Astoria, Queens - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough

Borough (New York City)

New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...

of Queens

Queens

Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....

in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Located in Community Board 1

Queens Community Board 1

The Queens Community Board 1 is a local advisory group in New York City, encompassing the neighborhoods of Astoria, Old Astoria, Long Island City, Queensbridge, Ditmars, Ravenswood, Steinway, Garden Bay, and Woodside, in the Borough of Queens...

, Astoria is bounded by the East River

East River

The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City

Long Island City, Queens

Long Island City is the westernmost neighborhood of the borough of Queens in New York City. L.I.C. is notable for its rapid and ongoing gentrification, its waterfront parks, and its thriving arts community. L.I.C. has among the highest concentration of art galleries, art institutions, and studio...

, Sunnyside

Sunnyside, Queens

Sunnyside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens, in New York state, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point and Long Island City to the west, Astoria to the north, Woodside to the east and Maspeth to the south...

(bordering at Northern Boulevard

New York State Route 25A

New York State Route 25A is a state highway on Long Island in New York in the United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore of Long Island, running from the Queens Midtown Tunnel in the New York City borough of Queens at its western terminus to...

), and Woodside

Woodside, Queens

Woodside is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the south by Maspeth, on the north by Astoria, on the west by Sunnyside and on the east by Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. Some areas are widely residential and very quiet, while others are...

(bordering at 50th Street). Astoria is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 114th Precinct.

Demographics

While Astoria is traditionally Greek

Greeks

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

, immigrants from Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

, Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, Montenegro

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

, Bosnia, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, and Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

have shown a rise in numbers.

History

The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallet's Cove, after its first landowner William Hallet, who settled there in 1659 with his wife Elizabeth Fones

Elizabeth Fones

Elizabeth Fones Winthrop Feake Hallett was an early settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony where her father-in-law John Winthrop served as Governor...

. Beginning in the early 19th century, affluent New Yorkers constructed large residences around 12th and 14th streets, an area that later became known as Astoria Village (now Old Astoria). Hallet's Cove, founded in 1839 by fur merchant Steven Halsey, was a noted recreational destination and resort for Manhattan's wealthy.

The area was renamed after John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor

John Jacob Astor , born Johann Jakob Astor, was a German-American business magnate and investor who was the first prominent member of the Astor family and the first multi-millionaire in the United States...

, then the wealthiest man in America, with a net worth of over $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest just $2,000 in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village was finally won by Astor's supporters and friends. From Astor's summer home in Hell Gate

Hell Gate

Hell Gate is a narrow tidal strait in the East River in New York City in the United States. It separates Astoria, Queens from Randall's Island/Wards Island ....

, Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

– on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue – he could see across the East River

East River

the new Long Island

Long Island

Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...

village named in his honor; however, Astor never actually set foot in Astoria.

During the second half of the 19th century, economic and commercial growth brought increased immigration from German settlers, mostly furniture and cabinet makers. One such settler was Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, patriarch of the Steinway family who founded the piano company Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...

in 1853, which today is a worldwide piano company. Afterwards, the Steinways built a sawmill and foundry, as well as a streetcar line. The family eventually established Steinway Village for their workers, a company town

Company town

A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

that provided school instruction in German as well as English.

In 1870, Astoria and several other surrounding villages, including Steinway, were incorporated into Long Island City. Long Island City remained an independent municipality until it was incorporated into New York City in 1898. The area's farms were turned into housing tracts and street grids to accommodate the growing number of residents.
Astoria also figured prominently in early American filmmaking as one of its initial centers, a heritage preserved today by the Museum of the Moving Image

Museum of the Moving Image

The Museum of the Moving Image was a museum of the history of technology and media, including cinema and its forerunners. MOMI was opened on 15 September 1988 by Prince Charles and became an instant international hit and winning 18 awards...

and Kaufmann Studios.

Ethnic heritage

Astoria was first settled by the Dutch

Dutch people

The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...

and Germans

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

in the 17th century. Many Irish settled in the area during the waves of Irish immigration into New York City during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Italians were the next significant immigrants in Astoria. Numerous Italian restaurants, delis, bakeries and pizza shops are found throughout Astoria, particularly in the Ditmars Boulevard area.

Jews were also a significant ethnic and religious group. The Astoria Center of Israel

Astoria Center of Israel

The Astoria Center of Israel is an historic synagogue located in the Astoria, Queens neighborhood of New York City, listed on both the New York State and the National Registers of Historic Places.-Design:...

, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

was built in 1925 after outgrowing the former Congregation Mishkan Israel, which was built in 1904.

The 1960s saw a large number of ethnic Greeks

Greeks

from Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, and in 1974 Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, giving Astoria the largest Greek population outside of Greece itself.

The Greek cultural imprint can be seen in the numerous Greek restaurants, bakeries, taverna

Taverna

Taverna refers to a small restaurant serving Greek cuisine, not to be confused with "tavern". The Greek word is ταβέρνα and is originally derived from the Latin word taberna...

s and cafes, as well as several Greek Orthodox churches. While the population of Greeks in Astoria was 22,579 in 1980, it dropped to 18,127 by 1990 due to decreased immigration and lower birth rates. Greek organizations in the area include the Hellenic American Action Committee (HANAC) and the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, the neighborhood's Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

population grew from earlier immigrants from Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

to also include people from Egypt

Egypt

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

, Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

, Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

, Morocco

Morocco

and Algeria

Algeria

. In the 1990s, Steinway Street

Steinway Street

Steinway Street is a major street in boroughs Queens in New York City, New York, in the United States. Steinway Street is 2.4 mile two-way street that runs north-south, and spans between Berrian Boulevard in Astoria and Northern Boulevard in Long Island City...

between 28th Avenue and Astoria Boulevard saw the establishment of many Arabic shops, restaurants and cafes.

Astoria's South American and white European population has seen significant growth since the early 1990s, including a large population of Brazil

Brazil

ians, who reside in the 36th avenue area. Albanians

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

, Bulgarians

Bulgarians

The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, and Bosnians

Bosnians

Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...

have also shown a rise in numbers.

Geography

There is some debate as to what constitutes the geographic boundaries of Astoria. The neighborhood was part of Long Island City

Long Island City, Queens

(LIC) prior to the latter's incorporation into the City of New York in 1898, and much of it is still classified as LIC by the USPS.

The area south of Astoria was called Ravenswood

Ravenswood, Queens

Ravenswood is the name for the strip of land bordering the East River in Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The area is part of Queens Community Board 1.-History:...

, and traditionally, Broadway was considered the border between the two. Today, however, many residents and businesses south of Broadway identify themselves as Astorians for convenience or status, since Long Island City has historically been considered an industrial area

Industrial district

Industrial district was initially introduced as a term to describe an area where workers of a monolithic heavy industry live within walking-distance of their places of work...

, and Ravenswood is now mostly a low-income neighborhood. Some of the thoroughfares have lent their names to unofficial terms for the areas they serve. For instance, the eastern end of Astoria, with Steinway Street as its main thoroughfare, is sometimes referred to simply as "Steinway", and the northern end around Ditmars Boulevard is sometimes referred to as "Ditmars". Banners displayed on lamp posts along 30th Avenue refer to it as "the Heart of Astoria".

Astoria is served by the New York City Subway

New York City Subway

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...

trains that stop at Steinway Street

Steinway Street (IND Queens Boulevard Line)

Steinway Street is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. It is served by the R train at all times except late nights, when the E train replaces it, and the M train weekdays....

and 46th Street

46th Street (IND Queens Boulevard Line)

46th Street is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 46th Street and Broadway in Astoria, Queens, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, the M train weekdays and the E train late nights.This underground...

stations on the underground IND Queens Boulevard Line

IND Queens Boulevard Line

The Queens Boulevard Line is a fully underground line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line provides crosstown service across Manhattan under 53rd Street and east through Queens to Jamaica...

as well as the trains which run along the elevated

Elevated railway

An elevated railway is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system...

BMT Astoria Line

The Astoria Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, serving the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. It runs from Ditmars Boulevard to 39th Avenue along 31st Street. It then serves Queensboro Plaza along 27th Street. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts and...

above 31st Street.

Subway stops on the Astoria line are located at several east-west avenues, with the terminus at Ditmars Boulevard

Ditmars Boulevard

Ditmars Boulevard is a street located in Astoria, which is a neighborhood located in the North-West corner of Queens, NY. It runs from its intersection with the East River , just to the North of Astoria Park. The road continues to the East until it reaches the Western edge of LaGuardia Airport...

, which extends roughly eastward from Astoria Park

Astoria Park

Astoria Park, a park located along the East River in the New York City borough of Queens, contains one of the largest open spaces in Queens. The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Situated in Astoria and adjacent to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge...

to the Marine Air Terminal

Marine Air Terminal

-External links:*...

at LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport

LaGuardia Airport is an airport located in the northern part of Queens County on Long Island in the City of New York. The airport is located on the waterfront of Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst. The airport was originally...

. The next major avenue south of Ditmars with a subway stop is Astoria Boulevard

Astoria Boulevard

Astoria Boulevard is an important east-west commercial street in northwestern Queens, New York City. It runs from 21st Street and Main Avenue near the East River to the World's Fair Marina on Flushing Bay, where it merges with Northern Boulevard....

, which flanks the Grand Central Parkway

Grand Central Parkway

The Grand Central Parkway is a parkway that stretches from the RFK-Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens-Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, which runs across the northern part of Long Island through Nassau County and into Suffolk...

and the Triborough Bridge

Triborough Bridge

The Robert F. Kennedy ' Bridge, formerly known as the Triborough Bridge , is a complex of three separate bridges in New York City, United States...

. Below that is the 30th Avenue stop, then Broadway. Farthest south is 36th Avenue or Dutch Kills, a low-density commercial area that features traditional Bangladeshi

Bengali people

The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

restaurants and shops.

The primary streets running north-south are Vernon Boulevard along the East River; 21st Street, a major traffic artery with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial areas; 31st Street; and Steinway Street (named for Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later Henry E. Steinway), founder of the piano company Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons

Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...

), a major commercial street with many retail stores, and a very prominent Middle Eastern section between Astoria Boulevard and 28th Avenue, the area is full of Middle Eastern food restaurants which present some local types of food from Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco, most food in these restaurants is Halal to suit the Muslim residents who are main customers in this neighborhood.

Places of interest

Attractions in Astoria include the Kaufman Astoria Studios
Kaufman Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...

' Museum of the Moving Image
American Museum of the Moving Image
The Museum of the Moving Image is a media museum located in Astoria, Queens on the former site of the Kaufman Astoria Studios. The museum originally opened in 1988 as the American Museum of the Moving Image. The museum began a $67 million expansion in March 2008 and reopened in January 2011...

, Isamu Noguchi Museum
Noguchi Museum
The Noguchi Museum, chartered as The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, was designed and created by the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi in 1985 to preserve and display his sculptures, architectural models, stage designs, drawings, and furniture designs. It is a two story museum...

, and Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park is an outdoor exhibition space for sculpture. It is located one block from the Noguchi Museum at the intersection of Broadway and Vernon Boulevard in the neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens, New York City...

. Astoria Park
Astoria Park
Astoria Park, a park located along the East River in the New York City borough of Queens, contains one of the largest open spaces in Queens. The park is operated and maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Situated in Astoria and adjacent to the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge...

, along the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...

, is Astoria's largest park and also contains the largest of New York City's public pools which was also the former site of the 1936 and 1964 U.S. Olympic trials.
The Hell Gate Bridge
Hell Gate Bridge
The Hell Gate Bridge or Hell's Gate Bridge is a steel through arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Wards Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known...

and New York Connecting Railroad
New York Connecting Railroad
The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pacific Railway, Providence and Worcester Railroad and New York and Atlantic Railway...

viaduct rise high above Astoria.
The oldest beer garden
Beer garden
Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...

in New York City, Bohemian Hall
Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society
The Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society is a private benevolent society founded in 1892 in Astoria, Queens to support Czech and Slovak immigrants to the area, as well as people of Czech and Slovak ancestry...

, was founded in 1910 when Astoria was largely Irish, Italian, Bohemian
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...

(Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

), and Slovak
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

.
The Greater Astoria Historical Society
Greater Astoria Historical Society
The Greater Astoria Historical Society is a non-profit cultural and historical organization located in Astoria, Queens, New York, dedicated to preserving the past and promoting the future of the neighborhoods that are part of historic Long Island City, including; the Village of Astoria,...

in the historic Quinn Memorial Building on the corner of Broadway and 36th Street serves as a valuable historical resource as well as providing tourist information.

St. Michael's Cemetery on Astoria Boulevard is the burial place of composer and pianist Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

. and gangster Frank Costello
Frank Costello
Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...

.
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons
Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway , is an American and German manufacturer of handmade pianos, founded 1853 in Manhattan in New York City by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg...

piano factory located at 1 Steinway Place (not to be confused with Steinway Street) has been in operation in Astoria since the late 19th century and represents a legacy of award-winning craftsmanship, arts patronage, and the once vibrant, stand-alone Steinway Village. Limited tours of the factory are available.
Bicycle lanes added to Astoria's roadways include marked space along 20th Ave., 21st Street, 35th & 36th Avenues, and access to protected paths crossing the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (formerly Triboro Bridge) onto Ward's/Randall's Island. Riders may also engage in more scenic biking along short, unmarked sections of 19th Street bordering both Astoria Park and Ralph DeMarco Park, a span that is occasionally closed to motor vehicle traffic during events.

In popular culture

The neighborhood has often been featured in television and film, either as Astoria or as a setting for another location in New York City.

The 1991 movie Queens Logic
Queens Logic
Queens Logic is a 1991 comedy from Seven Arts Pictures starring Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, Joe Mantegna, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Malkovich, Ken Olin, Chloe Webb and Tom Waits...

was filmed all around Astoria and features an Astoria landmark- The Hell Gate Bridge

Hell Gate Bridge

The Hell Gate Bridge or Hell's Gate Bridge is a steel through arch railroad bridge between Astoria in the borough of Queens and Randall's and Wards Islands in New York City, over a portion of the East River known...

. One of the screenwriters, Tony Spiridakis, has roots in Astoria.

The block of 37th Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue is sometimes referred to as "the Seinfeld Street."

Seinfeld

Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...

In the Seinfeld television show, this street is occasionally seen in external establishing shot

Establishing shot

An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects...

s as the block where George Costanza's

George Costanza

George Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...

parents live.

The television series Cosby
Cosby
Cosby is a situation comedy television series broadcast on CBS from September 16, 1996 to April 28, 2000, loosely based on the British sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The program starred Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashād...

, starring Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby

William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

, Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....

and Madeleine Kahn (not to be confused with the earlier series The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...

) was set in Astoria and was filmed there, at the Kaufman Astoria Studios

Kaufman Astoria Studios

The Kaufman Astoria Studios is an historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens.-History:It was originally built by Famous Players-Lasky in 1920 to provide the company with a facility close to the Broadway theater district. Many features and short...

on 35th Avenue.

Kaufman Astoria Studios

Kaufman Astoria Studios

has further been long time host the PBS series Sesame Street and has been credited with local shoots on films like The Stepford Wives, the 2009 remake of The Taking of Pelham 123, and the Golden Globe winning Angels in America.

In the 1970 film Joe
Joe (film)
Joe is a 1970 drama film starring Peter Boyle, Dennis Patrick, and Susan Sarandon in her film debut. The film was directed by John G. Avildsen.-Plot:...

, Peter Boyle

Peter Boyle

Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....

's character lives in Astoria.

The 1970s situation comedy All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...

was set in Astoria, although the address given for Archie Bunker's home (704 Hauser Street) is fictional.

Two notable Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...

films were filmed on location in Astoria – Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...

and A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...

. While the latter was set in the Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...

, most of the exterior scenes were filmed in Astoria as well as the nearby neighborhood of Woodside

Woodside, Queens

. The high school featured in the film is William Cullen Bryant High School

William Cullen Bryant High School

William Cullen Bryant High School, or William C. Bryant High School, and Bryant High School for short, is a secondary school located in Queens, New York City, New York, United States serving grades 9 through 12.-Name:...

on 31st Avenue, and the church used in the film is St. Joseph's on 30th Avenue, and the funeral parlor scenes were shot from a funeral home on 30th Ave, a block away from St. Joseph's Church. Other films shot in Astoria include Five Corners (1987), starring Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster

Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....

, and the 1950s
Serpico
Serpico
Serpico is a 1973 American crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City policeman Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose the corruption of his fellow officers, after being pushed to the brink at first by their distrust and later by the threats and...

(1973) with Al Pacino had several scenes filmed in Astoria. The elevated train stop at Ditmars Boulevard was the location for a chase scene and Serpico has a clandestine meeting in Astoria Park under the Hellgate Bridge.

The 1973 film adaptation of the John-Michael Tebelak

John-Michael Tebelak

John-Michael Tebelak was an American playwright and director. He was most famous for creating the musical Godspell based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew. The music was by Stephen Schwartz...

stage musical Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...

includes multiple images of characters beneath the supports for The Hell Gate Bridge

Hell Gate Bridge

, or East River Arch Bridge, as seen from Randall's Island, both while the plot unfolds as well as during visual montages that take place in such numbers as Day by Day and We Beseech Thee. The view of the bridge is similar to those found in Astoria Park and Astoria can occasionally be viewed in the background of shots facing east.

The 1982 film version of Tempest

Tempest

Tempest or The Tempest may refer to:Tempest, a violent storm- Fiction :* The Tempest, a 1611 play by William Shakespeare** The Tempest , a 1667 adaptation of Shakespeare's play by John Dryden and William D'Avenant...

starring John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes

John Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He acted in many Hollywood films, notably Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen...

had scenes shot at the cafes on 23rd Ave off 31st St.

The 1996 independent film Girls Town shows scenes shot in Astoria Park.

Woody Allen's 2002 film Hollywood Ending

Hollywood Ending

Hollywood Ending is a 2002 American film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director who suffers hysterical blindness due to the intense pressure of directing.-Plot:...

had scenes shot in the neighborhood surrounding the Kaufman Astoria stages.

The 2011 remake of the comedy film Arthur depicts at least one scene showing Astoria, Queens, using a Batmobile visual shown from 34th Street and 34th Avenue in the neighborhood.

King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...

(1976) had a scene in Astoria, at Astoria Boulevard and 31st Street, where the two main characters board the RR

R (New York City Subway service)

The R Broadway Local is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored yellow on the route sign and on station signs and the NYC Subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.The R service operates at all times...

train at the Astoria Boulevard

Astoria Boulevard (BMT Astoria Line)

Astoria Boulevard or Astoria Boulevard – Hoyt Avenue is an express station on the BMT Astoria Line, it is served by the N train at all times, and by the Q train on weekdays....

station on the BMT Astoria Line

BMT Astoria Line

.

The Accidental Husband
The Accidental Husband
The Accidental Husband is a 2008 American/Irish romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Uma Thurman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini, and Sam Shepard. The film is written by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor and Bonnie Sikowitz, and is produced by Jennifer Todd,...

(2008), Directed by Griffin Dunne; with Uma Thurman, Colin Firth and Jeffrey Dean Morgan was filmed in Astoria on 33rd Street and 23rd Avenue.

Astoria was the setting for the book, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s....

, later made into a film starring Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...

and Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf

Shia Saide LaBeouf is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and made his film debut in Holes . In 2007, he starred as the leads in Disturbia and Transformers...

, about the filmmaker's experiences growing up in the neighborhood during the 1980s. The 2006 movie was filmed at various locations around Astoria.

Astoria was the setting for the novel Autobiography/Masquerade
The Stony Brook Press
The Stony Brook Press is a student-run news and feature publication at the Stony Brook University published fortnightly.Founded in 1979, the Press was created as an alternative to the Stony Brook Statesman, the official newspaper of the university....

, also released in 2006. It was written to honor the memory of Antonio "Nino" Pellegrino, an Astoria native who appeared briefly in A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale
A Bronx Tale is a 1993 American crime drama film set in The Bronx during the turbulent era of the 1960s. It was the directorial debut of Robert De Niro, and follows a young Italian-American teenager as his path in life is guided by two father figures, played by De Niro and Chazz Palminteri...

.

Astoria is also the final resting place of New York City mobster Frank Costello

Frank Costello

Frank Costello was an Italian New York City gangster who rose to the top of America's underworld, controlled a vast gambling empire across the United States and enjoyed political influence.Nicknamed the "Prime Minister of the Underworld", he became one of the most powerful and influential Mafia...

as well as ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

composer and musician Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...

. Both Costello and Joplin are interred at St. Michael's Cemetery. The cemetery hosts annual public events and concerts to celebrate Joplin's musical legacy, including a Joplin retrospective.

The Greek television program Stous 31 Dromous ("On 31st Street") was filmed in Astoria in 2007.

The video game "Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...

" – which takes place in a mock New York City named Liberty City

Liberty City (Grand Theft Auto)

Liberty City is a fictional city in Rockstar Games' video games series Grand Theft Auto, based primarily on several major cities including New York City...

– has a neighborhood named Steinway in the borough of Dukes, the counterpart of Queens in the game. The game features a Bohemian Hall-inspired "Steinway Beer Garden", but as an Irish-and-German themed bar instead of Czech. (A mock TV commercial for the Steinway Beer Garden viewable at the Rockstar website includes the voice-over remarking that the Garden is "ethnically confused".) Steinway Park is modeled after Astoria Park, with its famous outdoor pool (including the diving platforms) and scenic water's-edge pathway. Numerous signs and awnings of real local Astoria businesses appear in the game, although the names have been altered (e.g. "ASTORIA Medical Dental" becomes "ROSARIA Medical Dental").

The video game The Godfather II
The Godfather II (video game)
The Godfather II is a 2009 video game based on The Godfather Part II, a 1974 crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Coppola and Mario Puzo. The game is published by Electronic Arts and was released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows...

depicts Astoria in its version of New York City.

A Guinness World Record was set in Astoria on July 18, 2009, for the 'Largest Musical Saw Ensemble'. The record, part of the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival (in Astoria since 2002) was organized by Natalia Paruz

Natalia Paruz

Natalia 'Saw Lady' Paruz is a New York City-based musical saw and novelty instruments player and busker. She is the founder and director of the annual Musical Saw Festival in New York City. She also organized the musical saw festival in Israel...

at Trinity Lutheran Church, with the participation of 53 people playing the musical saw

Musical saw

A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin...

together.

In The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....

, Jay Gatsby is pulled over by a policeman on a "motor cycle" in Astoria while driving with the narrator into the city.

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...

' recorded a majority of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

at The Buddy Project Recording Studio in Astoria.

Paul Volponi's award-winning novel "Black and White" is set in Astoria.

Because of its proximity to Manhattan and semi-reasonable rents, Astoria has become home to an ever increasing amount of fledgling actors lending to the nomenclature, "Actoria" -- a term coined years ago by local actor/writer Jason Arcaro who moved to Astoria in the 1990s before the thespian "coup de main."

Education

Schools

The New York City Department of Education

New York City Department of Education

The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...

operates Astoria's public schools. A complete listing searchable by ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

can be found on the Department's official website.

Astoria also has several private schools, many of which offer parochial education

Parochial school

A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
Frank Sinatra School of the Arts
The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts is an arts high school in Astoria, Queens as part of the New York City Department of Education. The school, founded by Tony Bennett, is a major arts high school in New York City offering High School Diplomas in six arts majors including fine art, dance, vocal...

(9-12) (35-12 35th Avenue)
Immaculate Conception School (21-63 29th Street)
Les Enfants Montessori School (29-21 Newton Avenue)
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School (23-15 Newtown Avenue)
Queens Lutheran School (31-20 37th Street)
St. Catherine and St. George School (22-30 33rd Street)
St. Demetrios Astoria School (30-03 30th Drive)
St. Francis of Assisi School (21-18 46 Street)
St. John
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...

's Preparatory School (21-21 Crescent Street)
St. Joseph's School
St. Joseph's School
St. Joseph's School is a private school owned and managed by the Jesuits in Darjeeling, India. The school and the college of the same name are popularly known as "North Point"....

(k-8) (28-46 44th Street)
Most Precious Blood School (Pre-K - 8th) (32-52 37th Street)
El-Ber Islamic School (25-42 49th Street)

Libraries

Queens Borough Public Library

The Queens Library, also known as the Queens Borough Public Library, is the public library for the Borough of Queens and one of three library systems serving New York City. It was the No. 1 library system in the United States by circulation, having loaned 21 million items in the 2007 fiscal year.It...

operates three branches within Astoria's ZIP codes:

Astoria (14-01 Astoria Boulevard)
Broadway (40-20 Broadway)
Steinway (21-45 31st Street)

Born and raised in Astoria

Frank Bonsangue
Frank Bonsangue
Frank "Frankie the Butcher" Bonsangue is an American film, stage and television actor. He is also a television personality on several cooking shows including the Food Network's "Hot off the Grill Show with Bobby Flay"...

, actor and television personality.
Eddie Bracken
Eddie Bracken
Edward Vincent "Eddie" Bracken was an American actor.-Life and career:Bracken was born in Astoria, New York, the son of Catherine and Joseph L. Bracken. Bracken performed in vaudeville at the age of nine and gained fame with the Broadway musical Too Many Girls in a role he reprised for the 1940...

(1915–2002), actor
Whitey Ford
Whitey Ford
Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year career with the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.-Early life and career:...

(born 1928), pitcher of the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

.
Chamique Holdsclaw
Chamique Holdsclaw
Chamique Shaunta Holdsclaw is a professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association most recently under a contract with the San Antonio Silver Stars...

(born 1977), basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

player
George Maharis
George Maharis
George Maharis is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66...

(born 1928), actor and comedian best known for his work on Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...

.
John H. Meier
John H. Meier
John H. Meier is an American financier and business consultant now living in Vancouver, Canada. He is noted for working as a business adviser for Howard Hughes and for his behind-the-scenes involvement in events that precipitated President Richard M. Nixon's resignation...

(born 1933), financier and former business associate of Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...

, also involved with Watergate.
Paul Volponi (born 1960), Award-winning young adult novelist.
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

(born 1943), Oscar-winning actor.

Born in Astoria

Ted Alexandro
Ted Alexandro
Edward "Ted" Alexandro is a stand-up comedian from New York City. He has appeared on most late night talk shows and has had his own half hour specials on Comedy Central.- Biography :...

(born 1969), comedian.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

(born 1926), Grammy winning singer.
Hillary Brooke
Hillary Brooke
Hillary Brooke was an American film actress best known for her work in Abbott and Costello and Sherlock Holmes films...

(born Beatrice Peterson, 1914-1999) Movie actress and Lou Costello's love interest on The Abbott and Costello TV Show.
The Cadillac Man
The Cadillac Man
The Cadillac Man is the pen name of a homeless White American writer who lives under the railroad viaduct in Astoria, Queens, New York City. His book, Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets describes his experiences living on the streets. His notebooks have been excerpted in Esquire...

, author, Land of the Lost Souls: My Life on the Streets,
Maria Callas
Maria Callas
Maria Callas was an American-born Greek soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the 20th century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique, a wide-ranging voice and great dramatic gifts...

(1923–1977), opera singer (childhood)
Chester Carlson
Chester Carlson
Chester Floyd Carlson was an American physicist, inventor, and patent attorney born in Seattle, Washington....

(1906–1968), invented xerography
Xerography
Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...

at his Astoria laboratory in 1938.
Joe Cicalese, Polish-language novelist and host of the Weather Channel show, It Could Happen Tomorrow
It Could Happen Tomorrow
It Could Happen Tomorrow is a television series that premiered on January 15, 2006 on The Weather Channel. It explores the possibilities of various weather and other natural phenomena severely damaging or destroying America's cities...
Robert Davi
Robert Davi
Robert John Davi is an American actor and singer. He has played such roles as Vietnam veteran and Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard, the villainous Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and Al Torres in Showgirls...

Appeared in The Goonies
The Goonies
The Goonies is a 1985 American adventure-comedy film directed by Richard Donner. The screenplay was written by Chris Columbus from a story by executive producer Steven Spielberg. The premise surrounds a band of pre-teens who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon hoping to save...

, Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...

, and Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...

(born 1970), guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...

.
Anthony Giacchino
Anthony Giacchino
Anthony Giacchino is an American documentary filmmaker.Giacchino directed the 2007 documentary film The Camden 28 which was nominated as Best Documentary Feature Screenplay for the Writers Guild of America Awards 2007....

(born 1969), filmmaker and producer.
George Gibbs
George Gibbs (geologist)
George Gibbs was an American geologist and ethnologist who contributed to the study of the languages of indigenous peoples in Washington Territory. Known for his expertise on Native American customs and languages, Gibbs participated in numerous treaty negotiations between the U.S...

(1815–1873), geologist who contributed to the study of the languages of the indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

of Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....

, was born in Astoria.
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan was an American-born actor, raised in Ireland and England, with an extensive stage and film career, most notably in the 1960s television series Danger Man , and The Prisoner, which he co-created...

(1928–2009), actor.
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman
Ethel Merman was an American actress and singer. Known primarily for her powerful voice and roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage." Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm", "Everything's...

(1908–1984), legendary Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

actress and singer.
Dito Montiel
Dito Montiel
Dito Montiel, born as Orlandito Montiel, is an American author, screenwriter, director and musician.Born in New York City, he came into the public eye after the breakup of his hardcore punk band Major Conflict...

(born 1965), author, screenwriter, director and musician. .
Dee Snider
Dee Snider
Daniel "Dee" Snider is an American singer-songwriter, screenwriter, radio personality, and actor. Snider is most famous for his role as the frontman of the heavy metal band Twisted Sister...

(born 1955) singer of Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
Al Oerter
Al Oerter
Alfred Adolf Oerter, Jr. was an American athlete, and a four-time Olympic Champion in the discus throw....

(1936–2007), Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

discus throw
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...

4-time gold medalist.
Natalia Paruz
Natalia Paruz
Natalia 'Saw Lady' Paruz is a New York City-based musical saw and novelty instruments player and busker. She is the founder and director of the annual Musical Saw Festival in New York City. She also organized the musical saw festival in Israel...

, the "Saw Lady" - musical saw player and notable subway musician, founder/director of the annual NYC Musical Saw
Musical saw
A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin...

Festival
Melanie Safka
Melanie Safka
Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk is an American singer-songwriter. Known professionally as simply Melanie, she is best known for her hits "Brand New Key", "Ruby Tuesday" and "Lay Down ".-Early career:...

(born 1947), Singer-songwriter.
Franz Schurmann
Franz Schurmann
Herbert Franz Schurmann was an American sociologist and historian who was best known for his research and writings about Communist China during the Cold War period. He taught at the University of California, Berkeley in the Departments of Sociology and History for 38 years, and he also served a...

(1926–2010), Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

-era expert on the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

.
David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...

(born 1966), actor and director in television and film

External links

Astoria Music and Arts
Astoria Celebrity Magazine Astoria/LIC's Premier Glossy Magazine
http://www.astorialic.org/topics/streets/names_new_p.phpArticle from the Greater Astoria Historical Society
Greater Astoria Historical Society
The Greater Astoria Historical Society is a non-profit cultural and historical organization located in Astoria, Queens, New York, dedicated to preserving the past and promoting the future of the neighborhoods that are part of historic Long Island City, including; the Village of Astoria,...

explaining the Queens street numbering system]
Slide show from the New York Times of comedians living in Astoria
Greater Astoria Historical Society
114th Precinct of the New York Police Department
NYC Board of Education assessment of Astoria public schools
Greek Culture in Astoria
Neighborhood Watch: Astoria
Annual NYC Musical Saw Festival

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.