Jamaica Estates, Queens

Jamaica Estates World War II Memorial

Jamaica Estates Historical Plaque

Jamaica Estates is an upper middle class neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. Within Queens Community District 8, Jamaica Estates is served by Queens Community Board 8.^[1] It is bounded by Union Turnpike to the north, Hillside Avenue to the south, Utopia Parkway and Homelawn Street to the west, and 188th Street to the east. The main road through the neighborhood is Midland Parkway.

Character

The area is characterized by million-dollar homes and a multitude of trees. Midland Parkway, a four-lane boulevard with a wide, landscaped median strip whose renovation was completed in 2007, is the area's main artery. The neighborhood, which is landmarked, consists of mostly upper-middle-class residents. Most houses are single-family detached homes in the Tudor, Craftsman, Cape Cod, or Mediterranean styles.^[2]

Out of 14,000 residents, 45% are foreign-born. In the 2000 United States Census, 43% of residents were white, Bangladeshis comprise 11% of residents, while Filipinos make up 10%, Haitians 7%, Guyanese 5%, and Russians 4%. A population of over 1,000 Bukharan Jews live in the area.^[2]

History

Jamaica Estates was created in 1907 by the Jamaica Estates Corporation, which developed the hilly terminal moraine's 503 acres (2.04 km²), while preserving many of the trees that had occupied the site.^[3] The company was founded by Ernestus Gulick and Felix Isman, both of Philadelphia.^[4]

Jamaica Estates now has significant Modern Orthodox Jewish American^[5] and South Asian American populations.^[6] The latter has been particularly affected by the wave of mortgage foreclosures that began in 2008.^[7] The only apartments and multi-family housing lie near the southern border within a few blocks from and along Hillside Avenue. The shopping corridors are along Hillside Avenue and Union Turnpike.

In 2007, following the damage of the roof of the Historic Gatehouse in Hurricane Isabel, the restoration and beautification of the Gatehouse and Malls was completed.^[8]

The Jamaica Estates Association, founded in 1929, continues as an active, vital civic organization representing the community. An Historical Plaque was unveiled April 23, 2010, on the Midland Mall by The Aquinas Honor Society of the Immaculate Conception School and by the sponsor of the plaque, Senator Frank Padavan.^[9]

Education

Fresh Anointing International Church

The New York City Department of Education operates public schools:

• Holliswood School (PS 178) in School District 26, at 189th Street
• Abigail Adams School (PS 131) in School District 29 in Jamaica Hills

Private schools include:

• The Mary Louis Academy, an all-girls Catholic college-prep school, is located on the corner of Edgerton Boulevard and Wexford Terrace.
• Immaculate Conception School is on the corner of Midland Parkway and Dalny Road
• The Summit School has their High School campus on 188th Street and Grand Central Parkeay.
• Yeshiva University High School for Girls is just east of the Estates in Holliswood
• United Nations International School Queens Campus, for students in grades K-8, is located on Croydon Road; intended for the children of UN diplomats and employees, enrollment is now open to everyone.^[10] The school first opened in Lake Success, but relocated in 1950 to Parkway Village.^[11]
• From its 1975 founding to around 1980, The Japanese School of New York was located in Jamaica Estates, at 187-30 Grand Central Parkway.^[12][13]

Transportation

The New York City Subway's IND Queens Boulevard Line serves the station at the line's Jamaica – 179th Street terminal station (E F trains), as well as the penultimate 169th Street local station (F trains). The neighborhood is also served by the Q1, Q2, Q3, Q17, Q30, Q31, Q36, Q46 local bus lines. Numerous express buses (QM1, QM5, QM6, QM7, QM8, X68) to Manhattan also stop on Union Turnpike.

In contrast to much of Queens, most streets in Jamaica Estates do not conform to the rectangular street grid and follow topographic lines, the most notable example being Midland Parkway. Many of the named streets have etymologies originating from Languages of the United Kingdom, such as Aberdeen, Avon, Hovenden, Barrington, Chelsea, and Chevy Chase Street. However, unlike Forest Hills Gardens, which is a similarly wealthy Queens neighborhood with an atypical Queens street layout, the street numbering system does conform to the rest of Queens, employing the "dash" found in the Philadelphia grid street numbering system familiar throughout all other parts of the borough.

Notable residents

• Margaret Bergmann Lambert, German high jump champion of the 1930s (as Gretel Bergmann), later United States champion in high jump (1937 and 1938) and shotput (1938).
• Joseph "Run" Simmons, the "Run" of Run-D.M.C., lived in the area for some time before moving to New Jersey.
• Bob Saffer, a songwriter, wrote the campaign songs for presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He composed songs sung by Nat King Cole, Gene Autry, Frankie Lymon, and other renowned artists, but he was most proud of "Stand Up for the Flag of America," written at the time of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.^[14]
• Lennie Tristano, a blind bebop pianist and teacher, lived at 86-67 Palo Alto Street, Holliswood. He has been credited as the first to record "free jazz."^[15]
• Donald Trump, a businessman, grew up in the neighborhood, on Midland Parkway.^[16][17]

In popular culture

In the film Coming to America, the fictitious address of 24-32 Derby Avenue was the home of Cleo McDowell. Even if this street were to exist, the address would have to be numbered at least 169 or higher; this would correspond to 169th Street, the westernmost numbered street bordering the neighborhood.

References

1. Queens Community Boards, New York City. Accessed September 3, 2007.
2. Hughes, C. J. (2007-06-10). "Tudor Charm Loses Ground to McMansion Space". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
3. Shaman, Diana (September 21, 1997). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Jamaica Estates, Queens; An Enclave That Treasures Its Trees". The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
4. "TO DEVELOP 8,000 LOTS.; Plans of Messrs. Gulick and Isman Involving Large ract at Jamaica". The New York Times. August 11, 1907. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
5. Berger, Joseph (September 27, 2002). "Judaism Takes Different Turns; In Places, Blocks of Orthodoxy". The New York Times. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
6. Claudia Gryvatz Copquin. Jamaica. The Neighborhood of Queens. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
7. "Fifty percent of homes in pre-foreclosure are owned by South Asian immigrants in sections of New York City" (PDF). Chhaya CDC. January 12, 2009. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
8. "JEA Newsletter Volume 72 No. 5". Jamaica Estates Association. August 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
9. "Jamaica Estates Historical Plaque Dedication" (PDF). June 12, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
10. Welcome to UNIS Queens, United Nations International School. Accessed December 4, 2007.
11. Elsa B. Endrst (December 1991). "The United Nations International School: a model of diversity". UN Chronicle. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
12. Kulers, Brian G. "QUEENS NEIGHBORHOODS QUEENS CLOSEUP East Meets West in School For Japanese in America." Newsday. November 12, 1986. News, Start Page 31. Retrieved on January 9, 2012.
13. Buckley, Tom. "Pride and Pleasure Evident Beneath Usual Restraint; Japanese Here Prepare for Imperial Visit." The New York Times. September 23, 1975. Page 39. Retrieved on January 9, 2012. "Students from the Japanese School of New York in Jamaica Estates[...]"
14. Carl Ballenas, Aquinas Honor Society of the Immaculate Conception School (2010). Jamaica Estates. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-7255-0. |page = 118
15. Lennie Tristano at AllMusic. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
16. Ojito, Mirta. "CAMPAIGNING FOR CITY HALL: THE BATTLEGROUND; Gauging the Vote of the Satisfied", The New York Times, September 8, 2001. Accessed November 11, 2007.
17. "See Donald Trump's boyhood neighborhood - CNN Video". CNN. Retrieved 2016-04-21.

External links

• Jamaica Estates Association Webpage
• Images of America Jamaica Estates, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN 0-252-06921-8
• Real Estate Information Website For All of Jamaica Estates, Queens NY

Coordinates: 40°43′4.15″N 73°46′27.44″W / 40.7178194°N 73.7742889°W