What the first mile or so of Jamaica Avenue does have going for it is topography.

More than 200 people - young and old, nearly all of them black - began to walk down Jamaica Avenue, the area's main commercial thoroughfare.

In decades past, Jamaica Avenue was a center of shopping and entertainment.

In 1874, the bank bought and occupied a small frame building at 161-02 Jamaica Avenue.

In 1699, a stone church was built on what is now Jamaica Avenue, paid for by tax dollars.

In fact, the police have been preoccupied with a new hot spot off Jamaica Avenue.

In the other neighborhood, near Jamaica Avenue, some residents feel an overwhelming police presence.

There are stores all along Jamaica Avenue and 40 to 45 feet in on the side streets.

The project is on 160th Street just north of Jamaica Avenue.

Members of the joint group said they did not recall whether anyone had suggested calling both sides Jamaica Avenue.