They Paved Over The Front Lawn And Put Up A Parking Lot

As much as it pains me to say it, only in Queens is a paved-over front lawn considered a major selling point:

When Christina Groza moved from an older building in Astoria, Queens, into a recently built one in College Point, the new home had a major selling point. Unlike the modest front lawn of her Astoria home, the original lawn outside the new building had been paved over with concrete.

That suited Ms. Groza just fine. Parking is scarce in the area, and although she loves nature as much as the next person, she also likes a guaranteed spot near her front door at the end of the day.

“Anyone who says they’d rather have a lawn than concrete never tried parking a car around here,” said Ms. Groza, 48, who cleans office buildings in Manhattan.

“If you’re looking for a lawn, you should move to Long Island or New Jersey.”

But the phenomenon seems to go beyond practicality into the realm of aesthetics:

The grassy front lawn, once a staple of the American dream, is steadily being usurped by the pave-over. Many homeowners, opting for grayer pastures, are pouring concrete over their patches of green.

Often the reason is practical – to make room for additional parking, or to create a low-maintenance home without lawnmowers or landscapers.

But the trend against turf also represents an aesthetic shift, a decision that grass has lost its class, and that a tastefully paved yard, front and back, is much more elegant.

“Not everyone wants that beautiful green front yard anymore,” said Martha Lucia Marin, a sales agent with listings mostly in northern Queens.

“A lot of people are saying the house looks more elegant with nice brickwork instead of grass. It’s also an economical decision. You can park in front of your door, and you don’t have to take care of a lawn. It saves work and makes for a low-maintenance home.”

But it’s not until they start actively fearing nature that this all gets to be a little too freaky, a little too weird and a little too puritannical:

Jack Casaro, 31, a technology systems executive, recently completed a major reconstruction, turning a modest house on a 40-by-100-foot plot in Whitestone into a brick fortress of a domicile. Now he is spending $25,000 to pave the property in brick.

Mr. Casaro stopped short of paving the entire front yard, as his next-door neighbor has done. He is keeping two small patches of grass out front.

“I want to keep a little grass, but a full lawn is too much maintenance,” he said. “The grass absorbs the rain, and when the water table gets full, it seeps into the basement. Now, with the brick pitched the right way, the rain runs right off.”

His mother, Angela Casaro, stepped outside to voice her preference for brick over grass.

“Lawns have ticks and disease and worms and stuff,” she said. “This way, it’s safe and sterile. It’s a cleaner area for the children to play. I love nature and I love grass, but I don’t want my family exposed to disease.”