Elmhurst, Queens

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Elmhurst is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue (Jackson Heights) on the north; Corona to the northeast; Junction Boulevard on the east; Rego Park to the southeast; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Middle Village to the south and southwest; and Maspeth and the New York Connecting Railroad on the west; and Woodside on the northwest. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 4. The zip code of Elmhurst is 11373.

Contents

History

The village was established in 1652 by the Dutch as Middenburgh (Middleburgh), and was a suburb of New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam) in New Netherland (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 produced the Newtown Pippin, 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, 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 joined the City of Greater New York in 1898, it developed into a fashionable district due to a housing development that was built in Elmhurst by the Cord Meyer Development Company between 1896 and 1910, north of the Port Washington Branch railroad station. Cord Meyer was key to the development of Elmhurst, purchasing a farm in Newtown from Samuel Lord, co-founder of Lord & Taylor, and renaming the area Elmhurst. He laid out subdivisions and streets, installed sewers, and established trolley connections. The area prospered and inspired similar growth in the adjoining areas. They expanded their holdings between 1905 and 1930, including developments named Elmhurst Square, Elmhurst South, Elmhurst Heights, and New Elmhurst.

Prior to World War II, Elmhurst was an almost exclusively Jewish and Italian neighborhood. Following the war, Elmhurst evolved into what is today one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City.[1] By the 1980s, there were persons from 112 nations in residence. Some local schools have low test scores and high truancy rates.

Historic churches

First Presbyterian
Elmhurst Baptist

Five churches of historic vintage are still extant and in use, two of which have historical graveyards.

Shopping

Elmhurst is home to two urban shopping malls. The recently expanded Queens Center, the most profitable mall per square foot in the United States, and the recently renovated and expanded Queens Place Mall, a smaller round shopping center originally built as a Macy's branch. It also has many furniture stores adjacent to Grand Avenue on Queens Boulevard.

Education

Elmhurst is part of New York City's Department of Education Region 4.[2]. Schools in Elmhurst include:

Transportation

Accessible subway stations are Woodhaven Boulevard, Grand Avenue – Newtown and Elmhurst Avenue, all served by the Template:NYCS Queens local trains of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In addition, the IRT Flushing Line, served by the Template:NYCS Flushing 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, Q58, Q59, Q29, and Q60.

Chinatown

There is a growing Chinatown in Elmhurst[3]; 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.

Popular culture

McDowell's, the fictional restaurant depicted in the 1988 film Coming to America, is located in Elmhurst. The filmmakers cosmetically altered an existing Wendy's 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 storage structures 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. Being literal rather than legal landmarks, the gas holders were removed in 2001.[4][5]

Elks Lodge, a landmark and now a church

Wrestling groups including USA Pro Wrestling, The Long Island Wrestling Federation, Ultimate Championship Wrestling/Impact Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling ran shows at the Elks Lodge on Queens Boulevard 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. Recently the Elks Lodge has begun running wrestling events again, in particular by Impact Championship Wrestling.[citation needed]

Elmhurst has produced an NBA basketball player, Smush Parker, (Guard for L.A. Clippers).

Notable residents

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kleinman, Dena. " A HOSPITAL WHERE ETHNIC CHANGE IS CONSTANT", The New York Times, October 6, 1982. Accessed June 4, 2007. "Dr. Stanley Bleich had been an intern less than a month at the municipal hospital in Elmhurst, Queens, when he examined a Korean man who had obvious indications of tuberculosis.... The hospital, one of the city's 16 municipal hospitals, is in what immigration officials have described as the city's most ethnically diverse neighborhood."
  2. ↑ Our Schools, New York City Department of Education
  3. ↑ "A Growing Chinatown in Elmhurst". http://queens.about.com/od/photogalleries/ig/Photos-of-Elmhurst/Elmhurst-Chinatown-.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
  4. ↑ Hevesi, Dennis. " Memory-Filled Tanks; Queens Loses 2 Roadside Landmarks", The New York Times, September 20, 1993. Accessed March 24, 2008. "The Elmhurst tanks -- those 200-foot monoliths that stood sentinel to the changing landscape of Queens and as harbingers of hair-tearing delay on the highway to Manhattan -- are down, deflated forever, their skeletal remains waiting to be dismantled."
  5. ↑ Elmhurst gas tanks, Queens Tribune. Accessed June 4, 2007. "But when the beloved landmarks weren’t really doing the business anymore they came down in 1996 and by 2001 there was almost no trace of the tanks that once supplied business and homes across the city."
  6. ↑ Berkow, Ira. "BASEBALL; Amid Some Uncertainty, The Expos Play to Win", The New York Times, June 18, 2002. Accessed October 22, 2007. "Minaya, born in the Dominican Republic but raised since age 8 in Elmhurst, Queens, was the assistant general manager with the Mets when Selig called last winter and offered him the job with the Expos."
  7. ↑ Severo, Richard. "Carroll O'Connor, Embodiment of Social Tumult as Archie Bunker, Dies at 76", The New York Times, June 22, 2001. Accessed November 18, 2007. "The O'Connors lived well, at first in the Bronx, later in a larger apartment in Elmhurst, Queens, and finally in a nice single-family home in Forest Hills, Queens, then an enclave for people of means."
  8. ↑ Talbot, Margaret. "Profiles, Supreme Confidence", The New Yorker, March 28, 2005, p. 40. Accessed October 22, 2007. "Tells about Scalia’s childhood in Trenton, New Jersey and Elmhurst Queens. His father, Eugene, was a professor at Brooklyn College and a believer in the principles of the New Criticism."
  9. ↑ Century, Douglas (2006-08-20). "A Night Out with Julissa Bermudez". nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/20/fashion/20nite.html. Retrieved 2008-01-06. 

Sources

External links

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