Queens+-+Forest+Hills

=**--Queen - Forest Hills-** =  Forest Hills, the name was given according to its geography condition: this area used to be hills of fores t.

 People often have their own goals. To obtain these goals, they try their best to engage in a variety of circumstances and new experiences. As a Cambodian international student, I came to New York to fulfill my education and my future dream. During these five months living in NY, I have started to know more about my community here. Forest Hills, the place where I stay with my aunt and cousin for a short period, is one of neighborhoods in the central part of the New York City Boroughs of Queens. It is 2.2 sq. mile which the north part extended from Rego Park and Corona to the South part, Forest Park and from the east, by Flushing Meadows Park, the Grand Central Parkway, and Kew Gardens to the west, Middle Village and Glandale. Forest Hills has quiet a large populations. The estimation for the year 2000 showed that there were 70,204 people residing in Forest Hills and its population density was 29,252 people per square mile. There is a mix racial of European, Asian and African-American in this community. The most noticeable thing is that the Jews have the highest population among the other races which is followed by Asian. Most people live here is mix of middle to upper-class residents that the white collar is 84.7% and the blue collar is 15.3%. The median of their annual income is $15, 450. People here are nice and friendly. They are always willing to help each other out during awkward times. They also pay respect to everyone. Like others communities, Forest Hills also provides its own educational system form kindergartens to colleges. The estimation showed that there are about 16 schools which include: public, private and Catholic schools in Forest Hills. There are also several great colleges in nearby area where students can apply for such as Queen College, and LaGuardia College, and many more. Forest Hill has numerous entertaining places such as parks that enable people to rest and reduce their healthiness and cinemas where they can watch the latest movie during their spare time. Moreover, many commercials hubs such as malls, restaurants and stores are opened widely in every place to provide a convenience for the people here. Those places include Sears, Marshall and Jaycee Penny and small store along 108 St. Transportation in Forest Hills is very accessible both by road and underground. It has different train and bus lines that run both locally and express; people can get to their destination easily. In brief, Forest Hills a great place to live because of its positive factors that provide many benefits to the people who live here. Although Forest Hills seems to be a peaceful place; it face several problems related to transportation, hospitals and the spread of the new diease (Swine Flu). These problems have produced a hardship for the Queen residents.

The first problem that Forest Hills is facing is that the change of the Q67 bus route provide a difficulty for the residents. Since the MTA ommited two bus stops, the Grand Avenue and Perry Avenue stops on the south side of the Long Island Expressway, it forces people to walk several blocks and cross the expressway to get to the nearest stop. People find that it is difficult to stand at a narrow and dangous place where cars usually drive at a fast speed. The residents are afraid that an accident might happen to them one day because the traffic is unpredictable. Thus, for their saftety, they need a bus service tht can help them avoid this problem. The MTA should establish a new bus route and a bus stop which is accessbile for all residents and causes no delay. If the problem continues, the number of people using transportation will decrease and also it will lead to other issues such as environmental problem - air pollution. Of course, if people stop using people stop using transportation, they will use their own. The greater the number of cars the more emissions are produced. Hence, it causes air pollution which is harmful to our health as we consume it. Another reason is that having a new bus stop nearby can be more convenient for the elderly and handicapped. We notice that the elderly and disabled are slow walkers and they cannot take a long walk from place to place. If the two bus stops are cut, these people will have to walk a long way and cross a dangerous area to the bus stop. Even though there is a traffic light on the Expressway, it only stops for short amount of time. Once those people are crossing the street, they will not be able to reach other side in time. As a result, the situation crowded leads to a traffic jam or a citizen might even end up an accident. If there are bus stop near the resident's place, they would not have to worry about such a long walk or having a difficult time crossing street.

The second issue that my community has had is that St. John's Queens and Mary Immaculate hospitals closed their door permanently and that produced pressure for both patients and the other hospitals. The incident occurred after two months unsuccessful efforts by city and state elected office fail to provide a funding for these two hospitals form bankruptcy. After these hospitals were closed, other borough hospitals such as New York Hospital Queens, Forest Hills Hospital, and Elmurst Hospital Center have increased the number of patients and doctors. They might also be expanding more emergency rooms and beds in order to provide places for these new coming patients. In addition, not just only that hospitals are hardly deal with this issue, but patients also. They have to replace in a far place from their home and their family will have a hard time to visit them. Moreover, there are 2,500 people are out of work during the economic crisis. This is a worse tragedy for the Queen Community. However, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley asserted that during the time that she continued to support the family and the agency, she will urge Governor to find a good solution for the Queen residents.

The third problem is the outbreak of Swine Flu which has caused a seriousness anxiety and a delay of education for children. We know that Swine Flu is an incurable and epidemic disease that leads people to die in just a few days. This serious flu had spread to our community since last month and it still continues till today. Three private schools i Queen has been closed permanently because of the spreading of this disease. Hundreds of students are affected and are now being quarantined in hospitals. Most parents in other schools are also worried about this issue. They do not want their children to go to shcool because they are afraid that their children will catch this disease. Therefore, some children were pulled out school as the number of confirmed cases in the city climbed up to 201. As this bad situation has happened, students will not be able to finish school in their appropriate age. There is no solution to this issue; we can avoid for it by always keep our-self hygiene and avoid for the sickness people.

In conclusion, I believe that these issues will be a serious threat to my community. People are out of work; disease are spread everywhere; and transportation system are inconvenient which made the community seems a bit in a dreary condition. A single problem is not a big deal, but if there are many problems forming together, it will be hard to deal with. Cooperation is the most important factors that our community needs to have. However, no matters how hug are these issues; if we cooperate, we can solve these problems step by step effectively. Thus, we need to aware of all the coincident problems that might be happening at anytime and anyplace. Like there is a quote stated that " Protection is better than curing". City Council should participate and help out to solve their people's problems too in order to develop country.

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Related sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hills,_Queens