{"history":[],"article":{"id":"5f3af748-922a-42cc-a8fd-ad4beb9ab9dd","title":"Queens","slug":"queens","content":":::summary\n**Name:** Queens \n**Other Name:** Queens County, New York \n**Named For:** [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/catherine-of-braganza) \n**Settlement Type:** [Borough](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city) and [county](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-counties-in-new-york) \n**Image Flag:** Flag of Queens.svg \n**Image Seal:** Seal of Queens rerendered.svg \n**Map Caption:** Interactive map outlining Queens \n**Pushpin Map:** New York City#New York#USA#Earth \n**Pushpin Label Position:** left \n**Pushpin Map Caption:** Location within [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city)##Location within the [State of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/state-of-new-york)##Location within the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states)##Location on [Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/earth) \n**Subdivision Type:** Country \n**Subdivision Name:** 🇺🇸 [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Subdivision Type 1:** [State](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-state) \n**Subdivision Name 1:** [New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Subdivision Type 2:** [County](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-counties-in-new-york) \n**Subdivision Name 2:** Queens (coterminous) \n**Subdivision Type 3:** [City](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-cities-in-new-york) \n**Subdivision Name 3:** [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city) \n**Government Type:** [Borough (New York City)](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city) \n**Leader Title:** [Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/borough-president) \n**Leader Name:** [Donovan Richards](https://bliptext.com/articles/donovan-richards) ([D](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-united-states)) · — (Borough of Queens) \n**Leader Title 1:** [District Attorney](https://bliptext.com/articles/district-attorney) \n**Leader Name 1:** [Melinda Katz](https://bliptext.com/articles/melinda-katz) (D) · — (Queens County) \n**Established Title:** Settled \n**Established Date:** 1683 \n**Unit Pref:** imperial \n**Area Total Sq Mi:** 178 \n**Area Land Sq Mi:** 109 \n**Area Water Sq Mi:** 70 \n**Area Water Percent:** 39 \n**Elevation Max Ft:** 258.2 \n**Population As Of:** [2020](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census) \n**Population Total:** 2405464 \n**Population Density Sq Mi:** 14000 \n**Population Demonym:** Queensite \n**Demographics Type 2:** GDP \n**Demographics 2 Title 1:** Total \n**Demographics 2 Info 1:** US$103.325 billion (2022) \n**Coordinates:** 40.75°N, -73.86667°W \n**Postal Code Type:** [ZIP Code](https://bliptext.com/articles/zip-code) prefixes \n**Postal Code:** 111--, 113--, 114--, 116-- \n**Area Codes:** [718/347/929](https://bliptext.com/articles/area-codes-718-347-and-929) and [917](https://bliptext.com/articles/area-code-917) \n**Blank Name Sec 2:** Congressional districts \n**Blank Info Sec 2:** [3rd](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-3rd-congressional-district), [5th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-5th-congressional-district), [6th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-6th-congressional-district), [7th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-7th-congressional-district), [14th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-14th-congressional-district) \n**Website:** [Official Website of the Queens Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n:::\n\n# \n**Queens** is a [borough of New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city), coextensive with **Queens** County, in the [U.S. state](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-state) of [New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state).\nLocated near the western end of [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island), it is the largest of the five [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city) boroughs by area.\nIt is bordered by the borough of [Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn) and by [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan), [the Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx), and [Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island), as well as with [New Jersey](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-jersey).\nQueens is the most [linguistically](https://bliptext.com/articles/linguistics) and [ethnically diverse](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnically-diverse) place in the world.\nWith a population of 2,405,464 as of the [2020 census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census), 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.\nIf Queens were its own city, it would be the [fourth most-populous in the U.S.](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-united-states-cities-by-population) after the rest of [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city), [Los Angeles](https://bliptext.com/articles/los-angeles), and [Chicago](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicago).\nQueens is the fourth-most densely populated borough in New York City and the fourth-most densely populated [U.S. county](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-county).\nAs approximately 47% of its residents are [foreign-born](https://bliptext.com/articles/foreign-born), Queens is highly diverse.\nQueens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the [Province of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/province-of-new-york).\nThe settlement was named after the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/catherine-of-braganza) (1638–1705).\nFrom 1683 to 1899, the County of Queens included what is now Nassau County.\nQueens became a borough during the [consolidation of New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/consolidation-of-new-york-city) in 1898, combining the towns of [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), [Newtown](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and western [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/hempstead-new-york).\nAll except Hempstead are today considered neighborhoods of Queens.\nQueens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City.\nIt is home to both of New York City's airports: [John F. Kennedy](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) and [LaGuardia](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport).\nAmong its landmarks are [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-meadows-corona-park); [Citi Field](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-field), home to the [New York Mets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-mets) baseball team; the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center](https://bliptext.com/articles/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center), site of the [U.S. Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-open-tennis) tennis tournament; [Kaufman Astoria Studios](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaufman-astoria-studios); [Silvercup Studios](https://bliptext.com/articles/silvercup-studios); and the [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack).\n[Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) is undergoing rapid [gentrification](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentrification) with investment by Chinese transnational entities, while [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-queens) is undergoing [gentrification](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentrification) secondary to its proximity across the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) from Manhattan.\n\n# History\n\n## Colonial and post-colonial history\nThe first [European settlement](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-colonization-of-the-americas) in the region was the [Dutch](https://bliptext.com/articles/dutch-colonization-of-the-americas), who established the colony of [New Netherland](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-netherland).\nThe first settlements were established in 1635 followed by further settlement at [Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) in 1642 (ultimately unsuccessful), and Vlissingen (now [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens)) in 1645.\nOther early settlements included Newtown (now [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens)) in 1652 and [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) in 1655.\nHowever, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from [New England](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-england) via eastern [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) ([Suffolk County](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york)) who were subject to Dutch law.\nAfter 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/yorkshire-county-province-of-new-york).\nThe [Flushing Remonstrance](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-remonstrance) signed by colonists in 1657 is considered a precursor to the [United States Constitution](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-constitution)'s provision on [freedom of religion](https://bliptext.com/articles/freedom-of-religion) in the [Bill of Rights](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-bill-of-rights).\nThe signers protested the Dutch colonial authorities' persecution of [Quakers](https://bliptext.com/articles/quakers) in what is today the borough of Queens.\nOriginally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york).\nIt was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1, 1683.\nThe county is presumed to have been named after [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-iv-of-portugal)).\nThe county was founded alongside [Kings County](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn) ([Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn), which was named after her husband, King Charles II), and [Richmond County](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island) ([Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island), named after his illegitimate son, [the 1st Duke of Richmond](https://bliptext.com/articles/charles-lennox-1st-duke-of-richmond)).\nHowever, the namesake is disputed.\nWhile Catherine's title seems the most likely namesake, no historical evidence of official declaration has been found.\nOn October 7, 1691, all counties in the [Colony of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/colony-of-new-york) were redefined.\nQueens gained [North and South Brother Islands](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-and-south-brother-islands-new-york-city) as well as Huletts Island (today known as [Rikers Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/rikers-island)).\nOn 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/westchester-county) (today's [Bronx County](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx)).\nQueens played a minor role in the [American Revolution](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-revolution), as compared to Brooklyn, where the [Battle of Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-long-island) was largely fought.\nQueens, 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-revolutionary-war).\nUnder the [Quartering Act](https://bliptext.com/articles/quartering-act), British soldiers used, as [barracks](https://bliptext.com/articles/barracks), the public inns and uninhabited buildings belonging to Queens residents.\nEven though many residents opposed unannounced quartering, they supported the British crown.\nThe quartering of soldiers in private homes, except in times of war, was banned by the [Third Amendment to the United States Constitution](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution).\n[Nathan Hale](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-hale) was captured by the British on the shore of [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay) and [hanged](https://bliptext.com/articles/hanging) in [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nFrom 1683 until 1784, Queens County consisted of five towns: Flushing, [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-hempstead-new-york), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), Newtown, and [Oyster Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-oyster-bay-new-york).\nOn April 6, 1784, a sixth town, the [Town of North Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-north-hempstead-new-york), was formed through secession by the northern portions of the Town of Hempstead.\nThe seat of the county government was located first in Jamaica, but the courthouse was torn down by the British during the American Revolution to use the materials to build barracks.\nAfter 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/mineola-new-york) (now in Nassau County) known then as Clowesville.\nThe [1850 United States census](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nConcerns were raised about the condition and distance of the old courthouse, and several sites were in contention for the construction of a new one.\nIn 1870, [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-queens) split from the Town of Newtown, incorporating itself as a city, consisting of what had been the [village of Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) and some unincorporated areas within the town of Newtown.\nAround 1874, the seat of county government was moved to Long Island City from Mineola.\nOn March 1, 1860, the eastern border between Queens County (later Nassau County) and [Suffolk County](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york) was redefined with no discernible change.\nOn June 8, 1881, [North Brother Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-brother-island-east-river) was transferred to [New York County](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nOn May 8, 1884, [Rikers Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/rikers-island) was transferred to New York County.\nIn 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.\nOn April 16, 1964, [South Brother Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-brother-island-east-river) was transferred to Bronx County.\n# [Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/CatherineofBraganza1.jpg]\n# [Queens Boulevard, looking east from Van Dam Street, in 1920. The newly built IRT Flushing Line is in the boulevard's median. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Queens///Boulevard%2C///New///York///City///%281920%29.jpg]\n\n## Incorporation as borough\nThe New York City borough of Queens was authorized on May 4, 1897, by a vote of the [New York State Legislature](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-legislature) after an 1894 referendum on consolidation.\nThe eastern 280 sqmi of Queens that became [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) was partitioned on January 1, 1899.\nQueens Borough was established on January 1, 1898.\n\"The city of [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), the towns of [Newtown](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-queens-county-new-york), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) and [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and that part of the town of [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/hempstead-new-york), in the county of Queens, which is westerly of a straight line drawn through the middle of the channel between [Rockaway Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-queens) and [Shelter Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-beach-new-york), in the county of Queens, to the Atlantic Ocean\" was annexed to New York City, dissolving all former municipal governments ([Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), the county government, all towns, and all villages) within the new borough.\nThe areas of Queens County that were not part of the consolidation plan, 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) on January 1, 1899.\nAt this point, the boundaries of Queens County and the Borough of Queens became [coterminous](https://bliptext.com/articles/coterminous).\nWith consolidation, Jamaica once again became the county seat, though county offices now extend to nearby [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens) also.\nIn 1899, New York City conducted a [land survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/surveying) to determine the exact border of Queens between [the Rockaways](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-rockaways) and [Lawrence](https://bliptext.com/articles/lawrence-nassau-county-new-york).\nThis 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.\nThe surveyors had to determine where the channel had been when the consolidation law was written in 1894.\nThe surveyors did so in part by speaking with local fishermen and oystermen who knew the area well.\nFrom 1905 to 1908, the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road) in Queens became electrified.\nTransportation to and from [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan), previously by ferry or via bridges in Brooklyn, opened up with the [Queensboro Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensboro-bridge) finished in 1909, and with railway tunnels under the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) in 1910.\nFrom 1915 onward, much of Queens was connected to the [New York City Subway](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-subway) system.\nWith the 1915 construction of the [Steinway Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/steinway-tunnel) carrying the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line) between Queens and Manhattan, and the robust expansion of the use of the [automobile](https://bliptext.com/articles/automobile), the population of Queens more than doubled in the 1920s, from 469,042 in 1920 to 1,079,129 in 1930.\nIn later years, Queens was the site of the [1939 New York World's Fair](https://bliptext.com/articles/1939-new-york-world-s-fair) and the [1964 New York World's Fair](https://bliptext.com/articles/1964-new-york-world-s-fair).\n[LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), established on a site in northern Queens that had been a seaplane base, opened in 1939, named for mayor [Fiorello La Guardia](https://bliptext.com/articles/fiorello-la-guardia), who pushed for the development of a modern airport in New York City.\nIdlewild Airport, in southern Queens, opened in 1948 on the site of a former golf course and was renamed [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) in 1963.\nIn one of several notable incidents, [TWA Flight 800](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/boeing-747).\n[American Airlines Flight 587](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-airlines-flight-587) took off from the latter airport on November 12, 2001, but ended up crashing in [Belle Harbor](https://bliptext.com/articles/belle-harbor-queens), killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.\nIn late October 2012, much of [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens) was damaged by a massive six-alarm fire caused by [Hurricane Sandy](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n\n# Geography\nQueens is located on the far western portion of geographic [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) and includes a few smaller islands, most of which are in [Jamaica Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay), forming part of the [Gateway National Recreation Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area), which in turn is one of the [National Parks](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-park-service) of New York Harbor.\nAccording to the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census-bureau), Queens County has a total area of 178 sqmi, of which 109 sqmi is land and 70 sqmi (39%) is water.\n[Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn), the only other New York City borough on Long Island, lies just south and west of Queens.\n[Newtown Creek](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-creek), an [estuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/estuary) that flows into the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river), forms part of the border.\nTo the west and north is the East River, across which is [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan) to the west and [The Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx) to the north.\n[Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) is east of Queens on Long Island.\n[Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island) is southwest of Brooklyn, and shares only a three-mile-long water border (in the Outer Bay) with Queens.\nNorth of Queens are [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay) and the [Flushing River](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-river), connecting to the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river).\nThe East River opens into [Long Island Sound](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-sound).\nThe midsection of Queens is crossed by the [Long Island straddling terminal moraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) created by the [Wisconsin Glacier](https://bliptext.com/articles/wisconsin-glacier).\nThe [Rockaway Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-peninsula), the southernmost part of all of Queens, sits between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, featuring 7 mi of beaches.\n# [Location of Queens (red) within New York City | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/New///York///City///location///Queens.svg]\n# [Aerial view of Queens looking north from John F. Kennedy International Airport | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Queens///aerial///2021.jpg]\n\n## Climate\nUnder the [Köppen climate classification](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-ppen-climate-classification), Queens has a [humid subtropical climate](https://bliptext.com/articles/humid-subtropical-climate) (Cfa) with partial shielding from the [Appalachian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/appalachian-mountains) and moderating influences from the Atlantic Ocean.\nQueens receives precipitation throughout the year, with an average of 44.8 in per year.\nIn an average year, there will be 44 days with either moderate or heavy rain.\nAn average winter will have 22 days with some snowfall, of which nine days have at least 1 in of snowfall.\nSummer is typically hot, humid, and wet.\nAn average year will have 17 days with a high temperature of 90 F or warmer.\nIn an average year, there are 14 days on which the temperature does not go above 32 F all day.\nSpring and autumn can vary from chilly to very warm.\nThe highest temperature ever recorded at [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) was 107 F on July 3, 1966.\nThe highest temperature ever recorded at [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) was 104 F, also on July 3, 1966.\nLaGuardia Airport's record-low temperature was -7 F on February 15, 1943, the effect of which was exacerbated by a shortage of [heating oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/heating-oil) and [coal](https://bliptext.com/articles/coal).\nJohn F. Kennedy International Airport's record-low temperature was -2 F, on February 8, 1963, and January 21, 1985.\nOn January 24, 2016, 30.5 in of snow fell, which is the record in Queens.\n[Tornadoes](https://bliptext.com/articles/tornado) are generally rare; the most recent tornado, an [EF0](https://bliptext.com/articles/ef0), touched down in [College Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-point-queens) on August 3, 2018, causing minor damage.\nBefore that, there was a tornado in [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens) on September 8, 2012, which damaged the roofs of some homes, and an [EF1](https://bliptext.com/articles/ef1-tornado) tornado in [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) on September 26, 2010.\n\n# Neighborhoods\nFour [United States Postal Service](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/zip-code) starting with 111), Jamaica (114), Flushing (113), and [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens) (116).\nAlso, the [Floral Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/floral-park-queens) post office (110), based in Nassau County, serves a small part of northeastern Queens.\nEach 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.\nThese ZIP codes do not always reflect traditional neighborhood names and boundaries; \"[East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst-queens)\", for example, was largely coined by the USPS and is not an official community.\nMost neighborhoods have no solid boundaries.\nThe [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens) and [Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens) neighborhoods, for instance, overlap.\nResidents of Queens often closely identify with their neighborhood rather than with the borough or city.\nThe borough is a patchwork of dozens of unique neighborhoods, each with its own distinct identity:\n

[Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens), one of the largest neighborhoods in Queens, has a large and growing [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-people) community.\nThe community consists of [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american), [Koreans](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american), and [South Asians](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asian).\nAsians have now expanded eastward along the [Northern Boulevard axis](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-boulevard) through [Murray Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/murray-hill-queens), [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens), [Bayside](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayside-queens), [Douglaston–Little Neck](https://bliptext.com/articles/douglaston-little-neck-queens), and eventually into adjacent [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york).\nThese neighborhoods historically contained [Italian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) and Greeks, as well as [Latino Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/latino-american).\nThe busy intersection of [Main Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/main-street-queens), [Kissena Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/kissena-boulevard), and 41st Avenue defines the center of [Downtown Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/downtown-flushing) and the [Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠)](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-chinatown), known as the \"Chinese [Times Square](https://bliptext.com/articles/times-square)\" or the \"Chinese [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan)\".\nThe segment of Main Street between Kissena Boulevard and [Roosevelt Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-avenue), punctuated by the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road) [trestle](https://bliptext.com/articles/trestle-bridge) overpass, represents the cultural heart of the Flushing Chinatown.\nHousing over 25,000 individuals born in China alone, [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) 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.\n

[Howard Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/howard-beach-queens), [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens), and [Middle Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-village-queens) are home to large Italian American populations.\n

[Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/ozone-park-queens) and South [Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/ozone-park-queens) have large Italian, [Hispanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic), and [Guyanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/guyanese-people) populations.\n

[Rockaway Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-beach-queens) has a large [Irish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) population.

[Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens), in the northwest, is traditionally home to one of the largest [Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-american) populations outside Greece.\nIt also has large [Spanish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-american) and [Italian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) communities, and is home to a growing population of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) as well as [young professionals](https://bliptext.com/articles/yuppies) from Manhattan.\nNearby [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city) is a major commercial center and the home to [Queensbridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensbridge-houses), the largest housing project in North America.\n

[Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) and [Ridgewood](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridgewood-queens) are home to many Eastern European immigrants such as [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians), [Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-american), [Serbian](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbs), [Albanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/albanians), and other [Slavic](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-peoples) populations.\nRidgewood also has a large Hispanic population.\n

[Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens) and [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens) make up a conglomeration of [Hispanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic), [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american), [Tibetan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tibetan-people), and South [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american) communities.\nJackson Heights is also known as \"Little Colombia\" thanks to the gastronomical and demographic impact of Colombian people.\n

[Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-queens) is home to a large [Filipino American](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american) community and has a \"[Little Manila](https://bliptext.com/articles/little-manila)\" as well a large [Irish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) population.\nMany Filipino Americans live in [Hollis](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-queens) and [Queens Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-village-queens).\n

[Richmond Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/richmond-hill-queens), in the south, is often thought of as \"Little Guyana\" for its large [Guyanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/guyana) community, as well as [Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ)](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjab-avenue), or [Little Punjab](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjab), for its high concentration of [Punjabi people](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjabi-people).\n

[Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens), [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens), [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens), and [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens) Hills have traditionally large Jewish populations (historically from Germany and [Eastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe); though more recent immigrants are from Israel, Iran, and the former [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union)).\nThese neighborhoods are also known for large and growing Asian communities, mainly immigrants from China.

[Jamaica Estates](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-estates-queens), [Jamaica Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-hills-queens), [Hillcrest](https://bliptext.com/articles/hillcrest-queens), [Fresh Meadows](https://bliptext.com/articles/fresh-meadows-queens), and [Hollis Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-hills-queens) are also populated with many people of Jewish background.\nMany Asian families reside in parts of Fresh Meadows as well.\n

[Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) is home to large [African American](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-american), [Caribbean](https://bliptext.com/articles/caribbean), and [Central American](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-american) populations.\nThere are also middle-class African American and Caribbean neighborhoods such as [Saint Albans](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-albans-queens), [Queens Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-village-queens), [Cambria Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/cambria-heights-queens), [Springfield Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/springfield-gardens-queens), [Rosedale](https://bliptext.com/articles/rosedale-queens), [Laurelton](https://bliptext.com/articles/laurelton-queens), and [Briarwood](https://bliptext.com/articles/briarwood-queens) along east and southeast Queens.

[Bellerose](https://bliptext.com/articles/bellerose-queens) and [Floral Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/floral-park-queens), originally home to many Irish Americans, is home to a growing South Asian population, predominantly [Indian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american).

[Corona and Corona Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/corona-queens), 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst).\nFrom the 1920s through the 1960s, Corona remained a close-knit neighborhood.\nCorona today has the highest concentration of Latinos of any Queens neighborhood, with an increasing Chinese American population, located between [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens) and Flushing.\n\n# [A residential street in Jackson Heights | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/NYC///Jackson///Heights///3.jpg]\n# [Long Island City, a neighborhood in western Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Long///Island///City///New///York///May///2015///panorama///3.jpg]\n# [Forest Hills Gardens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Forest///Hills///Gardens%2C///Queens%2C///NY.jpg]\n\n# Demographics\nAt the [2020 census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census), 2,405,464 people lived in Queens.\nIn 2018's [American Community Survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey), the population of Queens was estimated by the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census-bureau) to have increased to 2,278,906, a rise of 2.2%.\nQueens' 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.\nThe 2019 estimates reported a decline to 2,253,858.\nIn 2018, there were 865,878 housing units, and 777,904 households, 2.97 persons per household, and a median value of $481,300.\nThere was an owner-occupancy rate of 44.5.\nIn the [2010 United States census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2010-united-states-census), Queens recorded a population of 2,230,722.\nThere were 780,117 households enumerated, with an average of 2.82 persons per household.\nThe [population density](https://bliptext.com/articles/population-density) was 20,465.3 /mi2.\nThere were 835,127 housing units at an average density of 7,661.7 /mi2.\nThe racial makeup of the county in 2010 was 39.7% [White](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 19.1% [Black](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census) or [African American](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 0.7% [Native American](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 22.9% [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 0.1% [Pacific Islander](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 12.9% from [other races](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), and 4.5% from two or more races.\nA total of 27.5% of the population were [Hispanic or Latin American](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic-and-latino-americans) of any race.\nThe [non-Hispanic white](https://bliptext.com/articles/non-hispanic-whites) population was 27.6%.\nIn 2019, non-Hispanic whites made up an estimated 24.4% of the population, and Blacks or African Americans were 17.3%.\nThe largest minority groups for the borough were Hispanic and Latin Americans (28.2%), and Asians (26.0%).\nIn Queens, residents consisted of 6.2% under 5, 13.9% 6–18, 64.2% 19–64, and 15.7% over 65.\nFemales made up 51.5% of the population.\nAn estimated 47.5% of residents are foreign-born in 2018.\nThe per capita income was $28,814, and the median household income was $62,008.\nIn 2018, 12.2% of residents lived below the poverty line.\nThe New York City Department of City Planning was alarmed by the negligible reported increase in population between 2000 and 2010.\nAreas 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.\nIn many cases, counts of vacant apartment units did not match data from local surveys and reports from property owners.\n, illegal [Chinese immigration](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-emigration) to New York City, especially to Queens and its [Flushing Chinatown](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-chinatown), has accelerated.\n# [The Elmhurst Chinatown (艾姆赫斯特唐人街) at the corner of Broadway and Dongan Avenue | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Bwy///Elmhurst///Chinatown///jeh.jpg]\n# [Astoria, a largely Greek-American neighborhood | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Astoria///uncle///georges.jpg]\n# [Ethnic origins in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Ethnic///Origins///in///Queens.png]\n\n## Ethnic groups\nAccording to a 2001 Claritas study, Queens was the most diverse county in the United States among counties of 100,000+ population.\nA 2014 analysis by [The Atlantic](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-atlantic) found Queens County to be the third most racially diverse county-equivalent in the United States—behind [Aleutians West Census Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/aleutians-west-census-area-alaska) and [Aleutians East Borough](https://bliptext.com/articles/aleutians-east-borough-alaska) in Alaska—as well as the most diverse county in New York.\nMeanwhile, a 2017 study by [Axios](https://bliptext.com/articles/axios-website) found that, although numerous smaller counties in the United States had higher rates of diversity, Queens was the United States' most diverse populous county.\nIn Queens, approximately 48.5% of the population was [foreign born](https://bliptext.com/articles/foreign-born) as of 2010.\nWithin the foreign born population, 49.5% were born in [Latin America](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin-america), 33.5% in Asia, 14.8% in Europe, 1.8% in Africa, and 0.4% in North America.\nRoughly 2.1% of the population was born in [Puerto Rico](https://bliptext.com/articles/puerto-rico), a U.S. territory, or abroad to American parents.\nIn addition, 51.2% of the population was born in the United States.\nApproximately 44.2% of the population over 5 years of age speak English at home; 23.8% speak Spanish at home.\nAlso, 16.8% of the populace speak other [Indo-European languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/indo-european-languages) at home.\nAnother 13.5% speak a non-Indo-European [Asian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/languages-of-asia) or language of the [Pacific Islands](https://bliptext.com/articles/pacific-islands) at home.\nAmong the Asian population in 2010, people of [Chinese ethnicity](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american) 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american) (2.9%), [Filipinos](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american) (1.7%), [Japanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/japanese-american) (0.3%), [Thais](https://bliptext.com/articles/thai-american) (0.2%), [Vietnamese](https://bliptext.com/articles/vietnamese-american) (0.2%), and [Indonesians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indonesian-american) and [Burmese](https://bliptext.com/articles/burmese-american) both make up 0.1% of the population.\nPeople of [South Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asian) descent made up 7.8% of Queens' population: [Indians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american) (5.3%), [Bangladeshi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangladeshi-american) (1.5%), [Pakistanis](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american) (0.7%), and [Nepali](https://bliptext.com/articles/nepalese-american) (0.2%).\nIn 2019, Chinese Americans remained the largest Asian ethnicity (10.9%) followed by [Asian Indians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-americans) (5.7%).\nAsian Indians had estimated population of 144,896 in 2014 (6.24% of the 2014 borough population), as well as [Pakistani Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american), who numbered at 15,604.\nQueens has the second largest [Sikh](https://bliptext.com/articles/sikhism-in-the-united-states) population in the nation after [California](https://bliptext.com/articles/california).\nAmong the Hispanic or Latin American population, [Puerto Ricans](https://bliptext.com/articles/puerto-rican-people) made up the largest ethnic group at 4.6%, next to [Mexicans](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexican-american), who made up 4.2% of the population, and [Dominicans](https://bliptext.com/articles/dominican-american) at 3.9%.\n[Central Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-american) made up 2.4% and are mostly [Salvadorans](https://bliptext.com/articles/salvadorans).\n[South Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-american) constitute 9.6% of Queens's population, mainly of [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian) (4.4%) and [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) descent (4.2%).\nThe 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.\nOther Hispanic and Latinos collectively made up 18.9% of the population.\nThe 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.\nQueens has the largest [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) population in the city, accounting for over 35.6% of the city's total [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) population, for a total of 145,956 in 2019; it also has the largest [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian-american) population in the city, accounting for 62.2% of the city's total [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian-american) population, for a total of 101,339.\nQueens has the largest [Peruvian](https://bliptext.com/articles/peruvian-american) population in the city, accounting for 69.9% of the city's total [Peruvian](https://bliptext.com/articles/peruvian-american) population, for a total of 30,825.\nQueens has the largest [Salvadoran](https://bliptext.com/articles/salvadoran-american) population in the city, accounting for 50.7% of the city for a total population of 25,235.\nThe [Mexican](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexican-american) population in Queens has increased 45.7% since 2011 to 71,283, the second-highest in the city, after Brooklyn.\nQueens is also home to 49.6% of the city's Asian population.\nAmong the five boroughs, Queens has the largest population of [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american), [Indian](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american), [Korean](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american), [Filipino](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american), [Bangladeshi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangladeshi-american) and [Pakistani Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american).\nQueens has the largest [Asian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american) population by county outside the [Western United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-united-states); according to the 2006 American Community Survey, Queens ranks fifth among US counties with 477,772 (21.18%) [Asian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american)s, behind [Los Angeles County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/los-angeles-county-california), [Honolulu County, Hawaii](https://bliptext.com/articles/honolulu-county-hawaii), [Santa Clara County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/santa-clara-county-california), and [Orange County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/orange-county-california).\nSome main European ancestries in Queens as of 2000 include: [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) (8.4%), [Irish](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) (5.5%), [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-american) (3.5%), [Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-american) (2.7%), [Russian](https://bliptext.com/articles/russian-american) (2.3%), and [Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-american) (2.0%).\nOf the [European American](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-americans) population, Queens has the third largest [Bosnian](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnian-american) population in the United States behind only [St. Louis](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-louis) and [Chicago](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicago), numbering more than 15,000.\nQueens is home to some 50,000 [Armenian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenian-americans).\nThe Jewish Community Study of New York 2011, sponsored by the [UJA-Federation of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/uja-federation-of-new-york), found that about 9% of Queens residents were Jews.\nIn 2011, there were about 198,000 [Jews in Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/jews-in-new-york-city), making it home to about 13% of all people in Jewish households in the eight-county area consisting of the Five Boroughs and [Westchester](https://bliptext.com/articles/westchester-county), [Nassau](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york), and [Suffolk](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york) counties.\nRussian-speaking Jews make up 28% of the Jewish population in Queens, the largest in any of the eight counties.\nIn Queens, the Black and African American population earns more than non-Hispanic whites on average.\nMany of these Blacks and African Americans live in quiet, middle-class suburban neighborhoods near the Nassau County border, such as [Laurelton](https://bliptext.com/articles/laurelton-queens) and [Cambria Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/cambria-heights), which have large Black populations whose family income is higher than average.\nThe 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).\nNeighborhoods 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.\nQueens has experienced a [real estate](https://bliptext.com/articles/real-estate) boom making most of its neighborhoods desirable for people who want to reside near Manhattan but in a less urban setting.\n# [Little India in Jackson Heights | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/74th///St///shopping///Jax///Hts///jeh.jpg]\n# [Ridgewood is home to a large Puerto Rican community | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Stock-De///Kalb-Hart///Av///Historic///Dist///Bushwick///jeh.jpg]\n\n## Languages\nAccording to the office of the [New York State Comptroller](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-comptroller) in 2000, 138 languages are spoken in the borough.\nThe 2021 [American Community Survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey) by the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nThe following tables shows the 15 most common non-English languages in Queens, with the most prominent being [Spanish](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-language-in-the-united-states), [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-language-in-the-united-states), and [Bengali](https://bliptext.com/articles/bengali-american).\n! 1 !! !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! 15 !! 16 ! [English](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-english) !!\nAll|[non-English](https://bliptext.com/articles/languages-of-the-united-states) !!\n[Spanish](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Bengali](https://bliptext.com/articles/bengali-american)!!\n[Korean](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american)!!\n[Tagalog](https://bliptext.com/articles/tagalog-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Russian](https://bliptext.com/articles/russian-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Haitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/haitian-american) !!\n[Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Arabic](https://bliptext.com/articles/arabic-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Punjabi](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjabi-american) !!\nUrdu !!\nHindi !!\n[French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language-in-the-united-states)\n\n## Religion\nIn 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Queens was the [Diocese of Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-brooklyn), with 677,520 [Roman Catholics](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church) worshiping at 100 parishes, followed by an estimated 81,456 [Muslims](https://bliptext.com/articles/islam-in-the-united-states) with 57 congregations, 80,000 [Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/orthodox-judaism) Jews with 110 congregations, 33,325 [non-denominational Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/nondenominational-christianity) adherents with 129 congregations, 28,085 [AME](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-methodist-episcopal-church) Methodists with 14 congregations, 24,250 Greek [Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/orthodox-judaism) with 6 congregations, 16,775 [Hindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/hinduism-in-the-united-states) with 18 congregations, 13,989 [AoG](https://bliptext.com/articles/assemblies-of-god) Pentecostals with 64 congregations, 13,507 [Seventh-day Adventists](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-day-adventist-church) with 45 congregations, and 12,957 [Mahayana](https://bliptext.com/articles/mahayana) Buddhists with 26 congregations.\nAltogether, 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.\nIn 2014, Queens had 738 religious organizations, the thirteenth most out of all U.S. counties.\n# [Rocket Thrower (1963) at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Unisphere///Fountains///-///The///Rocket///Thrower///01.jpg]\n\n# Culture\nQueens has been the center of the punk rock movement, particularly in New York; [Ramones](https://bliptext.com/articles/ramones) originated out of Forest Hills, it has also been the home of such notable artists as [Tony Bennett](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-bennett), [Francis Ford Coppola](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-ford-coppola), [Paul Simon](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-simon), and [Robert Mapplethorpe](https://bliptext.com/articles/robert-mapplethorpe).\nQueens Poet Laureates (generally, 3-year appointments):\nQueens has notably fostered [African American culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-american-culture), with establishments such as The Afrikan Poetry Theatre and the Black Spectrum Theater Company catering specifically to African Americans in Queens.\nIn the 1940s, Queens was an important center of [jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz); such [jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz) luminaries as [Louis Armstrong](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-armstrong), [Charlie Parker](https://bliptext.com/articles/charlie-parker), and [Ella Fitzgerald](https://bliptext.com/articles/ella-fitzgerald) took up residence in Queens, seeking refuge from the segregation they found elsewhere in New York.\nAdditionally, many notable hip-hop acts hail from Queens, including [Nas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nas), [Run-D.M.C.](https://bliptext.com/articles/run-d-m-c), [Kool G Rap](https://bliptext.com/articles/kool-g-rap), [A Tribe Called Quest](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-tribe-called-quest), [LL Cool J](https://bliptext.com/articles/ll-cool-j), [MC Shan](https://bliptext.com/articles/mc-shan), [Mobb Deep](https://bliptext.com/articles/mobb-deep), [50 Cent](https://bliptext.com/articles/50-cent), [Nicki Minaj](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicki-minaj), [Tony Yayo](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-yayo), [Tragedy Khadafi](https://bliptext.com/articles/tragedy-khadafi), [N.O.R.E.](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-o-r-e), Lloyd Banks, [Capone](https://bliptext.com/articles/capone-rapper), [Ja Rule](https://bliptext.com/articles/ja-rule), [Heems](https://bliptext.com/articles/heems) of [Das Racist](https://bliptext.com/articles/das-racist) and [Action Bronson](https://bliptext.com/articles/action-bronson).\nQueens hosts various museums and cultural institutions that serve its diverse communities.\nThey range from the historical (such as the [John Bowne House](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-bowne-house)) to the scientific (such as the [New York Hall of Science](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-hall-of-science)), from conventional art galleries (such as the [Noguchi Museum](https://bliptext.com/articles/noguchi-museum)) to unique graffiti exhibits (such as [5 Pointz](https://bliptext.com/articles/5-pointz)).\nQueens's cultural institutions include, but are not limited to:\n• 5 Pointz\n• Afrikan Poetry Theatre\n• Bowne House\n• Flushing Town Hall\n• King Manor\n• MoMA PS1\n• Museum of the Moving Image\n• Noguchi Museum\n• New York Hall of Science\n• Queens Botanical Garden\n• Queens Museum of Art\n• SculptureCenter\n• Hindu Temple Society of North America\n• Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning\nThe travel magazine [Lonely Planet](https://bliptext.com/articles/lonely-planet) also named Queens the top destination in the country for 2015 for its cultural and culinary diversity.\nStating that Queens is \"quickly becoming its hippest\" but that \"most travelers haven't clued in... yet,\" the Lonely Planet stated that \"nowhere is the image of New York as the global melting pot truer than Queens.\"\n\n## Food\nThe cuisine available in Queens reflects its vast cultural diversity.\nThe cuisine of a particular neighborhood often represents its demographics; for example, [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) hosts many [Greek restaurants](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-restaurant), in keeping with its traditionally Greek population.\n[Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens) is known for its prominent [Indian cuisine](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-cuisine) and also many [Latin American eateries](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-cuisine).\nThe [Queens Night Market](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-night-market) in [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n\n# Economy\nQueens has the second-largest economy of New York City's five boroughs, following Manhattan.\nIn 2004, Queens had 15.2% (440,310) of all private-sector jobs in New York City and 8.8% of private-sector wages.\nIn 2012, private-sector employment increased to 486,160.\nQueens 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/film-production) and [television production](https://bliptext.com/articles/television-production) sectors, such that no single sector is overwhelmingly dominant.\nThe diversification in Queens' economy is reflected in a large amount of employment in the [export-oriented](https://bliptext.com/articles/export-oriented-economy) portions of its economy—such as transportation, manufacturing, and business services—that serve customers outside the region.\nThis 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.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/health-care-in-the-united-states) and social services.\nQueens is home to two of the three major New York City area airports, [JFK International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/jfk-international-airport) and [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport).\nThese airports are among the busiest in the world, leading the airspace above Queens to be the most congested in the country.\nThis 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.\nEducation 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.\nThe 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.\nComprising almost 17% of the jobs in Queens is the information, financial activities, and business and professional services sectors in 2004.\n, Queens had almost 40,000 business establishments.\nSmall businesses act as an important part of the borough's economic vitality with two-thirds of all businesses employing between one and four people.\nSeveral large companies have their headquarters in Queens, including watchmaker [Bulova](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulova), based in [East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens); internationally renowned piano manufacturer [Steinway & Sons](https://bliptext.com/articles/steinway-sons) in Astoria; [Glacéau](https://bliptext.com/articles/glac-au), the makers of Vitamin Water, headquartered in [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens); and [JetBlue Airways](https://bliptext.com/articles/jetblue-airways), an airline based in Long Island City.\nLong Island City is a major manufacturing and back-office center.\n[Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens) is a major commercial hub for Chinese American and Korean American businesses, while [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) is the major civic and transportation hub for the borough.\n# [JetBlue's corporate headquarters in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Jetblue///Metlife///27-01///QPN///jeh.jpg]\n# [Long Island City is one of New York City's fastest-growing neighborhoods. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Queens///Plaza///May///26///2017.jpg]\n\n# Sports\nQueens is home of the [New York Mets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-mets) of [Major League Baseball](https://bliptext.com/articles/major-league-baseball).\nFounded in 1962 as an expansion team, the Mets have won 2 [World Series](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-series) championships and 5 [National League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-league-baseball) pennants.\n[Citi Field](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-field) is a 41,922-seat stadium opened in April 2009 in [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-meadows-corona-park) that is the home ballpark of the Mets.\n[Shea Stadium](https://bliptext.com/articles/shea-stadium), the former home of the Mets and the [New York Jets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-jets) of the [National Football League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-football-league), as well as the temporary home of the [New York Yankees](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-yankees) and the [New York Giants Football Team](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-giants) stood where Citi Field's parking lot is now located, operating from 1964 to 2008.\nQueens is the future home of the [Etihad Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/etihad-park-new-york-city) for [New York City FC](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-fc) of [Major League Soccer](https://bliptext.com/articles/major-league-soccer), which is expected to be completed in 2027.\nThe [U.S. Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/us-open-tennis) tennis tournament has been played since 1978 at the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center](https://bliptext.com/articles/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center), located just south of Citi Field.\nWith a capacity of 23,771, [Arthur Ashe Stadium](https://bliptext.com/articles/arthur-ashe-stadium) is [the biggest tennis stadium in the world](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-tennis-stadiums-by-capacity).\nThe U.S. Open was formerly played at the [West Side Tennis Club](https://bliptext.com/articles/west-side-tennis-club) in [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens).\n[South Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-ozone-park-queens) is the home of [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack), which is operated by the [New York Racing Association](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-racing-association), and offers [Thoroughbred](https://bliptext.com/articles/thoroughbred) horse racing from late October/early November through April.\n(The [Belmont Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/belmont-park) racetrack and the adjacent [UBS Arena](https://bliptext.com/articles/ubs-arena) (home of the [New York Islanders](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-islanders) of the [National Hockey League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-hockey-league)) sit entirely in [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york), just over the City line; however, small sections of the properties of both venues are in Queens, as is the [Belmont Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/belmont-park) station of the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road).)\n# [Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Citi///Field///and///Apple.JPG]\n# [Arthur Ashe Stadium during the 2014 US Open | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/US///Open///2014///%2815048888245%29.jpg]\n\n# Government\nSince New York City's consolidation in 1898, Queens has been governed by the [New York City Charter](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-charter) that provides for a strong [mayor–council system](https://bliptext.com/articles/mayor-council-government).\nThe centralized New York City government is responsible for [public education](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-department-of-education), correctional institutions, [public safety](https://bliptext.com/articles/public-safety), recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Queens.\nThe [Queens Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-library) is governed by a 19-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the [Mayor of New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/mayor-of-new-york-city) and the [Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/borough-president) of Queens.\nSince 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.\nQueens' Borough President is [Donovan Richards](https://bliptext.com/articles/donovan-richards), elected in November 2020 as a [Democrat](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-united-states).\n[Queens Borough Hall](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-borough-hall) is the seat of government and is located in [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens).\nThe Democratic Party holds most public offices.\nSixty-three percent of registered Queens voters are Democrats.\nLocal party platforms center on affordable housing, education, and economic development.\nControversial political issues in Queens include development, noise, and the cost of housing.\nEach of the city's five counties has its criminal court system and [District Attorney](https://bliptext.com/articles/district-attorney), the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote.\n[Richard A. Brown](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-brown-lawyer), who ran on both the Republican and Democratic Party tickets, was the [District Attorney of Queens County](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-county-district-attorney-new-york) from 1991 to 2018.\nThe new DA as of January 2020 is [Melinda Katz](https://bliptext.com/articles/melinda-katz).\nQueens has 12 seats on the [New York City Council](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-council), the second-largest number among the five boroughs.\nIt is divided into 14 community districts, each served by a local [Community Board](https://bliptext.com/articles/community-boards-of-queens).\nCommunity Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for residents.\nAlthough Queens is heavily Democratic, it is considered a swing county in New York politics.\n[Republican](https://bliptext.com/articles/republican-party-united-states) political candidates who do well in Queens usually win citywide or statewide elections.\nRepublicans such as former Mayors [Rudolph Giuliani](https://bliptext.com/articles/rudolph-giuliani) and [Michael Bloomberg](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-bloomberg) won majorities in Queens.\nRepublican State Senator [Serphin Maltese](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.](https://bliptext.com/articles/joseph-addabbo-jr) In 2002, Queens voted against incumbent Republican [Governor of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/governor-of-new-york) [George Pataki](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-pataki) in favor of his Democratic opponent, [Carl McCall](https://bliptext.com/articles/carl-mccall) by a slim margin.\nOn the national level, Queens has not voted for a Republican candidate in a presidential election since 1972, when Queens voters chose [Richard Nixon](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-nixon) over [George McGovern](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-mcgovern).\nFrom [1996](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-united-states-presidential-election) until [2024](https://bliptext.com/articles/2024-united-states-presidential-election), Democratic presidential candidates have received over 70% of the popular vote in Queens, with [Kamala Harris](https://bliptext.com/articles/kamala-harris) being the first Democrat to receive less than 70% of the borough's votes since [Bill Clinton](https://bliptext.com/articles/bill-clinton) in [1992](https://bliptext.com/articles/1992-united-states-presidential-election).\nSince the [first election of Donald Trump](https://bliptext.com/articles/2016-united-states-presidential-election) in 2016, Queens has become known in the United States for its surge in [progressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/progressivism) politics and grassroots campaigning.\n# [Queens County Courthouse was built in 1938 and houses the borough's Supreme Court, Surrogate Court, and County Clerk. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Queens///County///Courthouse///by///David///Shankbone.jpg]\n\n## Federal representation\nAs of 2024, five Democrats represent Queens in the [United States House of Representatives](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-house-of-representatives).\n\n# Housing\nThe borough's diverse housing ranges from [high-rise](https://bliptext.com/articles/high-rise-building) apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens), [Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens), Flushing, [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens), and Long Island City; to lower-rise neighborhoods in the eastern part of the borough.\nThere were 911,957 housing units in 2022 at an average density of 8388 /mi2.\nAffordable rental and co-operative housing units throughout the borough were created under the [Mitchell–Lama Housing Program](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitchell-lama-housing-program).\nPublic housing is administered by the [New York City Housing Authority](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-housing-authority), which accounts for more than 30,000 residents in more than 15,300 units in 2023.\n# [Queensbridge Houses, a public housing development in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Queensbridge///Houses.jpg]\n\n# Education\n\n## Elementary and secondary education\nElementary and secondary school education in Queens is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions.\nNon-charter public schools in the borough are managed by the [New York City Department of Education](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-department-of-education), the largest public school system in the United States.\nMost private schools are affiliated with or identify themselves with the [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic) or [Jewish](https://bliptext.com/articles/jewish) religious communities.\n[Townsend Harris High School](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nOne of the nine Specialized High Schools in New York City is located in Queens.\nLocated in the [York College, City University of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/york-college-city-university-of-new-york) Campus in Jamaica, the [Queens High School for the Sciences at York College](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nIt is one of the smallest Specialized High Schools that requires an entrance exam, the [Specialized High Schools Admissions Test](https://bliptext.com/articles/specialized-high-schools-admissions-test).\nThe school has a student body of around 400 students.\n\n## Postsecondary institutions\n# [LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/LaGuardia///CC///E///jeh.jpg]\n# [Queens College is part of the City University of New York. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Rosenthal///Faisal.jpg]\n\n## Queens Public Library\nThe [Queens Public Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-public-library) is the public library system for the borough and one of three library systems serving New York City.\nDating 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.\nSeparate from the [New York Public Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-public-library), it is composed of 63 branches throughout the borough.\nIn the fiscal year 2001, the Library achieved a circulation of 16.8 million.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.\n# [A branch of the Queens Public Library in Flushing | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/QPL///Flushing///jeh.JPG]\n\n# Transportation\nAccording to 2011–2015 [ACS](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey) microdata, 38% of Queens households did not own a car; the citywide rate is 55%.\n\n## Vehicles for hire\nAs of 2019, the city had about 80,000 for-hire vehicles, of which, two-thirds were [ride-hail](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridesharing-company) – [Uber](https://bliptext.com/articles/uber), [Lyft](https://bliptext.com/articles/lyft), [Via](https://bliptext.com/articles/via-transportation), and [Juno](https://bliptext.com/articles/juno-company).\nUntil the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/covid-19-pandemic), the ride-hail car offered a [ride-share](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridesharing-company) option.\nThere are about 13,500 traditional taxis (yellow cabs with [medallions](https://bliptext.com/articles/taxi-medallion)) in the city, 7,676 [boro taxis](https://bliptext.com/articles/boro-taxis), 38,791 black cars, 21,932 livery cars, 288 commuter vans, and 2,206 paratransit vehicles.\n\n## Roundtrip car sharing\nZipcar, and others, entered New York City market in 2002 offering [roundtrip](https://bliptext.com/articles/shared-transport) [car sharing](https://bliptext.com/articles/car-sharing) from private locations, mostly from parking garages.\nIn 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/en-wikt-take-up) in [The Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx) and in Queens – [Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens).\nIn 2020, during beginning throes of the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/covid-19-pandemic), [Enterprise CarShare](https://bliptext.com/articles/enterprise-holdings) suspended service in New York City.\nAmong the traditional car rental locations in Queens, both international airports harbor larger fleets, conveniently close to Queens residents.\n\n## Micromobility\n[Citi Bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system)) – a docked-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system) and e-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system) sharing company had, as of July 2019, 169,000 annual subscribers.\nIn 2021, the [Department of Transportation](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-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.\nThe expansion includes 52 new docking stations in Astoria, as well as new stations in Sunnyside and Woodside.\nNon-docked e-[moped](https://bliptext.com/articles/moped) service was launched in the city by [Revel](https://bliptext.com/articles/revel-transit) in 2019.\nCompanies such as [Bird](https://bliptext.com/articles/bird-transportation-company), [Lime](https://bliptext.com/articles/lime-transportation-company), VeoRide introduced non-docked [e-scooter-sharing](https://bliptext.com/articles/scooter-sharing-system) in 2021.\n\n## Airports\nQueens has crucial importance in international and interstate air traffic, with two of the [New York metropolitan area](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-metropolitan-area)'s three major airports located there.\n[John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport), in 2019, before the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/busiest-airports-in-the-united-states-by-international-passenger-traffic).\nIn response to the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n2020 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.\nJFK is owned by the City of New York and managed, since 1947, by the [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey](https://bliptext.com/articles/port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey).\nThe airport's runways and six terminals cover an area of 4930 acres on [Jamaica Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay) in southeastern Queens.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/assassination-of-john-f-kennedy), November 22, 1963.\n[LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) is located in [East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst-queens), in northern Queens, on [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay).\nOriginally opened in 1939, the airport's two runways and four terminals cover 680 acres, serving 28.4 million passengers in 2015.\nIn 2014, citing outdated conditions in the airport's terminals, Vice President Joe Biden compared LaGuardia Airport to a \"[third world](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-world) country\".\nIn 2015, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began a $4 billion project to renovate LaGuardia Airport's terminals and entryways.\nThe project is expected to be complete by 2021.\n# [John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/JFK///Plane///Queue.jpg]\n# [A multibillion-dollar reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport was announced in July 2015. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/LaGuardia///Airport.JPG]\n\n## Public transportation\n\n### Subways\nQueens is served by the [New York City Subway](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-subway), with 81 stations located within the borough.\nTwo physical lines — the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line) and the [IND Queens Boulevard Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-queens-boulevard-line) — serve as the primary east–west trunk lines in the borough, with all services on the two lines continuing across the East River into Manhattan.\nTwo additional lines are wholly within Queens: the [BMT Astoria Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-astoria-line), which serves the neighborhoods of [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) and Ditmars–Steinway, and the [IND Rockaway Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-rockaway-line), which provides access to [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) and the [Rockaways](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-queens).\nIn addition, five other New York City Subway lines — the [BMT Jamaica Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-jamaica-line), [BMT Myrtle Avenue Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-myrtle-avenue-line), [BMT/IND Archer Avenue Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/archer-avenue-lines), [IND Crosstown Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-crosstown-line), and [IND Fulton Street Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-fulton-street-line) — run between Brooklyn and Queens.\nThe [A](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-new-york-city-subway-service), [G](https://bliptext.com/articles/g-new-york-city-subway-service), [J/Z](https://bliptext.com/articles/j-z-new-york-city-subway-service), and [M](https://bliptext.com/articles/m-new-york-city-subway-service) routes connect Queens to Brooklyn without going through [M](https://bliptext.com/articles/m-new-york-city-subway-service)anhattan first.\nThe [F](https://bliptext.com/articles/f-new-york-city-subway-service), [N](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-new-york-city-subway-service), and [R](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-new-york-city-subway-service) trains connect Queens and Brooklyn via Manhattan, while the [E](https://bliptext.com/articles/e-new-york-city-subway-service), [W](https://bliptext.com/articles/w-new-york-city-subway-service), and [7/<7>](https://bliptext.com/articles/7-new-york-city-subway-service) trains connect Queens to Manhattan only.\nThe [L](https://bliptext.com/articles/l-new-york-city-subway-service) train briefly enters Queens at [Halsey Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/halsey-street-station-bmt-canarsie-line), connecting Queens to either Brooklyn or both Brooklyn and Manhattan, depending on the direction.\nIn addition, the [Rockaway Park Shuttle](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-shuttle) operates strictly in the neighborhoods of [Rockaway Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-queens) and [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens).\n# [46th Street – Bliss Street subway station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/NYCSub///7///station///view.jpg]\n\n### Long Island Rail Road\nThe [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road), also part of the [MTA](https://bliptext.com/articles/metropolitan-transportation-authority), operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays – carrying an average of 301,000 customers a day (80 million a year, adjusting downward for weekends) on about 735 scheduled trains.\nIt is the busiest commuter rail hub in the United States.\nMost of its branches originate or terminate at [Penn Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/pennsylvania-station-new-york-city).\nAll but one of its branches (the [Port Washington Branch](https://bliptext.com/articles/port-washington-branch)) pass through [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-station).\nWithin the [City Terminal Zone](https://bliptext.com/articles/city-terminal-zone), Queens has stations in [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-station), [Hunterspoint Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunterspoint-avenue-station-lirr) (in [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-station)), [Bayside](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayside-station-lirr), [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-station-lirr), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-main-street-station-lirr), [Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-station-lirr), and [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens).\nThere are also two stations where LIRR passengers can transfer to the subway.\nUntil 1998, the LIRR served 5 stations on the Lower Montauk branch between Jamaica and Hunterspoint Avenue.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-and-atlantic-railway).\n[Sunnyside Yard](https://bliptext.com/articles/sunnyside-yard) is used to store [Amtrak](https://bliptext.com/articles/amtrak) intercity and [NJ Transit](https://bliptext.com/articles/nj-transit) commuter trains from Penn Station in Manhattan.\nThe US$11.1 billion [East Side Access](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-side-access) project, which brought LIRR trains to [Grand Central Terminal](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-terminal) in Manhattan, opened in 2023; this project created a new train tunnel beneath the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river), connecting [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city) in Queens with the [East Side](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-side-manhattan) of Manhattan.\n# [Flushing – Main Street LIRR station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bombardier///M7///7799///enters///Flushing.jpg]\n\n### JFK AirTrain\nThe elevated [AirTrain](https://bliptext.com/articles/airtrain-jfk) [people mover](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-mover) system connects JFK International Airport to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road along the Van Wyck Expressway; a separate [AirTrain](https://bliptext.com/articles/airtrain-jfk) system is planned alongside the [Grand Central Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-parkway) to connect LaGuardia Airport to these transit systems.\nPlans 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.\n\n### MTA buses\n2019 bus ridership, citywide, on the MTA system, was 2.2 million per average weekday – about 678 million for the year.\nIn Queens, the [Q58](https://bliptext.com/articles/q58-new-york-city-bus) and [Q44](https://bliptext.com/articles/q20-and-q44-buses) [Select Bus Service](https://bliptext.com/articles/select-bus-service) were the seventh and tenth, respectively, citywide, busiest local lines in 2019.\nIn addition to regular bus lines serving [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), the MTA offers two [Select Bus Services](https://bliptext.com/articles/select-bus-service), regular fare, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.\nThe [M60](https://bliptext.com/articles/m60-new-york-city-bus) – terminals [A](https://bliptext.com/articles/marine-air-terminal), [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [D](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) – to and from [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan) via Grand [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)entral Parkway and the Triborough [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)ridge – in [Harlem](https://bliptext.com/articles/harlem), along [125th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/125th-street-manhattan) (with a stop at the [125th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/125th-street-manhattan) Metro-North station), ending in [Morningside Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/morningside-heights) on the [Upper West Side](https://bliptext.com/articles/upper-west-side), a few blocks south of [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)olumbia University.\nThe [Q70](https://bliptext.com/articles/q70-new-york-city-bus) – terminals [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [D](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) – through Queens, ending in [Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-queens) at 61st Street and [Roosevelt Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-and-roosevelt-avenues).\nOverall, about [100 local bus routes](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-bus-routes-in-queens) operate within Queens, and another [20 express routes](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-express-bus-routes-in-new-york-city) shuttle commuters between Queens and Manhattan, under the [MTA New York City Bus and MTA Bus](https://bliptext.com/articles/mta-regional-bus-operations) brands.\n\n### Proposed streetcar\nA [streetcar](https://bliptext.com/articles/streetcar) line [connecting Queens with Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-queens-connector) was proposed by the city in February 2016.\nThe planned timeline originally called for service to begin around 2024.\nIn September 2020, Mayor de Blasio deferred decisions on the project to after the [2021 New York City mayoral election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-new-york-city-mayoral-election).\n\n### Water transit\n[New York Water Taxi](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-water-taxi) operates service across the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) from [Hunters Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunters-point-queens) in Long Island City to Manhattan at [34th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/34th-street-manhattan) and south to Pier 11 at [Wall Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/wall-street).\nIn 2007, limited weekday service was begun between [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens), the westernmost point in the Rockaways, to Pier 11 via the [Brooklyn Army Terminal](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-army-terminal).\nSummertime weekend service provides service from Lower Manhattan and southwest Brooklyn to the peninsula's [Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area) beaches.\nIn the [aftermath](https://bliptext.com/articles/effects-of-hurricane-sandy-in-new-york) of [Hurricane Sandy](https://bliptext.com/articles/hurricane-sandy) on October 29, 2012, ferry operator [SeaStreak](https://bliptext.com/articles/seastreak) began running a city-subsidized ferry service between a makeshift ferry slip at Beach 108th Street and [Beach Channel Drive](https://bliptext.com/articles/beach-channel-drive) in [Rockaway Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-queens) and piers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.\nThe service was extended multiple times.\nfinally ending on October 31, 2014.\nIn February 2015, Mayor [Bill de Blasio](https://bliptext.com/articles/bill-de-blasio) announced that the city government would begin a citywide ferry service called [NYC Ferry](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyc-ferry) to extend ferry transportation to communities in the city that have been traditionally underserved by public transit.\nThe ferry opened in May 2017, with the Queens neighborhoods of Rockaway and Astoria served by their eponymous routes.\nA third route, the [East River Ferry](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river-ferry), serves [Hunter's Point South](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunter-s-point-south).\n# [Newtown Creek with the Midtown Manhattan skyline in the background | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Small///tankers///unload///in///Newtown///Creek///jeh.jpg]\n\n## Roads\n\n### Highways\nQueens is traversed by three trunk east–west highways.\nThe [Long Island Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-expressway) ([Interstate 495](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-495-new-york)) runs from the [Queens Midtown Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-midtown-tunnel) on the west through the borough to Nassau County on the east.\nThe [Grand Central Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-parkway), whose western terminus is the [Triborough Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/triborough-bridge), extends east to the Queens/Nassau border, where the roadway continues as the [Northern State Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-state-parkway).\nThe [Belt Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/belt-parkway) begins at the [Gowanus Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/gowanus-expressway) in Brooklyn, and extends east into Queens, past [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack) and JFK Airport.\nOn its eastern end at the Queens/Nassau border, it splits into the [Southern State Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-state-parkway) which continues east, and the [Cross Island Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-island-parkway) which turns north.\nThere are also several major north–south highways in Queens, including the [Brooklyn-Queens Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-queens-expressway) ([Interstate 278](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-278)), the [Van Wyck Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/van-wyck-expressway) ([Interstate 678](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-678)), the [Clearview Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/clearview-expressway) ([Interstate 295](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-295-new-york)), and the Cross Island Parkway.\nQueens has six state highways that run west–east largely on surface roads.\nFrom north to south, they are [New York State Route 25A](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25a) (Northern Boulevard), [New York State Route 25B](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25b) (Hillside Avenue), [New York State Route 25](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25) ([Queens Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-boulevard), Hillside Avenue, and Braddock Avenue), [New York State Route 24](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-24) (Hempstead Avenue), and [New York State Route 27](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-27) ([Conduit Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/conduit-avenue)).\nThe only state highway that primarily uses an expressway is [New York State Route 878](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-878), which uses the Nassau Expressway in southern Queens.\n# [Air Train JFK path above the Van Wyck Expressway | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/2024-06-19///12///05///10///View///south///along///Interstate///678///%28Van///Wyck///Expressway%29///from///the///overpass///for///Atlantic///Avenue///in///Queens%2C///New///York///City%2C///New///York.jpg]\n\n### Streets\nThe streets of Queens are laid out in a semi-[grid](https://bliptext.com/articles/grid-plan) system, with a numerical system of [street names](https://bliptext.com/articles/street-name) (similar to Manhattan and the Bronx).\nNearly 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.\nIn 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.\nAlso, 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).\nNumbered roads tend to be residential, although numbered commercial streets are not rare.\nA fair number of streets that were country roads in the 18th and 19th centuries (especially major thoroughfares such as [Northern Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25a), [Queens Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-boulevard), [Hillside Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/hillside-avenue-queens), and [Jamaica Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-avenue-queens)) carry names rather than numbers, typically though not uniformly called \"Boulevards\" or \"Parkways\".\nQueens [house numbering](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nFor 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.\nThis pattern does not stop when a street is named, assuming that there is an existing numbered cross-street.\nFor example, [Queens College](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-college) is situated at 65–30 Kissena Boulevard, and is so named because the cross-street closest to the entrance is 65th Avenue.\nMany 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.\nIn the early 1920s, a \"Philadelphia Plan\" was instituted to overlay one numbered system upon the whole borough.\nThe Topographical Bureau, Borough of Queens, worked out the details.\nSubway stations were only partly renamed, and some, including those along the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line), now share dual names after the original street names.\nIn 2012, some numbered streets in the [Douglaston Hill Historic District](https://bliptext.com/articles/douglaston-hill-historic-district) were renamed to their original names, with 43rd Avenue becoming Pine Street.\nThe Rockaway Peninsula does not follow the same system as the rest of the borough and has its own numbering system.\nStreets are numbered in ascending order heading west from near the Nassau County border, and are prefixed with the word \"Beach.\"\nStreets at the easternmost end, however, are nearly all named.\n[Bayswater](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayswater-queens), which is on Jamaica Bay, has its numbered streets prefixed with the word \"Bay\" rather than \"Beach\".\nAnother deviation from the norm is [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens); 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-bay-boulevard-queens), the neighborhood's major through street.\nBroad 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.\nThe other exception is the neighborhood of Ridgewood, which for the most part shares a grid and [house numbering](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-numbering) system with the Brooklyn neighborhood of [Bushwick](https://bliptext.com/articles/bushwick-brooklyn).\nThe grid runs east–west from the LIRR [Bay Ridge Branch](https://bliptext.com/articles/bay-ridge-branch) [right-of-way](https://bliptext.com/articles/right-of-way-transportation) 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/bedford-stuyvesant-brooklyn) grid at Broadway.\nAll streets on the grid have names.\n# [Cross-street signs for a single-named boulevard and a co-named avenue in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Parsons///jewel.jpg]\n\n### Bridges and tunnels\nQueens is connected to the Bronx by the [Bronx–Whitestone Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/bronx-whitestone-bridge), the [Throgs Neck Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/throgs-neck-bridge), the [Triborough Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/triborough-bridge) (also known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), and the [Hell Gate Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hell-gate-bridge).\nQueens is connected to Manhattan Island by the Triborough Bridge, the [Queensboro Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensboro-bridge), and the [Queens–Midtown Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-midtown-tunnel), as well as to [Roosevelt Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-island) by the [Roosevelt Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-island) Bridge.\nWhile most of the Queens/Brooklyn border is on land, the [Kosciuszko Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/kosciuszko-bridge) crosses the [Newtown Creek](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-creek) connecting [Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) to [Greenpoint, Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-brooklyn).\nThe [Pulaski Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/pulaski-bridge) connects [McGuinness Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/mcguinness-boulevard) in Greenpoint to 11th Street, Jackson Avenue, and Hunters Point Avenue in [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city).\nThe J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge (a.k.a. [Greenpoint Avenue Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-avenue-bridge)) connects the sections of [Greenpoint Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-avenue) in Greenpoint and Long Island City.\nA lesser bridge connects [Grand Avenue in Queens to Grand Street in Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-street-and-grand-avenue).\nThe [Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-bay-veterans-memorial-bridge), built in 1939, traverses Jamaica Bay to connect the Rockaway Peninsula to [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens) and the rest of Queens.\nConstructed in 1937, the [Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/marine-parkway-gil-hodges-memorial-bridge) links [Flatbush Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/flatbush-avenue), Brooklyn's longest thoroughfare, with [Jacob Riis Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/jacob-riis-park) and the western end of the Peninsula.\nBoth crossings were built and continue to be operated by what is now known as [MTA Bridges and Tunnels](https://bliptext.com/articles/mta-bridges-and-tunnels).\nThe [IND Rockaway Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-rockaway-line) parallels the Cross Bay, has a mid-bay station at [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-ind-rockaway-line) which is just a short walk from the [Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay-wildlife-refuge), now part of [Gateway National Recreation Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area) and a major stop on the [Atlantic Flyway](https://bliptext.com/articles/atlantic-flyway).\n# [The Triborough Bridge connects Queens with Manhattan and The Bronx. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Hell///Gate///and///Triborough///Bridges///New///York///City///Queens.jpg]\n\n# Notable people\nMany public figures have grown up or lived in Queens.\n[Donald Trump](https://bliptext.com/articles/donald-trump), a businessman who became the [45th and 47th President of the United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/donald-trump), was born in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and raised at [81-15 Wareham Place](https://bliptext.com/articles/81-15-wareham-place) in [Jamaica Estates](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-estates-queens), later moving to Midland Parkway.\nHe was preceded in the White House by former [First Lady](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-lady-of-the-united-states) [Nancy Reagan](https://bliptext.com/articles/nancy-reagan), who lived in Flushing as a child.\n[Theodore Roosevelt](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodore-roosevelt), the 26th President, lived at [Sagamore Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/sagamore-hill-house) in [Oyster Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/oyster-bay-town-new-york) from the mid-1880s until he died; the area was considered part of Queens until the formation of neighboring [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) in 1899.\nMusicians raised in the borough include\nJazz greats [Louis Armstrong](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-armstrong) and [Norman Mapp](https://bliptext.com/articles/norman-mapp) both resided in [Corona](https://bliptext.com/articles/corona-queens), as well as [folk rock](https://bliptext.com/articles/folk-rock) duo [Simon & Garfunkel](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-garfunkel) and [guitarists](https://bliptext.com/articles/guitarist) [Scott Ian](https://bliptext.com/articles/scott-ian) and [Johnny Ramone](https://bliptext.com/articles/johnny-ramone).\n[K-pop](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-pop) rapper [Mark Lee](https://bliptext.com/articles/mark-rapper) from the boy group [NCT](https://bliptext.com/articles/nct-band) grew up in Queens before moving to Canada.\n[Madonna](https://bliptext.com/articles/madonna), from 1979 to 1980, lived in Corona as a member of the band Breakfast Club.\nActors and actresses such as [Adrien Brody](https://bliptext.com/articles/adrien-brody), [Zoe Saldaña](https://bliptext.com/articles/zoe-salda-a), [Lucy Liu](https://bliptext.com/articles/lucy-liu), John Leguizamo, [Susan Sarandon](https://bliptext.com/articles/susan-sarandon), and [Idina Menzel](https://bliptext.com/articles/idina-menzel) were born or raised in Queens.\nActress [Mae West](https://bliptext.com/articles/mae-west) also lived in Queens.\nWriters from Queens include [John Guare](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-guare) ([The House of Blue Leaves](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-house-of-blue-leaves)) and [Laura Z. Hobson](https://bliptext.com/articles/laura-z-hobson) ([Gentleman's Agreement](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentleman-s-agreement-novel)).\nMafia boss [John Gotti](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-gotti) lived in Queens for many years.\n[Richard Feynman](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-feynman), a scientist who was awarded the [Nobel Prize in Physics](https://bliptext.com/articles/nobel-prize-in-physics), was born in Queens and grew up in [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens).\nLee \"Q\" O'Denat, founder of [WorldStarHipHop](https://bliptext.com/articles/worldstarhiphop) was from [Hollis](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-queens).\nQueens has also been home to athletes such as:\nJournalist [Marie Colvin](https://bliptext.com/articles/marie-colvin) was a native of Queens.\n\n# In popular culture\nQueens has also served as a setting for various fictional characters, including [Peter Parker / Spider-Man](https://bliptext.com/articles/spider-man) from [Marvel Comics](https://bliptext.com/articles/marvel-comics).\nHe grew up in [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens) with his [Aunt May](https://bliptext.com/articles/aunt-may) and [Uncle Ben](https://bliptext.com/articles/uncle-ben), and [Archie Bunker](https://bliptext.com/articles/archie-bunker) of [All in the Family](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-in-the-family), who lived at the fictional 704 Hauser Street in [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens).\nThe popular sitcom [The King of Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-king-of-queens) is set in the titular borough, with the main characters living in a house in [Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens).\nThe movie [Somewhere in Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/somewhere-in-queens), starring Queens native [Ray Romano](https://bliptext.com/articles/ray-romano), is also set in the title borough.\n\n# The Cemetery Belt\nSeveral large cemeteries in Queens – [St. Michaels](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-michael-s-cemetery-new-york), [Luthern](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-faiths-cemetery), [Calvary](https://bliptext.com/articles/calvary-cemetery-queens), [Cypress Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/cypress-hills-cemetery), [Mt. Olivet](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-olivet-cemetery-queens) and [Mt. Zion](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-zion-cemetery-new-york-city) – together with several in Brooklyn are collectively known as The Cemetery Belt.\nThere are about five million burials in the borough and Calvary, with about 3 million burials, has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States.","current_revision":null,"created_by":"kACnuQmH5k9Nr5VNVEpVeg7XpvUmMctD","created_at":"2025-01-25T17:41:23.364Z","updated_at":"2025-01-25T17:41:23.364Z","search_vector":"'queen':1","search_content":" \n**Name:** Queens \n**Other Name:** Queens County, New York \n**Named For:** [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/catherine-of-braganza) \n**Settlement Type:** [Borough](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city) and [county](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-counties-in-new-york) \n**Image Flag:** Flag of Queens.svg \n**Image Seal:** Seal of Queens rerendered.svg \n**Map Caption:** Interactive map outlining Queens \n**Pushpin Map:** New York City#New York#USA#Earth \n**Pushpin Label Position:** left \n**Pushpin Map Caption:** Location within [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city)##Location within the [State of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/state-of-new-york)##Location within the [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states)##Location on [Earth](https://bliptext.com/articles/earth) \n**Subdivision Type:** Country \n**Subdivision Name:** 🇺🇸 [United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states) \n**Subdivision Type 1:** [State](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-state) \n**Subdivision Name 1:** [New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n**Subdivision Type 2:** [County](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-counties-in-new-york) \n**Subdivision Name 2:** Queens (coterminous) \n**Subdivision Type 3:** [City](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-cities-in-new-york) \n**Subdivision Name 3:** [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city) \n**Government Type:** [Borough (New York City)](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city) \n**Leader Title:** [Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/borough-president) \n**Leader Name:** [[D](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-united-states)onovan Richards](https://bliptext.com/articles/donovan-richards) ([D](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-united-states)) · — (Borough of Queens) \n**Leader Title 1:** [District Attorney](https://bliptext.com/articles/district-attorney) \n**Leader Name 1:** [Melinda Katz](https://bliptext.com/articles/melinda-katz) (D) · — (Queens County) \n**Established Title:** Settled \n**Established Date:** 1683 \n**Unit Pref:** imperial \n**Area Total Sq Mi:** 178 \n**Area Land Sq Mi:** 109 \n**Area Water Sq Mi:** 70 \n**Area Water Percent:** 39 \n**Elevation Max Ft:** 258.2 \n**Population As Of:** [2020](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census) \n**Population Total:** 2405464 \n**Population Density Sq Mi:** 14000 \n**Population Demonym:** Queensite \n**Demographics Type 2:** GDP \n**Demographics 2 Title 1:** Total \n**Demographics 2 Info 1:** US$103.325 billion (2022) \n**Coordinates:** 40.75°N, -73.86667°W \n**Postal Code Type:** [ZIP Code](https://bliptext.com/articles/zip-code) prefixes \n**Postal Code:** 111--, 113--, 114--, 116-- \n**Area Codes:** [718/347/929](https://bliptext.com/articles/area-codes-718-347-and-929) and [917](https://bliptext.com/articles/area-code-917) \n**Blank Name Sec 2:** Congressional districts \n**Blank Info Sec 2:** [3rd](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-3rd-congressional-district), [5th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-5th-congressional-district), [6th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-6th-congressional-district), [7th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-7th-congressional-district), [14th](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-s-14th-congressional-district) \n**Website:** [Official Website of the Queens Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/undefined) \n \n\n# \n**Queens** is a [borough of [New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state) City](https://bliptext.com/articles/boroughs-of-new-york-city), coextensive with **Queens** County, in the [U.S. state](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-state) of [New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state).\nLocated near the western end of [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island), it is the largest of the five [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city) boroughs by area.\nIt is bordered by the borough of [Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn) and by [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) to its east, and shares maritime borders with the boroughs of [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan), [the Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx), and [Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island), as well as with [New Jersey](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-jersey).\nQueens is the most [linguistically](https://bliptext.com/articles/linguistics) and [ethnically diverse](https://bliptext.com/articles/ethnically-diverse) place in the world.\nWith a population of 2,405,464 as of the [2020 census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census), 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.\nIf Queens were its own city, it would be the [fourth most-populous in the U.S.](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-united-states-cities-by-population) after the rest of [New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city), [Los Angeles](https://bliptext.com/articles/los-angeles), and [Chicago](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicago).\nQueens is the fourth-most densely populated borough in New York City and the fourth-most densely populated [U.S. county](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-county).\nAs approximately 47% of its residents are [foreign-born](https://bliptext.com/articles/foreign-born), Queens is highly diverse.\nQueens was established in 1683 as one of the original 12 counties of the [Province of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/province-of-new-york).\nThe settlement was named after the English Queen and Portuguese royal princess [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/catherine-of-braganza) (1638–1705).\nFrom 1683 to 1899, the County of Queens included what is now Nassau County.\nQueens became a borough during the [consolidation of New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/consolidation-of-new-york-city) in 1898, combining the towns of [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), [Newtown](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and western [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/hempstead-new-york).\nAll except Hempstead are today considered neighborhoods of Queens.\nQueens has the most diversified economy of the five boroughs of New York City.\nIt is home to both of New York City's airports: [John F. Kennedy](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) and [LaGuardia](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport).\nAmong its landmarks are [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-meadows-corona-park); [Citi Field](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-field), home to the [New York Mets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-mets) baseball team; the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center](https://bliptext.com/articles/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center), site of the [U.S. Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/u-s-open-tennis) tennis tournament; [Kaufman Astoria Studios](https://bliptext.com/articles/kaufman-astoria-studios); [Silvercup Studios](https://bliptext.com/articles/silvercup-studios); and the [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack).\n[Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) is undergoing rapid [gentrification](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentrification) with investment by Chinese transnational entities, while [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-queens) is undergoing [gentrification](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentrification) secondary to its proximity across the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) from Manhattan.\n\n# History\n\n## Colonial and post-colonial history\nThe first [European settlement](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-colonization-of-the-americas) in the region was the [Dutch](https://bliptext.com/articles/dutch-colonization-of-the-americas), who established the colony of [New Netherland](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-netherland).\nThe first settlements were established in 1635 followed by further settlement at [Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) in 1642 (ultimately unsuccessful), and Vlissingen (now [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens)) in 1645.\nOther early settlements included Newtown (now [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens)) in 1652 and [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) in 1655.\nHowever, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from [New England](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-england) via eastern [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) ([Suffolk County](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york)) who were subject to Dutch law.\nAfter 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/yorkshire-county-province-of-new-york).\nThe [Flushing Remonstrance](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-remonstrance) signed by colonists in 1657 is considered a precursor to the [United States Constitution](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-constitution)'s provision on [freedom of religion](https://bliptext.com/articles/freedom-of-religion) in the [Bill of Rights](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-bill-of-rights).\nThe signers protested the Dutch colonial authorities' persecution of [Quakers](https://bliptext.com/articles/quakers) in what is today the borough of Queens.\nOriginally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york).\nIt was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1, 1683.\nThe county is presumed to have been named after [Catherine of Braganza](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-iv-of-portugal)).\nThe county was founded alongside [Kings County](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn) ([Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn), which was named after her husband, King Charles II), and [Richmond County](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island) ([Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island), named after his illegitimate son, [the 1st Duke of Richmond](https://bliptext.com/articles/charles-lennox-1st-duke-of-richmond)).\nHowever, the namesake is disputed.\nWhile Catherine's title seems the most likely namesake, no historical evidence of official declaration has been found.\nOn October 7, 1691, all counties in the [Colony of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/colony-of-new-york) were redefined.\nQueens gained [North and South Brother Islands](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-and-south-brother-islands-new-york-city) as well as Huletts Island (today known as [Rikers Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/rikers-island)).\nOn 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/westchester-county) (today's [Bronx County](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx)).\nQueens played a minor role in the [American Revolution](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-revolution), as compared to Brooklyn, where the [Battle of Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/battle-of-long-island) was largely fought.\nQueens, 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-revolutionary-war).\nUnder the [Quartering Act](https://bliptext.com/articles/quartering-act), British soldiers used, as [barracks](https://bliptext.com/articles/barracks), the public inns and uninhabited buildings belonging to Queens residents.\nEven though many residents opposed unannounced quartering, they supported the British crown.\nThe quartering of soldiers in private homes, except in times of war, was banned by the [Third Amendment to the United States Constitution](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution).\n[Nathan Hale](https://bliptext.com/articles/nathan-hale) was captured by the British on the shore of [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay) and [hanged](https://bliptext.com/articles/hanging) in [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nFrom 1683 until 1784, Queens County consisted of five towns: Flushing, [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-hempstead-new-york), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), Newtown, and [Oyster Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-oyster-bay-new-york).\nOn April 6, 1784, a sixth town, the [Town of North Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/town-of-north-hempstead-new-york), was formed through secession by the northern portions of the Town of Hempstead.\nThe seat of the county government was located first in Jamaica, but the courthouse was torn down by the British during the American Revolution to use the materials to build barracks.\nAfter 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/mineola-new-york) (now in Nassau County) known then as Clowesville.\nThe [1850 United States census](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nConcerns were raised about the condition and distance of the old courthouse, and several sites were in contention for the construction of a new one.\nIn 1870, [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-queens) split from the Town of Newtown, incorporating itself as a city, consisting of what had been the [village of Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) and some unincorporated areas within the town of Newtown.\nAround 1874, the seat of county government was moved to Long Island City from Mineola.\nOn March 1, 1860, the eastern border between Queens County (later Nassau County) and [Suffolk County](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york) was redefined with no discernible change.\nOn June 8, 1881, [North Brother Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/north-brother-island-east-river) was transferred to [New York County](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan).\nOn May 8, 1884, [Rikers Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/rikers-island) was transferred to New York County.\nIn 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.\nOn April 16, 1964, [South Brother Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-brother-island-east-river) was transferred to Bronx County.\n# [Catherine of Braganza, Queen of England | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/CatherineofBraganza1.jpg]\n# [Queens Boulevard, looking east from Van Dam Street, in 1920. The newly built IRT Flushing Line is in the boulevard's median. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Queens///Boulevard%2C///New///York///City///%281920%29.jpg]\n\n## Incorporation as borough\nThe New York City borough of Queens was authorized on May 4, 1897, by a vote of the [New York State Legislature](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-legislature) after an 1894 referendum on consolidation.\nThe eastern 280 sqmi of Queens that became [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) was partitioned on January 1, 1899.\nQueens Borough was established on January 1, 1898.\n\"The city of [[Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city)](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), the towns of [Newtown](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-queens-county-new-york), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) and [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and that part of the town of [Hempstead](https://bliptext.com/articles/hempstead-new-york), in the county of Queens, which is westerly of a straight line drawn through the middle of the channel between [Rockaway Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-queens) and [Shelter Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-beach-new-york), in the county of Queens, to the Atlantic Ocean\" was annexed to New York City, dissolving all former municipal governments ([[Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city)](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city), the county government, all towns, and all villages) within the new borough.\nThe areas of Queens County that were not part of the consolidation plan, 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) on January 1, 1899.\nAt this point, the boundaries of Queens County and the Borough of Queens became [coterminous](https://bliptext.com/articles/coterminous).\nWith consolidation, Jamaica once again became the county seat, though county offices now extend to nearby [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens) also.\nIn 1899, New York City conducted a [land survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/surveying) to determine the exact border of Queens between [the Rockaways](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-rockaways) and [Lawrence](https://bliptext.com/articles/lawrence-nassau-county-new-york).\nThis 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.\nThe surveyors had to determine where the channel had been when the consolidation law was written in 1894.\nThe surveyors did so in part by speaking with local fishermen and oystermen who knew the area well.\nFrom 1905 to 1908, the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road) in Queens became electrified.\nTransportation to and from [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan), previously by ferry or via bridges in Brooklyn, opened up with the [Queensboro Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensboro-bridge) finished in 1909, and with railway tunnels under the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) in 1910.\nFrom 1915 onward, much of Queens was connected to the [New York City Subway](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-subway) system.\nWith the 1915 construction of the [Steinway Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/steinway-tunnel) carrying the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line) between Queens and Manhattan, and the robust expansion of the use of the [automobile](https://bliptext.com/articles/automobile), the population of Queens more than doubled in the 1920s, from 469,042 in 1920 to 1,079,129 in 1930.\nIn later years, Queens was the site of the [1939 New York World's Fair](https://bliptext.com/articles/1939-new-york-world-s-fair) and the [1964 New York World's Fair](https://bliptext.com/articles/1964-new-york-world-s-fair).\n[LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), established on a site in northern Queens that had been a seaplane base, opened in 1939, named for mayor [Fiorello La Guardia](https://bliptext.com/articles/fiorello-la-guardia), who pushed for the development of a modern airport in New York City.\nIdlewild Airport, in southern Queens, opened in 1948 on the site of a former golf course and was renamed [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) in 1963.\nIn one of several notable incidents, [TWA Flight 800](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/boeing-747).\n[American Airlines Flight 587](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-airlines-flight-587) took off from the latter airport on November 12, 2001, but ended up crashing in [Belle Harbor](https://bliptext.com/articles/belle-harbor-queens), killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.\nIn late October 2012, much of [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens) was damaged by a massive six-alarm fire caused by [Hurricane Sandy](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n\n# Geography\nQueens is located on the far western portion of geographic [Long Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) and includes a few smaller islands, most of which are in [Jamaica Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay), forming part of the [Gateway National Recreation Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area), which in turn is one of the [National Parks](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-park-service) of New York Harbor.\nAccording to the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census-bureau), Queens County has a total area of 178 sqmi, of which 109 sqmi is land and 70 sqmi (39%) is water.\n[Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn), the only other New York City borough on Long Island, lies just south and west of Queens.\n[Newtown Creek](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-creek), an [estuary](https://bliptext.com/articles/estuary) that flows into the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river), forms part of the border.\nTo the west and north is the East River, across which is [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan) to the west and [The Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx) to the north.\n[Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) is east of Queens on Long Island.\n[Staten Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/staten-island) is southwest of Brooklyn, and shares only a three-mile-long water border (in the Outer Bay) with Queens.\nNorth of Queens are [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay) and the [Flushing River](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-river), connecting to the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river).\nThe East River opens into [Long Island Sound](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-sound).\nThe midsection of Queens is crossed by the [Long Island straddling terminal moraine](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island) created by the [Wisconsin Glacier](https://bliptext.com/articles/wisconsin-glacier).\nThe [Rockaway Peninsula](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-peninsula), the southernmost part of all of Queens, sits between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, featuring 7 mi of beaches.\n# [Location of Queens (red) within New York City | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/New///York///City///location///Queens.svg]\n# [Aerial view of Queens looking north from John F. Kennedy International Airport | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Queens///aerial///2021.jpg]\n\n## Climate\nUnder the [Köppen climate classification](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-ppen-climate-classification), Queens has a [humid subtropical climate](https://bliptext.com/articles/humid-subtropical-climate) (Cfa) with partial shielding from the [Appalachian Mountains](https://bliptext.com/articles/appalachian-mountains) and moderating influences from the Atlantic Ocean.\nQueens receives precipitation throughout the year, with an average of 44.8 in per year.\nIn an average year, there will be 44 days with either moderate or heavy rain.\nAn average winter will have 22 days with some snowfall, of which nine days have at least 1 in of snowfall.\nSummer is typically hot, humid, and wet.\nAn average year will have 17 days with a high temperature of 90 F or warmer.\nIn an average year, there are 14 days on which the temperature does not go above 32 F all day.\nSpring and autumn can vary from chilly to very warm.\nThe highest temperature ever recorded at [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) was 107 F on July 3, 1966.\nThe highest temperature ever recorded at [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) was 104 F, also on July 3, 1966.\nLaGuardia Airport's record-low temperature was -7 F on February 15, 1943, the effect of which was exacerbated by a shortage of [heating oil](https://bliptext.com/articles/heating-oil) and [coal](https://bliptext.com/articles/coal).\nJohn F. Kennedy International Airport's record-low temperature was -2 F, on February 8, 1963, and January 21, 1985.\nOn January 24, 2016, 30.5 in of snow fell, which is the record in Queens.\n[Tornadoes](https://bliptext.com/articles/tornado) are generally rare; the most recent tornado, an [EF0](https://bliptext.com/articles/ef0), touched down in [College Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/college-point-queens) on August 3, 2018, causing minor damage.\nBefore that, there was a tornado in [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens) on September 8, 2012, which damaged the roofs of some homes, and an [EF1](https://bliptext.com/articles/ef1-tornado) tornado in [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) on September 26, 2010.\n\n# Neighborhoods\nFour [United States Postal Service](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/zip-code) starting with 111), Jamaica (114), Flushing (113), and [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens) (116).\nAlso, the [Floral Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/floral-park-queens) post office (110), based in Nassau County, serves a small part of northeastern Queens.\nEach 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.\nThese ZIP codes do not always reflect traditional neighborhood names and boundaries; \"[East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst-queens)\", for example, was largely coined by the USPS and is not an official community.\nMost neighborhoods have no solid boundaries.\nThe [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens) and [Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens) neighborhoods, for instance, overlap.\nResidents of Queens often closely identify with their neighborhood rather than with the borough or city.\nThe borough is a patchwork of dozens of unique neighborhoods, each with its own distinct identity:\n [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens), one of the largest neighborhoods in Queens, has a large and growing [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-people) community.\nThe community consists of [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american), [Koreans](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american), and [South Asians](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asian).\nAsians have now expanded eastward along the [Northern Boulevard axis](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-boulevard) through [Murray Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/murray-hill-queens), [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens), [Bayside](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayside-queens), [Douglaston–Little Neck](https://bliptext.com/articles/douglaston-little-neck-queens), and eventually into adjacent [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york).\nThese neighborhoods historically contained [Italian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) and Greeks, as well as [Latino Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/latino-american).\nThe busy intersection of [Main Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/main-street-queens), [Kissena Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/kissena-boulevard), and 41st Avenue defines the center of [Downtown Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/downtown-flushing) and the [Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠)](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-chinatown), known as the \"Chinese [Times Square](https://bliptext.com/articles/times-square)\" or the \"Chinese [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan)\".\nThe segment of Main Street between Kissena Boulevard and [Roosevelt Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-avenue), punctuated by the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road) [trestle](https://bliptext.com/articles/trestle-bridge) overpass, represents the cultural heart of the Flushing Chinatown.\nHousing over 25,000 individuals born in China alone, [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-queens) 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.\n [Howard Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/howard-beach-queens), [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens), and [Middle Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/middle-village-queens) are home to large Italian American populations.\n [Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/ozone-park-queens) and South [Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/ozone-park-queens) have large Italian, [Hispanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic), and [Guyanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/guyanese-people) populations.\n [Rockaway Beach](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-beach-queens) has a large [Irish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) population. \n [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens), in the northwest, is traditionally home to one of the largest [Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-american) populations outside Greece.\nIt also has large [Spanish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-american) and [Italian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) communities, and is home to a growing population of immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia, the [Balkans](https://bliptext.com/articles/balkans) as well as [young professionals](https://bliptext.com/articles/yuppies) from Manhattan.\nNearby [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city) is a major commercial center and the home to [Queensbridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensbridge-houses), the largest housing project in North America.\n [Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) and [Ridgewood](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridgewood-queens) are home to many Eastern European immigrants such as [Romanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/romanians), [Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-american), [Serbian](https://bliptext.com/articles/serbs), [Albanian](https://bliptext.com/articles/albanians), and other [Slavic](https://bliptext.com/articles/slavic-peoples) populations.\nRidgewood also has a large Hispanic population.\n [Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens) and [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens) make up a conglomeration of [Hispanic](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic), [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american), [Tibetan](https://bliptext.com/articles/tibetan-people), and South [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american) communities.\nJackson Heights is also known as \"Little Colombia\" thanks to the gastronomical and demographic impact of Colombian people.\n [Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-queens) is home to a large [Filipino American](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american) community and has a \"[Little Manila](https://bliptext.com/articles/little-manila)\" as well a large [Irish American](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) population.\nMany Filipino Americans live in [Hollis](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-queens) and [Queens Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-village-queens).\n [Richmond Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/richmond-hill-queens), in the south, is often thought of as \"Little Guyana\" for its large [Guyanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/guyana) community, as well as [Punjab Avenue (ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਵੇਨਿਊ)](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjab-avenue), or [Little Punjab](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjab), for its high concentration of [Punjabi people](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjabi-people).\n [Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens), [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens), [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens), and [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens) Hills have traditionally large Jewish populations (historically from Germany and [Eastern Europe](https://bliptext.com/articles/eastern-europe); though more recent immigrants are from Israel, Iran, and the former [Soviet Union](https://bliptext.com/articles/soviet-union)).\nThese neighborhoods are also known for large and growing Asian communities, mainly immigrants from China. \n [Jamaica Estates](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-estates-queens), [Jamaica Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-hills-queens), [Hillcrest](https://bliptext.com/articles/hillcrest-queens), [Fresh Meadows](https://bliptext.com/articles/fresh-meadows-queens), and [Hollis Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-hills-queens) are also populated with many people of Jewish background.\nMany Asian families reside in parts of Fresh Meadows as well.\n [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) is home to large [African American](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-american), [Caribbean](https://bliptext.com/articles/caribbean), and [Central American](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-american) populations.\nThere are also middle-class African American and Caribbean neighborhoods such as [Saint Albans](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-albans-queens), [Queens Village](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-village-queens), [Cambria Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/cambria-heights-queens), [Springfield Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/springfield-gardens-queens), [Rosedale](https://bliptext.com/articles/rosedale-queens), [Laurelton](https://bliptext.com/articles/laurelton-queens), and [Briarwood](https://bliptext.com/articles/briarwood-queens) along east and southeast Queens. \n [Bellerose](https://bliptext.com/articles/bellerose-queens) and [Floral Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/floral-park-queens), originally home to many Irish Americans, is home to a growing South Asian population, predominantly [Indian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american). \n [Corona and Corona Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/corona-queens), 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst).\nFrom the 1920s through the 1960s, Corona remained a close-knit neighborhood.\nCorona today has the highest concentration of Latinos of any Queens neighborhood, with an increasing Chinese American population, located between [Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/elmhurst-queens) and Flushing.\n \n# [A residential street in Jackson Heights | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/NYC///Jackson///Heights///3.jpg]\n# [Long Island City, a neighborhood in western Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Long///Island///City///New///York///May///2015///panorama///3.jpg]\n# [Forest Hills Gardens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Forest///Hills///Gardens%2C///Queens%2C///NY.jpg]\n\n# Demographics\nAt the [2020 census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2020-united-states-census), 2,405,464 people lived in Queens.\nIn 2018's [American Community Survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey), the population of Queens was estimated by the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-census-bureau) to have increased to 2,278,906, a rise of 2.2%.\nQueens' 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.\nThe 2019 estimates reported a decline to 2,253,858.\nIn 2018, there were 865,878 housing units, and 777,904 households, 2.97 persons per household, and a median value of $481,300.\nThere was an owner-occupancy rate of 44.5.\nIn the [2010 United States census](https://bliptext.com/articles/2010-united-states-census), Queens recorded a population of 2,230,722.\nThere were 780,117 households enumerated, with an average of 2.82 persons per household.\nThe [population density](https://bliptext.com/articles/population-density) was 20,465.3 /mi2.\nThere were 835,127 housing units at an average density of 7,661.7 /mi2.\nThe racial makeup of the county in 2010 was 39.7% [White](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 19.1% [Black](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census) or [African American](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 0.7% [Native American](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 22.9% [Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 0.1% [Pacific Islander](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), 12.9% from [other races](https://bliptext.com/articles/race-united-states-census), and 4.5% from two or more races.\nA total of 27.5% of the population were [Hispanic or Latin American](https://bliptext.com/articles/hispanic-and-latino-americans) of any race.\nThe [non-Hispanic white](https://bliptext.com/articles/non-hispanic-whites) population was 27.6%.\nIn 2019, non-Hispanic whites made up an estimated 24.4% of the population, and Blacks or African Americans were 17.3%.\nThe largest minority groups for the borough were Hispanic and Latin Americans (28.2%), and Asians (26.0%).\nIn Queens, residents consisted of 6.2% under 5, 13.9% 6–18, 64.2% 19–64, and 15.7% over 65.\nFemales made up 51.5% of the population.\nAn estimated 47.5% of residents are foreign-born in 2018.\nThe per capita income was $28,814, and the median household income was $62,008.\nIn 2018, 12.2% of residents lived below the poverty line.\nThe New York City Department of City Planning was alarmed by the negligible reported increase in population between 2000 and 2010.\nAreas 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.\nIn many cases, counts of vacant apartment units did not match data from local surveys and reports from property owners.\n, illegal [Chinese immigration](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-emigration) to New York City, especially to Queens and its [Flushing Chinatown](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-chinatown), has accelerated.\n# [The Elmhurst Chinatown (艾姆赫斯特唐人街) at the corner of Broadway and Dongan Avenue | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Bwy///Elmhurst///Chinatown///jeh.jpg]\n# [Astoria, a largely Greek-American neighborhood | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Astoria///uncle///georges.jpg]\n# [Ethnic origins in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Ethnic///Origins///in///Queens.png]\n\n## Ethnic groups\nAccording to a 2001 Claritas study, Queens was the most diverse county in the United States among counties of 100,000+ population.\nA 2014 analysis by [The Atlantic](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-atlantic) found Queens County to be the third most racially diverse county-equivalent in the United States—behind [Aleutians West Census Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/aleutians-west-census-area-alaska) and [Aleutians East Borough](https://bliptext.com/articles/aleutians-east-borough-alaska) in Alaska—as well as the most diverse county in New York.\nMeanwhile, a 2017 study by [Axios](https://bliptext.com/articles/axios-website) found that, although numerous smaller counties in the United States had higher rates of diversity, Queens was the United States' most diverse populous county.\nIn Queens, approximately 48.5% of the population was [foreign born](https://bliptext.com/articles/foreign-born) as of 2010.\nWithin the foreign born population, 49.5% were born in [Latin America](https://bliptext.com/articles/latin-america), 33.5% in Asia, 14.8% in Europe, 1.8% in Africa, and 0.4% in North America.\nRoughly 2.1% of the population was born in [Puerto Rico](https://bliptext.com/articles/puerto-rico), a U.S. territory, or abroad to American parents.\nIn addition, 51.2% of the population was born in the United States.\nApproximately 44.2% of the population over 5 years of age speak English at home; 23.8% speak Spanish at home.\nAlso, 16.8% of the populace speak other [Indo-European languages](https://bliptext.com/articles/indo-european-languages) at home.\nAnother 13.5% speak a non-Indo-European [Asian language](https://bliptext.com/articles/languages-of-asia) or language of the [Pacific Islands](https://bliptext.com/articles/pacific-islands) at home.\nAmong the Asian population in 2010, people of [Chinese ethnicity](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american) 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american) (2.9%), [Filipinos](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american) (1.7%), [Japanese](https://bliptext.com/articles/japanese-american) (0.3%), [Thais](https://bliptext.com/articles/thai-american) (0.2%), [Vietnamese](https://bliptext.com/articles/vietnamese-american) (0.2%), and [Indonesians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indonesian-american) and [Burmese](https://bliptext.com/articles/burmese-american) both make up 0.1% of the population.\nPeople of [South Asian](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-asian) descent made up 7.8% of Queens' population: [Indians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american) (5.3%), [Bangladeshi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangladeshi-american) (1.5%), [Pakistanis](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american) (0.7%), and [Nepali](https://bliptext.com/articles/nepalese-american) (0.2%).\nIn 2019, Chinese Americans remained the largest Asian ethnicity (10.9%) followed by [Asian Indians](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-americans) (5.7%).\nAsian Indians had estimated population of 144,896 in 2014 (6.24% of the 2014 borough population), as well as [Pakistani Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american), who numbered at 15,604.\nQueens has the second largest [Sikh](https://bliptext.com/articles/sikhism-in-the-united-states) population in the nation after [California](https://bliptext.com/articles/california).\nAmong the Hispanic or Latin American population, [Puerto Ricans](https://bliptext.com/articles/puerto-rican-people) made up the largest ethnic group at 4.6%, next to [Mexicans](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexican-american), who made up 4.2% of the population, and [Dominicans](https://bliptext.com/articles/dominican-american) at 3.9%.\n[Central Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/central-american) made up 2.4% and are mostly [Salvadorans](https://bliptext.com/articles/salvadorans).\n[South Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-american) constitute 9.6% of Queens's population, mainly of [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian) (4.4%) and [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) descent (4.2%).\nThe 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.\nOther Hispanic and Latinos collectively made up 18.9% of the population.\nThe 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.\nQueens has the largest [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) population in the city, accounting for over 35.6% of the city's total [Colombian](https://bliptext.com/articles/colombian-american) population, for a total of 145,956 in 2019; it also has the largest [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian-american) population in the city, accounting for 62.2% of the city's total [Ecuadorian](https://bliptext.com/articles/ecuadorian-american) population, for a total of 101,339.\nQueens has the largest [Peruvian](https://bliptext.com/articles/peruvian-american) population in the city, accounting for 69.9% of the city's total [Peruvian](https://bliptext.com/articles/peruvian-american) population, for a total of 30,825.\nQueens has the largest [Salvadoran](https://bliptext.com/articles/salvadoran-american) population in the city, accounting for 50.7% of the city for a total population of 25,235.\nThe [Mexican](https://bliptext.com/articles/mexican-american) population in Queens has increased 45.7% since 2011 to 71,283, the second-highest in the city, after Brooklyn.\nQueens is also home to 49.6% of the city's Asian population.\nAmong the five boroughs, Queens has the largest population of [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-american), [Indian](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-american), [Korean](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american), [Filipino](https://bliptext.com/articles/filipino-american), [Bangladeshi](https://bliptext.com/articles/bangladeshi-american) and [Pakistani Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/pakistani-american).\nQueens has the largest [Asian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american) population by county outside the [Western United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/western-united-states); according to the 2006 American Community Survey, Queens ranks fifth among US counties with 477,772 (21.18%) [Asian American](https://bliptext.com/articles/asian-american)s, behind [Los Angeles County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/los-angeles-county-california), [Honolulu County, Hawaii](https://bliptext.com/articles/honolulu-county-hawaii), [Santa Clara County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/santa-clara-county-california), and [Orange County, California](https://bliptext.com/articles/orange-county-california).\nSome main European ancestries in Queens as of 2000 include: [Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-american) (8.4%), [Irish](https://bliptext.com/articles/irish-american) (5.5%), [German](https://bliptext.com/articles/german-american) (3.5%), [Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-american) (2.7%), [Russian](https://bliptext.com/articles/russian-american) (2.3%), and [Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-american) (2.0%).\nOf the [European American](https://bliptext.com/articles/european-americans) population, Queens has the third largest [Bosnian](https://bliptext.com/articles/bosnian-american) population in the United States behind only [St. Louis](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-louis) and [Chicago](https://bliptext.com/articles/chicago), numbering more than 15,000.\nQueens is home to some 50,000 [Armenian Americans](https://bliptext.com/articles/armenian-americans).\nThe Jewish Community Study of New York 2011, sponsored by the [UJA-Federation of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/uja-federation-of-new-york), found that about 9% of Queens residents were Jews.\nIn 2011, there were about 198,000 [Jews in Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/jews-in-new-york-city), making it home to about 13% of all people in Jewish households in the eight-county area consisting of the Five Boroughs and [Westchester](https://bliptext.com/articles/westchester-county), [Nassau](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york), and [Suffolk](https://bliptext.com/articles/suffolk-county-new-york) counties.\nRussian-speaking Jews make up 28% of the Jewish population in Queens, the largest in any of the eight counties.\nIn Queens, the Black and African American population earns more than non-Hispanic whites on average.\nMany of these Blacks and African Americans live in quiet, middle-class suburban neighborhoods near the Nassau County border, such as [Laurelton](https://bliptext.com/articles/laurelton-queens) and [Cambria Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/cambria-heights), which have large Black populations whose family income is higher than average.\nThe 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).\nNeighborhoods 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.\nQueens has experienced a [real estate](https://bliptext.com/articles/real-estate) boom making most of its neighborhoods desirable for people who want to reside near Manhattan but in a less urban setting.\n# [Little India in Jackson Heights | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/74th///St///shopping///Jax///Hts///jeh.jpg]\n# [Ridgewood is home to a large Puerto Rican community | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Stock-De///Kalb-Hart///Av///Historic///Dist///Bushwick///jeh.jpg]\n\n## Languages\nAccording to the office of the [New York State Comptroller](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-comptroller) in 2000, 138 languages are spoken in the borough.\nThe 2021 [American Community Survey](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey) by the [United States Census Bureau](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nThe following tables shows the 15 most common non-English languages in Queens, with the most prominent being [Spanish](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-language-in-the-united-states), [Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-language-in-the-united-states), and [Bengali](https://bliptext.com/articles/bengali-american).\n! 1 !! !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10 !! 11 !! 12 !! 13 !! 14 !! 15 !! 16 ! [English](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-english) !!\nAll|[non-English](https://bliptext.com/articles/languages-of-the-united-states) !!\n[Spanish](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Chinese](https://bliptext.com/articles/chinese-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Bengali](https://bliptext.com/articles/bengali-american)!!\n[Korean](https://bliptext.com/articles/korean-american)!!\n[Tagalog](https://bliptext.com/articles/tagalog-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Russian](https://bliptext.com/articles/russian-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Haitian](https://bliptext.com/articles/haitian-american) !!\n[Polish](https://bliptext.com/articles/polish-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Italian](https://bliptext.com/articles/italian-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Greek](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Arabic](https://bliptext.com/articles/arabic-language-in-the-united-states)!!\n[Punjabi](https://bliptext.com/articles/punjabi-american) !!\nUrdu !!\nHindi !!\n[French](https://bliptext.com/articles/french-language-in-the-united-states)\n\n## Religion\nIn 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in Queens was the [Diocese of Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic-diocese-of-brooklyn), with 677,520 [Roman Catholics](https://bliptext.com/articles/catholic-church) worshiping at 100 parishes, followed by an estimated 81,456 [Muslims](https://bliptext.com/articles/islam-in-the-united-states) with 57 congregations, 80,000 [Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/orthodox-judaism) Jews with 110 congregations, 33,325 [non-denominational Christian](https://bliptext.com/articles/nondenominational-christianity) adherents with 129 congregations, 28,085 [AME](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-methodist-episcopal-church) Methodists with 14 congregations, 24,250 Greek [Orthodox](https://bliptext.com/articles/orthodox-judaism) with 6 congregations, 16,775 [Hindus](https://bliptext.com/articles/hinduism-in-the-united-states) with 18 congregations, 13,989 [AoG](https://bliptext.com/articles/assemblies-of-god) Pentecostals with 64 congregations, 13,507 [Seventh-day Adventists](https://bliptext.com/articles/seventh-day-adventist-church) with 45 congregations, and 12,957 [Mahayana](https://bliptext.com/articles/mahayana) Buddhists with 26 congregations.\nAltogether, 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.\nIn 2014, Queens had 738 religious organizations, the thirteenth most out of all U.S. counties.\n# [Rocket Thrower (1963) at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Unisphere///Fountains///-///The///Rocket///Thrower///01.jpg]\n\n# Culture\nQueens has been the center of the punk rock movement, particularly in New York; [Ramones](https://bliptext.com/articles/ramones) originated out of Forest Hills, it has also been the home of such notable artists as [Tony Bennett](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-bennett), [Francis Ford Coppola](https://bliptext.com/articles/francis-ford-coppola), [Paul Simon](https://bliptext.com/articles/paul-simon), and [Robert Mapplethorpe](https://bliptext.com/articles/robert-mapplethorpe).\nQueens Poet Laureates (generally, 3-year appointments):\nQueens has notably fostered [African American culture](https://bliptext.com/articles/african-american-culture), with establishments such as The Afrikan Poetry Theatre and the Black Spectrum Theater Company catering specifically to African Americans in Queens.\nIn the 1940s, Queens was an important center of [jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz); such [jazz](https://bliptext.com/articles/jazz) luminaries as [Louis Armstrong](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-armstrong), [Charlie Parker](https://bliptext.com/articles/charlie-parker), and [Ella Fitzgerald](https://bliptext.com/articles/ella-fitzgerald) took up residence in Queens, seeking refuge from the segregation they found elsewhere in New York.\nAdditionally, many notable hip-hop acts hail from Queens, including [Nas](https://bliptext.com/articles/nas), [Run-D.M.C.](https://bliptext.com/articles/run-d-m-c), [Kool G Rap](https://bliptext.com/articles/kool-g-rap), [A Tribe Called Quest](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-tribe-called-quest), [LL Cool J](https://bliptext.com/articles/ll-cool-j), [MC Shan](https://bliptext.com/articles/mc-shan), [Mobb Deep](https://bliptext.com/articles/mobb-deep), [50 Cent](https://bliptext.com/articles/50-cent), [Nicki Minaj](https://bliptext.com/articles/nicki-minaj), [Tony Yayo](https://bliptext.com/articles/tony-yayo), [Tragedy Khadafi](https://bliptext.com/articles/tragedy-khadafi), [N.O.R.E.](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-o-r-e), Lloyd Banks, [Capone](https://bliptext.com/articles/capone-rapper), [Ja Rule](https://bliptext.com/articles/ja-rule), [Heems](https://bliptext.com/articles/heems) of [Das Racist](https://bliptext.com/articles/das-racist) and [Action Bronson](https://bliptext.com/articles/action-bronson).\nQueens hosts various museums and cultural institutions that serve its diverse communities.\nThey range from the historical (such as the [John Bowne House](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-bowne-house)) to the scientific (such as the [New York Hall of Science](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-hall-of-science)), from conventional art galleries (such as the [Noguchi Museum](https://bliptext.com/articles/noguchi-museum)) to unique graffiti exhibits (such as [5 Pointz](https://bliptext.com/articles/5-pointz)).\nQueens's cultural institutions include, but are not limited to:\n• 5 Pointz\n• Afrikan Poetry Theatre\n• Bowne House\n• Flushing Town Hall\n• King Manor\n• MoMA PS1\n• Museum of the Moving Image\n• Noguchi Museum\n• New York Hall of Science\n• Queens Botanical Garden\n• Queens Museum of Art\n• SculptureCenter\n• Hindu Temple Society of North America\n• Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning\nThe travel magazine [Lonely Planet](https://bliptext.com/articles/lonely-planet) also named Queens the top destination in the country for 2015 for its cultural and culinary diversity.\nStating that Queens is \"quickly becoming its hippest\" but that \"most travelers haven't clued in... yet,\" the Lonely Planet stated that \"nowhere is the image of New York as the global melting pot truer than Queens.\"\n\n## Food\nThe cuisine available in Queens reflects its vast cultural diversity.\nThe cuisine of a particular neighborhood often represents its demographics; for example, [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) hosts many [Greek restaurants](https://bliptext.com/articles/greek-restaurant), in keeping with its traditionally Greek population.\n[Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens) is known for its prominent [Indian cuisine](https://bliptext.com/articles/indian-cuisine) and also many [Latin American eateries](https://bliptext.com/articles/spanish-cuisine).\nThe [Queens Night Market](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-night-market) in [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n\n# Economy\nQueens has the second-largest economy of New York City's five boroughs, following Manhattan.\nIn 2004, Queens had 15.2% (440,310) of all private-sector jobs in New York City and 8.8% of private-sector wages.\nIn 2012, private-sector employment increased to 486,160.\nQueens 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/film-production) and [television production](https://bliptext.com/articles/television-production) sectors, such that no single sector is overwhelmingly dominant.\nThe diversification in Queens' economy is reflected in a large amount of employment in the [export-oriented](https://bliptext.com/articles/export-oriented-economy) portions of its economy—such as transportation, manufacturing, and business services—that serve customers outside the region.\nThis 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.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/health-care-in-the-united-states) and social services.\nQueens is home to two of the three major New York City area airports, [JFK International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/jfk-international-airport) and [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport).\nThese airports are among the busiest in the world, leading the airspace above Queens to be the most congested in the country.\nThis 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.\nEducation 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.\nThe 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.\nComprising almost 17% of the jobs in Queens is the information, financial activities, and business and professional services sectors in 2004.\n, Queens had almost 40,000 business establishments.\nSmall businesses act as an important part of the borough's economic vitality with two-thirds of all businesses employing between one and four people.\nSeveral large companies have their headquarters in Queens, including watchmaker [Bulova](https://bliptext.com/articles/bulova), based in [East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens); internationally renowned piano manufacturer [Steinway & Sons](https://bliptext.com/articles/steinway-sons) in Astoria; [Glacéau](https://bliptext.com/articles/glac-au), the makers of Vitamin Water, headquartered in [Whitestone](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens); and [JetBlue Airways](https://bliptext.com/articles/jetblue-airways), an airline based in Long Island City.\nLong Island City is a major manufacturing and back-office center.\n[Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/whitestone-queens) is a major commercial hub for Chinese American and Korean American businesses, while [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens) is the major civic and transportation hub for the borough.\n# [JetBlue's corporate headquarters in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Jetblue///Metlife///27-01///QPN///jeh.jpg]\n# [Long Island City is one of New York City's fastest-growing neighborhoods. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Queens///Plaza///May///26///2017.jpg]\n\n# Sports\nQueens is home of the [New York Mets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-mets) of [Major League Baseball](https://bliptext.com/articles/major-league-baseball).\nFounded in 1962 as an expansion team, the Mets have won 2 [World Series](https://bliptext.com/articles/world-series) championships and 5 [National League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-league-baseball) pennants.\n[Citi Field](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-field) is a 41,922-seat stadium opened in April 2009 in [Flushing Meadows–Corona Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-meadows-corona-park) that is the home ballpark of the Mets.\n[Shea Stadium](https://bliptext.com/articles/shea-stadium), the former home of the Mets and the [New York Jets](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-jets) of the [National Football League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-football-league), as well as the temporary home of the [New York Yankees](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-yankees) and the [New York Giants Football Team](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-giants) stood where Citi Field's parking lot is now located, operating from 1964 to 2008.\nQueens is the future home of the [Etihad Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/etihad-park-new-york-city) for [New York City FC](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-fc) of [Major League Soccer](https://bliptext.com/articles/major-league-soccer), which is expected to be completed in 2027.\nThe [U.S. Open](https://bliptext.com/articles/us-open-tennis) tennis tournament has been played since 1978 at the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center](https://bliptext.com/articles/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center), located just south of Citi Field.\nWith a capacity of 23,771, [Arthur Ashe Stadium](https://bliptext.com/articles/arthur-ashe-stadium) is [the biggest tennis stadium in the world](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-tennis-stadiums-by-capacity).\nThe U.S. Open was formerly played at the [West Side Tennis Club](https://bliptext.com/articles/west-side-tennis-club) in [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens).\n[South Ozone Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/south-ozone-park-queens) is the home of [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack), which is operated by the [New York Racing Association](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-racing-association), and offers [Thoroughbred](https://bliptext.com/articles/thoroughbred) horse racing from late October/early November through April.\n(The [Belmont Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/belmont-park) racetrack and the adjacent [UBS Arena](https://bliptext.com/articles/ubs-arena) (home of the [New York Islanders](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-islanders) of the [National Hockey League](https://bliptext.com/articles/national-hockey-league)) sit entirely in [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york), just over the City line; however, small sections of the properties of both venues are in Queens, as is the [Belmont Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/belmont-park) station of the [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road).)\n# [Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Citi///Field///and///Apple.JPG]\n# [Arthur Ashe Stadium during the 2014 US Open | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/US///Open///2014///%2815048888245%29.jpg]\n\n# Government\nSince New York City's consolidation in 1898, Queens has been governed by the [New York City Charter](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-charter) that provides for a strong [mayor–council system](https://bliptext.com/articles/mayor-council-government).\nThe centralized New York City government is responsible for [public education](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-department-of-education), correctional institutions, [public safety](https://bliptext.com/articles/public-safety), recreational facilities, sanitation, water supply, and welfare services in Queens.\nThe [Queens Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-library) is governed by a 19-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the [Mayor of New York City](https://bliptext.com/articles/mayor-of-new-york-city) and the [Borough President](https://bliptext.com/articles/borough-president) of Queens.\nSince 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.\nQueens' Borough President is [Donovan Richards](https://bliptext.com/articles/donovan-richards), elected in November 2020 as a [Democrat](https://bliptext.com/articles/democratic-party-united-states).\n[Queens Borough Hall](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-borough-hall) is the seat of government and is located in [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens).\nThe Democratic Party holds most public offices.\nSixty-three percent of registered Queens voters are Democrats.\nLocal party platforms center on affordable housing, education, and economic development.\nControversial political issues in Queens include development, noise, and the cost of housing.\nEach of the city's five counties has its criminal court system and [District Attorney](https://bliptext.com/articles/district-attorney), the chief public prosecutor who is directly elected by popular vote.\n[Richard A. Brown](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-brown-lawyer), who ran on both the Republican and Democratic Party tickets, was the [District Attorney of Queens County](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-county-district-attorney-new-york) from 1991 to 2018.\nThe new DA as of January 2020 is [Melinda Katz](https://bliptext.com/articles/melinda-katz).\nQueens has 12 seats on the [New York City Council](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-council), the second-largest number among the five boroughs.\nIt is divided into 14 community districts, each served by a local [Community Board](https://bliptext.com/articles/community-boards-of-queens).\nCommunity Boards are representative bodies that field complaints and serve as advocates for residents.\nAlthough Queens is heavily Democratic, it is considered a swing county in New York politics.\n[Republican](https://bliptext.com/articles/republican-party-united-states) political candidates who do well in Queens usually win citywide or statewide elections.\nRepublicans such as former Mayors [Rudolph Giuliani](https://bliptext.com/articles/rudolph-giuliani) and [Michael Bloomberg](https://bliptext.com/articles/michael-bloomberg) won majorities in Queens.\nRepublican State Senator [Serphin Maltese](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.](https://bliptext.com/articles/joseph-addabbo-jr) In 2002, Queens voted against incumbent Republican [Governor of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/governor-of-new-york) [George Pataki](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-pataki) in favor of his Democratic opponent, [Carl McCall](https://bliptext.com/articles/carl-mccall) by a slim margin.\nOn the national level, Queens has not voted for a Republican candidate in a presidential election since 1972, when Queens voters chose [Richard Nixon](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-nixon) over [George McGovern](https://bliptext.com/articles/george-mcgovern).\nFrom [1996](https://bliptext.com/articles/1996-united-states-presidential-election) until [2024](https://bliptext.com/articles/2024-united-states-presidential-election), Democratic presidential candidates have received over 70% of the popular vote in Queens, with [Kamala Harris](https://bliptext.com/articles/kamala-harris) being the first Democrat to receive less than 70% of the borough's votes since [Bill Clinton](https://bliptext.com/articles/bill-clinton) in [1992](https://bliptext.com/articles/1992-united-states-presidential-election).\nSince the [first election of Donald Trump](https://bliptext.com/articles/2016-united-states-presidential-election) in 2016, Queens has become known in the United States for its surge in [progressive](https://bliptext.com/articles/progressivism) politics and grassroots campaigning.\n# [Queens County Courthouse was built in 1938 and houses the borough's Supreme Court, Surrogate Court, and County Clerk. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Queens///County///Courthouse///by///David///Shankbone.jpg]\n\n## Federal representation\nAs of 2024, five Democrats represent Queens in the [United States House of Representatives](https://bliptext.com/articles/united-states-house-of-representatives).\n\n# Housing\nThe borough's diverse housing ranges from [high-rise](https://bliptext.com/articles/high-rise-building) apartment buildings in some areas of western and central Queens, such as [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens), [Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens), Flushing, [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens), and Long Island City; to lower-rise neighborhoods in the eastern part of the borough.\nThere were 911,957 housing units in 2022 at an average density of 8388 /mi2.\nAffordable rental and co-operative housing units throughout the borough were created under the [Mitchell–Lama Housing Program](https://bliptext.com/articles/mitchell-lama-housing-program).\nPublic housing is administered by the [New York City Housing Authority](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-housing-authority), which accounts for more than 30,000 residents in more than 15,300 units in 2023.\n# [Queensbridge Houses, a public housing development in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Queensbridge///Houses.jpg]\n\n# Education\n\n## Elementary and secondary education\nElementary and secondary school education in Queens is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions.\nNon-charter public schools in the borough are managed by the [New York City Department of Education](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-department-of-education), the largest public school system in the United States.\nMost private schools are affiliated with or identify themselves with the [Roman Catholic](https://bliptext.com/articles/roman-catholic) or [Jewish](https://bliptext.com/articles/jewish) religious communities.\n[Townsend Harris High School](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nOne of the nine Specialized High Schools in New York City is located in Queens.\nLocated in the [York College, City University of New York](https://bliptext.com/articles/york-college-city-university-of-new-york) Campus in Jamaica, the [Queens High School for the Sciences at York College](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nIt is one of the smallest Specialized High Schools that requires an entrance exam, the [Specialized High Schools Admissions Test](https://bliptext.com/articles/specialized-high-schools-admissions-test).\nThe school has a student body of around 400 students.\n\n## Postsecondary institutions\n# [LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/LaGuardia///CC///E///jeh.jpg]\n# [Queens College is part of the City University of New York. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Rosenthal///Faisal.jpg]\n\n## Queens Public Library\nThe [Queens Public Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-public-library) is the public library system for the borough and one of three library systems serving New York City.\nDating 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.\nSeparate from the [New York Public Library](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-public-library), it is composed of 63 branches throughout the borough.\nIn the fiscal year 2001, the Library achieved a circulation of 16.8 million.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.\n# [A branch of the Queens Public Library in Flushing | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/QPL///Flushing///jeh.JPG]\n\n# Transportation\nAccording to 2011–2015 [ACS](https://bliptext.com/articles/american-community-survey) microdata, 38% of Queens households did not own a car; the citywide rate is 55%.\n\n## Vehicles for hire\nAs of 2019, the city had about 80,000 for-hire vehicles, of which, two-thirds were [ride-hail](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridesharing-company) – [Uber](https://bliptext.com/articles/uber), [Lyft](https://bliptext.com/articles/lyft), [Via](https://bliptext.com/articles/via-transportation), and [Juno](https://bliptext.com/articles/juno-company).\nUntil the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/covid-19-pandemic), the ride-hail car offered a [ride-share](https://bliptext.com/articles/ridesharing-company) option.\nThere are about 13,500 traditional taxis (yellow cabs with [medallions](https://bliptext.com/articles/taxi-medallion)) in the city, 7,676 [boro taxis](https://bliptext.com/articles/boro-taxis), 38,791 black cars, 21,932 livery cars, 288 commuter vans, and 2,206 paratransit vehicles.\n\n## Roundtrip car sharing\nZipcar, and others, entered New York City market in 2002 offering [roundtrip](https://bliptext.com/articles/shared-transport) [car sharing](https://bliptext.com/articles/car-sharing) from private locations, mostly from parking garages.\nIn 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/en-wikt-take-up) in [The Bronx](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-bronx) and in Queens – [Jackson Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/jackson-heights-queens), [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-queens), and [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens).\nIn 2020, during beginning throes of the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/covid-19-pandemic), [Enterprise CarShare](https://bliptext.com/articles/enterprise-holdings) suspended service in New York City.\nAmong the traditional car rental locations in Queens, both international airports harbor larger fleets, conveniently close to Queens residents.\n\n## Micromobility\n[Citi Bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/citi-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system)) – a docked-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system) and e-[bike](https://bliptext.com/articles/bicycle-sharing-system) sharing company had, as of July 2019, 169,000 annual subscribers.\nIn 2021, the [Department of Transportation](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-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.\nThe expansion includes 52 new docking stations in Astoria, as well as new stations in Sunnyside and Woodside.\nNon-docked e-[moped](https://bliptext.com/articles/moped) service was launched in the city by [Revel](https://bliptext.com/articles/revel-transit) in 2019.\nCompanies such as [Bird](https://bliptext.com/articles/bird-transportation-company), [Lime](https://bliptext.com/articles/lime-transportation-company), VeoRide introduced non-docked [e-scooter-sharing](https://bliptext.com/articles/scooter-sharing-system) in 2021.\n\n## Airports\nQueens has crucial importance in international and interstate air traffic, with two of the [New York metropolitan area](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-metropolitan-area)'s three major airports located there.\n[John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport), in 2019, before the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/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](https://bliptext.com/articles/busiest-airports-in-the-united-states-by-international-passenger-traffic).\nIn response to the [COVID-19 pandemic](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\n2020 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.\nJFK is owned by the City of New York and managed, since 1947, by the [Port Authority of New York and New Jersey](https://bliptext.com/articles/port-authority-of-new-york-and-new-jersey).\nThe airport's runways and six terminals cover an area of 4930 acres on [Jamaica Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay) in southeastern Queens.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/assassination-of-john-f-kennedy), November 22, 1963.\n[LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) is located in [East Elmhurst](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-elmhurst-queens), in northern Queens, on [Flushing Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-bay).\nOriginally opened in 1939, the airport's two runways and four terminals cover 680 acres, serving 28.4 million passengers in 2015.\nIn 2014, citing outdated conditions in the airport's terminals, Vice President Joe Biden compared LaGuardia Airport to a \"[third world](https://bliptext.com/articles/third-world) country\".\nIn 2015, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey began a $4 billion project to renovate LaGuardia Airport's terminals and entryways.\nThe project is expected to be complete by 2021.\n# [John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/JFK///Plane///Queue.jpg]\n# [A multibillion-dollar reconstruction of LaGuardia Airport was announced in July 2015. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/LaGuardia///Airport.JPG]\n\n## Public transportation\n\n### Subways\nQueens is served by the [New York City Subway](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-city-subway), with 81 stations located within the borough.\nTwo physical lines — the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line) and the [IND Queens Boulevard Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-queens-boulevard-line) — serve as the primary east–west trunk lines in the borough, with all services on the two lines continuing across the East River into Manhattan.\nTwo additional lines are wholly within Queens: the [BMT [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-astoria-line), which serves the neighborhoods of [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens) and Ditmars–Steinway, and the [IND Rockaway Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-rockaway-line), which provides access to [John F. Kennedy International Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-f-kennedy-international-airport) and the [Rockaways](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-queens).\nIn addition, five other New York City Subway lines — the [BMT Jamaica Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-jamaica-line), [BMT Myrtle Avenue Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/bmt-myrtle-avenue-line), [BMT/IND Archer Avenue Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/archer-avenue-lines), [IND Crosstown Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-crosstown-line), and [IND Fulton Street Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-fulton-street-line) — run between Brooklyn and Queens.\nThe [A](https://bliptext.com/articles/a-new-york-city-subway-service), [G](https://bliptext.com/articles/g-new-york-city-subway-service), [J/Z](https://bliptext.com/articles/j-z-new-york-city-subway-service), and [M](https://bliptext.com/articles/m-new-york-city-subway-service) routes connect Queens to Brooklyn without going through [M](https://bliptext.com/articles/m-new-york-city-subway-service)anhattan first.\nThe [F](https://bliptext.com/articles/f-new-york-city-subway-service), [N](https://bliptext.com/articles/n-new-york-city-subway-service), and [R](https://bliptext.com/articles/r-new-york-city-subway-service) trains connect Queens and Brooklyn via Manhattan, while the [E](https://bliptext.com/articles/e-new-york-city-subway-service), [W](https://bliptext.com/articles/w-new-york-city-subway-service), and [7/<7>](https://bliptext.com/articles/7-new-york-city-subway-service) trains connect Queens to Manhattan only.\nThe [L](https://bliptext.com/articles/l-new-york-city-subway-service) train briefly enters Queens at [Halsey Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/halsey-street-station-bmt-canarsie-line), connecting Queens to either Brooklyn or both Brooklyn and Manhattan, depending on the direction.\nIn addition, the [[Rockaway Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-queens) Shuttle](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-shuttle) operates strictly in the neighborhoods of [Rockaway Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-queens) and [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens).\n# [46th Street – Bliss Street subway station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/NYCSub///7///station///view.jpg]\n\n### Long Island Rail Road\nThe [Long Island Rail Road](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-rail-road), also part of the [MTA](https://bliptext.com/articles/metropolitan-transportation-authority), operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays – carrying an average of 301,000 customers a day (80 million a year, adjusting downward for weekends) on about 735 scheduled trains.\nIt is the busiest commuter rail hub in the United States.\nMost of its branches originate or terminate at [Penn Station](https://bliptext.com/articles/pennsylvania-station-new-york-city).\nAll but one of its branches (the [Port Washington Branch](https://bliptext.com/articles/port-washington-branch)) pass through [Jamaica](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-station).\nWithin the [City Terminal Zone](https://bliptext.com/articles/city-terminal-zone), Queens has stations in [[Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city)](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-station), [Hunterspoint Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunterspoint-avenue-station-lirr) (in [[Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city)](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city-station)), [Bayside](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayside-station-lirr), [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-station-lirr), [Flushing](https://bliptext.com/articles/flushing-main-street-station-lirr), [Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-station-lirr), and [Kew Gardens](https://bliptext.com/articles/kew-gardens-queens).\nThere are also two stations where LIRR passengers can transfer to the subway.\nUntil 1998, the LIRR served 5 stations on the Lower Montauk branch between Jamaica and Hunterspoint Avenue.\nThe 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-and-atlantic-railway).\n[Sunnyside Yard](https://bliptext.com/articles/sunnyside-yard) is used to store [Amtrak](https://bliptext.com/articles/amtrak) intercity and [NJ Transit](https://bliptext.com/articles/nj-transit) commuter trains from Penn Station in Manhattan.\nThe US$11.1 billion [[East Side](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-side-manhattan) Access](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-side-access) project, which brought LIRR trains to [Grand Central Terminal](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-terminal) in Manhattan, opened in 2023; this project created a new train tunnel beneath the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river), connecting [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city) in Queens with the [East Side](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-side-manhattan) of Manhattan.\n# [Flushing – Main Street LIRR station | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Bombardier///M7///7799///enters///Flushing.jpg]\n\n### JFK AirTrain\nThe elevated [AirTrain](https://bliptext.com/articles/airtrain-jfk) [people mover](https://bliptext.com/articles/people-mover) system connects JFK International Airport to the New York City Subway and the Long Island Rail Road along the Van Wyck Expressway; a separate [AirTrain](https://bliptext.com/articles/airtrain-jfk) system is planned alongside the [Grand Central Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-parkway) to connect LaGuardia Airport to these transit systems.\nPlans 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.\n\n### MTA buses\n2019 bus ridership, citywide, on the MTA system, was 2.2 million per average weekday – about 678 million for the year.\nIn Queens, the [Q58](https://bliptext.com/articles/q58-new-york-city-bus) and [Q44](https://bliptext.com/articles/q20-and-q44-buses) [Select Bus Service](https://bliptext.com/articles/select-bus-service) were the seventh and tenth, respectively, citywide, busiest local lines in 2019.\nIn addition to regular bus lines serving [LaGuardia Airport](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), the MTA offers two [Select Bus Services](https://bliptext.com/articles/select-bus-service), regular fare, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.\nThe [M60](https://bliptext.com/articles/m60-new-york-city-bus) – terminals [A](https://bliptext.com/articles/marine-air-terminal), [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [D](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) – to and from [Manhattan](https://bliptext.com/articles/manhattan) via Grand [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)entral Parkway and the Triborough [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)ridge – in [Harlem](https://bliptext.com/articles/harlem), along [125th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/125th-street-manhattan) (with a stop at the [125th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/125th-street-manhattan) Metro-North station), ending in [Morningside Heights](https://bliptext.com/articles/morningside-heights) on the [Upper West Side](https://bliptext.com/articles/upper-west-side), a few blocks south of [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport)olumbia University.\nThe [Q70](https://bliptext.com/articles/q70-new-york-city-bus) – terminals [B](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [C](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport), [D](https://bliptext.com/articles/laguardia-airport) – through Queens, ending in [Woodside](https://bliptext.com/articles/woodside-queens) at 61st Street and [Roosevelt Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-and-roosevelt-avenues).\nOverall, about [100 local bus routes](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-bus-routes-in-queens) operate within Queens, and another [20 express routes](https://bliptext.com/articles/list-of-express-bus-routes-in-new-york-city) shuttle commuters between Queens and Manhattan, under the [MTA New York City Bus and MTA Bus](https://bliptext.com/articles/mta-regional-bus-operations) brands.\n\n### Proposed streetcar\nA [streetcar](https://bliptext.com/articles/streetcar) line [connecting Queens with Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-queens-connector) was proposed by the city in February 2016.\nThe planned timeline originally called for service to begin around 2024.\nIn September 2020, Mayor de Blasio deferred decisions on the project to after the [2021 New York City mayoral election](https://bliptext.com/articles/2021-new-york-city-mayoral-election).\n\n### Water transit\n[New York Water Taxi](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-water-taxi) operates service across the [East River](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river) from [Hunters Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunters-point-queens) in Long Island City to Manhattan at [34th Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/34th-street-manhattan) and south to Pier 11 at [Wall Street](https://bliptext.com/articles/wall-street).\nIn 2007, limited weekday service was begun between [Breezy Point](https://bliptext.com/articles/breezy-point-queens), the westernmost point in the Rockaways, to Pier 11 via the [Brooklyn Army Terminal](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-army-terminal).\nSummertime weekend service provides service from Lower Manhattan and southwest Brooklyn to the peninsula's [Gateway](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area) beaches.\nIn the [aftermath](https://bliptext.com/articles/effects-of-hurricane-sandy-in-new-york) of [Hurricane Sandy](https://bliptext.com/articles/hurricane-sandy) on October 29, 2012, ferry operator [SeaStreak](https://bliptext.com/articles/seastreak) began running a city-subsidized ferry service between a makeshift ferry slip at Beach 108th Street and [Beach Channel Drive](https://bliptext.com/articles/beach-channel-drive) in [Rockaway Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rockaway-park-queens) and piers in Manhattan and Brooklyn.\nThe service was extended multiple times.\nfinally ending on October 31, 2014.\nIn February 2015, Mayor [Bill de Blasio](https://bliptext.com/articles/bill-de-blasio) announced that the city government would begin a citywide ferry service called [NYC Ferry](https://bliptext.com/articles/nyc-ferry) to extend ferry transportation to communities in the city that have been traditionally underserved by public transit.\nThe ferry opened in May 2017, with the Queens neighborhoods of Rockaway and Astoria served by their eponymous routes.\nA third route, the [East River Ferry](https://bliptext.com/articles/east-river-ferry), serves [Hunter's Point South](https://bliptext.com/articles/hunter-s-point-south).\n# [Newtown Creek with the Midtown Manhattan skyline in the background | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Small///tankers///unload///in///Newtown///Creek///jeh.jpg]\n\n## Roads\n\n### Highways\nQueens is traversed by three trunk east–west highways.\nThe [Long Island Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-expressway) ([Interstate 495](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-495-new-york)) runs from the [Queens Midtown Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-midtown-tunnel) on the west through the borough to Nassau County on the east.\nThe [Grand Central Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-central-parkway), whose western terminus is the [Triborough Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/triborough-bridge), extends east to the Queens/Nassau border, where the roadway continues as the [Northern State Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/northern-state-parkway).\nThe [Belt Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/belt-parkway) begins at the [Gowanus Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/gowanus-expressway) in Brooklyn, and extends east into Queens, past [Aqueduct Racetrack](https://bliptext.com/articles/aqueduct-racetrack) and JFK Airport.\nOn its eastern end at the Queens/Nassau border, it splits into the [Southern State Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/southern-state-parkway) which continues east, and the [Cross Island Parkway](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-island-parkway) which turns north.\nThere are also several major north–south highways in Queens, including the [Brooklyn-Queens Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/brooklyn-queens-expressway) ([Interstate 278](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-278)), the [Van Wyck Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/van-wyck-expressway) ([Interstate 678](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-678)), the [Clearview Expressway](https://bliptext.com/articles/clearview-expressway) ([Interstate 295](https://bliptext.com/articles/interstate-295-new-york)), and the Cross Island Parkway.\nQueens has six state highways that run west–east largely on surface roads.\nFrom north to south, they are [[New York State Route 25](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25)A](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25a) (Northern Boulevard), [[New York State Route 25](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25)B](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25b) (Hillside Avenue), [New York State Route 25](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25) ([Queens Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-boulevard), Hillside Avenue, and Braddock Avenue), [New York State Route 24](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-24) (Hempstead Avenue), and [New York State Route 27](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-27) ([Conduit Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/conduit-avenue)).\nThe only state highway that primarily uses an expressway is [New York State Route 878](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-878), which uses the Nassau Expressway in southern Queens.\n# [Air Train JFK path above the Van Wyck Expressway | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/2024-06-19///12///05///10///View///south///along///Interstate///678///%28Van///Wyck///Expressway%29///from///the///overpass///for///Atlantic///Avenue///in// /Queens%2C///New///York///City%2C///New///York.jpg]\n\n### Streets\nThe streets of Queens are laid out in a semi-[grid](https://bliptext.com/articles/grid-plan) system, with a numerical system of [street names](https://bliptext.com/articles/street-name) (similar to Manhattan and the Bronx).\nNearly 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.\nIn 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.\nAlso, 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).\nNumbered roads tend to be residential, although numbered commercial streets are not rare.\nA fair number of streets that were country roads in the 18th and 19th centuries (especially major thoroughfares such as [Northern Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/new-york-state-route-25a), [Queens Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-boulevard), [Hillside Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/hillside-avenue-queens), and [Jamaica Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-avenue-queens)) carry names rather than numbers, typically though not uniformly called \"Boulevards\" or \"Parkways\".\nQueens [house numbering](https://bliptext.com/articles/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.\nFor 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.\nThis pattern does not stop when a street is named, assuming that there is an existing numbered cross-street.\nFor example, [Queens College](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-college) is situated at 65–30 Kissena Boulevard, and is so named because the cross-street closest to the entrance is 65th Avenue.\nMany 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.\nIn the early 1920s, a \"Philadelphia Plan\" was instituted to overlay one numbered system upon the whole borough.\nThe Topographical Bureau, Borough of Queens, worked out the details.\nSubway stations were only partly renamed, and some, including those along the [IRT Flushing Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/irt-flushing-line), now share dual names after the original street names.\nIn 2012, some numbered streets in the [Douglaston Hill Historic District](https://bliptext.com/articles/douglaston-hill-historic-district) were renamed to their original names, with 43rd Avenue becoming Pine Street.\nThe Rockaway Peninsula does not follow the same system as the rest of the borough and has its own numbering system.\nStreets are numbered in ascending order heading west from near the Nassau County border, and are prefixed with the word \"Beach.\"\nStreets at the easternmost end, however, are nearly all named.\n[Bayswater](https://bliptext.com/articles/bayswater-queens), which is on Jamaica Bay, has its numbered streets prefixed with the word \"Bay\" rather than \"Beach\".\nAnother deviation from the norm is [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens); 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-bay-boulevard-queens), the neighborhood's major through street.\nBroad 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.\nThe other exception is the neighborhood of Ridgewood, which for the most part shares a grid and [house numbering](https://bliptext.com/articles/house-numbering) system with the Brooklyn neighborhood of [Bushwick](https://bliptext.com/articles/bushwick-brooklyn).\nThe grid runs east–west from the LIRR [Bay Ridge Branch](https://bliptext.com/articles/bay-ridge-branch) [right-of-way](https://bliptext.com/articles/right-of-way-transportation) 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](https://bliptext.com/articles/bedford-stuyvesant-brooklyn) grid at Broadway.\nAll streets on the grid have names.\n# [Cross-street signs for a single-named boulevard and a co-named avenue in Queens | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Parsons///jewel.jpg]\n\n### Bridges and tunnels\nQueens is connected to the Bronx by the [Bronx–Whitestone Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/bronx-whitestone-bridge), the [Throgs Neck Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/throgs-neck-bridge), the [Triborough Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/triborough-bridge) (also known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge), and the [Hell Gate Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/hell-gate-bridge).\nQueens is connected to Manhattan Island by the Triborough Bridge, the [Queensboro Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/queensboro-bridge), and the [Queens–Midtown Tunnel](https://bliptext.com/articles/queens-midtown-tunnel), as well as to [Roosevelt Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-island) by the [Roosevelt Island](https://bliptext.com/articles/roosevelt-island) Bridge.\nWhile most of the Queens/Brooklyn border is on land, the [Kosciuszko Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/kosciuszko-bridge) crosses the [Newtown Creek](https://bliptext.com/articles/newtown-creek) connecting [Maspeth](https://bliptext.com/articles/maspeth-queens) to [Greenpoint, Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-brooklyn).\nThe [Pulaski Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/pulaski-bridge) connects [McGuinness Boulevard](https://bliptext.com/articles/mcguinness-boulevard) in Greenpoint to 11th Street, Jackson Avenue, and Hunters Point Avenue in [Long Island City](https://bliptext.com/articles/long-island-city).\nThe J. J. Byrne Memorial Bridge (a.k.a. [[Greenpoint Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-avenue) Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-avenue-bridge)) connects the sections of [Greenpoint Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/greenpoint-avenue) in Greenpoint and Long Island City.\nA lesser bridge connects [Grand Avenue in Queens to Grand Street in Brooklyn](https://bliptext.com/articles/grand-street-and-grand-avenue).\nThe [Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/cross-bay-veterans-memorial-bridge), built in 1939, traverses Jamaica Bay to connect the Rockaway Peninsula to [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-queens) and the rest of Queens.\nConstructed in 1937, the [Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge](https://bliptext.com/articles/marine-parkway-gil-hodges-memorial-bridge) links [Flatbush Avenue](https://bliptext.com/articles/flatbush-avenue), Brooklyn's longest thoroughfare, with [Jacob Riis Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/jacob-riis-park) and the western end of the Peninsula.\nBoth crossings were built and continue to be operated by what is now known as [MTA Bridges and Tunnels](https://bliptext.com/articles/mta-bridges-and-tunnels).\nThe [IND Rockaway Line](https://bliptext.com/articles/ind-rockaway-line) parallels the Cross Bay, has a mid-bay station at [Broad Channel](https://bliptext.com/articles/broad-channel-ind-rockaway-line) which is just a short walk from the [Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-bay-wildlife-refuge), now part of [Gateway National Recreation Area](https://bliptext.com/articles/gateway-national-recreation-area) and a major stop on the [Atlantic Flyway](https://bliptext.com/articles/atlantic-flyway).\n# [The Triborough Bridge connects Queens with Manhattan and The Bronx. | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Hell///Gate///and///Triborough///Bridges///New///York///City///Queens.jpg]\n\n# Notable people\nMany public figures have grown up or lived in Queens.\n[Donald Trump](https://bliptext.com/articles/donald-trump), a businessman who became the [45th and 47th President of the United States](https://bliptext.com/articles/donald-trump), was born in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center and raised at [81-15 Wareham Place](https://bliptext.com/articles/81-15-wareham-place) in [Jamaica Estates](https://bliptext.com/articles/jamaica-estates-queens), later moving to Midland Parkway.\nHe was preceded in the White House by former [First Lady](https://bliptext.com/articles/first-lady-of-the-united-states) [Nancy Reagan](https://bliptext.com/articles/nancy-reagan), who lived in Flushing as a child.\n[Theodore Roosevelt](https://bliptext.com/articles/theodore-roosevelt), the 26th President, lived at [Sagamore Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/sagamore-hill-house) in [Oyster Bay](https://bliptext.com/articles/oyster-bay-town-new-york) from the mid-1880s until he died; the area was considered part of Queens until the formation of neighboring [Nassau County](https://bliptext.com/articles/nassau-county-new-york) in 1899.\nMusicians raised in the borough include\nJazz greats [Louis Armstrong](https://bliptext.com/articles/louis-armstrong) and [Norman Mapp](https://bliptext.com/articles/norman-mapp) both resided in [Corona](https://bliptext.com/articles/corona-queens), as well as [folk rock](https://bliptext.com/articles/folk-rock) duo [Simon & Garfunkel](https://bliptext.com/articles/simon-garfunkel) and [guitarists](https://bliptext.com/articles/guitarist) [Scott Ian](https://bliptext.com/articles/scott-ian) and [Johnny Ramone](https://bliptext.com/articles/johnny-ramone).\n[K-pop](https://bliptext.com/articles/k-pop) rapper [Mark Lee](https://bliptext.com/articles/mark-rapper) from the boy group [NCT](https://bliptext.com/articles/nct-band) grew up in Queens before moving to Canada.\n[Madonna](https://bliptext.com/articles/madonna), from 1979 to 1980, lived in Corona as a member of the band Breakfast Club.\nActors and actresses such as [Adrien Brody](https://bliptext.com/articles/adrien-brody), [Zoe Saldaña](https://bliptext.com/articles/zoe-salda-a), [Lucy Liu](https://bliptext.com/articles/lucy-liu), John Leguizamo, [Susan Sarandon](https://bliptext.com/articles/susan-sarandon), and [Idina Menzel](https://bliptext.com/articles/idina-menzel) were born or raised in Queens.\nActress [Mae West](https://bliptext.com/articles/mae-west) also lived in Queens.\nWriters from Queens include [John Guare](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-guare) ([The House of Blue Leaves](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-house-of-blue-leaves)) and [Laura Z. Hobson](https://bliptext.com/articles/laura-z-hobson) ([Gentleman's Agreement](https://bliptext.com/articles/gentleman-s-agreement-novel)).\nMafia boss [John Gotti](https://bliptext.com/articles/john-gotti) lived in Queens for many years.\n[Richard Feynman](https://bliptext.com/articles/richard-feynman), a scientist who was awarded the [Nobel Prize in Physics](https://bliptext.com/articles/nobel-prize-in-physics), was born in Queens and grew up in [Far Rockaway](https://bliptext.com/articles/far-rockaway-queens).\nLee \"Q\" O'Denat, founder of [WorldStarHipHop](https://bliptext.com/articles/worldstarhiphop) was from [Hollis](https://bliptext.com/articles/hollis-queens).\nQueens has also been home to athletes such as:\nJournalist [Marie Colvin](https://bliptext.com/articles/marie-colvin) was a native of Queens.\n\n# In popular culture\nQueens has also served as a setting for various fictional characters, including [Peter Parker / Spider-Man](https://bliptext.com/articles/spider-man) from [Marvel Comics](https://bliptext.com/articles/marvel-comics).\nHe grew up in [Forest Hills](https://bliptext.com/articles/forest-hills-queens) with his [Aunt May](https://bliptext.com/articles/aunt-may) and [Uncle Ben](https://bliptext.com/articles/uncle-ben), and [Archie Bunker](https://bliptext.com/articles/archie-bunker) of [All in the Family](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-in-the-family), who lived at the fictional 704 Hauser Street in [Astoria](https://bliptext.com/articles/astoria-queens).\nThe popular sitcom [The King of Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/the-king-of-queens) is set in the titular borough, with the main characters living in a house in [Rego Park](https://bliptext.com/articles/rego-park-queens).\nThe movie [Somewhere in Queens](https://bliptext.com/articles/somewhere-in-queens), starring Queens native [Ray Romano](https://bliptext.com/articles/ray-romano), is also set in the title borough.\n\n# The Cemetery Belt\nSeveral large cemeteries in Queens – [St. Michaels](https://bliptext.com/articles/st-michael-s-cemetery-new-york), [Luthern](https://bliptext.com/articles/all-faiths-cemetery), [Calvary](https://bliptext.com/articles/calvary-cemetery-queens), [Cypress Hill](https://bliptext.com/articles/cypress-hills-cemetery), [Mt. Olivet](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-olivet-cemetery-queens) and [Mt. Zion](https://bliptext.com/articles/mount-zion-cemetery-new-york-city) – together with several in Brooklyn are collectively known as The Cemetery Belt.\nThere are about five million burials in the borough and Calvary, with about 3 million burials, has the largest number of interments of any cemetery in the United States.","revisionCount":0},"hasMore":false,"nextCursor":null}