ABOUT THE BORO

Learn More About the World’s Borough

Queens is big, diverse, and contains a rich fabric of human culture . The borough has more than 2.3 million residents who speak an estimated 170 languages. More than half the population was born in a foreign country. Queens is in fact, the World’s Borough! https://www.nycgo.com/boroughs-neighborhoods/queens/

Queens Rising recognizes that the Borough of Queens rests on the traditional homelands of those now referred to as the Canarsie, Lekawe, Matinecok, and Merrick peoples. We understand this land holds immense significance for its original stewards, the Native Nations and peoples of this region.

*Denotes Historical Sites

Famous Queens Arts & Cultural Icons
Astoria/Long Island City
Flushing
Corona
Forest Hills/Rego Park
Jamaica
Maspeth/Ridgewood
Rockaway
Sunnyside/Woodside

Queens Arts & Cultural Icons

Queens is a breeding ground for outstanding individuals who became famous for their contributions to society. Here is a list of famous native Queens Residents listed alphabetically by first name:

Acting

Adrien Brody; Al Roker; Barbara Bach; Bernadette Peters; Carol Ann Alt; Carol O’Connor; Christopher Walken; David Caruso; David Schwimmer; Debi Mazar; Dick Van Patten; Don Rickles; Drea de Matteo; Ethel Merman; Fran Drescher; Jonathan Favreau; Francis Ford Coppola; Hank Azaria; Harvey Weinstein; Howard Stern; Ja Rule; James Caan; James Cagney; Jerry Springer; John Leguizamo; John Turturro; Judd Apatow; Lucy Liu; Mae West; Martin Landau; Martin Scorsese; Michael Landon; Patty Duke; Ray Romano; Richard Dreyfuss; Rodney Dangerfield; Susan Sarandon; Zoe Saldaña.

Music

A Tribe Called Quest (Phife Dawg; Q-Tip); Art Garfunkel; Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo); Burt Bacharach; Capone-N-Noreaga; Curtis Jackson (50 Cent); Cyndi Lauper; Dee Schneider; Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis; Frankie Banali, Gene Simmons; Kool G Rap; LL Cool J; Lost Boys, Marley Marl; Marvin Hamlisch; MC Shan; Milford Graves; Mobb Deep (Prodigy & Havoc); Nas; Nicki Minaj; Paul Simon; Paul Stanley; Ramones (Johnny; Tommy; Joey; DeeDee) Robert Moog; Roxanne Shante; Run-D.M.C.; Russell Simmons; Salt-N-Pepa; Tony Bennett.

Writing

Art Buchwald; Billy Collins (U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003); Clement Clark Moore; James Breslin; Gwen Ifill; Nelson DeMille; Ron Chernow.

Astoria/Long Island City

Astoria and Long Island City are booming with new residential buildings, multiple high energy areas with restaurants, bars, cultural attractions, and hotels. These neighborhoods host a long history of Film Production as well as rich Greek and Egyptian cultural histories.
More information is at www.longislandcityqueens.com

Highlights/Attractions

Astoria Park
Astoria Performing Arts Center
Culture Lab LIC
Greek Cultural Center
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center
MoMA PS1
Museum of the Moving Image
Noguchi Museum
SculptureCenter
Socrates Sculpture Park
*Steinway Mansion
The Chocolate Factory Theater
The Secret Theatre

Flushing

Flushing is the center of pan-Asian commercial, residential, and social life in New York City and the entire Eastern Seaboard. The former Dutch and English colonial settlement is currently home to a “Little Taiwan” and “Koreatown” along with large Afghan, Bangladeshi, Indian, Mainland Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Spanish-speaking influences. The diverse neighborhood’s heart is the hustling-and-bustling Main Street, which features countless hotels, markets, performance venues, restaurants, and stores. It’s a great place to dine, hosting regional cuisines from every corner of the globe, with the most sought-after spots in NYC for foodies-in-the-know.

The neighborhood Flushing has more Chinese residents and businesses than the neighborhood Chinatown in Manhattan.

*Flushing Town Hall
*Kingsland Homestead
Kupferberg Center for the Arts
Godwin-Ternbach Museum
*Lewis Latimer House Museum
*Quaker Meeting House
*The Bowne House

For more recommendations and hidden gems, check out www.flushingfantastic.nyc

Corona

This Queens neighborhood that Louis Armstrong, Cannonball Adderley and a very young Martin Scorsese called home has long been a hotbed of immigration from Latin America and is one of the best places in the City to get authentic cuisine from Cuba, Mexico and beyond—try some homemade tortillas. The neighborhood has Italian heritage, too—perhaps most evident at the universally loved Lemon Ice King of Corona. Corona also is the home of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, (www.allianceforfmcp.org ) the fourth biggest public space in New York City. With 898 acres, it is 55 acres larger than Central Park in Manhattan with a wonderful mix of flora, fauna, waterways, paths, athletic facilities, statues, and cultural organizations.

Highlights/Attractions within Flushing Meadows Corona Park:

Citi Field
New York Hall of Science
Queens Botanical Garden
Queens Museum
Queens Theatre
Queens Zoo
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
World’s Fair Marina
*Louis Armstrong House Museum

Forest Hills/Rego Park

Forest Hills’ gently rolling rows of Tudor houses and tulip trees are secluded and relaxed. The area sometimes feels like a throwback, with old-school pizza parlors, sweets shops, knisheries and a train station that looks unchanged from when Teddy Roosevelt spoke there 100 years ago. Famous for Forest Hills Stadium, the venue the Beatles played in 1964 (reborn as a concert stage in 2013), the neighborhood is partially bordered by Forest Park, which holds a popular golf course, and is renowned as the birthplace of the Ramones and Simon & Garfunkel and as the childhood home of Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man).

Forest Hills Stadium
Forest Park

Jamaica

Best known to outsiders as a transportation center connecting parts of NYC to John F. Kennedy International Airport, this enclave contains a patchwork of cultures, including immigrants from India, the Caribbean, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. The local cuisine reflects that heritage, with a collection of international groceries and restaurants along Liberty Avenue. The neighborhood also features the 200-year-old King Manor Museum, a National Historic Landmark and the former home of Rufus King, a New York senator and signer of the Constitution.

Baisley Pond Park
Black Spectrum Theatre Company
Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning
*King Manor
Resorts World Casino New York City
The Afrikan Poetry Theatre
York College Performing Arts Center

Maspeth/Ridgewood

“File: Church of the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Ridgewood Queens NY.JPG” by Maspetheer (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The area known today as Maspeth was chartered by Dutch and English settlers in the mid-17th century. Maspeth is currently a neighborhood of families, small shops and businesses, and restaurants. Maspeth is also a community for great dining with its many restaurants, diners, delicatessens, bakeries and other fine eateries.

The Knockdown Center
*Vander-Ende Onderdonk House

Rockaway

An 11-mile-long peninsula with great beaches featuring waves and sandcastles, Rockaway has been a popular summer resort since the 1830s. There are countless seasonal attractions – surfing shops, jetski rentals, ambulant ice cream vendors – but Rockaway is also a residential area with suburban homes and community bars.

Jacob Riis Park Known as “The People’s Beach,”
Riis Park Beach Bazaar
Rockaway Artists Alliance
Rockaway Theatre Company
Rockaway Water Park

Sunnyside/Woodside

“Sunnyside Queens 2012”
by NYCDOT (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Established in the early 20th century by Irish settlers, the planned community of Sunnyside Gardens now sits as a treasured historic district in Sunnyside. The neighborhood retains a heavy Irish influence – especially when it comes to cuisine – and a verdant vibe with courtyards and tree-lined streets. It also boasts residents from around the world – including Romania, Korea, Greece and South America – making a trip to the neighborhood’s shops, restaurants and pubs an intriguing wander.

*Calvary Cemetery
Doughboy Park
Thalía Spanish Theatre