There’s a particular feeling that comes with getting home late.

The streets are still awake. The lights are still on. You know you’ll find what you need.

In this episode, Pao shares what it feels like to arrive in Jackson Heights after a long workday. The comfort of knowing something will be open. The ease of picking up food. The sense of safety that comes from moving through familiar streets alongside other people heading home.

What does it mean for a neighborhood to feel livable?

In this episode, Hernando reflects on Jackson Heights as a place designed for walking, aging with ease, and finding everything you need close to home. A calm, practical kind of love that only comes with time.

English Translation

There is one very important thing for my wife, which is the peace of mind she has from having everything close by. Transportation, grocery stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, hair salons, laundromats. She can walk 15 or 20 minutes from our home and find everything she needs.

That is one of the great virtues of living in Jackson Heights.

We have gone to restaurants, cafés, taken walks, visited museums, attended park events, and I have been very happy here. 34th Avenue is essential for walking, especially for those of us who are older. Roosevelt Avenue, with all its noise and bustle, is also a place where you can find absolutely anything, from a needle to heavy machinery.

But for me, 30th Avenue is the most special. From around 75th Street to 89th or 90th Street, it is a very pleasant, multifunctional place. You can find everything along that avenue.

I am very happy in Jackson Heights with my wife and my daughters.

Some neighborhoods feel like destinations.

Jackson Heights feels like an arrival.

In this episode, Francesco Biascheri, visiting from Bologna, describes the first moment he stepped off the subway in Jackson Heights and felt as if he had landed in another country. Or several of them.

Through colors, smells, languages, and food, Francesco reflects on what makes this neighborhood endlessly surprising, especially for visitors who think New York begins and ends in Manhattan.

This episode is in Italian.

An English translation is included below.

Every time my wife Valentina and I come back to New York, we like to visit Jackson Heights because within just a few blocks, everything changes. The language you hear changes. The smells change. The words, the food, the colors.

In the end, it feels incredibly rich. Maybe it’s a bit predictable for an Italian to always talk about food, but honestly one of the best things to do in Jackson Heights is to go and taste cuisines from all over the world.

There’s a place I love called Angel. It’s tiny, really tiny, just four tables, and it serves authentic Indian food that feels like a dream. And there are so many other gems like this.

So if you come to New York, don’t stay only in Manhattan. Come take a walk through Jackson Heights.

Some neighborhoods feed you.

Others entertain you.

Jackson Heights does both, often on the same block.

In this episode, Johanna Ramírez shares what has kept her rooted in Jackson Heights since 2007. From Colombian groceries to Korean dinners, from summer DJ sets to music spilling out of local venues, this is a portrait of a neighborhood where variety is not a novelty, it is the baseline.

Johanna speaks about food, music, and the quiet comfort of knowing that whatever mood you are in, Jackson Heights probably has a place for it.

This episode is in Spanish.

An English translation is included below.

What I really like is the diversity of food we have here. One day you want Korean food, another day you want Indian or Bangladeshi food, or Dominican food, and everything is very close by.

Another thing I really love is the music. One of my favorite DJs is DJ Rekha, who plays Desi and Bhangra music, and she performs here in Jackson Heights during the summer. We have all kinds of shows, and places like Terraza 7.

They have music seven days a week, and there are always so many places to discover, like bookstores and libraries. There is always something to do here in Jackson Heights.

Some stories don’t come out polished. They come out honest.

In this episode, Russ reflects on his long relationship with Jackson Heights, shaped through family, food, and the quiet intimacy of everyday life. His voice moves between languages and memories, touching on what it means to belong somewhere through the people you love and the meals that stay with you.

English Translation

For many people, Jackson Heights isn’t just where they live - it’s where their days unfold.

Mayara talks about the small things that make the neighborhood special to her: the park, walking her dog, and working locally. It’s a reminder that Jackson Heights is built as much from everyday rhythms as it is from big moments.

English Translation

Some places stay with you long after you leave.

In this episode, Valentina reflects on why Jackson Heights still lives in her heart years after moving away from New York. What she describes is not just diversity, but energy. The feeling of moving through cultures, cuisines, and conversations in the span of a single walk.

From favorite meals to the sense that the world somehow converges here, this is a story about a neighborhood that continues to pull you back.

This episode is in Italian.

An English translation is included below.

There’s a strong energy that comes from having people from so many different cultures. In just one street, you can go from India to Asia almost instantly.

My favorite place is Las Margaritas, where I had exceptional fajitas that stay in my heart every time I come back to New York. Whenever we return to Jackson Heights to visit our friends, we always go there to eat.

Honestly, it’s a place where I would live, because to me it feels like the center of the world.

Jackson Heights seen through a younger lens feels different.

In this episode, Sibelle talks about growing up around the neighborhood, visiting grandparents, and a recent experience that turned pizza into something much bigger than food. 

Sometimes the strongest memories come wrapped in paper and carried home.

Mery talks about learning English, long trips across the city, and a bakery that made Jackson Heights feel like Colombia. Her story is about food, memory, and the quiet comfort of familiarity.

This episode is shared in Spanish.

The full English translation appears below.

One of my memories of Jackson Heights is from when people first arrived here to study and learn English. Around 75th Street and Roosevelt, that was the place for Colombians to come and learn English, with schools nearby around 82nd Street. And there were Colombian restaurants close by. Being there made you feel like you were back in your country. There were many Colombians, and the places were very good. You felt comfortable in those restaurants and Colombian shops that no longer exist.

Many Colombian stores have left Jackson Heights. My favorite place was a bakery called Las Américas, which has since been modernized.

That bakery was one of my favorite spots. We used to travel all the way from Long Island to Las Américas to buy pandebonos and pan de yuca. I do not know if it still exists under the same name, or if it exists in a more modern version, with different food, more Americanized.

But pandebono is something that identifies us as Colombians.
That delicacy.

You do not have to look for culture in Jackson Heights.

It finds you.

Diana remembers walking through the neighborhood and repeatedly stumbling into celebrations, performances, and moments of beauty without planning any of it. What starts as a casual walk becomes something much bigger.

This episode is shared in Spanish.

The full English translation appears below.

I remember a few years ago, I was walking with a friend who was new to New York, and we came across bars where people were celebrating the World Cup in Spanish. People were in the street shouting and celebrating, and you could immediately recognize Spanish from many different places.

Then we walked a few blocks more and, without looking for it, we came across a beautiful Bengali performance.

My friend is a dancer, so we stayed to enjoy a concert and watch incredible dancers performing on a stage set up in the middle of the street. We continued walking, had some Indian tea, and ate samosas.

On our way back home, we stopped at a French bakery. We practiced our three words of French, had croissants and coffee, and then went home.

So in Jackson Heights, you can take a tour around the world in 30 minutes.