QUEENS
The following will provide a brief synopsis of a few key variables to consider when looking for a place to live in the following Queens neighborhoods. The neighborhoods include Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills and Flushing.
QUEENS QUALITY OF LIFE … UNBEATABLE
HOUSING STOCK
Jackson Heights likely has some of the best housing stock in Queens for those looking for spacious Pre War condominiums and coops. Long Island City likely has some of the best modern apartments with amenities for rent in Queens, with panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline.
Astoria has a mix of single and multi-family homes, as well as a number of smaller 20th century apartment buildings. This mix of single and multi-family homes complemented with 20th century apartment buildings is also true of Sunnyside, Woodside, Elmhurst and Corona. Forest Hills, Kew Gardens and Flushing housing stock consists of a number of larger, late 20th century apartment buildings, as well as single and multi-family homes and smaller, earlier 20th century apartment buildings.
HISTORIC AND CULTURAL LIFE
There’s a wide array of cultural institutions in Queens. Long Island City is home to PS1 MoMA and the Sculpture Center, which are both arts organizations, as well as the New York Irish Center which is an Irish culture center. All of these institutions are just south of the Queensboro Bridge and nearby Jackson Avenue. LIC shares the Noguchi Museum, the Socrates Sculpture Park, and the Museum of the Moving Image with Astoria, as these institutions are located along the Astoria / LIC neighborhood border. Astoria is also home to a number of Greek cultural institutions including the Hellenic Society and St. Demetrios Cathedral.
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Sunnyside and Woodside are home to Topaz Arts which is a dance and art venue, as well as Thalia Spanish Theatre which is a dance and music cultural center. The Turkish Cultural Center is also located
in Sunnyside and they provide the public with an opportunity to share in the Turkish culinary, cinematic, and cultural experiences of Turkish culture.
Jackson Heights, Corona, and Flushing are home to an array of historic houses which host an array of public culture programs. The Louis Armstrong House is located in Corona, while the Flushing Town Hall, Queens Historical Society, Voelker Orth Museum, Quaker Meeting House, and Louis Ltimer House are located in Flushing. Flushing is also home to the Queens Botanical Garden and both Flushing and Corona share Flushing Meadows Corona Park wherein lies the Queens Museum, the U.S. Tennis Association [USTA] stadium [home to the U.S. Open], the Queens Theater, and CitiField which is home to the Mets professional baseball team.
Astoria is home to the historic Steinway Mansion once occupied by the family that created Steinway pianos. A Steinway factory continues to operate in the Astoria section of Queens. Forest Hills is home to the historic Forest Hills Stadium, which was the forerunner of the USTA stadium, where summer concerts are held. Kew Gardens is home to the Queens Borough government including the borough president's office and the courts. Elmhurst is home to a Thai temple and a historic site.
WESTERN QUEENS RESTAURANTS
Queens is nearly unbeatable for those looking for restaurants serving ethnic cuisine. Queens restaurants encompass the cuisine of the world, where you can find restaurants serving Indian, Middle Eastern, Greek, Italian, French, Latin American, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Caribbean, and African fare. We’ll likely post more about this at a later date.
CRIME AND SAFETY
Queens is one of the safest boroughs in New York City. Residents go back generations and people know each other by face, and oftentimes name as well, from frequent encounters on the street and through participation in community events. Many neighborhoods refer to themselves as the ‘Small Town in the Big City’.
QUEENS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Queens is home to two highly regarded private schools – the Kew Forest School in Kew Gardens and the Garden School in Jackson Heights. Astoria is home to one of the top-ranked public schools. And the Charter School in Jackson Heights is regarded as one of the top charter schools in New York State. We’ll have more about schools at a later date.
QUEENS PARKS
Queens is home to some of New York City’s finest parks. Queens has more trees than any of the other boroughs and I believe more green space [checking]. Along the East River you can find Hunters Point South and Gantry State Parks – both relatively new parks built in tandem with the renaissance development of Long Island City.
North of the Queensboro Bridge is Queens Bridge Park, Rainey Park, Socrates Sculpture Park and Astoria Park which is also home to an Olympic sized swimming pool.
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Sunnyside is home to Sunnyside Gardens Park – one of the only two privately owned parks in New York City [the other is Gramercy Park]. And the other park was recently renovated and contains a number of athletic facilities.
Jackson Heights Travers Park was recently expanded to include 78th Street as well as the addition of the Garden School playground when the Garden School is closed.
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Flushing Meadows Corona Park is one of the great parks of New York City and one of its largest. Flushing Meadows Corona Park is home to numerous soccer fields, an Olympic sized swimming pool, ice rink, lake, baseball fields and more. It is also the home of the Queens Botanical Gardens and two golf courses [one is a mini]
PROXIMITY TO NEW YORK CITY
Queens provides one of the highest qualities of life nearly anywhere due to its ethnic diversity, safe neighborhoods, proximity to Manhattan, parkland and great schools and restaurants. Give us a call and let us show you around. Thanks for visiting our website.
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