Elmhurst, Queens
Encyclopedia
Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the 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...

 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....

. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue (Jackson Heights
Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the Northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York, New York, United States. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 3...

) on the north; Corona
Corona, Queens
Corona is a densely-populated neighborhood in the former Township of Newtown in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States...

 to the northeast; Junction Boulevard on the east; Rego Park
Rego Park, Queens
Rego Park is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens.-Geography:Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, the east and south by Forest Hills and the west by Middle Village.-History:...

 to the southeast; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Middle Village
Middle Village, Queens
Middle Village is a neighborhood in central Queens, a borough of New York City. The neighborhood is located in the western central section of Queens, bounded to the north by Eliot Avenue, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue, and to the west by Fresh Pond Road...

 to the south and southwest; and Maspeth
Maspeth, Queens
Maspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods sharing borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south, and...

 and the 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...

 on the west; 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...

 on the northwest. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 4
Queens Community Board 4
The Queens Community Board 4 is a local government in the New York City borough of Queens, encompassing the neighborhoods of Elmhurst, Corona and Roosevelt Avenue, and also includes LeFrak City, Queens Center and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park...

.

History

The village was established in 1652 by the Dutch as Middenburgh (Middleburgh), and was a suburb of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch colonial settlement that served as the capital of New Netherland. It later became New York City....

 (Nieuw Amsterdam) in New Netherland
New Netherland
New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the 17th-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on the East Coast of North America. The claimed territories were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod...

 (Nieuw Nederland). The original settlers of Elmhurst were from the nearby colony of Maspat (now called Maspeth), following threats and attacks by local Indians.

When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed Middleburgh as New Town (Nieuwe Stad) to maintain the Dutch heritage. This was eventually simplified to Newtown. Among the English settlers in the present Elmhurst section of Newtown was Gershom Moore, in whose orchard a chance seedling
Chance seedling
A chance seedling is a plant that is the product of unintentional breeding. It may be a genetically unique individual with desirable characteristics that is then intentionally bred. Plants that come from the artificial union of gametes from a maternal and paternal source are not chance...

 produced the Newtown Pippin
Newtown Pippin
The Newtown Pippin apple is an American apple that originated in the early 18th century.-Characteristics:...

, Colonial America's most famous apple. Newtown was established as the Town Seat for the Township of the same name when it was established in 1683. The village was renamed Elmhurst in 1896 to identify the area with a new housing development, to avoid association with the larger Township and the Creek, and again to maintain the Dutch heritage. "Hurst" means "grove" or "woods" in Dutch.
Once 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....

 joined the City of Greater New York
City of Greater New York
The City of Greater New York was a term commonly used originally to refer to the expanded city created on January 1, 1898 by the incorporation into the city of Richmond County, Kings County, Queens County, and the eastern part of what is now called The Bronx...

 in 1898, Elmhurst developed into a fashionable district due to a housing development that was built by the Cord Meyer Development Company between 1896 and 1910, north of the Port Washington Branch
Port Washington Branch
The Port Washington Branch is an electrified two-track rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York...

 railroad station
Elmhurst (LIRR station)
Elmhurst was a station stop along the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. It was located on Broadway between Cornish and Whitney Avenues in the Elmhurst section of Queens, New York City. The first depot opened as Newtown around 1855 by the Flushing Railroad, later renamed Elmhurst...

. They expanded their holdings between 1905 and 1930, including Elmhurst Square, Elmhurst South, Elmhurst Heights, and New Elmhurst. Elmhurst also became home to the Grand St. LIRR station just west of the current Grand Avenue – Newtown (IND Queens Boulevard Line) station. The Grand Street LIRR station was served by the Main Line and the former Rockaway Beach Branch
Rockaway Beach Branch
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica Bay to Hammels in the Rockaways turning west there to a...

.

Prior to World War II, Elmhurst was an almost exclusively Jewish and Italian neighborhood. Following the war, Elmhurst evolved into what has been considered one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. By the 1980s, there were persons from 112 nations in residence. Despite the decline of crime compared to their peaks during the crack and heroin epidemics, crime is not a problem in the community. Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates.

Religious Buildings

Religious sites include a Buddhist temple and pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

 on 45th Ave and a large Jain
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...

 temple
Derasar
A derasar is a temple for followers of Jainism, except for non-murtipujak Svetambaras. Derasar is a word used in Gujarat, Kutch and parts of Rajasthan, in other parts of India, the term Jain Mandir is used for all the Jain temples. Jain idols of Tirthankaras are worshipped there...

 on Ithaca St. Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 temples include the Bangladeshi Hindu Mandir on 44th Ave. and the Geeta Temple on Corona Ave. There is alo a Satya Narayan Mandir on Woodside Ave.

Five churches of historic vintage are still extant and in use, two of which have historical graveyards.
  • First Presbyterian Church of Newtown (Queens Boulevard and 54th Avenue) built in 1893, congregation was established in 1652
  • St. James Church (Originally St. James Episcopal Church, at Broadway and 51st Avenue), built in 1734
  • St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church (52-29 83rd St.), founded in 1832
  • The Reformed Church of Newtown
    The Reformed Church of Newtown
    The Reformed Church of Newtown is a historic Reformed church located in the Elmhurst neighborhood in Queens, New York.-Current Building:The original church building was replaced in 1832 by the present sanctuary, which is a designated landmark building. The cornerstone of the original building can...

     (85-15 Broadway at Corona Avenue), founded 1731, present structure built in 1834
  • Elmhurst Baptist Church (87-37 Whitney Avenue at the corner of Judge Street and Whitney Avenue), founded in 1900, built in 1902

Shopping

Elmhurst has two urban shopping malls: Queens Center
Queens Center
Queens Center is an urban shopping mall in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York City, United States. It is located at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard, adjacent to the Woodhaven Boulevard station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. It...

 and the smaller Queens Place Mall
Queens Place Mall
Queens Place Mall is an urban shopping mall in New York City, New York, USA. Just northwest of the larger Queens Center, it is located on Queens Boulevard in the neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens. The building was constructed in 1965 as Macy's and was designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.It was...

. Many furniture stores are adjacent to Grand Avenue on Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Queens connecting communities from Midtown Manhattan to Jamaica...

.

Education

Elmhurst is part of New York City's Department of Education Region 4. Schools in Elmhurst include:

Transportation

Accessible 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...

 stations are Woodhaven Boulevard
Woodhaven Boulevard (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
Woodhaven Boulevard 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 as the local along Queens Boulevard...

, Grand Avenue – Newtown and Elmhurst Avenue
Elmhurst Avenue (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
Elmhurst Avenue is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Elmhurst Avenue and Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, it is served by the R train at all times except late nights, when the E train replaces it as the local along Queens...

, all served by the trains of the 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...

. In addition, the IRT Flushing Line
IRT Flushing Line
The Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, operated as part of the IRT Division and designated the 7 route...

, served by the train, runs along Roosevelt Avenue, the north border of Elmhurst, with stations at 74th Street – Broadway, 82nd Street – Jackson Heights and 90th Street – Elmhurst Avenue. Buses include the Q53, Q88, Q11, Q21, Q38, Q58, Q59, Q29, and Q60. Elmhurst is bounded by the Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495) to the south with exits on Grand Ave., Woodhaven Blvd., and Queens Blvd. The neighborhood is also bounded by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the west with exits on Queens Blvd. Queens Blvd., Woodhaven Blvd., Junction Blvd., Roosevelt Ave., and Broadway are major roads in the community. Elmhurst is connected to Manhattan and Jamaice by Queens Blvd. and is connected to J.F.K International Airport by Woodhaven Blvd. and to LaGuardia Airport by Junction Blvd.

Chinatown, Elmhurst (唐人街, 艾姆赫斯特)

There is a growing Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

 in Elmhurst; this new Chinatown is the second in Queens, in addition to the Flushing Chinatown. Previously a small area with Chinese shops on Broadway between 81st Street and Cornish Avenue, this newly evolved second Chinatown in Queens has now expanded to 45th Avenue and Whitney Avenue. In Chinese translation, Elmhurst is named 艾姆赫斯特 (ài mǔ hè sī tè-Mandarin translation). There are also many other Southeast Asian businesses and shops in the area, such as Malaysian, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese. Hong Kong Supermarket
Hong Kong Supermarket
Hong Kong Supermarket is a growing supermarket chain in the Los Angeles region of Southern California. It operates mainly in the newer suburban overseas Chinese communities, particularly in the Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and New York City areas....

 and New York Supermarket serve as the largest Chinese supermarkets selling different food varieties to this Elmhurst Chinatown. So far, the Asia Bank
Asia Bank
Asia Bank, N.A. is an Overseas Chinese bank with offices in the Northeastern United States.Its offices are located as follows:*Main Branch on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens, NY...

 serves as the only Chinese bank and the main financial resource business for this growing Chinatown.

Popular culture

McDowell's, the fictional restaurant depicted in the 1988
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...

 film Coming to America
Coming to America
Coming to America is a 1988 comedy film directed by John Landis. The screenplay was written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, from a story by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the film. Murphy plays an African prince, who heads to the United States in hopes of finding a woman he can marry...

, is located in Elmhurst. The filmmakers cosmetically altered an existing Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...

 restaurant for the week-long location shoot.

For many years Elmhurst was a familiar name due to the Elmhurst Gas Tanks (officially the Newtown Holder Station), a pair of large natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 storage structures
Gasometer
A gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...

 built in 1910 and 1921. Because the Long Island Expressway (LIE) frequently became congested in that area, "backup at the Elmhurst Gas Tanks" became a familiar phrase in radio traffic reporting
Traffic reporting
Traffic reporting is the distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic accidents, generally as part of a radio or television broadcast program. The reports help commuters anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Many reports mention alternate...

. Being literal rather than legal landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

s, the gas holders were removed in 2001.

The Elmwood Theatre, one of the largest in the city, was built in 1928 and seats 2200 people. It closed in 2002 and was purchased by the Rock Church.
Wrestling Groups including Usa Pro Wrestling,The Long Island Wrestling Federation,Ultimate Championship Wrestling/Impact Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

 ran shows at the Elks Lodge on Queens Blvd in Elmhurst from 1997-2003. The Elks Lodge is now the ethnically diverse New Life Fellowship Church, and New Life Community Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that oversees services including and an ESL (English as a Second Language) program for immigrants.
Elmhurst has produced a number of NBA basketball players, including Smush Parker
Smush Parker
William Henry "Smush" Parker is an American professional basketball player. Parker played shooting guard in college but moved to point guard in the NBA...

 (Guard for L.A. Clippers).

Notable residents

  • Frank D. O'Connor
    Frank D. O'Connor
    Frank D. O'Connor was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was District Attorney of Queens County, New York from 1956 to 1965.-Life:...

    , a famous lawyer from Elmhurst
  • Omar Minaya
    Omar Minaya
    Omar Teodoro Antonio Minaya y Sánchez is a former baseball executive who served as General Manager for the Montreal Expos and New York Mets.-Early life:...

    , former General Manager of the New York Mets
    New York Mets
    The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...

    , raised in Elmhurst, Newtown High School
    Newtown High School (New York City)
    Newtown High School is a high school in Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Its multinational student body consists of approximately 4,030 students, mostly Spanish-speaking. Newtown High School celebrated its 110th anniversary in 2007...

     Alumnus, remains active in the community today.
  • Tony Pastor
    Tony Pastor
    Tony Pastor was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late nineteenth century...

    , (1837-1908) vaudeville entertainer and theater manager, sometimes called "The Father of (American) Vaudeville".
  • Carroll O'Connor
    Carroll O'Connor
    John Carroll O'Connor best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...

    , actor, best known for his role as Archie Bunker
    Archie Bunker
    Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional New Yorker in the 1970s top-rated American television sitcom All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, played to acclaim by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker is a veteran of World War II, reactionary, bigoted, conservative, blue-collar worker, and...

     on 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...

    .
  • Antonin Scalia
    Antonin Scalia
    Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...

    , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • Julissa Bermudez
    Julissa Bermudez
    Julissa Bermudez is a Dominican actress. She is best known for her work as co-host on BET's most popular music video countdown show 106 & Park and former host of Jersey Shore: After Hours and related Jersey Shore specials....

    , Dominican American actress raised in the community, co-host for countdown show 106 & Park
    106 & Park
    106 & Park is a Top Ten Hip-Hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that airs weekdays at 6:00 PM on BET . Since its inception, it was the network's #1 rated show...

    .
  • Charlie Villanueva
    Charlie Villanueva
    Charlie Alexander Villanueva is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association....

    , Dominican American NBA Power Forward for the Detroit Pistons
    Detroit Pistons
    The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

    .
  • Clement Clarke Moore
    Clement Clarke Moore
    Clement Clarke Moore was an American professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College, now Columbia University. He donated land from his family estate for the foundation of the General Theological Seminary, where he was a professor of Biblical learning and compiled a two-volume...

    , of the Moore Family of Elmhurst. Author of the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas
    A Visit from St. Nicholas
    "A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry...

    . (The site of his home is now a paved playground at Broadway and 82nd St.)
  • John Moore
    John Moore
    - Clergy :*John Moore , British Scholar*John Moore , English Baptist minister from Northampton*John Moore , Archbishop of Canterbury, Privy Counsellor...

    , founder of Elmhurst and the first independent minister allowed in New England.
  • Benjamin Moore
    Benjamin Moore
    Benjamin Moore was the second Episcopal bishop of New York.-Early life and family:Moore was born in Newtown, New York, in 1748, the son of Samuel Moore and Sarah Fish Moore and the great-grandson of John Moore, the first Independent minister allowed in New England...

    , father of Clement C. Moore, Bishop of New York.
  • Patty Duke Astin, President of Screen Actor's Guild, Academy Award winner for the movie,"The Miracle Worker".
  • Tommy Agee, baseball player, long time Elmhurst resident.
  • Mose Allison
    Mose Allison
    Mose John Allison, Jr. is an American jazz blues pianist and singer.-Biography:...

    , jazz player, one time Elmhurst resident.
  • Harry Belafonte
    Harry Belafonte
    Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...

    , calypso singer and Grammy winner, rose to fame while living in Elmhurst.
  • William Casey, the Director of CIA, born in Elmhurst.
  • Don Rickles
    Don Rickles
    Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....

    , popular stand up comedian, grew up in Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
  • Rise Stevens
    Risë Stevens
    Risë Stevens is a retired American operatic mezzo-soprano.-Professional life:Stevens studied at New York's Juilliard School for three years. She went to Vienna, where she was trained by Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Herbert Graf. She made her début as Mignon in Prague in 1936 and stayed there until...

    , noted opera star, attended Newtown High School.
  • Tommy Rettig
    Tommy Rettig
    Thomas Noel "Tommy" Rettig was an American child actor,computer software engineer, and author. Rettig is best remembered for portraying the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954–1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs as Jeff's Collie...

    , who played "Jeff" on the Lassie
    Lassie
    Lassie is a fictional collie dog character created by Eric Knight in a short story expanded to novel length called Lassie Come-Home. Published in 1940, the novel was filmed by MGM in 1943 as Lassie Come Home with a dog named Pal playing Lassie. Pal then appeared with the stage name "Lassie" in six...

     TV series, attended PS 89.
  • Andy Li, Mixed martial artist who is currently under UFC contract. Amateur record of 36-0-1 and professional record of 1-0-0. (Former Resident)

Sources

  • AIA Guide to New York City, 3rd Edition (1988) ISBN 0-15-104040-0 (Hardcover); ISBN 0-15-603600-2 (Paperback)
  • The Encyclopedia of New York City (1995) ISBN 0-300-05536-6 .

External links

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