Geography
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 km˛ (178.3 mi˛); 282.9 km˛ (109.2 mi˛) of it is land and 178.8 km˛ (69.0 mi˛) of it (38.73%) is water.
History
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 km˛ (178.3 mi˛); 282.9 km˛ (109.2 mi˛) of it is land and 178.8 km˛ (69.0 mi˛) of it (38.73%) is water.
History
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.
Neigborhoods
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, former home to a number of hip-hop luminaries including perhaps its most famous son, Nas. 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 as well as large Hispanic populations 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:
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.
Neigborhoods
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, former home to a number of hip-hop luminaries including perhaps its most famous son, Nas. 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 as well as large Hispanic populations 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 Rockaway
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