Queens
Queens is the largest
borough in area and second most populous of the five boroughs of
New York City. It is coterminous with
Queens County in the
U.S. state of
New York and is located on
Long Island. It is the most
ethnically diverse county in the
United States, with an estimated 44 percent of its residents foreign born.
[In Queens, It's the Glorious 4th, and 6th, and 16th, and 25th..., The New York Times, July 4, 2006]Established on
November 1,
1683 as one of the
original 12 counties of New York, it was named for the then-
queen consort,
Catherine of Braganza, wife of
Charles II. As of the
United States 2000 Census, the population is 2,229,379, making it the second most populous county in the
New York metropolitan area and the
tenth most populous county in the United States. Its
county seat is the district of
Jamaica, a neighborhood of New York City. The
United States Postal Service divides the borough into five "towns," based roughly on those in existence at the time of the consolidation of the five boroughs into New York City:
Long Island City,
Jamaica,
Flushing,
Far Rockaway, and
Floral Park. Note that these ZIP codes do not necessarily accurately determine neighborhood names and boundaries, as "East Elmhurst" was largely coined by the United States Postal Service. Most neighborhoods have no solid boundaries and at times residents are left guessing to what neighborhood they belong.
Queens is often stereotyped as one of the most
suburban boroughs of New York City, and neighborhoods in the eastern part of the borough do have a look and feel similar to the bordering suburbs of western
Nassau County. However, neighborhoods in the western and central sections differ strikingly, with heavily
urban characteristics loosely resembling those of
the Bronx (particularly the eastern Bronx) and, more closely,
Brooklyn (particularly northeastern Brooklyn, which borders Queens).
 |
Queens County in New York State |
Queens County is in the western part of
Long Island and includes a few smaller islands, most of which are in
Jamaica Bay and form part of
Gateway National Recreation Area. The
Rockaway Peninsula sits between Jamaica Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean.
The tallest tree in the New York
metropolitan area, called the
Queens Giant, is also the oldest living thing in the New York metro area. It is located in northeastern Queens, and is 450 years old and 134 feet tall as of 2005.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 461.7
km² (178.3
mi²); 282.9 km² (109.2 mi²) of it is land and 178.8 km² (69.0 mi²) of it (38.73%) is water.
European colonization brought both Dutch and English settlers. As a part of the New Netherlands colony, towns such as
Flushing (English corruption of the Dutch town name
Vlissingen),
Maspeth, Newtown (now
Elmhurst),
Jamaica and others were founded. However, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from New England via eastern Long Island (Suffolk County) subject to Dutch law. After the capture of the colony by the English and its renaming as New York in 1664, the area (and all of
Long Island) became known as Yorkshire.
The borough of Queens was originally named after
Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese wife of King
Charles II of England. Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising
Nassau County. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. By 1870, Queens County consisted of six
towns: Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica,
North Hempstead,
Hempstead, and
Oyster Bay. In 1870, the
city of Long Island City was incorporated, consisting of what had been the Village of Astoria and some unincorporated areas in the Town of Newtown. As a result of a referendum, Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and the Rockaway Peninsula of the Town of Hempstead became the
borough of Queens in
New York City on
January 1,
1898. The part of Queens County that was not consolidated into New York City, consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and all of the Town of Hempstead, except the
Rockaway Peninsula, was constituted as the new
Nassau County in 1899.
|
Queens grew at a faster rate than Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx from 1990 to 2000. (Click on image to see full key and data.) |
|
Queens may soon overtake Brooklyn as the most populous borough of New York City. Key: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island |
The borough of Queens is a patchwork quilt of dozens of unique neighborhoods, each with its own distinct identity. Residents of Queens have been known to identify more with their neighborhood than with the borough as a whole.
Howard Beach and
Middle Village are home to large
Italian-American populations,
Rockaway Beach has a large
Irish-American population,
Astoria, in the northwest, is traditionally home to one of the largest
Greek populations outside of
Greece, and is home to a growing population of young professionals from
Manhattan.
Maspeth is home to many European immigrants, including a large Polish population.
Long Island City is a major manufacturing and commercial center, as well as being the location of the massive
Queensbridge housing project.
Jackson Heights,
Elmhurst, and
Corona make up an enormous conglomeration of
Hispanic and
Asian American communities;
Flushing, in the north-central part of the borough, is a major commercial hub for
Chinese American and
Korean American businesses;
Richmond Hill, in the south, has the largest population of
Sikhs outside of India;
Forest Hills and
Kew Gardens, in central Queens, have traditionally large Jewish populations (though these days those populations are more likely to consist of immigrants from Israel, Iran and the former Soviet Union) while
Jamaica is a major business and transportation hub for the borough, and also home to large
African American and
Caribbean populations. There are also middle-class African-American,
Filipino American,
Latino and
Caribbean neighborhoods such as
Saint Albans,
Cambria Heights,
Queens Village,
Rosedale and
Laurelton along east and southeast Queens. Together, these neighborhoods comprise the most diverse county in the
United States, and easily provide the richest cultural experience found anywhere in the world. Some Queens neighborhoods, such as
Ozone Park,
Bayside,
Maspeth,
Kew Gardens and
Woodside are home to a very diverse mix of many different nationalities.
ZIP Codes in Queens range from
11101 to 11120;
11351 to 11499; and from
11690 to 11697.
The borough is politically divided into 14 community boards:
*
1 :
Astoria,
Long Island City,
Queensbridge,
Ditmars,
Ravenswood,
Steinway, and
Woodside*
2 :
Long Island City,
Woodside, and
Sunnyside*
3 :
Jackson Heights,
East Elmhurst*
4 :
Elmhurst,
Corona,
LeFrak City,
Flushing Meadows Park*
5 :
Ridgewood,
Glendale,
Middle Village,
Maspeth*
6 :
Forest Hills and
Rego Park*
7 :
Flushing,
Bay Terrace,
College Point,
Whitestone,
Malba,
Beechhurst,
Queensboro Hill and
Willets Point*
8 :
Fresh Meadows,
Cunningham Heights,
Hilltop Village,
Pomonak Houses,
Jamaica Estates,
Holliswood,
Utopia,
Kew Gardens Hills, and
Briarwood*
9 :
Richmond Hill,
Woodhaven,
Ozone Park, and
Kew Gardens*
10 :
Howard Beach,
South Ozone Park,
Richmond Hill,
Tudor Village, and
Lindenwood*
11 :
Bayside,
Douglaston,
Little Neck,
Auburndale,
East Flushing,
Oakland Gardens, and
Hollis Hills*
12 :
Jamaica,
Hollis,
Saint Albans,
Springfield Gardens,
Rochdale Village, and
South Jamaica*
13 :
Queens Village,
Glen Oaks,
New Hyde Park,
Bellerose,
Cambria Heights,
Laurelton,
Rosedale,
Floral Park, and
Brookville*
14 :
Breezy Point,
Belle Harbor,
Neponsit,
Arverne,
Bayswater,
Edgemere,
Rockaway Park,
Rockaway and
Far RockawaySee: List of Queens neighborhoodsThe economy of Queens is based on tourism, industry, and trade. Queens has two of the busiest airports in the world,
John F. Kennedy International Airport, located in Jamaica, and
La Guardia Airport, in
Flushing. Queens is increasingly attracting film studios — a return of an industry that had departed decades earlier — notably the Kaufman Studios in Astoria, where a number of television shows are made. Western Queens is becoming an artistic hub, including the
Noguchi Museum,
Socrates Sculpture Park,
Museum for African Art, and the
American Museum of the Moving Image. The current poet laureate of Queens is Ishle Yi Park.
The
Queens Museum of Art and the
New York Hall of Science are further east, in
Flushing Meadows Park — site of both the
1939 New York World's Fair, the
1964 New York World's Fair and the annual
US Open tennis tournament.
Shea Stadium, home of the
New York Mets baseball team, is just north of the park.
Several large companies have their headquarters in Queens. They include
Bulova,
Glacéau,
JetBlue and
| Party | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997!1996 |
|---|
| Democratic | 62.94 | 62.52 | 62.85 | 62.79 | 62.99 | 62.52 | 62.30 | 62.27 | 62.28 | 62.33 |
| Republican | 14.60 | 14.66 | 14.97 | 15.04 | 15.28 | 15.69 | 16.47 | 16.74 | 16.93 | 17.20 |
| No affiliation | 18.58 | 18.89 | 18.24 | 18.31 | 18.36 | 18.49 | 18.13 | 17.79 | 17.77 | 17.69 |
| Other | 3.88 | 3.93 | 3.94 | 3.86 | 3.37 | 3.30 | 3.10 | 3.20 | 3.02 | 2.78 |
|
Presidential elections results| Year | GOP! Dems |
|---|
| 2004 | 27.4% 165,954 | 71.7% 433,835 |
| 2000 | 22.0% 122,052 | 75.0% 416,967 |
| 1996 | 21.1% 107,650 | 72.9% 372,925 |
| 1992 | 28.3% 157,561 | 62.9% 349,520 |
| 1988 | 39.7% 217,049 | 59.5% 325,147 |
| 1984 | 46.4% 285,477 | 53.3% 328,379 |
| 1980 | 44.8% 251,333 | 48.0% 269,147 |
| 1976 | 38.9% 244,396 | 60.5% 379,907 |
| 1972 | 56.3% 426,015 | 43.4% 328,316 |
| 1968 | 40.0% 306,620 | 53.6% 410,546 |
| 1964 | 33.6% 274,351 | 66.3% 541,418 |
| 1960 | 45.1% 367,688 | 54.7% 446,348 |
| 1956 | 59.9% 471,223 | 40.1% 315,898 |
|
Queens is a borough of
New York City. The current borough president is
Democrat Helen Marshall.
Queens is considered a volatile swing county in New York politics. Although it is heavily
Democratic,
Republicans who do well in Queens usually win statewide or citywide, like former Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani, current Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and current New York Governor
George Pataki.
Despite being largely liberal, Queens is the home of State Senator
Serphin Maltese, a
conservative Republican who represents a huge chunk of central and southern Queens.
Hence, Queens residents voted for
Michael Bloomberg for Mayor in 2001 by 210,432 votes to 163,528 to his Democratic opponent
Mark Green. In 2002, they voted against
George Pataki for Governor with a slim 45.01% (155,599) to 46.50% (160,746) for its democratic opponent
Carl McCall.
Queens residents voted for Senator Kerry for President in 2004 by 71.7% (433,835) to 21.4% (165,954) for President Bush. However, apart from
Staten Island, Queens is the last borough in heavily Democratic New York City in which a majority voted Republican in a presidential election; in
1972 when Queens went for
Richard Nixon over
George McGovern. Indeed, even if Queens votes now overwhemingly democratic in Presidential election, this trend is pretty new. Until the late 80s, although being clearly a Democratic area, the borough was still a competitive one.
Air
Queens has crucial importance in international and interstate air traffic as the only two current major airports in New York City are located there.
LaGuardia Airport is located in the northern part of Queens.
John F. Kennedy International Airport is located in the southern portion of the borough, on
Jamaica Bay. A third airport,
Flushing Airport, only a mile east of LaGuardia, was closed in the early 1980s.
Roads and Highways
Queens is traversed by three trunk east-west highways:
*The
Long Island Expressway, also known as Interstate 495, runs from the
Queens-Midtown Tunnel on the west through the Queens/Nassau County border and east to
Riverhead in
Suffolk County*The
Grand Central Parkway, whose western terminus is the
Triborough Bridge, extends east to the Queens/Nassau border, where its name changes to the
Northern State Parkway.
*The
Belt Parkway begins at the
Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn, and extends east into Queens, past
Aqueduct Racetrack and JFK Airport. On its eastern end at the Queens/Nassau border, it splits into the
Southern State Parkway which continues east, and the
Cross Island Parkway which turns north.
There are also several major north-south highways in Queens. The
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, or Interstate 278; the
Van Wyck Expressway, or Interstate 678; the
Clearview Expressway, or Interstate 295; and the Cross Island Parkway.
The streets of Queens are laid out in a semi-
grid system, with a numerical system of
street names (similar to
Manhattan and
the Bronx). Nearly all roadways oriented north-south are streets, while east-west roadways are avenues, beginning with the number 1 (west to east with streets and north to south with avenues). In some parts of the borough, several consecutive streets may share numbers (for instance, 72nd Street followed by 72nd Place, or 52nd Avenue followed by 52nd Road, 52nd Drive, and 52nd Court), often causing confusion for non-residents. In addition, conflicting sections of street grids, unusual street paths due to geography, or other circumstances often lead to the skipping of numbers. Numbered roads tend to be residential, although there are many notable exceptions throughout the borough. A fair number of streets (especially major thoroughfares such as
Northern Boulevard,
Queens Boulevard, and
Jamaica Avenue) carry names rather than numbers.
The Rockaway Peninsula does not follow the same system as the rest of the borough and has its own numbering system. Streets are numbered in ascending order heading west from near the
Nassau County border, and are prefixed with the word "Beach." Streets at the easternmost end, however, are nearly all named. Another deviance from the norm is
Broad Channel; it maintains the north-south numbering progression but uses only the suffix "Road," as well as the prefixes "West" and "East," depending on location relative to
Cross Bay Boulevard, the neighboorhood's major through street.
Bridges and Tunnels
Queens is connected to the Bronx by three bridges: the
Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the
Throgs Neck Bridge and the
Triborough Bridge.
Queens is connected to Manhattan by two bridges and one tunnel: the
Triborough Bridge, the
Queensboro Bridge, and the
Queens Midtown Tunnel.
While most of the Queens/Brooklyn border is on land, the
Kosciuszko Bridge crosses the
Newtown Creek connecting
Maspeth, Queens to
Greenpoint, Brooklyn.The
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge connects the
Rockaway Peninsula to the rest of Queens.
Mass Transit
Twelve subway routes traverse Queens, serving 81 stations on seven main lines:
*The and trains serve the
BMT Astoria Line.
*The , , , and trains serve the
IND Queens Boulevard Line.
*The and trains serve the
IRT Flushing Line.
*The and trains serve the
BMT Jamaica Line.
*The train serves the
BMT Myrtle Avenue Line.
*The train serves the
IND Rockaway Line.
*The train serves the
IND Crosstown Line, which connects Queens and Brooklyn. It is the only subway route in the city that does not enter Manhattan.
About 100 local bus routes move people around within Queens, and another 15 express routes shuttle commuters between Queens and Manhattan.
The
Long Island Rail Road operates all of its service through Queens to reach its terminals at
Penn Station in Manhattan and at
Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. LIRR operates twenty stations in Queens:
*
Queens Village and
Hollis served by the
Hempstead Branch.
*
Locust Manor,
Laurelton,
Rosedale, and (after travelling through Nassau County)
Far Rockaway served by the
Far Rockaway Branch.
*
Saint Albans served by the
West Hempstead Branch.
*
Shea Stadium,
Flushing-Main Street,
Murray Hill,
Broadway,
Auburndale,
Bayside,
Douglaston, and
Little Neck served by the
Port Washington Branch.
*
Hunterspoint Avenue and
Long Island City on the
Montauk Branch.
*
Woodside,
Forest Hills, and
Kew Gardens on the
Main Line. As part of the
East Side Access project, a new LIRR station will be constructed at
Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside on the Main Line.
*
Jamaica is a hub station where all the lines in the system meet except for the Port Washington Branch. This station is the busiest commuter rail hub in the United States.
AirTrain JFK connects JFK Airport to the subway at
Sutphin Boulevard (IND Queens Boulevard Line) and
Howard Beach (IND Rockaway Line), and to the Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica.
Sunnyside is home to what was the world's largest railyard,
Sunnyside Yard, which is used as a staging area by
Amtrak and
New Jersey Transit for long-haul and commuter departures from Penn Station in Manhattan.
Waterways
There is currently only one year-round scheduled ferry service connecting Queens and Manhattan.
New York Water Taxi operates service across the
East River from Hunters Point in
Long Island City to
Manhattan at
34th Street and south to Pier 11 at
Wall Street. During baseball season,
NY Waterway ferries operate to Shea Stadium for
New York Mets weekend home games.
[Ferry Services to Shea Stadium, accessed May 16, 2006] Queens
Population by decade | | 1900 | 152,999 |
| 1910 | 284,041 |
| 1920 | 469,042 |
| 1930 | 1,079,129 |
| 1940 | 1,297,634 |
| 1950 | 1,550,849 |
| 1960 | 1,809,578 |
| 1970 | 1,987,174 |
| 1980 | 1,891,325 |
| 1990 | 1,951,598 |
| 2000 | 2,229,379 |
As of the
census of 2000, there were 2,229,379 people, 782,664 households, and 537,690 families residing in the county. The
population density was 7,879.6/km² (20,409.0/mi²). There were 817,250 housing units at an average density of 2,888.5/km² (7,481.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 44.08%
White, 20.01%
Black or
African American, 0.50%
Native American, 17.56%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 11.68% from
other races, and 6.11% from two or more races. 24.97% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
Some main European ancestry in Queens, 2000:
*
Italian : 8.99%
*
Irish : 7.05%
*
German : 4.74%
*
English : 1.32%
According to the Census Bureau, the population increased to 2,241,600 in 2005.
The 2000 census show also that the borough is home to one of the most important concentration of
Indian-Americans in the nation, with a total population of 129,715 (5,79% of the borough population) ([
1], as well as of
Pakistani-Americans who numbers 15,604[
2].
There were 782,664 households out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were
married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% were non-families. 25.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.39.
In the county the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,439, and the median income for a family was $48,608. Males had a median income of $35,576 versus $31,628 for females. The
per capita income for the county was $19,222. About 11.9% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.
The Top Ten Languages Spoken in Queens according to the NY State Comptroller:
[http://queens.about.com/od/queensalmanac/f/languages.htm]# English (vast majority) # Spanish # Chinese # Korean # Italian # Greek # Russian # Tagalog (Filipino) # French # French Creole
Queens is the home of the
New York Mets baseball team. The
U.S. Open tennis tournament, and
Aqueduct Racetrack are also found here. Just over the Queens line (in
Nassau County) is
Belmont Park Race Track, the home of the
Belmont Stakes. In the past,
Extreme Championship Wrestling has been held at an
Elks lodge in
Elmhurst.
Queens is home to many cultural institutions, including:
*
American Museum of the Moving Image*
Jamaica Performing Arts Center*
New York Hall of Science*
Noguchi Museum*
Queens Botanical Garden*
Queens Theatre in the Park*
LaGuardia Community College*
Queensborough Community College*
Queens College*
Saint John's University renowned for its men's basketball and men's soccer teams.
*
York College Noted for its Health Sciences Programs, Northeast Regional Office of the
Food and Drug Administration is on campus.
*
Queens Borough President's Official Website*
Queens Council on the Arts*
Queens Neighborhoods*
Map of Queens neighborhoods*
Air visit of all the districts of Queens in photographs*
1910 map of Queens (west)*
1910 map of Queens (east)*
1898 map of southwestern Queens*
1891 map of southwestern Queens
