Urban Development

In 1898, following the Greater New York Act by the state legislature, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island joined Manhattan and the Bronx to become part of New York City. It was an interesting move for the previously sleepy burgh of factories to the west and farmland to the west because unlike Brooklyn and Staten Island, only part of Queens county was included in the deal. After some political scuffles between the eastern and western parts of the county, the line between city Queens and country Queens became the new eastern border of Queens, leaving everything in between the newly-formed Nassau County. Even after this resolution, a walk around Queens at the turn of the 20th Century would hardly have a city atmosphere.
Soon enough, however, bridges were erected, tunnels were dug, highways were constructed, and salivating developers swarmed in to make small fortunes in urban development. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Add to the frenzy, unprescidented immegration, subway access and the construction of two airports; LaGuardia to the north and Idlewild (later JFK) to the south, and Queens was quick to develop into a diverse landscape of people and neighborhoods unique when compared to its sister boroughs.

Today New York City's largest borough is home to more than 2,229,379 people with a population density of 20,409 people per square mile, and is the fourth most densely populated county in the United States after New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn) and Bronx county, and ahead of Cook County, IL (Chicago), and Philadelphia County, PA. (2000 Census).

Developers saw the growth potential and opportunity in Queens early on. When Ascension Presbyterian Church was planned and launched, we saw and still do see tremendous opportunity in Queens. With so many people from so many places packed into 109 square miles, the Gospel is ripe for the taking here... and in Forest Hills, the center of it all, God has placed us in a unique position. Of course, we're not developing part of Gotham City, we're establishing a part of a Gospel Kingdom.

A CBGB Gospel

Last weekend marked a sad day for struggling musicians everywhere. After much conflict with it's landlord, the owners of CBGB in Manhattan's East Village closed its doors for good. It its heyday in the 1970s, CBGB was THE launching pad for out-of-the-mainstream bands including Blondie, the Talking Heads, and four remarkably ugly guys from Queens, the Ramones. That's right, when the rest of the world was going Disco, CBGB was punk, a musical destination for those who took issue with the status quo.

My guess is, if ground level real estate trends mean anything these days, it will become a Dunkin' Donuts before long and what was once a symbol of non-conformity will become something common and mainstream.

Why do I mention this stuff on a website designed to inform its readers of the Gospel movement in Forest Hills, Queens in the form of Ascension Presbyterian Church. Stay with me on this one, I have a point.

Like CBGB, the Gospel is against the grain of society. The whole world sends one message and goes one way, and the Jesus shows us that there's a different way. Like the struggling garage band, believers take their lumps for standing for God's Kingdom in the midst of a less-than welcoming culture. Yet, we are inspired, encouraged, and strengthened in God's grace and mercy. In a sense, it's a CBGB Gospel.

Yet, many people have replaced the CBGB Gospel with a Dunkin' Donuts Gospel... one that's cheap, sweet, lacking in nutritional value and makes you fat and lazy. Believers often turn their faith into something barely distinguished from the culture around it. We think the Gospel is something that should shake you up and get you on your feet and not something that clogs your arteries and lulls you to sleep.

Mr. Raplee's Neighborhood

My parents' generation is almost single-handedly responsible for turning Long Island into ahodgepodge of antiseptic and disconected developments unified solely by their proximities to a mall or an exit on the Long Island Expressway.

Both of my parents grew up in Brooklyn, Mom in East New York and Dad in Park Slope. To listen to my Dad tell stories about his childhood, you would have to wonder everyone fled to the 'burbs. His house was always a bustle of activity with extended family, friends from school and church, most of whom had some kind of clever nickname and all of whom called my grandparents Uncle John and Aunt Dot. There were a lot of people in the picture, almost all of whom lived in Brooklyn and many lived within a few blocks of my Dad.

There were stickball games, cheap movie houses galore, groups of friends venturing across Prospect Park for Dodger games at Ebbets Field. My grandmother was so accustomed to having company, there was never a shortage of of biscuits or cookies on hand at the Raplee house on Windsor Place. From the sound of it, community came so natural to everyone my Dad knew, why would anyone dream of giving all that up just to have a lawn and a driveway?

Many of their friends were in their respective churches, which played a major role in these strong communities. My parents themselves met at a church softball game (which I believe my Mom's church won). Even my mother's sister and father's brother met and married someone from the neighborhood. Marriage, for most of their friends, however, became a launching pad to the suburbs.

After World War II, Long Island, Southern Connecticut, and most of New Jersey became prime real estate to developers seeking to draw people out of the cities. William Levitt invented the modern American suburb with Levittown on Long Island. The town of Lynbrook was established and intentionally named to present itself as an attractive alternative to Brooklyn. The suburbs of Long Island meant that average people could live more like Ozzie and Harriet and less like Ralph and Alice and most of my parent's friends headed east thinking that the grass must be greener where there's simply more grass.

My parents were bitten by the same bug, but it didn't have the same effect. After they got married, they moved to Queens (arguably a lateral move), and my sisters and I ended up growing up where Brooklyn was only a five minute walk from our house. The suburban seduction was apparent even to me as a kid on 78th Street, as many of the friends I played ball with on the block eventually disappeared to the 'burbs. Robert across the street spray-painted a football field on the street (which is illegal), and it remained there long after he moved out. Don't misunderstand me, I have many friends who lived and currently live in the suburbs. Heck, I have many friends who live on farms, but I couldn't live like that. God loves people in the suburbs and so do I. I just don't love the suburbs thenselves.

These days, people have discovered that the cookie-cutter homes of Long Island and other suburbs have managed to isolate people from each other and are coming to the cities for at least a taste of the community that their parents knew. Now that they're here, they don't know how to find community.

That's where we come in. Ascension Church is a community church. We are in the community, ministering to the community and are ourselves a faith community. As our church community grows and proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom to the community, we believe God can and will transform the community. The Gospel does that kind of thing you know.

Out of the Wilderness

That's right folks, it's Sukkot. Where I live, you can't ignore Jewish holidays. We've come past Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur and are in the midst of the Sukkot month. This is the time of year when Jewish people build tents to remind themselves of the wilderness wondering found in the Old Testament and to look for God's deliverance and covenant with His people. In my neighborhood, you can't walk down the street without seeing these tents in front yards, alley ways and, in some cases, patios.

As Christians, we see God's deliverance in Jesus as our Redeemer and instead of waiting anxiously, we live joyfully as a result. The other noticeable thing, as a guy living in Queens, is that most of the other people are wondering through the wilderness of their lives and have no hope of deliverance outside of Jesus. I know it's difficult to look out my window and imagine that it's a wilderness out there, but that's why we're planting a church here in Central Queens. No more wondering; just the simple hope of the Gospel.

On another note, I'm playing the stage at the Improv tomorrow night. Some of you may recall that I've done a little stand-up recently. With my busy work schedule (full-time job, and church work), my ability to do schtick has been limited and will likely take a hiatus after tomorrow night, but, hey, maybe I'll keep them laughing as they go home tomorrow night. Maybe I'll get my own TV special. Maybe I'll raise enough money to return to ministry full-time. It's good to have ideas anyway.

I'll say no more about this, but this picture should say it all. Can anyone say, "Subway Series?" Hey, it could happen. You just gotta believe.