Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk counties in New York, United States. It is known as Merrick Boulevard and co-named as Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within New York City.
Merrick Road runs east from the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica through Merrick past the county line between Nassau and Suffolk into Amityville, where it becomes Montauk Highway at the Amityville–Copiague village/hamlet line. The easternmost portion of Merrick Road, from Carman Mill Road to its eastern terminus, is signed as part of New York State Route 27A (NY 27A). At one time, the entire length of Merrick Road east of Baisley Boulevard was signed as NY 27A; currently, the entire portion within Nassau County is currently designated as the unsigned County Route 27 (CR 27). Merrick Road travels along an old right-of-way that was one of the original paths across southern Long Island, stretching from Queens to Montauk Point.
Merrick Road's name comes from the Algonquin word "Meroke", meaning "oyster bed". The section of Merrick Boulevard in Queens was co-named Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in October 2020, in honor of Floyd Flake, senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica.
Route description
left|thumb|Merrick Road Historic Marker 20240919 135437
Merrick Boulevard begins at NY 25 (Hillside Avenue) as a two-lane, one-way street heading eastbound (compass south at this point), which continues north of Hillside Avenue as 166th Street. Two blocks to the south of Hillside Avenue, Merrick Boulevard passes by the Central Branch of the Queens Library and the 165th Street Bus Terminal. A block to its east, 168th Street provides for westbound traffic. Just south of Liberty Avenue, the two directions join to form a four-lane, divided Merrick Boulevard. Among the parks that the road passes are Proctor-Hopson Circle, St. Albans Park, and Roy Wilkins Park. Merrick Boulevard gradually turns southeast and east, passing through Springfield Gardens, Laurelton and crossing the Belt Parkway before leaving Queens into Nassau County, where it becomes Merrick Road.
thumb|Near Jamaica, 1890s
Merrick Road is one of the old roads along the southern side of Long Island; it has since been replaced by Sunrise Highway (NY 27) for most through traffic.