The New York Times: Forest Hills One of City's Hottest Neighborhoods

According to The New York Times, Forest Hills is now New York City's fourth hottest neighborhood! 

New York Neighborhoods, Hot and Cold

Where are home prices rising or falling the most in New York City? To find out, we looked at median sales prices in each of the city’s neighborhoods during the month of August and compared them to those six months prior. (Areas with fewer than 50 sales were not considered, and each neighborhood’s sales were aggregated over three months to smooth deceptive spikes.)

Source: The New York Times

The New York Times Gives Forest Hills Some Love

A nice write-up in The Times recently about our nabe: Forest Hills, Queens: City Life in a Suburban Setting

 I think it is pretty accurate. I love the fact they point out how quick and easy the commute is into Manhattan, a huuuge benefit of living here that often goes overlooked and underreported. It's faster to get into midtown from here than it is from many other parts of Manhattan!

I would just dispute the woman's quote about "there is life after Manhattan." I live in Forest Hills and spend a TON of time in Manhattan. I think my life living here very much continues to include both. It's not an either/or.

My only complaint these days about this is the very, very obnoxious concentration of MTA subway work onto the seemingly endless stream of weekends as of late, something that has been disrupting express service waaaay too frequently. This is a city for public transportation, not for automobiles.

It would be one thing if the express service was simply replaced by only local service, as it has been for many, many weekends. But the frequent 'bunching' of trains as we approach Forest Hills on the weekends, leading to extra travel times, is a real problem.

The MTA should remember that on the weekends many of us urban-dwellers need, depend on, and require the subways just as much as on the weekdays. This is not the NYC of the past. Demographics and subway usage has changed. The subway is no longer just a necessary-evil to be avoided at all costs. For many of us it is our first choice in getting around the City because it is usually so convenient.

Who at the MTA came up with the warped idea that enjoying our City life is any less important than working in the City? Quick and easy access to Manhattan to enjoy all it has to offer us on the weekends is one of the major reasons many of us call Forest Hills home. The current situation is a real quality of life issue and needs to be addressed.

To Pay, or Not To Pay

For those of you who care about how The NY Times' new digital subscription policy is faring - as I do, because I really do love The Times and want them to find a profitable way forward to the inevitable: their transition to becoming a purely digital newspaper - there is finally some information about that in their latest quarterly report, just out:

"For the first time, the Times Company provided information on how digital subscriptions were faring. The company said that since it started limiting the number of articles readers could read on NYTimes.com for free, it has signed up more than 100,000 subscribers. While it said the program was still too young to judge a success, “early indicators are encouraging.” Subscriptions start at $15 every four weeks, but many subscribers have so far paid discounted introductory rates."

By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I tend to post a lot of links to Times stories and videos. I do this for the simple reason that no one can beat them in terms of interesting articles and multimedia you just won't find anywhere else. As part of their new digital policy, if you click through from blogs like this one to read a Times story that article will ALWAYS be free for you to read, however, it will count as one of your 20 free articles each month. The good thing is even if you surpass your 20-free-articles-a-month limit, you will still not be charged for any articles you read at NYTimes.com through blogs like Edge of the City.

Ok, so now I've totally confused you. This Frequently Asked Questions excerpt from The Times website explains it better:

Can I still access NYTimes.com articles through Facebook, Twitter, search engines or my blog?
Yes. We encourage links from Facebook, Twitter, search engines, blogs and social media. When you visit NYTimes.com through a link from one of these channels, that article (or video, slide show, etc.) will count toward your monthly limit of 20 free articles, but you will still be able to view it even if you've already read your 20 free articles.

NYTimes.com Announces Subscription Plan

I love the comments from those who are angry and upset that the Times will begin charging them to read some of its content online. "How dare you make me pay for your hard work!! Journalists, after all, shouldn't be paid for what they do for a living!!" (Even though what they do for a living is one of the hardest jobs around and often goes with little pay, very long hours and little if any appreciation from the public!)
READERS' COMMENTS: The Times Announces Digital Subscription Plan