Queens (New York)

I

Introduction

Queens (New York), borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County in southeastern New York, on western Long Island. The largest borough in New York City, with a land area of about 282 sq km (about 109 sq mi), Queens is bounded on the north by the East River and Long Island Sound, on the east by Nassau County, on the south by Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Brooklyn, and on the northwest by the East River. The terrain of Queens, like that of Long Island generally, consists of a level plain traversed by an eastern and western chain of hills. Jamaica Bay has numerous islands, most marshy and uninhabited.

II

The Urban Landscape of Queens

Predominantly a residential section, Queens has numerous well-defined neighborhoods or communities, including several that originated in colonial times. Jamaica, Long Island City, and Maspeth are business centers of the borough, and other communities include Astoria, College Point, Corona, Douglaston, Flushing, Forest Hills, Jackson Heights, Kew Gardens, Rego Park, Saint Albans, and Sunnyside.

Queens is linked to extensive transportation facilities that include municipal subway and bus lines and the Long Island Rail Road, which provides service to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island. The borough has an extensive network of limited-access highways and is linked to Manhattan by the Queensboro Bridge; the Queens-Midtown Tunnel; and the Triborough Bridge, which also links Queens with the Bronx. Further links with the Bronx are provided by the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and the Throgs Neck Bridge. Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge extends from Brooklyn across Rockaway Inlet to the Rockaway Peninsula, which borders the Atlantic Ocean. Two of the busiest airline terminals in the world are in Queens: LaGuardia Airport, in the northern part of the borough, and John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, in the south.

III

Points of Interest in Queens

A number of historic landmarks are in Queens. The Bowne House, built in 1661, and the Society of Friends (Quakers) Meeting House, used almost continuously by the Friends since 1696, are in Flushing. The First Presbyterian Church, founded in 1662, is in Jamaica, and the Reformed Church of Newtown, established in 1731, is in Elmhurst. The Onderdonk Farmhouse (1731) in Maspeth is one of the best-preserved examples of colonial architecture in Queens.

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The borough has extensive recreational facilities. Part of the Gateway National Recreation Area is located in Queens, and the Rockaway Peninsula, one of the principal resort sections of the New York metropolitan area, is the site of one of the recreation area’s popular units, Jacob Riis Park. The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is adjacent to JFK Airport. Notable units of the municipal park system in Queens are Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, site of world’s fairs in 1939 to 1940 and in 1964 to 1965, and Forest, Cunningham, Alley, Kissena, and Highland parks. Aqueduct Race Track, a major Thoroughbred-horse racing facility, is in Ozone Park, and the Stadium of the West Side Tennis Club is in Forest Hills. Shea Stadium, the home of the New York Mets major league baseball team; the National Tennis Center, site of the annual United States Open tennis tournament; and the Queens Botanical Garden and Queens Wildlife Conservation Center are in Flushing.

IV

Educational and Cultural Institutions in Queens

Higher education facilities in Queens include Queens College (1937) and York College (1967), which are units of the City University of New York; St. John's University (1870); the Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology (1932); a number of rabbinical colleges; and two large junior colleges. The Queens Museum of Art, which contains a panoramic scale model of New York City, and the New York Hall of Science are in Flushing; the Museum of the Moving Image is in Astoria; the Noguchi Museum is in Long Island City; the Queens County Farm Museum is in Floral Park; and the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, a multicultural performance and visual arts space, is in Jamaica.

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