jackson heights garden tour

this is where i live in jh. we were part of the annual garden tour yesterday, and i spent a couple hours meeting and greeting all the folks who came to see us. i also hung out with neighbors and we talked about how lucky we were to buy our apartments before they got too expensive. dunolly is still one of the more affordable places in jh (i call it the people's co-op), but it's not as cheap as it used to be. according to a friend on the board, most of the new arrivals are coming from manhattan, astoria and brooklyn - and they are middle class white people! i am too, and it's nice to see more people like me around here, but i don't want to see the multiethnic, working class character of this place go by the wayside. some of us are thrilled that fresh direct has finally started delivering here, but i think it's the beginning of the end. ran into lorene and sundar in the garden today (these two are very plugged in to dunolly and the nabe at-large) and they told me there's a couple across the street who are opening an espresso bar on 37th avenue next month (yay!), but that there is also a starbuck's coming. they weren't sure when or where, but i know they don't traffic in rumor. i'm sure the real estate guys are going to be jumping for joy, but we kind of think it will suck . . .