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AFTER DECADES OF DECLINE, Jamaica, Queens, is making a strong comeback even as much of the city remains locked in the grip of recession.
In recent months, a gaggle of national retailers has flocked to a new big shopping center. The area's first new movie theater in more than 20 years has opened. An apartment building offering 180 market-rate apartments is under construction, and a $20 million Class A office building is on the drawing board. Jamaica is even getting a performing arts center, currently being built in a landmarked former church.
Why Jamaica and why now? By all accounts, the answer can be summed up in one word: AirTrain, the passenger rail system that will for the first time connect the transit hub at Jamaica Station to John F. Kennedy International Airport via elevated tracks along the Van Wyck Expressway. AirTrain's scheduled opening this year has turned the...