At that time, some unscrupulous realty brokers attempted to start a flight of white families, as had been done in other neighborhoods, but community residents fought back. With a membership of 270 neighborhood blocks, the association continued to be a powerful and stabilizing force in the community. According to Loraine Paolino, its president, the turnover in homes is now so small that any house coming on the market usually sells quickly by word of mouth. The community is a mixture of many nationalities and religions. Hispanics and, more recently, Indians are the relative newcomers in an area that was once predominantly German, Italian and middle European.
Ethnic stores cater to the diverse palates.
A concentration of small Italian specialty shops can be found on 101st Avenue between 101st and 105th Streets, offering shoppers the opportunity to buy homemade pasta, pastry and sausages, cheeses and a variety of continental imports. On Jamaica Avenue and 110th Street, meats and cold cuts at Colonial Foods are popular with Armenian residents. Close by are the Old Munich Delicatessen, specializing in German home cooking, and the Triangle Delicatessen, which carries Italian delicacies. The Triangle Hofbrau on Jamaica Avenue was established in 1867 as a hotel for travelers along the Jamaica Plank Road and later made into a restaurant. For many years, it was a favorite of some of baseball's greats including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and Mae West was also a frequent patron.