Queens Village, Queens

Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose, Queens and Elmont, Nassau County to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the north.

Shopping in the community is located along Braddock Avenue, Hillside Avenue, Hempstead Avenue, Jamaica Avenue (NY 25), Francis Lewis Boulevard, and Springfield Boulevard. Located just east of Queens Village, in Elmont, Nassau County, is the Belmont Park race track.

Close to the neighborhood are Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park, as well as the historic Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP), home of the turn of the century racing competition, the Vanderbilt Cup. The LIMP was built by William Kissam Vanderbilt, a descendant of the family that presided over the New York Central Railroad and Western Union; it is now part of the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway.

Queens Village is located in Queens Community District 13 and its ZIP Codes are 11427, 11428, and 11429.

History

Queens Village was founded as Little Plains in the 1640s. Homage to this part of Queens Village history is found on the sign above the Long Island Railroad Station there. In 1824, Thomas Brush established a blacksmith shop in the area. He prospered and built several other shops and a factory, and the area soon became known as Brushville. On March 1, 1837, the railroad arrived. The first station in the area was called Flushing Avenue in 1837, Delancy Avenue by June 20, 1837, and Brushville by November 27, 1837,

likely about a mile west of the present station. In 1856, residents voted to change the name from Brushville to Queens.

The name "Inglewood" also was used for both the village and the train station in the 1860s and 1870s.

The name Brushville was still used in an 1860 New York Times article,

but both "Queens" and "Brushville" are used in an 1870 article.

Maps from 1873 show portions of Queens Village (then called Inglewood and Queens) in the town of Hempstead,

After the Borough of Queens became incorporated as part of the City of Greater New York in 1898, and the new county of Nassau was created in 1899, the border between the city and Nassau County was set directly east of Queens Village. A 1901 article in the Brooklyn Eagle already uses the full name Queens Village,

a name that had been used as late as the 1880s for Lloyd's Neck in present-day Suffolk County. In 1923, the Long Island Railroad added "Village" to its station's name to avoid confusion with the county of the same name, and thus the neighborhood became known as Queens Village.

Other Queens Village on Long Island

Lloyd Harbor, New York, which was formerly in Queens County but now in Suffolk County, was known as Queens Village from 1685 until as late as 1883. In 1885, known then as Lloyd Neck, it seceded from Queens County and became part of the town of Huntington in Suffolk County. Bellaire is the largest section of Queens Village. The area considered Bellaire usually falls under the general title of Queens Village. There was once a Long Island Rail Road station named Bellaire. 211th Street, formerly known as Belleaire Boulevard has traffic medians on it indicating its history as the main route through this section of Queens Village.

Hollis Hills

thumb|right|A welcome sign for Hollis Hills on [[Union Turnpike (New York)|Union Turnpike]]

Hollis Hills is an affluent subsection, generally bounded by Springfield Boulevard to the east, Grand Central Parkway the south, Hollis Hills Terrace to the west, and Kingsbury Avenue and Richland Avenue the north. It is slightly above sea level due to a retreating glacier from the last Ice Age. A small pond called Potamogeton Pond exists at Bell Boulevard on the north side of Grand Central Parkway.

Most homes in Hollis Hills are of the Colonial, Tudor, and Ranch styles. Houses here attract predominantly the upper-middle class as some houses in the area can fetch prices of $1,500,000 or higher. This neighborhood, similar to Douglaston, is a quasi-suburb, with detached homes sitting on large tree-lined lots. Surrey Estates, a section of Hollis Hills, is a smaller triangle of architecturally notable homes surrounded by old, large trees and is bound by Union Turnpike, Springfield Boulevard, and Hartland Avenue within Hollis Hills.

Notable institutions in Hollis Hills are The Chapel of the Redeemer Lutheran, Hollis Hills Jewish Center (founded in 1948), American Martyrs Catholic Church, the Windsor Park Branch of the Queens Public Library, the John Hamburg Community Center, Kingsbury Elementary School (P.S. 188), Hollis Hills Civic Association, and Surrey Estates Homeowners Association.

Demographics

Queens Village, which is stipulated as Neighborhood Tabulation Area QN1303 by the New York City Department of City Planning, had 54,345 inhabitants based on data from the 2020 United States Census and covered an area of . This was an increase of 1,841 persons (3.50%) from the 52,504 counted in 2010. The neighborhood had a population density of 34.0 inhabitants per acre (14,500/sq mi; 5,600/km<sup>2</sup>).

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 4.5% (2,456) White (Non-Hispanic), 42.2% (22,922) Black (Non-Hispanic), 22.2% (12,071) Asian, 7.3% (3,968) from other races, and 6.2% (3,343) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.6%(9,585) of the population. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 20% are between the ages of between 0–17, 26% between 25 and 44, and 29% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 16% respectively. In 2018, an estimated 13% of Queens Village residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 50% in Queens Village, lower than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Queens Village are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying. The 105th Precinct ranked 17th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 29 per 100,000 people, Queens Village's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 378 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.

Politics

Queens Village is part of the 14h New York State Senate district, represented by Leroy Comrie; the 23rd New York State Assembly district, represented by Clyde Vanel; District 32 in the New York City Council, represented by Nantasha Williams; 5th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, represented by Gregory W. Meeks; and represented by Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand in the United States Senate.

Fire safety

Queens Village contains a New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire station, Engine Co. 304/Ladder Co. 162, at 218–44 97th Avenue.

Health

, preterm births are more common in Queens Village than in other places citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Queens Village, there were 111 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 8.8 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).

Post offices and ZIP Codes

Queens Village is covered by 3 ZIP Codes. From north to south they are 11427 north of 90th Avenue, 11428 between 90th and 99th Avenues, and 11429 between 99th and 114th Avenues. The United States Post Office operates one post office nearby: the Queens Village Station at 209–20 Jamaica Avenue.

Education

Queens Village generally has a similar rate of college-educated residents to the rest of the city . While 38% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 13% have less than a high school education and 49% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.

Queens Village's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Queens Village, 15% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%.

Transportation

alt=Queens Village Veterans Plaza|thumb|Queens Village Veterans Plaza near the Queens Village LIRR station

Queens Village station, located at Amboy Lane (on the corner of Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue), offers service on the Long Island Rail Road's Hempstead Branch.

Though no New York City Subway stations serve Queens Village, there are several bus routes that connect to the subway, including MTA Regional Bus Operations' , and Nassau Inter-County Express' routes. In addition, the MTA's express bus runs directly to Manhattan.

Queens Village is served by intercity buses operated by Greyhound. Short Line, and Adirondack Trailways also offers service. The buses stop near the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Springfield Boulevard.

Notable residents

Chy Davidson (born 1959), former NFL wide receiver who played two seasons with the New York Jets.
George Gately (1928–2001), creator of the Heathcliff comic strip
Karine Jean-Pierre (born 1974), political advisor who has served as the White House Press Secretary since 2022
Nancy Malone (1935–2014), actor, director, producer, television executive
Charles Henry Miller (1842–1922), landscape painter
Paul Newman (1925–2008), actor, from 1953 to 1954
Tom Pecora (born 1958), college basketball coach who is currently the head coach for the Quinnipiac Bobcats men's basketball team
Fred W. Preller (1902–1974), politician who served as a New York State Assemblyman from 1944 until 1965
The Rockin' Chairs, a doo-wop group in the 1950s
Christopher Romulo, former professional Muay Thai fighter
Julius Schwartz (1915–2004), comic book editor and a science fiction agent
Matthew Troy (1929–2004), lawyer and politician, who was a member of the New York City Council
Tevi Troy (born 1967), Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services
George Vande Woude (1935–2021), cancer researcher
Christian Vital (born 1997), basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
Melvyn Weiss (1935–2018), attorney who co-founded the plaintiff class action law firm Milberg Weiss.
Roy Wilkins (1901–1981), activist in the civil rights movement