With a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 census,[2] Queens is the second-most populous county in New York state, behind Kings County (Brooklyn), and is therefore also the second-most populous of the five New York City boroughs. If Queens were its own city, it would be the fourth most-populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Queens is the fourth-most densely populated borough in New York City and the fourth-most densely populated U.S. county. As approximately 47% of its residents are foreign-born,[10] Queens is highly diverse.
Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the Province of New York. The settlement was named after the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705).[11] From 1683 to 1899, the County of Queens included what is now Nassau County. Queens became a borough during the consolidation of New York City in 1898, combining the towns of Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and western Hempstead.[12] All except Hempstead are today considered neighborhoods of Queens.
The first European settlement in the region was the Dutch, who established the colony of New Netherland. The first settlements were established in 1635 followed by further settlement at Maspeth in 1642 (ultimately unsuccessful),[15] and Vlissingen (now Flushing) in 1645.[16] Other early settlements included Newtown (now Elmhurst) in 1652 and Jamaica in 1655. However, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from New England via eastern Long Island (Suffolk County) who were subject to Dutch law.[17] After the capture of the colony by the English and its subsequent renaming as New York in 1664, the area (and all of Long Island) became known as Yorkshire.[18]: xi–xii
Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1, 1683.[18]: 121–122 The county is presumed to have been named after Catherine of Braganza, since she was queen of England at the time (she was Portugal's royal princess Catarina, daughter of King John IV of Portugal).[11] The county was founded alongside Kings County (Brooklyn, which was named after her husband, King Charles II), and Richmond County (Staten Island, named after his illegitimate son, the 1st Duke of Richmond).[19][20][21] However, the namesake is disputed. While Catherine's title seems the most likely namesake, no historical evidence of official declaration has been found.[22] On October 7, 1691, all counties in the Colony of New York were redefined. Queens gained North and South Brother Islands as well as Huletts Island (today known as Rikers Island).[18]: 268 On December 3, 1768, Queens gained other islands in Long Island Sound that were not already assigned to a county but that did not abut on Westchester County (today's Bronx County).[18]: 1062–1063
Queens played a minor role in the American Revolution, as compared to Brooklyn, where the Battle of Long Island was largely fought. Queens, like the rest of what became New York City and Long Island, remained under British occupation after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and was occupied throughout most of the rest of the Revolutionary War. Under the Quartering Act, British soldiers used, as barracks, the public inns and uninhabited buildings belonging to Queens residents. Even though many residents opposed unannounced quartering, they supported the British crown. The quartering of soldiers in private homes, except in times of war, was banned by the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution. Nathan Hale was captured by the British on the shore of Flushing Bay and hanged in Manhattan.
From 1683 until 1784, Queens County consisted of five towns: Flushing, Hempstead, Jamaica, Newtown, and Oyster Bay. On April 6, 1784, a sixth town, the Town of North Hempstead, was formed through secession by the northern portions of the Town of Hempstead.[23][24] The seat of the county government was located first in Jamaica,[25] but the courthouse was torn down by the British during the American Revolution to use the materials to build barracks.[26] After the war, various buildings in Jamaica temporarily served as courthouse and jail until a new building was erected about 1787 (and later completed) in an area near Mineola (now in Nassau County) known then as Clowesville.[27][28][29]
The 1850 United States census was the first in which the population of the three western towns exceeded that of the three eastern towns that are now part of Nassau County. Concerns were raised about the condition and distance of the old courthouse, and several sites were in contention for the construction of a new one.[30]
In 1870, Long Island City split from the Town of Newtown, incorporating itself as a city, consisting of what had been the village of Astoria and some unincorporated areas within the town of Newtown. Around 1874, the seat of county government was moved to Long Island City from Mineola.[31][32][33][34]
In 1886, Lloyd's Neck, which was then part of the town of Oyster Bay and had earlier been known as Queens Village, was set off and separated from Queens County and annexed to the town of Huntington in Suffolk County.[38][39][40] On April 16, 1964, South Brother Island was transferred to Bronx County.[41]
The New York City borough of Queens was authorized on May 4, 1897, by a vote of the New York State Legislature after an 1894 referendum on consolidation.[42] The eastern 280 square miles (730 km2) of Queens that became Nassau County was partitioned on January 1, 1899.[43] Queens Borough was established on January 1, 1898.[44][45][46]
"The city of Long Island City, the towns of Newtown, Flushing and Jamaica, and that part of the town of Hempstead, in the county of Queens, which is westerly of a straight line drawn through the middle of the channel between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island, in the county of Queens, to the Atlantic Ocean" was annexed to New York City,[12] dissolving all former municipal governments (Long Island City, the county government, all towns, and all villages) within the new borough.[47] The areas of Queens County that were not part of the consolidation plan,[33][48][49][50][51][52][53] consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and the major remaining portion of the Town of Hempstead, remained part of Queens County until they seceded to form the new Nassau County on January 1, 1899. At this point, the boundaries of Queens County and the Borough of Queens became coterminous. With consolidation, Jamaica once again became the county seat, though county offices now extend to nearby Kew Gardens also.[54]
In 1899, New York City conducted a land survey to determine the exact border of Queens between the Rockaways and Lawrence. This proved difficult because the border was defined as "middle of the channel between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island" (now called Long Beach Island), and that particular channel had closed up by 1899. The surveyors had to determine where the channel had been when the consolidation law was written in 1894. The surveyors did so in part by speaking with local fishermen and oystermen who knew the area well.[53]
From 1905 to 1908, the Long Island Rail Road in Queens became electrified. Transportation to and from Manhattan, previously by ferry or via bridges in Brooklyn, opened up with the Queensboro Bridge finished in 1909, and with railway tunnels under the East River in 1910. From 1915 onward, much of Queens was connected to the New York City Subway system.[27][55] With the 1915 construction of the Steinway Tunnel carrying the IRT Flushing Line between Queens and Manhattan, and the robust expansion of the use of the automobile, the population of Queens more than doubled in the 1920s, from 469,042 in 1920 to 1,079,129 in 1930.[56]
In later years, Queens was the site of the 1939 New York World's Fair and the 1964 New York World's Fair.[57]LaGuardia Airport, established on a site in northern Queens that had been a seaplane base, opened in 1939, named for mayor Fiorello La Guardia, who pushed for the development of a modern airport in New York City.[58] Idlewild Airport, in southern Queens, opened in 1948 on the site of a former golf course and was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1963.[59] In one of several notable incidents, TWA Flight 800 took off from the airport on July 17, 1996, and exploded in midair off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 on board the Boeing 747.[60]American Airlines Flight 587 took off from the latter airport on November 12, 2001, but ended up crashing in Belle Harbor, killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.[61] In late October 2012, much of Breezy Point was damaged by a massive six-alarm fire caused by Hurricane Sandy, the largest fire of residential homes in FDNY history, destroying 126 homes in an area where every building was damaged by either water, wind or the resulting fires.[62]
Queens is located on the far western portion of geographic Long Island and includes a few smaller islands, most of which are in Jamaica Bay, forming part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, which in turn is one of the National Parks of New York Harbor.[63] According to the United States Census Bureau, Queens County has a total area of 178 square miles (460 km2), of which 109 square miles (280 km2) is land and 70 square miles (180 km2) (39%) is water.[64]
Under the Köppen climate classification, Queens has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) with partial shielding from the Appalachian Mountains and moderating influences from the Atlantic Ocean. Queens receives precipitation throughout the year, with an average of 44.8 inches (114 cm) per year. In an average year, there will be 44 days with either moderate or heavy rain.[67]
An average winter will have 22 days with some snowfall, of which nine days have at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snowfall.[67] Summer is typically hot, humid, and wet. An average year will have 17 days with a high temperature of 90 °F (32 °C) or warmer.[67] In an average year, there are 14 days on which the temperature does not go above 32 °F (0 °C) all day.[67] Spring and autumn can vary from chilly to very warm.
The highest temperature ever recorded at LaGuardia Airport was 107 °F (42 °C) on July 3, 1966.[68][67] The highest temperature ever recorded at John F. Kennedy International Airport was 104 °F (40 °C), also on July 3, 1966.[68][69] LaGuardia Airport's record-low temperature was −7 °F (−22 °C) on February 15, 1943, the effect of which was exacerbated by a shortage of heating oil and coal.[67][70] John F. Kennedy International Airport's record-low temperature was −2 °F (−19 °C), on February 8, 1963, and January 21, 1985.[69][71][72] On January 24, 2016, 30.5 inches (77 cm) of snow fell, which is the record in Queens.[73]
Tornadoes are generally rare; the most recent tornado, an EF0, touched down in College Point on August 3, 2018, causing minor damage.[74] Before that, there was a tornado in Breezy Point on September 8, 2012, which damaged the roofs of some homes,[75] and an EF1 tornado in Flushing on September 26, 2010.[76]
Climate data for JFK Airport, New York (1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1948–present)
Four United States Postal Service postal zones serve Queens, based roughly on those serving the towns in existence at the consolidation of the five boroughs into New York City: Long Island City (ZIP codes starting with 111), Jamaica (114), Flushing (113), and Far Rockaway (116). Also, the Floral Park post office (110), based in Nassau County, serves a small part of northeastern Queens. Each of these main post offices has neighborhood stations with individual ZIP codes, and unlike the other boroughs, these station names are often used in addressing letters. These ZIP codes do not always reflect traditional neighborhood names and boundaries; "East Elmhurst", for example, was largely coined by the USPS and is not an official community.[citation needed] Most neighborhoods have no solid boundaries. The Forest Hills and Rego Park neighborhoods, for instance, overlap.
Residents of Queens often closely identify with their neighborhood rather than with the borough or city. The borough is a patchwork of dozens of unique neighborhoods, each with its own distinct identity:
Astoria, in the northwest, is traditionally home to one of the largest Greek populations outside Greece. It also has large Spanish American and Italian American communities, and is home to a growing population of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, the Balkans as well as young professionals from Manhattan. Nearby Long Island City is a major commercial center and the home to Queensbridge, the largest housing project in North America.
Jackson Heights and Elmhurst make up a conglomeration of Hispanic, Asian, Tibetan, and South Asian communities. Jackson Heights is also known as "Little Colombia" thanks to the gastronomical and demographic impact of Colombian people.[85]
Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, and Kew Gardens Hills have traditionally large Jewish populations (historically from Germany and Eastern Europe; though more recent immigrants are from Israel, Iran, and the former Soviet Union). These neighborhoods are also known for large and growing Asian communities, mainly immigrants from China.
Bellerose and Floral Park, originally home to many Irish Americans, is home to a growing South Asian population, predominantly Indian Americans.
Corona and Corona Heights, once considered the "Little Italy" of Queens, was a predominantly Italian community with a strong African American community in the northern portion of Corona and adjacent East Elmhurst. From the 1920s through the 1960s, Corona remained a close-knit neighborhood. Corona today has the highest concentration of Latinos of any Queens neighborhood, with an increasing Chinese American population, located between Elmhurst and Flushing.[87]
At the 2020 census, 2,405,464 people lived in Queens. In 2018's American Community Survey, the population of Queens was estimated by the United States Census Bureau to have increased to 2,278,906, a rise of 2.2%. Queens' estimated population represented 27.1% of New York City's population of 8,398,748; 29.6% of Long Island's population of 7,701,172; and 11.7% of New York State's population of 19,542,209. The 2019 estimates reported a decline to 2,253,858.[99] In 2018, there were 865,878 housing units, and 777,904 households, 2.97 persons per household, and a median value of $481,300. There was an owner-occupancy rate of 44.5.[99] In the 2010 United States census, Queens recorded a population of 2,230,722. There were 780,117 households enumerated, with an average of 2.82 persons per household. The population density was 20,465.3 inhabitants per square mile (7,901.7 inhabitants/km2). There were 835,127 housing units at an average density of 7,661.7 units per square mile (2,958.2/km2).
The racial makeup of the county in 2010 was 39.7% White, 19.1% Black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 22.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 12.9% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. A total of 27.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latin American of any race. The non-Hispanic white population was 27.6%.[93] In 2019, non-Hispanic whites made up an estimated 24.4% of the population, and Blacks or African Americans were 17.3%.[99] The largest minority groups for the borough were Hispanic and Latin Americans (28.2%), and Asians (26.0%).
In Queens, residents consisted of 6.2% under 5, 13.9% 6–18, 64.2% 19–64, and 15.7% over 65. Females made up 51.5% of the population. An estimated 47.5% of residents are foreign-born in 2018. The per capita income was $28,814, and the median household income was $62,008. In 2018, 12.2% of residents lived below the poverty line.
The New York City Department of City Planning was alarmed by the negligible reported increase in population between 2000 and 2010. Areas with high proportions of immigrants and undocumented aliens are traditionally undercounted for a variety of reasons, often based on a mistrust of government officials or an unwillingness to be identified. In many cases, counts of vacant apartment units did not match data from local surveys and reports from property owners.[100]
According to a 2001 Claritas study, Queens was the most diverse county in the United States among counties of 100,000+ population.[102] A 2014 analysis by The Atlantic found Queens County to be the third most racially diverse county-equivalent in the United States—behind Aleutians West Census Area and Aleutians East Borough in Alaska—as well as the most diverse county in New York.[8] Meanwhile, a 2017 study by Axios found that, although numerous smaller counties in the United States had higher rates of diversity, Queens was the United States' most diverse populous county.[9]
In Queens, approximately 48.5% of the population was foreign born as of 2010. Within the foreign born population, 49.5% were born in Latin America, 33.5% in Asia, 14.8% in Europe, 1.8% in Africa, and 0.4% in North America. Roughly 2.1% of the population was born in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, or abroad to American parents. In addition, 51.2% of the population was born in the United States. Approximately 44.2% of the population over 5 years of age speak English at home; 23.8% speak Spanish at home. Also, 16.8% of the populace speak other Indo-European languages at home. Another 13.5% speak a non-Indo-European Asian language or language of the Pacific Islands at home.[103]
Among the Asian population in 2010, people of Chinese ethnicity made up the largest ethnic group at 10.2% of Queens' population, with about 237,484 people; the other East and Southeast Asian groups are: Koreans (2.9%), Filipinos (1.7%), Japanese (0.3%), Thais (0.2%), Vietnamese (0.2%), and Indonesians and Burmese both make up 0.1% of the population.[104] People of South Asian descent made up 7.8% of Queens' population: Indians (5.3%), Bangladeshi (1.5%), Pakistanis (0.7%), and Nepali (0.2%).[104] In 2019, Chinese Americans remained the largest Asian ethnicity (10.9%) followed by Asian Indians (5.7%).[99] Asian Indians had estimated population of 144,896 in 2014 (6.24% of the 2014 borough population),[105] as well as Pakistani Americans, who numbered at 15,604.[106] Queens has the second largest Sikh population in the nation after California.[107]
Among the Hispanic or Latin American population, Puerto Ricans made up the largest ethnic group at 4.6%, next to Mexicans, who made up 4.2% of the population, and Dominicans at 3.9%. Central Americans made up 2.4% and are mostly Salvadorans. South Americans constitute 9.6% of Queens's population, mainly of Ecuadorian (4.4%) and Colombian descent (4.2%).[104] The 2019 American Community Survey estimated Mexicans and Puerto Ricans were equally the largest groups (4.5% each) in Queens, and Cuban Americans were the third largest single group. Other Hispanic and Latinos collectively made up 18.9% of the population.[99] The Hispanic or Latino population increased by 61% to 597,773 between 1990 and 2006 and now accounts for over 26.5% of the borough's population.
Queens has the largest Colombian population in the city, accounting for over 35.6% of the city's total Colombian population, for a total of 145,956 in 2019;[85] it also has the largest Ecuadorian population in the city, accounting for 62.2% of the city's total Ecuadorian population, for a total of 101,339. Queens has the largest Peruvian population in the city, accounting for 69.9% of the city's total Peruvian population, for a total of 30,825. Queens has the largest Salvadoran population in the city, accounting for 50.7% of the city for a total population of 25,235. The Mexican population in Queens has increased 45.7% since 2011 to 71,283, the second-highest in the city, after Brooklyn.[108]
The Jewish Community Study of New York 2011, sponsored by the UJA-Federation of New York, found that about 9% of Queens residents were Jews.[111] In 2011, there were about 198,000 Jews in Queens, making it home to about 13% of all people in Jewish households in the eight-county area consisting of the Five Boroughs and Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties.[111] Russian-speaking Jews make up 28% of the Jewish population in Queens, the largest in any of the eight counties.[112]
In Queens, the Black and African American population earns more than non-Hispanic whites on average.[113] Many of these Blacks and African Americans live in quiet, middle-class suburban neighborhoods near the Nassau County border, such as Laurelton and Cambria Heights, which have large Black populations whose family income is higher than average. The migration of European Americans from parts of Queens has been long ongoing with departures from Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Bellerose, Floral Park, and Flushing (most of the outgoing population has been replaced with Asian Americans). Neighborhoods such as Whitestone, College Point, North Flushing, Auburndale, Bayside, Middle Village, and Douglaston–Little Neck have not had a substantial exodus of white residents, but have seen an increase of Asian population, mostly Chinese and Korean. Queens has experienced a real estate boom making most of its neighborhoods desirable for people who want to reside near Manhattan but in a less urban setting.
Languages
According to the office of the New York State Comptroller in 2000, 138 languages are spoken in the borough.[114] The 2021 American Community Survey by the United States Census Bureau, found that – of those over the age of five residing in Queens – 54.53% spoke a language other than English in the home. The following tables shows the 15 most common non-English languages in Queens, with the most prominent being Spanish, Chinese, and Bengali.
In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Queens was the Diocese of Brooklyn, with 677,520 Roman Catholics worshiping at 100 parishes, followed by an estimated 81,456 Muslims with 57 congregations, 80,000 Orthodox Jews with 110 congregations, 33,325 non-denominational Christian adherents with 129 congregations, 28,085 AME Methodists with 14 congregations, 24,250 Greek Orthodox with 6 congregations, 16,775 Hindus with 18 congregations, 13,989 AoG Pentecostals with 64 congregations, 13,507 Seventh-day Adventists with 45 congregations, and 12,957 Mahayana Buddhists with 26 congregations. Altogether, 49.4% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information.[115] In 2014, Queens had 738 religious organizations, the thirteenth most out of all U.S. counties.[116]
Queens hosts various museums and cultural institutions that serve its diverse communities. They range from the historical (such as the John Bowne House) to the scientific (such as the New York Hall of Science), from conventional art galleries (such as the Noguchi Museum) to unique graffiti exhibits (such as 5 Pointz). Queens's cultural institutions include, but are not limited to:
The travel magazine Lonely Planet also named Queens the top destination in the country for 2015 for its cultural and culinary diversity.[122] Stating that Queens is "quickly becoming its hippest" but that "most travelers haven't clued in... yet,"[123] the Lonely Planet stated that "nowhere is the image of New York as the global melting pot truer than Queens."[124]
Food
The cuisine available in Queens reflects its vast cultural diversity. The cuisine of a particular neighborhood often represents its demographics; for example, Astoria hosts many Greek restaurants, in keeping with its traditionally Greek population.[125]Jackson Heights is known for its prominent Indian cuisine and also many Latin American eateries.[126]
The Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, operating since 2015 on Saturdays from April to October (with a break from late August to mid-September), offers samples of food capped at $6 from dozens of countries with attendance of up to 20,000 a night.[127][128][129]
Queens has the second-largest economy of New York City's five boroughs, following Manhattan. In 2004, Queens had 15.2% (440,310) of all private-sector jobs in New York City and 8.8% of private-sector wages. In 2012, private-sector employment increased to 486,160.[130] Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs, with occupations spread relatively evenly across the health care, retail trade, manufacturing, construction, transportation, and film and television production sectors, such that no single sector is overwhelmingly dominant.[13]
The diversification in Queens' economy is reflected in a large amount of employment in the export-oriented portions of its economy—such as transportation, manufacturing, and business services—that serve customers outside the region. This accounts for more than 27% of all Queens jobs and offers an average salary of $43,727, 14% greater than that of jobs in the locally oriented sector.
The borough's largest employment sector—trade, transportation, and utilities—accounted for nearly 30% of all jobs in 2004; in 2012, its largest employment sector became health care and social services.[130] Queens is home to two of the three major New York City area airports, JFK International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. These airports are among the busiest in the world, leading the airspace above Queens to be the most congested in the country. This airline industry is particularly important to the economy of Queens, providing almost one-quarter of the sector's employment and more than 30% of the sector's wages.
Education and health services were the next largest sector in Queens and comprised almost 24% of the borough's jobs in 2004; in 2012, transportation and warehousing, and retail were the second largest at 12% each.[130] The manufacturing and construction industries in Queens are among the largest of the city and accounted for nearly 17% of the borough's private sector jobs in 2004. Comprising almost 17% of the jobs in Queens is the information, financial activities, and business and professional services sectors in 2004.
As of 2003[update], Queens had almost 40,000 business establishments. Small businesses act as an important part of the borough's economic vitality with two-thirds of all businesses employing between one and four people.
Several large companies have their headquarters in Queens, including watchmaker Bulova, based in East Elmhurst; internationally renowned piano manufacturer Steinway & Sons in Astoria; Glacéau, the makers of Vitamin Water, headquartered in Whitestone; and JetBlue Airways, an airline based in Long Island City.
Long Island City is a major manufacturing and back-office center. Flushing is a major commercial hub for Chinese American and Korean American businesses, while Jamaica is the major civic and transportation hub for the borough.
Queens County Courthouse was built in 1938 and houses the borough's Supreme Court, Surrogate Court, and County Clerk.[143]
Since New York City's consolidation in 1898, Queens has been governed by the New York City Charter that provides for a strong mayor–council system. The centralized New York City government is responsible for public education, correctional institutions, public safety, recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Queens. The Queens Library is governed by a 19-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the Mayor of New York City and the Borough President of Queens.
Since 1990 the Borough President has acted as an advocate for the borough at the mayoral agencies, the City Council, the New York state government, and corporations. Queens' Borough President is Donovan Richards, elected in November 2020 as a Democrat. Queens Borough Hall is the seat of government and is located in Kew Gardens.
The Democratic Party holds most public offices. Sixty-three percent of registered Queens voters are Democrats. Local party platforms center on affordable housing, education, and economic development. Controversial political issues in Queens include development, noise, and the cost of housing.
Each of the city's five counties has its criminal court system and District Attorney, the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote. Richard A. Brown, who ran on both the Republican and Democratic Party tickets, was the District Attorney of Queens County from 1991 to 2018. The new DA as of January 2020 is Melinda Katz.[144] Queens has 12 seats on the New York City Council, the second-largest number among the five boroughs. It is divided into 14 community districts, each served by a local Community Board. Community Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for residents.
Although Queens is heavily Democratic, it is considered a swing county in New York politics. Republican political candidates who do well in Queens usually win citywide or statewide elections. Republicans such as former Mayors Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg won majorities in Queens. Republican State Senator Serphin Maltese represented a district in central and southern Queens for twenty years until his defeat in 2008 by Democratic City Councilman Joseph Addabbo, Jr. In 2002, Queens voted against incumbent Republican Governor of New YorkGeorge Pataki in favor of his Democratic opponent, Carl McCall by a slim margin.[145]
On the national level, Queens has not voted for a Republican candidate in a presidential election since 1972, when Queens voters chose Richard Nixon over George McGovern. Since the 1996 presidential election, Democratic presidential candidates have received over 70% of the popular vote in Queens.[146] Since the election of Donald Trump, Queens has become known in the United States for its surge in progressive politics and grassroots campaigning.[147]
The borough's diverse housing ranges from high-rise apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as Forest Hills, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City; to lower-rise neighborhoods in the eastern part of the borough.[149][150] There were 911,957 housing units in 2022[151] at an average density of 8,388 units per square mile (3,239/km2). Affordable rental and co-operative housing units throughout the borough were created under the Mitchell–Lama Housing Program.[152] Public housing is administered by the New York City Housing Authority, which accounts for more than 30,000 residents in more than 15,300 units in 2023.[153]
Elementary and secondary school education in Queens is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. Non-charter public schools in the borough are managed by the New York City Department of Education,[154] the largest public school system in the United States. Most private schools are affiliated with or identify themselves with the Roman Catholic or Jewish religious communities. Townsend Harris High School is a Queens public magnet high school for the humanities consistently ranked as among the top 100 high schools in the United States. One of the nine Specialized High Schools in New York City is located in Queens. Located in the York College, City University of New York Campus in Jamaica, the Queens High School for the Sciences at York College, which emphasizes both science and mathematics, ranks as one of the best high schools in both the state and the country. It is one of the smallest Specialized High Schools that requires an entrance exam, the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test. The school has a student body of around 400 students.
Queens College is one of the elite colleges in the CUNY system. Established in 1937 to offer a strong liberal arts education to the residents of the borough, Queens College has over 16,000 students including more than 12,000 undergraduates and over 4,000 graduate students. Students from 120 countries speaking 66 different languages are enrolled at the school, which is located in Flushing. Queens College is also the host of CUNY's law school. The Queens College Campus is also the home of Townsend Harris High School and the Queens College School for Math, Science, and Technology (PS/IS 499).
St. John's University is a private, coeducational Roman Catholic university founded in 1870 by the Vincentian Fathers. With over 19,000 students, St. John's is known for its pharmacy, business and law programs as well as its men's basketball and soccer teams.
Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology is a private, cutting edge, degree-granting institution located across the Grand Central Parkway from LaGuardia Airport. Its presence underscores the importance of aviation to the Queens economy.
York College is one of CUNY's leading general-purpose liberal arts colleges, granting bachelor's degrees in more than 40 fields, as well as a combined BS/MS degree in Occupational Therapy. Noted for its Health Sciences Programs York College is also home to the Northeast Regional Office of the Food and Drug Administration.
The Queens Public Library is the public library system for the borough and one of three library systems serving New York City. Dating back to the foundation of the first Queens library in Flushing in 1858, the Queens Public Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States. Separate from the New York Public Library, it is composed of 63 branches throughout the borough. In the fiscal year 2001, the Library achieved a circulation of 16.8 million. The Library has maintained the highest circulation of any city library in the country since 1985 and the highest circulation of any library in the nation since 1987. The Library maintains collections in many languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Haitian Creole, Polish, and six Indic languages, as well as smaller collections in 19 other languages.
According to 2011–2015 ACS microdata, 38% of Queens households did not own a car; the citywide rate is 55%.[156]
Vehicles for hire
As of 2019, the city had about 80,000 for-hire vehicles, of which, two-thirds were ride-hail – Uber, Lyft, Via, and Juno.[157] Until the COVID-19 pandemic, the ride-hail car offered a ride-share option. There are about 13,500 traditional taxis (yellow cabs with medallions) in the city, 7,676 boro taxis, 38,791 black cars, 21,932 livery cars, 288 commuter vans, and 2,206 paratransit vehicles.
Roundtrip car sharing
Zipcar, and others, entered New York City market in 2002 offering roundtripcar sharing from private locations, mostly from parking garages. In 2018, the city partnered with the roundtrip car share companies, led by Zipcar, to launch the nation's largest on-street car-sharing program with the greatest take-up in The Bronx and in Queens – Jackson Heights, Jamaica, and Far Rockaway.[158][159][160][161][162] In 2020, during beginning throes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Enterprise CarShare suspended service in New York City. Among the traditional car rental locations in Queens, both international airports harbor larger fleets, conveniently close to Queens residents.
Micromobility
Citi Bike – a docked-bike and e-bike sharing company had, as of July 2019, 169,000 annual subscribers. In 2021, the Department of Transportation and Citi Bike announced that, as part of its Phase 3 expansion, it was doubling its service area to 70 square miles and tripling the number of bikes to 40,000. The expansion includes 52 new docking stations in Astoria, as well as new stations in Sunnyside and Woodside.[163]
Non-docked e-moped service was launched in the city by Revel in 2019. Companies such as Bird, Lime, VeoRide introduced non-docked e-scooter-sharing in 2021.[164]
Queens has crucial importance in international and interstate air traffic, with two of the New York metropolitan area's three major airports located there.
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, served 62.6 million passengers (enplanements + deplanements) – 34.3 million of which were international, ranking it the busiest airport in the United States by international passenger traffic. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States imposed travel restrictions, first, in January 2020, on travelers from China and, in the following months, on travelers from other countries. 2020 annual passenger traffic at JFK dropped to 16.6 million (−73.4%) – 8.4 million (−73.4%) of which were international, still ranking it the busiest airport in the United States by international passenger traffic.[166][167]
JFK is owned by the City of New York and managed, since 1947, by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airport's runways and six terminals cover an area of 4,930 acres (2,000 ha) on Jamaica Bay in southeastern Queens.[168] The airport's original official name was New York International Airport, although it was commonly known as Idlewild, with the name changed to Kennedy in December 1963 to honor the assassination of John F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963.[169]
LaGuardia Airport is located in East Elmhurst, in northern Queens, on Flushing Bay. Originally opened in 1939, the airport's two runways and four terminals cover 680 acres (280 ha), serving 28.4 million passengers in 2015.[170] In 2014, citing outdated conditions in the airport's terminals, Vice President Joe Biden compared LaGuardia Airport to a "third world country".[171] In 2015, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began a $4 billion project to renovate LaGuardia Airport's terminals and entryways. The project is expected to be complete by 2021.[165]
The A, G, J/Z, and M routes connect Queens to Brooklyn without going through Manhattan first. The F, N, and R trains connect Queens and Brooklyn via Manhattan, while the E, W, and 7/<7> trains connect Queens to Manhattan only. The L train briefly enters Queens at Halsey Street, connecting Queens to either Brooklyn or both Brooklyn and Manhattan, depending on the direction.[172] In addition, the Rockaway Park Shuttle operates strictly in the neighborhoods of Rockaway Park and Broad Channel.[172]
Until 1998, the LIRR served 5 stations on the Lower Montauk branch between Jamaica and Hunterspoint Avenue. The LIRR used the track for non-stop service between Jamaica and Hunterspoint until 2012, when service was rerouted onto the main line and the line was leased to the New York and Atlantic Railway.[174]
The elevated AirTrainpeople mover system connects JFK International Airport to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road along the Van Wyck Expressway;[177] a separate AirTrain system is planned alongside the Grand Central Parkway to connect LaGuardia Airport to these transit systems.[178][179] Plans were announced in July 2015 to entirely rebuild LaGuardia Airport itself in a multibillion-dollar project to replace its aging facilities, and this project would accommodate the new AirTrain connection.[165]
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. In 2007, limited weekday service was begun between Breezy Point, the westernmost point in the Rockaways, to Pier 11 via the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Summertime weekend service provides service from Lower Manhattan and southwest Brooklyn to the peninsula's Gateway beaches.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012, ferry operator SeaStreak began running a city-subsidized ferry service between a makeshift ferry slip at Beach 108th Street and Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway Park and piers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.[186] The service was extended multiple times.[187] finally ending on October 31, 2014.[188]
In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city government would begin a citywide ferry service called NYC Ferry to extend ferry transportation to communities in the city that have been traditionally underserved by public transit.[189][190] The ferry opened in May 2017,[191][192] with the Queens neighborhoods of Rockaway and Astoria served by their eponymous routes. A third route, the East River Ferry, serves Hunter's Point South.[193]
Cross-street signs for a single-named boulevard and a co-named avenue in Queens
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 in the west for Streets and the north for Avenues. In some parts of the borough, several consecutive streets may share numbers (for instance, 72nd Street followed by 72nd Place and 72nd Lane, or 52nd Avenue followed by 52nd Road, 52nd Drive, and 52nd Court), often confusing non-residents.[195] Also, incongruous alignments of street grids, unusual street paths due to geography, or other circumstances often lead to the skipping of numbers (for instance, on Ditmars Boulevard, 70th Street is followed by Hazen Street which is followed by 49th Street). Numbered roads tend to be residential, although numbered commercial streets are not rare. A fair number of streets that were country roads in the 18th and 19th centuries (especially major thoroughfares such as Northern Boulevard, Queens Boulevard, Hillside Avenue, and Jamaica Avenue) carry names rather than numbers, typically though not uniformly called "Boulevards" or "Parkways".
Queens house numbering was designed to provide convenience in locating the address itself; the first half of a number in a Queens address refers to the nearest cross street, the second half refers to the house or lot number from where the street begins from that cross street, followed by the name of the street itself. For example, to find an address in Queens, 14-01 120th Street, one could ascertain from the address structure itself that the listed address is at the intersection of 14th Avenue and 120th Street and that the address must be closest to 14th Avenue rather than 15th Avenue, as it is the first lot on the block. This pattern does not stop when a street is named, assuming that there is an existing numbered cross-street. For example, Queens College is situated at 65–30 Kissena Boulevard, and is so named because the cross-street closest to the entrance is 65th Avenue.[195]
Many of the village street grids of Queens had only worded names, some were numbered according to local numbering schemes, and some had a mix of words and numbers. In the early 1920s, a "Philadelphia Plan" was instituted to overlay one numbered system upon the whole borough. The Topographical Bureau, Borough of Queens, worked out the details. Subway stations were only partly renamed, and some, including those along the IRT Flushing Line (7 and <7> trains), now share dual names after the original street names.[196] In 2012, some numbered streets in the Douglaston Hill Historic District were renamed to their original names, with 43rd Avenue becoming Pine Street.[197]
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. Bayswater, which is on Jamaica Bay, has its numbered streets prefixed with the word "Bay" rather than "Beach". Another deviation 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 neighborhood's major through street. Broad Channel's streets were a continuation of the mainland Queens grid in the 1950s; formerly the highest-numbered avenue in Queens was 208th Avenue rather than today's 165th Avenue in Howard Beach & Hamilton Beach. The other exception is the neighborhood of Ridgewood, which for the most part shares a grid and house numbering system with the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. The grid runs east–west from the LIRR Bay Ridge Branchright-of-way to Flushing Avenue; and north–south from Forest Avenue in Ridgewood to Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn before adjusting to meet up with the Bedford-Stuyvesant grid at Broadway. All streets on the grid have names.
Several large cemeteries in Queens – St. Michaels, Luthern, Calvary, Cypress Hill, Mt. Olivet and Mt. Zion – together with several in Brooklyn are collectively known as The Cemetery Belt. There are about five million burials in the borough and Calvary, with about 3 million burials,[231] has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States.[232]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Lew Alcindor (né Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.).
^"Queens". New York State. Retrieved April 27, 2020. Queens is the easternmost and largest in area of the five boroughs of New York City, geographically adjacent to the borough of Brooklyn
"The three developers have stressed in public hearings that they are not outsiders to Flushing, which is 69% Asian. 'They've been here, they live here, they work here, they've invested here,' said Ross Moskowitz, an attorney for the developers at a different public hearing in February ... Tangram Tower, a luxury mixed-use development built by F&T. Last year, prices for two-bedroom apartments started at $1.15m ... The influx of transnational capital and rise of luxury developments in Flushing has displaced longtime immigrant residents and small business owners, as well as disrupted its cultural and culinary landscape. These changes follow the familiar script of gentrification, but with a change of actors: it is Chinese American developers and wealthy Chinese immigrants who are gentrifying this working-class neighborhood, which is majority Chinese."
^ abcdColonial Laws of New York From the Year 1664 to the Revolution, Including the Charters of the Duke of York, the Commissions and Instructions to Colonial Governors, the Duke's Laws, the Laws of the Dongan and Leisler Assemblies, the Charters of Albany and New York, and the Acts of the Colonial Legislatures From 1691 to 1775, Inclusive (5 volumes). Albany: James B. Lyon (1858–1924). 1894–1896. LCCN35-25349; OCLC4602284 (all editions).
^Mushabac, Jane Esther; Wigan, Angela Harman (1999) [1997]. A Short and Remarkable History of New York City (entry: "1683").
1st printing →. New York: City & Company (publisher). 1997. p. 19. → Note: City & Company, founded by Helene Silver in 1994, was sold in 2002 to Rizzoli International Publications. The company name, as a New York entity, has been inactive since 2009. ISBN978-1-8854-9250-0; OCLC37464494.
Greenspan, formerly a commodities analyst, was, for the last ten years of his life, active with Metro New York Genealogy. In the 1980s, he was, among other things, Presidident of the New York Chapter of the Futures Industry Association.
"When Queens County was created the courts were transferred from Hempstead to Jamaica Village and a County Court was erected. When the building became too small for its purposes and the stone meeting house had been erected, the courts were held for some years in that edifice. Later a new courthouse was erected and used until the seat of justice was removed to North Hempstead."
"From the final withdrawal of the British in November 1783, until the 1830s, Queens continued as an essentially Long Island area of farms and villages. The location of the county government in Mineola (in present-day Nassau County) underscores the island orientation of that era. The population grew hardly at all, increasing only from 5,791 in 1800 to 7,806 in 1830, suggesting that many younger sons moved away, seeking fortunes where land was not yet so fully taken up for farming."
"Even more crucial to future development was the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909. This span ended the isolation of the borough's road system at precisely the time when mass use of the automobile was getting underway in the United States."
^Seyfried, Vincent Francis (1987) [1983]. Peterson, Jon Alvah (ed.). A Research Guide to the History of the Borough of Queens. New York: Department of History, Queens College, City University of New York.
1983 ed. – A Research Guide to the History of the Borough of Queens and Its Neighborhoods: Bibliography, Chronology, and Other Aids (70 pages). OCLC1251870218 (all editions).
1987 ed. – A Research Guide to the History of the Borough of Queens, New York City: Historical Sketches, Population Data, Chronologies, Bibliography, and Other Aids (59 pages). OCLC18097590.
5th ed.(PDF). 2008. pp. 2 (chapter 1), 37 (chapter 4), 40 (chapter 5), 59 (chapter 7). Archived from the original(PDF) on February 7, 2009 – via Wayback Machine. .
7th ed (7.0.0)(PDF). November 16, 2018. pp. 3 (chapter 1.1), 46 (chapter 5.2), 70 (chapter 7.1). Archived from the original(PDF) on September 27, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
"The 1777 New York State Constitution, Article XXXVI, confirmed land grants and municipal charters granted by the English Crown prior to October 14, 1775. Chapter 64 of the Laws of 1788 organized the state into towns and cities." ... "The basic composition of the counties was set in 1788 when the State Legislature divided all of the counties then existing into towns. Towns, of course, were of earlier origin, but in that year they acquired a new legal status as components of the counties."
"That was the year when the "Old Brig" courthouse was vacated after 90 years of housing lawbreakers. The county court moved from Mineola to Long Island City."
^Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the Eighty-Third Session of the Legislature. New York and Albany: Weed, Parsons & Company (printer) → Edward Thurlow Weed (1797–1882). 1860. OCLC7747915, 1039520875.
^Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Fourth Session of the Legislature (3 volumes). New York and Albany: Weed, Parsons & Company (printer) → Edward Thurlow Weed (1797–1882). 1881. OCLC7747915, 85363749.
^Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Seventh Session of the Legislature. New York and Albany: Banks & Brothers (A. Bleecker Banks). 1884.OCLC61190473.
^Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred and Ninth Session of the Legislature. New York and Albany: Banks & Brothers (A. Bleecker Banks). 1886. OCLC61190482.
^Laws of the State of New York Passed at the One Hundred and Eighty-Seventh Session of the Legislature (convened January 8, 1964, and adjourned April 25, 1964; 2 volumes). 1964. OCLC61226271 (all editions).
^Laws of the State of New York, Passed at the One Hundred Twentieth Session of the Legislature. New York and Albany: Banks & Brothers (A. Bleecker Banks). 1897. OCLC61190319.
^Laws of the State of New York Passed at the One Hundred and Twenty-First Session of the Legislature (begun January 5, 1898, and ended March 31, 1898; 2 volumes). Albany: James B. Lyon (printer). 1898.
"The question of the Greater New-York, which is also to be submitted to the people at this coming election, involves the proposition to unite in one city the following cities, counties, and towns: New York City, Long Island City, in Queens County; the County of Kings, (Brooklyn;) the County of Richmond, (S.I.;) the towns of Flushing, Newtown, Jamaica, in Queens County; the town of Westchester, in Westchester County, and all that portion of the towns of East Chester and Pelham which lies south of a straight line drawn from a point where the northerly line of the City of New-York meets the centre line of the Bronx River, to the middle of the channel between Hunter's and Glen Islands, in Long Island Sound, and that part of the town of Hempstead, in Queens County, which is westerly of a straight line drawn from the south-easterly point of the town of Flushing in a straight line to the Atlantic Ocean."
"The increase in area and population that New-York will acquire if consolidation becomes a fact will become evident by a glance at the following table ... "
"The most momentous event in the history of Queens occurred in 1909 when the long-planned Queensboro Bridge was finally opened. This ended the century-old isolation of the county and dependence on ferries."
^Cross, Lee. "12/02/1939: New York's LaGuardia Airport Begins Operations", Airways Magazine, December 2, 2023. "In 1939, New York City's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) opened for business in East Elmhurst, Queens. The aviation history of the site in Queens can be traced back to June 1929, when New York Air Terminal Inc. established a seaplane base. The facility underwent several developments and name changes, including being renamed Glenn H. Curtiss Airport in September 1930 and later North Beach Airport in 1935. However, it was Fiorello LaGuardia, the newly elected mayor, who played a significant role in transforming the airport."
^Idlewild Park, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Accessed January 17, 2024. "Construction on Idlewild Airport began in 1942 on the former site of Idlewild Golf Course in Queens.... After six years of construction, the airport opened on July 1, 1948 and was dedicated by President Truman on July 31, 1948.... Although it continued to be known popularly as "Idlewild," New York International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, following resolutions by Mayor Robert F. Wagner, the City Council, and the Commissioners of the Port Authority."
^Trans World Airways Flight 800, N93119, Federal Aviation Administration. Accessed January 17, 1996. Accessed January 17, 2024. "On July 17, 1996, at 2031 EDT, a Boeing 747-131, N93119, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about eight miles south of East Moriches, New York after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The airplane was being operated on a regularly scheduled flight to Charles De Gaulle International Airport (CDG), Paris, France, as Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 800.... On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crewmembers. The airplane was destroyed by explosion, fire, and impact forces with the ocean. All 230 people aboard were killed."
^Disasters New York City (NYC) American Airlines Flight 587 Crash - 2001, Baruch College. Accessed January 17, 2024. " Two months following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a plane crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens and reignited the fear and broken hearts of Americans. On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 (Airbus A300) made its ascent into a clear blue sky and was bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with 260 people on board. At approximately 9:17 a.m., the plane spiraled out of control and crashed in Belle Harbor, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground."
^"Station: New York JFK INTL AP, NY". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
"How, they wondered, could Queens have grown by only one-tenth of 1 percent since 2000? How, even with a surge in foreclosures, could the number of vacant apartments have soared by nearly 60 percent in Queens and by 66 percent in Brooklyn? ... Often, though, owners of illegally divided houses are reluctant to disclose the number of tenants, who tend to include people who are in the country illegally and are leery of providing any information to the government."
^Eileen Sullivan (November 24, 2023). "Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2023. Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.
^"Claritas Study Ranks Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Counties Nationwide; Analysis Shows California Leads Nation in Diversity Among Counties of 100,000-Plus Population". Business Wire. July 23, 2001. ProQuest445627485 (US Newsstream database).
^Hrag Vartanian (April 1, 2002). "Tracking Armenians in New York". Armenian General Benevolent Union. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010. Retrieved July 21, 2012. Today, Manhattan's community has shrunk to 10,000 of the 150,000 Armenians in the Greater New York area. As the most culturally diverse county in the nation, Queens was and perhaps still is home to the bulk of Tri-State Armenians with today's population hovering around 50,000.
"Just look at the Queens Night Market, which began in the summer of 2015 as a collection of 40 vendors serving authentic international cuisine in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Since then, it's steadily attracted more and more attendees and, last year averaged 10,000 people a night. Those thousands of New Yorkers weren't just hungry for new food, but for new points-of-view. 'When I first started, it was all about how can we attract people with an event that's as affordable and diverse as possible,' says Night Market founder John Wang. 'We've now been able to represent over 85 countries, and I'm constantly hearing examples of people branching out and trying things they've never heard of before."
^Meditz, Stephanie G. "Queens Night Market is cultural, affordable", Queens Chronicle, November 16, 2023. Accessed January 17, 2024. "Queens Night Market founder John Wang said he implemented a $5 price cap on food when the market launched in 2015, followed by a $6 exception in 2017 that still exists thanks to Citizens, this year’s primary sponsor that subsidized entry fees for vendors. He believes that, though attendees overwhelmingly said they attend for the cultural experience, Queens Night Market’s affordability attracts nearly 20,000 people per night."
^Lin, Sidney. "The Worlds Within a Market: Stories of the Queens Night Market", The Science Survey, July 21, 2023. Accessed January 17, 2024. "After its beginning in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in April 2015, the Queens Night Market has run every year since (with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The market takes place on Saturday evenings from late April to late August, and then again from mid-September through late October."
"Moving the home of the US Open in 1978 across the borough of Queens, from the serene surroundings of Forest Hills to the 46.5 cement acres [188,000 m2; 2,030,000 sq ft; 18.8 ha] of Flushing Meadows, further expanded the US Open's ability to deliver world-class tennis and star-studded entertainment to the masses. Indeed, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (the world's largest public tennis facility when not hosting tournament tennis) and its centerpiece, Arthur Ashe Stadium (the world's largest tennis stadium), have enabled the US Open to become the world's best-attended annual sporting event, with nearly three-quarters of a million fans on-site each year."
"Zausner said the stadium, the largest in tennis, will maintain its seating capacity of 23,771, though some seats in the highest rows were removed to accommodate two video boards. Seats were added in lower levels to replace those lost, he said."
"Previously known to outsiders as Brooklyn's more-diverse, less-hip neighbor, a vast landscape of ethnic eateries, Queens has emerged as the capitol of the nation's progressive movement."
Of the four categories, (i) Extra-Large Colleges (15,000 or more students), (ii) Large Colleges (8,000–14,999 students), (iii) Medium Colleges (4,500–7,999 students), and (iv) Small Colleges (4,499 or fewer students), LaGuardia Community College was in the top three of Large Colleges.
"According to recent census estimates, almost 1.4 million households in New York City own a car compared to 3.1 million total households." ... "Manhattan, where only 22 percent of households own a car, while ownership is highest in Staten Island where cars are owned by 83 percent of all households. Queens (62 percent) is also above the city average, while the Bronx (40 percent) and Brooklyn (44 percent) look more like the city as a whole."
"The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport in northern Queens, estimates the overhaul will cost about $4 billion, most of which will go toward tearing down the Central Terminal Building, rebuilding it in place and augmenting it with a grand entry way."
"Fifty years ago on Tuesday, one of the most commonly used words in New York suddenly began to disappear. The word was 'Idlewild,' and it was the name of New York's international airport. On December 24, 1963, the airport's name was changed to John F. Kennedy International Airport, commemorating a young president who had been assassinated just a month earlier."
^Powell, Charles Underhill (February 1928). Buttenheim, Harold Stanley (ed.). "Bringing Order Out of Chaos in Street Naming and House Numbering – How the Great Borough of Queens, Composed of Sixty Former Villages, Changed the Names of Most of Its Streets and Gave New Numbers to All Its Houses". The American City. Vol. 38, no. 2. Pittsfield, Massachusetts. pp. 91–93. ISSN0002-7936.
"Their house [Paul Simon's family] was situated on 70th Road [at 137-62] in Kew Garden Hills, only three blocks away from the Garfunkels' home [at 136-58 72nd Avenue in Kew Garden Hills]." (p. 3)
^AP Newswire (March 25, 2003). Adrien Brody, in his Oscar Acceptance Speech, Pays Tribute to his Friend, Tommy Zarobinski, Deployed With the Army National Guard in Kuwait.
"Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, Ms. Liu, the daughter of working-class Chinese immigrants, recalled many an afternoon spent parked in front of a television set."
"Neither the outpouring of affection from an adoring public nor the love he finally found after four failed marriages could make up for the neglect and physical abuse he suffered as a child growing up in South Jamaica, Queens."
^Williams, Keith. "Why the Brooklyn-Queens Border Is Full of Dead People", The New York Times, April 27, 2017. Accessed January 23, 2024. "There are more than a dozen cemeteries near the line separating the two boroughs, in an area sometimes called the Cemetery Belt. More than five million people are buried in Queens alone, outnumbering those living there by more than two to one.... Calvary Cemetery in Queens, where three million Catholics are buried, and Washington Cemetery, a Jewish graveyard in Brooklyn, are among sites that have been completely developed."
History of Queens County, New York: With Illustrations, Portraits, and Sketches of Prominent Families and Individuals. New York: W.W. Munsell & Co. → William Watkins Munsell; 1850–1919. 1882. LCCN01-14233; OCLC4819282 (all editions).
Onderdonk, Henry Jr. (1846). Documents and Letters Intended to Illustrate the Revolutionary Incidents of Queens County – With Connecting Narratives, Explanatory Notes, and Additions. New-York: Leavitt, Trow and Company (printer). LCCN01-14234; OCLC2860745 (all editions).
Items extracted from newspapers and other sources, arranged chronologically, 1639–1832.
Riker, James Jr. (1852). The Annals of Newtown, in Queens County, New-York: Containing Its History From Its First Settlement, Together With Many Interesting Facts Concerning the Adjacent Towns; Also, a Particular Account of Numerous Long Island Families Now Spread Over This and Various Other States of the Union. New York: D. Fanshaw → Daniel Fanshaw (1788–1860). LCCN01-14941; OCLC1264039133 (all editions), 58788151.
Kingsley, J. Donald, Executive Director (June 1958). "Queens Communities – Population Characteristics and Neighborhood Social Resources". Bureau of Community Statistical Services Research Department, The Community Council of Greater New York. OCLC5625172, 248835739.
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