Recent Thunks

November 30, 2015, Jackson Hts., NYC - My neighborhood is the place where most all my needs are me. It’s where I eat, I work, I sleep, I play - where I live. Not all the time - my work and vacations draw me away, and Manhattan’s wonders tempt me all too often - but most of the time. And as I’m getting up there in years, I’m beginning to think (hope?) that it’s the place where I’ll end my days (more on this below).

Next to my health, my family and my friends, my neighborhood is probably the most important thing in my life. And I’m blessed to live in a wonderful one - Jackson Heights.

In two days (now passed) I’m heading to a meeting at Queens Borough Hall to discuss what could be an important addition to my neighborhood, JacksonHeights.nyc and the vast potential it offers. It’s something I’ve thought about for 15 yeas, and now it’s just around the corner. Here’s what “I want” to happen to my neighborhood as a consequence of the development of the neighborhood domain name.

• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to add more community to my neighborhood. (For background, a neighborhood is a geographic area and a community is connections, friendships, shared interests, and support. It can be local or global.)
• I want “adding more community” to be a priority requirement for any entity that’s given the license to run JacksonHeights.nyc.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to help create a more collaborative and caring neighborhood – both on and offline.
• I want it to expose and highlight needs and opportunities and facilitate collaborations. .
• I want it to empower residents to organize and address these needs.
• I want it to facilitate the creation of caring communities that focus on the needs of have nots.
• I want it to offer a great decision-making tool, one that helps form a majority without crushing the minority.
• I want a JacksonHeights.nyc that’s organized and governed as a common, with a collaborative decision making process engaging all the neighborhood’s stakeholders.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to help existing organizations (for and nonprofits) achieve their missions.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to pay its way and create a local job or two.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to be the first choice for local businesses online advertising dollars.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to be the place where residents turn for recommendations for dentists, doctors, electricians, plumbers, restaurants…
• I want it to have a neighborhood calendar I can plan my life around, with a calendar having a check box that allows me “Invite the world” or “Just for the neighborhood.”
• I want it to show 311 and 911 calls, showing respect for privacy of course.
• I want it to help residents organize to resolve issues raised by these calls.
• I want Jackson Heights.nyc to create a neighborhood where residents respond and adapt to climate change.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to be a safe place to conduct my online life. That means it must have DNSSEC and DANE (technical protocols) and be part of a citywide security and privacy effort.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to present all the information about the neighborhood that I or any visitor might want. This is information we  know collectively and should be presented by wiki-style.
• I want the operator of JacksonHeights.nyc to serve residents via desktops, phones, tablets, etc.
• I want all the software used on JacksonHeights.nyc to be open source.
• I want JacksonHeights.nyc to share its riches with other city neighborhoods.
• And I want our neighborhood’s residents and institutions to train everyone interested in effectively using JacksonHeights.nyc.

The city’s extensive and well thought out application for the neighborhood domain names leads me to think the administration shares these thoughts. But it will surely take the engagement and support of many to make them a reality. I hope many of you will be in Borough Hall, Room 200 on Wednesday morning at 9:30 (see invite post here) to add your Wants to this list.

Best,

Tom Lowenhaupt

For more on the city’s dotNeighborhoods, see here.