The name Cambria Heights was coined in the mid 1920s when the Cambria Title Savings and Trust Company, a bank based in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, provided financing for early development which was aimed at families seeking to relocate from rental apartments in other boroughs.[6] At an elevation of 50 feet (15 m) above sea level, it is considered to be one of the highest points in Queens, together with Jackson Heights and Richmond Hill.[7]
Education
The public elementary schools in Cambria Heights are PS 176 Cambria Heights (grades PK–5)[8] and PS/MS 147 Ronald McNair (PK–8).[9] There are four magnet high schools on the campus of Andrew Jackson High School, which are dedicated to: arts and humanities; business computer applications; mathematics, science and technology; and law, government and community service.There are also 2 private schools in Cambria Heights named Cambria Center for the Gifted Child,(C.C.G.C) and Cambria School of Excellence (C.S.E). C.C.G.C goes from pk- Grade 5, and its sister school( which is merged into C.C.G.C) is from 6-8th grade. C.C.G.C was first opened in about 1980, and C.S.E in late 2010-2011.
Religion
Cambria Heights has a high concentration of Christian church communities. There are many storefront churches located along Linden Boulevard, from a variety of denominations as well as nondenominational groups. Cambria Heights is also home to Cambria Heights Community Church, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Holy Trinity Parish Church, Queens Tabernacle Church, First Faith Baptist Church, Harvest Revival Christian Fellowship, Good Life Deliverance Ministry, Saint David's Episcopal Church, and Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The Catholic parish has an affiliated school. Sacred Heart Catholic Academy.
Cambria Heights is also the location of the Ohel, the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson and his predecessor Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn. Tens of thousands of visitors from around the world flock to the site for prayer and blessing.[10]
Demographics
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Cambria Heights was 18,677, a decrease of 2,267 (10.8%) from the 20,944 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 772.01 acres (312.42 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 24.2 inhabitants per acre (15,500/sq mi; 6,000/km2).[2]
House of Tony Santiago at 117–39 220th StreetStreet in Cambria Heights
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated two historic districts within the neighborhood in June 2022: the Cambria Heights–222nd Street Historic District and the Cambria Heights–227th Street Historic District.[12][13] Both historic districts were originally predominantly white, like the rest of the neighborhood, but African-American families began moving to the areas by the 1950s, followed by Caribbean-American families in the 1980s.[13] Prior to the creation of the two districts, Cambria Heights did not have any city-designated landmarks.[12]
The Cambria Heights–222nd Street Historic District consists of 46 Storybook-style houses on 222nd Street between 115th Road and 116th Avenue, completed in 1931.[14]: 1 The 222nd Street houses contain brick facades, Tudor arched windows, various geometric motifs, multicolored terracotta roof shingles, and chimneys with stucco-and-brick panels.[13][14]: 15–16 These houses were designed by the firm of Monda & Bertolazzi, based in Ozone Park, Queens.[14]: 13–14
The Cambria Heights–227th Street Historic District consists of 50 Storybook-style houses on 227th Street between 116th Avenue and Linden Boulevard, also completed in 1931.[15]: 1 The houses on 227th Street largely contain stone, brick, and stucco facades, with multicolored roof shingles and rhombus windows.[13][15]: 16–17 These were the only houses in Cambria Heights designed by Queens-based firm Wolosoff Brothers.[15]: 11–12
Transportation
Bus lines that serve through the neighborhood include the Q4, Q27, Q77, Q83 and Q84 local buses, connecting to the New York City Subway and other bus routes in Queens, as well as the X64 express bus.[16]
Notable residents
Notable current and former residents of Cambria Heights include:
Henry Petroski (1942–2023), whose 2002 book Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer describes his teenage years in Cambria Heights.[25][26]
Rick Pitino (born 1952), head basketball head coach at the University of Louisville[27]
Lillian Roberts (born 1928), labor leader who served from 2002 through 2014 as the Executive Director of District Council 37 (DC37), the largest municipal union in New York City.[28]
^Plambeck, Joseph. "Safe and Sound, Sweet and Spacious", The New York Times, September 9, 2011. Accessed June 30, 2016. "Shaped like a trapezoid, Cambria Heights abuts Nassau County on its eastern edge; Elmont is just the other side of the Cross Island Parkway. The remaining boundary lines, though at times a point of contention, are generally accepted to be Springfield Boulevard, to the west, and 114th Avenue to the north."
^Dowd, Trone. "Cambria Heights"Archived August 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Queens Tribune, March 31, 2016. Accessed June 30, 2016. "Cambria Heights is located fifty feet above the sea level and is considered to be one of the highest points in all of Queens."
^Bindley, Katherine. "The Paper Chase", The New York Times, April 3, 2009. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, and raised in Cambria Heights, Queens, where he lives today, Kurt Boone is a writer at heart and a messenger by trade."
^Durso, Joseph. "Pittsburgh Triumphs, 4-3", The New York Times, March 22, 1970. Accessed December 12, 2016. "In the fifth, Dave Marshall bobbled Jose Martinez's single to left and Fred Cambria, rookie pitcher from Cambria Heights, Queens, chopped high-bouncing single that hung in the air while Martinez took third."
^ abDavis, Arianna. "Savings in Queens: Great deals in Cambria Heights", New York Daily News, December 22, 2009. Accessed December 12, 2016. "Named after the Cambria Construction Company in Pennsylvania, Cambria Heights was once home to jazz great Lena Horne and baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson."
^Jomantas, Nicole. "African-American Fencers Aim to Make History in Rio", USA Fencing, February 28, 2014. Accessed December 25, 2023. "But growing up as a saber fencer in New York also meant that Homer had role models virtually in his backyard as Keeth Smart and 2004 Olympian Ivan Lee (Cambria Heights, N.Y.) were making their mark on the international scene as Homer was first beginning to compete at the national level."
^Vecsey, George. "Sports of The Times; Rick Pitino: Reviving February", The New York Times, February 13, 1987. Accessed December 12, 2016. "Pitino, who grew up in Manhattan, Cambria Heights, Queens, and Bayville, L.I., comes to Hillcrest with a 16–5 record and the best 3-point shooting in the country."
^Klemesrud, Judy. "Director of Hospital Walkout", The New York Times, August 5, 1976. Accessed December 4, 2017. "Mrs. Roberts, who is paid $34,000 a year, has no children of her own, but is raising the three sons of her late sister in a two-family home in Cambria Heights, Queens."
^"Barbara Rubin: An Angel on Canal Street", Artinfo.com, December 19, 2012. Accessed December 12, 2016. "Rubin was still 17, a girl from Cambria Heights (the same Queens neighborhood that incubated the Shangri La's) and newly discharged from a Connecticut sanitarium, when she found her way to the Film-maker's Cooperative then located in Jonas Mekas's apartment on Park Avenue South."
^Clyde Vanel, National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals. Accessed January 2, 2024. "Clyde Vanel is an attorney, entrepreneur, private pilot and community advocate from Cambria Heights, New York."
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