co-op and rental apartment buildings.

The Historic District and its co-ops.

Attached houses.