Jackson Heights

Diversity Plaza Wishes You a Happy Valentine’s Day

In preparation for Valentine's Day, the Neighborhood Plaza Partnership set up a camera in Jackson Heights' Diversity Plaza to learn how to say "I love you" in some of the 138 languages spoken in Queens.

By Stephen Miller

3:33 PM EST on February 13, 2015

In preparation for Valentine’s Day, the Neighborhood Plaza Partnership set up a camera in Jackson Heights’ Diversity Plaza to learn how to say “I love you” in some of the 138 languages spoken in Queens.

Diversity Plaza lives up to its name. In the video you’ll hear Farsi, Bangla, Hungarian, Italian, Urdu, Basaa, and Tibetan.

Located in the heart of a busy Jackson Heights retail district just one block from a major bus and subway hub, the plaza has been adopted by local business owners, including some who opposed it at first. In the last two years it has hosted an Eid-ul-Fitr celebration during Ramadan and even an outdoor meeting of Community Board 3.

The Neighborhood Plaza Partnership provides technical and financial assistance to organizations that maintain plazas in low-income communities.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.