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Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest borough of New York City in area and is adjacent to the borough of Brooklyn at the western end of Long Island, with Nassau County to the east. Queens also shares water borders with the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island (via the Rockaways).
Queens is the second-largest in population of the five New York City boroughs with a population of 2,405,464 as of the 2020 census. If each borough were ranked as a city, Queens would rank as the fourth-most-populous in the U.S., after Los Angeles, Chicago, and Brooklyn. Approximately 47 percent of the residents of Queens are foreign-born.[6] Queens County also is the second-most-populous county in New York State, behind Kings County. Queens is the most linguistically diverse place on Earth and is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the United States.
Queens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the Province of New York. The settlement was presumably named for the English Queen Catherine of Braganza (1638–1705). 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 separate towns of Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and western Hempstead. With the exception of Hempstead, all are today considered neighborhoods of Queens.
Queens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City. It is home to two of New York City's airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. Landmarks in Queens which support its economy include Flushing Meadows–Corona Park; Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team; the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, site of the U.S. Open tennis tournament; Kaufman Astoria Studios; Silvercup Studios; and the Aqueduct Racetrack. Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification with investment by Chinese transnational entities, while Long Island City is undergoing gentrification secondary to its proximity across the East River from Manhattan.
The borough has diverse housing, ranging from high-rise apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as Ozone Park, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Astoria, and Long Island City, to neighborhoods with many low-rise structures in the eastern part of the borough.
Neighborhoods
- Flushing, one of the largest neighborhoods in Queens, has a large and growing Asian community. The community consists of Chinese, Koreans, and South Asians. Asians have now expanded eastward along the Northern Boulevard axis through Murray Hill, Whitestone, Bayside, Douglaston–Little Neck, and eventually into adjacent Nassau County. These neighborhoods historically contained Italian Americans and Greeks, as well as Latino Americans. The busy intersection of Main Street, Kissena Boulevard, and 41st Avenue defines the center of Downtown Flushing and the Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), known as the "Chinese Times Square" or the "Chinese Manhattan". The segment of Main Street between Kissena Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, punctuated by the Long Island Rail Road trestle overpass, represents the cultural heart of the Flushing Chinatown. Housing over 25,000 individuals born in China alone, Flushing has become home to one of the largest Chinatowns, representing the largest Chinese population of any U.S. municipality other than New York City in total.
- Howard Beach, Whitestone, and Middle Village are home to large Italian American populations.
- Ozone Park and South Ozone Park have large Italian, Hispanic, and Guyanese populations.
- Rockaway Beach has a large Irish American population.
- 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.
- Maspeth and Ridgewood are home to many Eastern European immigrants such as Romanian, Polish, Serbian, Albanian, and other Slavic populations. Ridgewood also has a large Hispanic population.
- 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.
- Woodside is home to a large Filipino American community and has a "Little Manila" as well a large Irish American population. Many Filipino Americans live in Hollis and Queens Village.
- Richmond Hill, in the south, is often thought of as "Little Guyana" for its large Guyanese community,[86] as well as Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ), or Little Punjab, for its high concentration of Punjabi people.
- 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.
- Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hills, Hillcrest, Fresh Meadows, and Hollis Hills are also populated with many people of Jewish background. Many Asian families reside in parts of Fresh Meadows as well.
- Jamaica is home to large African American, Caribbean, and Central American populations. There are also middle-class African American and Caribbean neighborhoods such as Saint Albans, Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Springfield Gardens, Rosedale, Laurelton, and Briarwood along east and southeast Queens.
- 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 black 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.
- The Hole, small neighborhood on the border of Queens and Brooklyn that suffers from frequent flooding
- Wyckoff Heights, neighborhood on the border of Queens and Brooklyn near Ridgewood, Queens and Bushwick, Brooklyn
Cemeteries
Links
JFK Airport (Idlewild Airport)
TWA Flight 800 crash (1996)
AA Flight 587 crash (2001)
U.S. Open (tennis)