Luring Brooklynites to Jackson Heights
Queens-based blogger OuterB gets a chuckle out of Jackson Heights broker Michael Carfagna’s latest marketing campaign: More Park, Less Slope. The targeted appeal to aspirational Park Slopers makes a whole lotta sense when you learn that 80% of Carfagna’s new clients come from Brooklyn. OuterB parses the ad: “More Park refers to the many classic…
Queens-based blogger OuterB gets a chuckle out of Jackson Heights broker Michael Carfagna’s latest marketing campaign: More Park, Less Slope. The targeted appeal to aspirational Park Slopers makes a whole lotta sense when you learn that 80% of Carfagna’s new clients come from Brooklyn. OuterB parses the ad: “More Park refers to the many classic Jackson Heights co-ops that have large, private gardens,” he writes. “Less Slope (I’m guessing) is a shot at Brooklyn real estate prices, which have risen much faster than the rate in Jackson Heights.”
More Park, Less Slope [OuterB]
About Michael Carfagna [MPC Properties]
Wow! Everyone has their own opinions. I have lived (rented) in both Manhattan and Brooklyn and like both. But when it came to buying, JH was affordable, a **great** commute to midtown and it has a great sense of community. Yes, I did buy in a garden building because there’s a lack of green space and I definitely need that but one of the biggest draws was price. Why do I want to commute 45-60 minutes to say I live in Brooklyn? (dodgy neighborhoods in Manhattan are out for me..and yes, I did live in Hudson Heights…)
You know what- I have to live there- I really don’t care if others question it. I learned that lesson a long time ago when I didn’t buy at 103rd and Westend because “it’s not safe above 96th..” And then in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn….PLLLEEEUUUUZZZZ!!!!
I agree with previous poster – Michael Carfagna is horrid. He showed me an apartment, and when he found out I was of Latin decent, changed his entire demeaner and ended our meeting by walking away from me mid-sentence without the courtesy of shaking my outstretched hand. I should have reported him! I have since heard that the co-ops he shows people have a preference for certain kinds of people, and that he is more than happy to comply.
That said, I have been living in JH now for over a year and am very happy. You can’t beat the restaurants – super authentic international cuisine…gotta love it. There are some nice retail establishments – Rudy Volcano, Inner Peace, etc.
I also love hopping on the triborough bridge to leave the city on the weekends. Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t want to leave as much if I had a park as nice as Prospect Park outside my door. Although I do have a really nice private garden to relax in…
Ya know…circa 1979….it wasn’t so cool to live in Brooklyn either! I was RUNNING into Manhattan every chance I got. Things change. Who knows? Maybe Staten Island will be the next cool borough.
yea, I totally think its worse to tell someone who lives in JH or Forest Hills, queens that I live in brooklyn and them laughing that they’re getting twice the space for a cheaper price. btw I live in bk.
To each his own. I live in Jackson Heights. As someone who has never lived in New York before, coming to the jungle was far more than intimidating. Mr. Michael Carfagna provided a professional and courtious service. Other brokers spoke solely on the property that was for sale. In addition to a thorough explaination of a listings value, Mr. Carfagna offered a vast knowledge of the market and the neighborhood of Jackson Heights. Such insight is rare to find from ANY realestate broker, in New York or elsewhere.
Jackson Heights, and Elmhurst, Corona, Woodside, are some of the most densly populated areas in the city. The apts arent really consistant in the nabe. I deliver in Elmhurst and one house will be beautiful and the next is a slum with black mold etc. Those JH garden apts are pretty though if you dont mind the traffic .
I used to live in Forest Hills, just outside of the Gardens. Lovely house, plenty of parking (a driveway!), decent neighbors, some good amenities nearby.
But the wife and I only lasted a year. We moved to Park Slope thereafter.
This is nothing new. In the mid-’70s people from a restoration group in Hudson, NY used to set up information tables at Brooklyn house tours to try and convince people to look there instead of Brooklyn.I thought this was rather enterprising (although it REALLY pissed off some of the people working on our house tour). I do hear that Jackson Heights is a little closer than Hudson 🙂
I have a problem with anybody who has to disparage one nabe to sell another. As much as you might try to compare PS with JH, they are simply not the same, not even close. But, people have different budgets and different priorities. I live in PS, and I like it very much, as much for the amenities, restaurants, shopping, park, activities, etc as for the beautiful architecture, housing stk, etc. I would not be as happy in JH. Yeh, maybe all the same stuff might come to JH in however many years, but right now, I can’t eat or drink non-existent food and beverages, or shop at non-existent stores, so why bother speculating. If I couldn’t afford PS, I’d at least consider the possibilities, but there are clear reasons PS costs more. There is no further transition required for me to feel good about living there.
This broker should sell JH for the considerable value that it is, not on the basis of some baseless comparison.