SperlingFile on Hempstead, NY
by eski, SperlingExpert
Hempstead was once a very bustling shopping area for all of Long Island, and was nick named "The Hub", plethora of good stores, crowds shopping on Main St, Fulton street,5 or 6 movie theatres,multi-cultural& mostly middle class. The NY JETS practice at Hofstra U(AND BACK INTHE DAY THEY LIVED IN THE LUXURY"ELDORADO APTS"ON TERRACE AV). an urban pleasantville.Then Roosevelt Field mall snatched up the shoppers,white flight, blacks moved in from nyc&the south, terrace turned from luxury to"cabrini green", and the downslide neverstopped. today it's a mostly Latino/black ghosttown.
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eski
Brooklyn, NY
| About this SperlingExpert
eski used to live in Hempstead, NY
Lived Balwin rd, the heights,hills , s frank, and terrace, for 30 years, this is a "suburban ghetto", no jobs,nothing to do, unless you enjoy gangs,robberies,i feel safer now that i live in brooklyn! no culture, no place to raise kids! |
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People
Hempstead people are either long time black folk who refuse too leave, or el salvadoreans who just recently got here. it's a bummed out town, especially around the bus terminal,thugs,junkies and alot of sordid characters. the further you get from downtown"the village" the nicer it gets,there are middle class folks,even some with money, but most who have anything left long ago.
Economy
hempstead has no economy, the village has been virtually bankrupt for over a decade. being that it's only 20 miles from NYC and is surrounded by "white long island", you can find work. but note,you will not find work in the village, you have to leave town to earn a check, and probably leave town to spend it as well.
Cost of Living
lower than most of LI but high for what you get. $450k for a house in this bum town,come on!
Housing
Mostly single fam houses, 30-50 years in age. some new cheaply built huses have sprung up, and many apartments, from town houses to 6 story elevator buildings. There are some older NYC STYLE TENEMENT WALK UPS(on terrace, bell street, washington,etc..) houses are mostly intact, maybe 250-300 are boarded up. Inthe 80's there were some notorious crack houses, many of which were vacated mansions from the turn of the century(1900's). Hempstead has a new england style mixed with New York City. crowded. 12,000 or more per square mile. very crowded suburban"city-towm", just like hollis or jamaica,queens.
Health
Hempstead's only hospital(Hempstead General) is now vacant. Nassau U med centre and mERCY HOSP SERVE HEMP, BOTH ARE MEDIOCRE AND OUT SIDE OF HEMP.
Crime
Hempstead has always had crime, but in a deceptive way.Stats don't telll the story, I have seen shootouts,many stabbings,beatdowns,gang fights in every part of town, but on Terrace, thats a book itself.Terrace Avenue is the worst street in New York(including the city). I lived on terrace only a few month's and this is what I came across: upon moving in the bldg,lobby full of cracksmokers"smokin" crack. nightly shootings in alley. break in when i left(tv and vcr gone), man beats teen daughter, my brother staabbed in back for no reason, good friens murdered & dumped in alley, and crack salesmen hawking drugs like a flea market.
that was my first night...
Climate
cold winter, hot summer, better have ac.
Education
Hempstead schools are a joke, all the good areas of town are bused to Uniondale,southside or go private school. Hemp schools full of Bloods and Crips,ms13.
Transportation
Alot of buses roll thru town. excellent parkway access to get oot. EXPENSIVE LIRR TO CITY.Don't take taxi's in this town. there not regulated, cars are falling apart & the drivers are mostly crackheads. I was in a bad accident due to a crackhead at the wheel on thsouthern state(my bad, he was drunk), cab stands look like dope dens.The latino cabs do not pick up blacks. and cabs pick up 5 fares and drop u off last. walk if dare...
Recreation
Kennedy park has nice indoor gym, but besides a few bball courts, not much recreation.
Society
Not much society left. Most have left. the town is now a third world village
Arts & Culture
1 museum (african american)with nothing in it. a few dives to get drunk in, a couple of d-list strip clubs with mostly brazillian whores,thats about it.
Pictures
a drive thru "The Stead"
