Sunnyside, Queens
Encyclopedia
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. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 2
.
, Ecuadorians, Dominican
, and Puerto Rican
), Jewish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan
, Nepali
, Indian, Albanian
, Bengali
, Irish, Italian, Turkish
and Romanian
. Sunnyside is 48.0% White, 28.0% Hispanic/Latino(of any race), 24.0% Asian.
was completed in 1909. A large portion of the neighborhood is six-story apartment buildings constructed during the 1920s and '30s. The land was originally owned by French settlers in the 1800s. Sunnyside is derived from Sunnyside Hill Farms, so named by the Bragraws family who owned the land.
The area is known for one of America's first planned communities, Sunnyside Gardens
. Constructed from 1924 to 1929, Sunnyside Gardens was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States. The residential area has brick row houses of two and a half stories, with front and rear gardens and a landscaped central court shared by all.
This model allowed for denser residential development, while also providing ample open/green-space amenities. Clarence Stein
and Henry Wright served as the architects and planners for this development, and the landscape architect was Marjorie Sewell Cautley
. These well-planned garden homes are now listed as a historic district and are also home to one of only two private parks in New York City, Gramercy Park
being the other.
, Perry Como
, Nancy Walker
, Judy Holliday
, Joe Spinell
, James Caan and Rudy Vallee
; artist Raphael Soyer
, and writers and social activists such as Lewis Mumford
and Suze Rotolo
. The Queens-grown punk rock group The Ramones
played some of their earliest gigs in Sunnyside pubs during the 1970s. In the years before World War II New York Giants
star Hap Moran
coached a youth football team, the Mustangs, in Sunnyside Park.
Legendary jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke
, "the remote and mysterious jazz cornettist... died in obscurity" in an apartment building at 43–30, 46th Street, in Sunnyside. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Greater Astoria Historical Society
joined with a number community groups to erect a plaque in his honor.
(now Amtrak
) railyard known as Sunnyside Yard
. These are a staging area for both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit
trains leaving from Penn Station.
The proposed East Side Access
project will include a new Long Island Rail Road
(LIRR) train station in Sunnyside at Queens Boulevard
along the LIRR's Main Line
(into Penn Station) will provide one-stop access for area residents to Midtown Manhattan
.
– Sunnyside is served by the 7 Train
. The following stops are in the Sunnyside area:
Bus
– Multiple bus lines run through Sunnyside:
Other – The area has easy access to Manhattan
via the Long Island Expressway & Queens Midtown Tunnel
and to Brooklyn
via the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Elementary Schools
Intermediate Schools
Public Services
Parks
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 state
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, in the United States. It shares borders with Hunters Point
Hunters Point, Queens
Hunters Point is a neighborhood on the south side of Long Island City, in the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 2.- History :...
and 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...
to the west, Astoria
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside , and Woodside...
to the north, 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...
to the east 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...
to the south. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 2
Queens Community Board 2
The Queens Community Board 2 is a local advisory group in New York City, encompassing the neighborhoods of Hunters Point, Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Woodside, in the borough of Queens...
.
Ethnic community
Ethnicities of Sunnyside's residents include Latin American (ColombiansColombians
Colombians may refer to:* Citizens of Colombia, a country in South America.* Ethnic Colombians** Colombian people, persons from Colombia or of Colombian ancestry...
, Ecuadorians, Dominican
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, and Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...
), Jewish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
, Nepali
Nepali people
Nepali people can refer to:*People of Nepal*Ethnic Nepalis of Indian citizenry residing in Gorkhaland area of West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and other parts of India.* Indian Gorkhas*Lhotshampas of Bhutan.*Nepali diaspora the world over....
, Indian, Albanian
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...
, Bengali
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...
, Irish, Italian, Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
and Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
. Sunnyside is 48.0% White, 28.0% Hispanic/Latino(of any race), 24.0% Asian.
History
Sunnyside, a rural hamlet mostly consisting of small farms and marshland, was incorporated into Long Island City in 1870, and developed into a bedroom community after the Queensboro BridgeQueensboro Bridge
The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge – because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th Streets – or simply the Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City that was completed in 1909...
was completed in 1909. A large portion of the neighborhood is six-story apartment buildings constructed during the 1920s and '30s. The land was originally owned by French settlers in the 1800s. Sunnyside is derived from Sunnyside Hill Farms, so named by the Bragraws family who owned the land.
The area is known for one of America's first planned communities, Sunnyside Gardens
Sunnyside Gardens, Queens
Sunnyside Gardens, in the Sunnyside neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens, was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States...
. Constructed from 1924 to 1929, Sunnyside Gardens was one of the first developments to incorporate the "superblock" model in the United States. The residential area has brick row houses of two and a half stories, with front and rear gardens and a landscaped central court shared by all.
This model allowed for denser residential development, while also providing ample open/green-space amenities. Clarence Stein
Clarence Stein
Clarence Samuel Stein was an American urban planner, architect, and writer, a major proponent of the "Garden City" movement in the United States.- Biography :...
and Henry Wright served as the architects and planners for this development, and the landscape architect was Marjorie Sewell Cautley
Marjorie Sewell Cautley
Marjorie Sewell Cautley was an American landscape architect who played an influential yet often overlooked part in the conception and development of some early, visionary twentieth-century American communities. Her father was William Elbridge Sewell, who later became Governor of Guam...
. These well-planned garden homes are now listed as a historic district and are also home to one of only two private parks in New York City, Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park
Gramercy Park is a small, fenced-in private park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park is at the core of both the neighborhood referred to as either Gramercy or Gramercy Park and the Gramercy Park Historic District...
being the other.
Famous residents
Sunnyside has produced or nurtured such talents as Ethel MermanEthel 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...
, Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
, Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker was an American actress and comedienne of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director...
, Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday was an American actress.Holliday began her career as part of a night-club act, before working in Broadway plays and musicals...
, Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell was an American character actor, who appeared in numerous films in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
, James Caan and Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
; artist Raphael Soyer
Raphael Soyer
Raphael Soyer was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter...
, and writers and social activists such as Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford
Lewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
and Suze Rotolo
Suze Rotolo
Susan Elizabeth Rotolo , known as Suze Rotolo , was an American artist, but is perhaps best known as Bob Dylan's girlfriend between 1961 and 1964 and a strong influence on his music...
. The Queens-grown punk rock group The Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
played some of their earliest gigs in Sunnyside pubs during the 1970s. In the years before World War II New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
star Hap Moran
Hap Moran
Francis Dale "Hap" Moran was a collegiate and professional American football player. He played mainly at halfback for Carnegie Tech , Grinnell College , the Frankford Yellow Jackets , the Chicago Cardinals , the Pottsville Maroons , and the New York Giants...
coached a youth football team, the Mustangs, in Sunnyside Park.
Legendary jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, "the remote and mysterious jazz cornettist... died in obscurity" in an apartment building at 43–30, 46th Street, in Sunnyside. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, 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,...
joined with a number community groups to erect a plaque in his honor.
Films shot in the area
- Spider-ManSpider-Man (film)Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
(some exterior scenes) - The Believer
- Queen of MediaQueen of MediaQueen of Media is a 2008 American drama film, directed by Furqaan Clover, starring Robin Givens. The film is loosely-based on The New York Times best seller Wendy's Got the Heat by Wendy Williams. It stars Robin Givens in the title role. It was written by Jim Yoakum with Furqaan Clover. It was...
- Raising HelenRaising HelenRaising Helen is a 2004 American comedy-drama film directed by Garry Marshall and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler. It stars Kate Hudson, John Corbett, Joan Cusack, Hayden Panettiere, Spencer and his sister Abigail Breslin and Helen Mirren...
- SleepersSleepers (film)Sleepers is a 1996 legal drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 novel of the same name.-Plot:...
- Back-Up Plan
Railyard
Sunnyside is also known for the former Pennsylvania RailroadPennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(now Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
) railyard known as Sunnyside Yard
Sunnyside Yard
Sunnyside Yard is a large coach yard, a railroad yard for passenger cars, in Sunnyside, Queens in New York City.-Description:The yard is owned by Amtrak and is also used by New Jersey Transit. The shared tracks of the Long Island Rail Road Main Line and Amtrak's Northeast Corridor pass along the...
. These are a staging area for both Amtrak and New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit
The New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
trains leaving from Penn Station.
The proposed East Side Access
East Side Access
East Side Access is a public works project being undertaken by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City, designed to bring the Long Island Rail Road into a new East Side station to be built below and incorporated into Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan...
project will include a new Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
(LIRR) train station in Sunnyside at 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...
along the LIRR's Main Line
Main Line (Long Island Rail Road)
The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It begins in Long Island City and runs along the middle of Long Island about 95 miles to Greenport...
(into Penn Station) will provide one-stop access for area residents to Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
.
Transportation
SubwayRapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
– Sunnyside is served by the 7 Train
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...
. The following stops are in the Sunnyside area:
- 33rd/Rawson Street
- 40th/Lowery Street
- 46th/Bliss Street
Bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
– Multiple bus lines run through Sunnyside:
- Q32
- Q39
- Q60
- Q104
- B24
Other – The area has easy access to 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...
via the Long Island Expressway & Queens Midtown Tunnel
Queens Midtown Tunnel
The Queens–Midtown Tunnel is a highway tunnel and toll road in New York City. It crosses under the East River and connects the Borough of Queens on Long Island with the Borough of Manhattan The Queens–Midtown Tunnel (sometimes simply known as the Midtown Tunnel) is a highway tunnel and toll road...
and to Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
via the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Schools and Public Services
Intermediate Schools
- IS 125 – 46–02 47 Avenue
Public Services
- Fire Department – Engine 325, Hook & Ladder 163 – "Woodside Warriors", FDNYNew York City Fire DepartmentThe New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department of the City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response...
– 41-24/26 51st Street - Police Department – 108th Precinct, NYPDNew York City Police DepartmentThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
– 5–47 50th Avenue - Sunnyside Post Office – 45-15 44th Street
- Sunnyside Branch of Queens Borough Public LibraryQueens Borough Public LibraryThe 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...
– 43-06 Greenpoint Avenue
Parks
- L/Cpl. Thomas P. Noonan Playground
- George F. Torsney / Lou Lodati Playground
- Joe Sabba Park / Veterans Memorial Plaza
External links
- Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce
- Forgotten NY: Bridges of Sunnyside Yards
- New York Metro: 6 Affordable Neighborhoods – Sunnyside
- NYTimes: An Enclave at Once Snug and Inclusive
- Greater Astoria Historical Society
- Sunnyside Post, local news site for Sunnyside residents
- Sunnyside Neighborhood on Queens Buzz