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About Flushing
Flushing is an urban neighborhood in the northern part of the borough of
Queens in New York City, New York. Flushing is now home to large Chinese,
Taiwanese, Korean, Indian, Hispanic, and African American communities. The
neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 7.
20th century until today
Flushing was a forerunner of Hollywood, when the young American film industry
was still based on the east coast. Decades later, the RKO Keith's movie palace
would host vaudeville acts and appearances by the likes of Mickey Rooney, The
Marx Brothers and Bob Hope. The theatre now lies vacant and in disrepair due to
an unauthorized real estate development project that took place in the early
1990s. A plan to rename the site RKO Plaza and convert it for residential use
awaits city approval.
In 1921, Anne Francis Robbins was born in Flushing. She would later be known as
Nancy Davis and, finally, Nancy Reagan, wife of Ronald Reagan.
What is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was the site of two World's Fairs. The
1939 New York World's Fair was held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Among the
innovations presented to the world from Flushing in 1939 were the television,
which broadcast a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt. On July 4, 1940, Two New York
City Police Department officers were killed examining a bomb they removed from
the British Pavilion of the World's Fair. After the fair, the New York City
pavilion was turned into the temporary headquarters of the United Nations. In
1947, the UN vote in favor of the establishment of the State of Israel took
place here.
The 1964 New York World's Fair was also held in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.
Remnants of the fair include the Unisphere and the New York State Pavilion, The
New York City Pavilion (from 1939 Fair) which was converted into an ice-skating
and roller rink, and later the roller rink became the Queens Museum of Art. Pope
Paul VI attended the fair on October 4, 1965. Michelangelo's masterpiece, the
Pietà, also exhibited during his trip. With this papal trip, Pope Paul VI became
the first pope to visit United States. An exedra now commemorates the site of
the Vatican pavilion,
The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, originally consisting of Louis
Armstrong Stadium (the Singer Bowl, built for the '64 World's Fair), is the home
of the US Open, which was once held in Forest Hills.
The crime rate in Flushing has dropped significantly since the 1990s, mirroring
the city-wide decrease in crime. However, gang warfare has become a big problem
in the downtown Flushing area, resulting in a string of stabbings shootings and
murders, such as Wendy's Massacre on Main Street.
Demographics
Today, the neighborhood is 55% Asian American, with the largest ethnic Chinese
community in the New York metropolitan area, ahead of Manhattan's Chinatown. It
is the second-largest Chinatown in United States. Flushing is also home to
significant Hispanic American, African American, Indian American and Southeast
Asian populations.
Flushing was not always an ethnic enclave. In 1970, with 45,569 residents,
Flushing had a 76% non-Hispanic white population (much of which was
Irish-American.)After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Flushing saw
its own share of demographic shift. Within a span of only two decades, Flushing,
a neighborhood that was prominently White, has been transformed into a
neighborhood with 36% Asian in 1990. The non-Hispanic white population of
central Flushing declined to 29%, while the total population has increased to
54,488 in 1990. Traditionally, white flight is associated with urban decay, but
in Flushing the trend has brought an economic boom. The reaction to this
demographic change is mixed amongst the long-term residents.
Education
Queens College, one of the most respected colleges of the City University of New
York (CUNY), is located on Kissena Boulevard in Flushing. It opened in 1937.
Adjoining it is the City University of New York School of Law, which operates a
pro bono law firm that serves Flushing's immigrant and working-class
communities.
Public high schools in Flushing include John Bowne High School, Robert F.
Kennedy High School, Flushing High School, and Townsend Harris High School, as
well as private schools such as Holy Cross High School.
Flushing High School, the oldest public high school in New York, is housed in a
distinctive building in the Gothic Revival style, built in 1912-1915. It was
declared a historical landmark in 1991.
The Flushing branch of the Queens Borough Public Library, located at the
intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street, is the largest branch library
in New York City. The library has developed into a valuable community resource
and houses an auditorium for public events. The current building, designed by
Polshek Partnership Architects, is the third to be built on the site--the first
was a gift of Andrew Carnegie. The greater Flushing area is also served by 8
other Queens Library branches.
Transportation
Flushing is a major transportation hub with major air, rail, and bus links
located within a half-mile (800 m) radius of downtown. The New York City Subway
IRT Flushing Line's (7 <7>) terminal is at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue,
with the Flushing Main Street of the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington
Branch located one block away. Over a dozen local bus routes serve Flushing with
destinations in Nassau County by MTA Long Island Bus, the Bronx by MTA Bus, and
Jamaica and other Queens neighborhoods by MTA New York City Transit buses. La
Guardia Airport is located 10 minutes away by car or bus. The Van Wyck
Expressway, Whitestone Expressway, Grand Central Parkway and Long Island
Expressway service Flushing.
Until the IRT Flushing Line made its way to the intersection of Main Street and
Roosevelt Avenue in 1928, downtown Flushing's center was at the intersection of
Northern Boulevard and Main Street, the site of a number of trolley lines.
Flushing Airport was in operation from 1927 to 1984, located at the northern end
of Linden Place. Being north of the informal Willets Point Boulevard boundary,
the site is considered by some to be in College Point, Queens. The airport
opened in 1927 as Speed's Airport. The airport was the busiest airport in New
York City before the emergence of the larger LaGuardia Airport. In 1977, a Piper
Twin Comanche crashed shortly after taking off, which eventually lead to the
close of this airport in 1984.
Ethnic culture
The intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue has become a center for
Korean and Chinese culture and small businesses. Flushing is known for its
selection of authentic ethnic restaurants. The area south of Franklin Avenue is
home to a large Indian and Pakistani market. In 2007, many Korean businesses
moved out and Chinese enterprises have taken their place.
Sports
Flushing hosts world-class sporting events. Shea Stadium is the home of the New
York Mets, and the U.S. Open tennis tournament takes place in Flushing Meadow.
Shea Stadium was used by the New York Yankees in 1974–1975, during the
renovation of Yankee Stadium, and by the New York Jets before the football team
moved to Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Shea Stadium was designed with rotating
seating sections on the lower level that would allow the stadium to be
alternated between baseball and football configurations. Shea Stadium is
scheduled to be replaced in 2009 by Citi Field, which currently being built in
the current stadium's parking lot. Flushing has hosted four World Series, in
1969, 1973, 1986 and 2000.
Landmark buildings
Flushing's historic Town Hall, located on Northern Boulevard, is the
headquarters of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts. Today it is
a concert hall and cultural center. The Flushing armory, also on Northern
Boulevard, formerly used by the National Guard, was a shelter for the homeless
in 1981-1994. In 1996, it was taken over by the Queens North Task Force and
became a police station.[20]Other registered New York City Landmarks in Flushing
include the Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead, Quaker Meeting House (1694),
Flushing High School, St. George's Church (1854), the Latimer House, the RKO
Keith's Movie Palace, and the Unisphere, a 12-story high globe that served as
the symbol of the 1964 New York World's Fair. A weeping beech tree, planted in
1847 just north of the Bowne House, was a registered New York City Landmark
until it died in 1998 (at 151 years old). New trees that have sprouted on the
site have been nicknamed "sons of the beech."
* North Flushing, on the border of Bayside and Whitestone, is a residential
neighborhood with many large mansions that have been designated landmark
buildings. This area is located between 29th Avenue and 35th Avenue, and 155st
and 164th Streets.
* Flushing's Waldheim area is known for its beautiful, individually crafted
homes. Its 110 original houses made up Queens' first estate subdivision.
Museums and cultural institutions
Other attractions and remnants from the World's Fairs in Flushing Meadows-Corona
Park worth visiting include the Queens Museum of Art (housed in the New York
City Building from the 1939 New York World's Fair), featuring a scale model of
New York City (the largest architectural model ever built); The New York Hall of
Science, and the Queens Zoo. In addition to the Unisphere, the park contains a
variety of sculpture and markers from the fairs. There are markers for the two
5,000-year time capsules buried in the park, chronicling 20th Century life
(dedicated 1938 and 1965).
The Queens Botanical Garden is located on Main Street and has been in operation
continuously since its opening as an exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair. The
Botanical Garden carries on Flushing's long horticultural tradition begun by its
once famous tree nurseries and seed farms.
Flushing's tradition as a place of religious tolerance continues as well. It is
fitting that Bowne Street, named for John Bowne, is known for its diverse array
of houses of worship, including one of the largest Hindu temples in North
America.