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112-521: Kissena Park is a 235-acre (95 ha) park located in the neighborhood of Flushing in Queens , New York City . It is located along the subterranean Kissena Creek , which flows into the Flushing River . It is bordered on the west by Kissena Boulevard ; on the north by Rose, Oak, Underhill, and Lithonia Avenues; on the east by Fresh Meadow Lane; and on the south by Booth Memorial Avenue. The park contains

224-610: A Daily News article in 2011, Flushing's Chinatown ranked as New York City's second largest Chinese community with 33,526 Chinese, surpassed only by the Brooklyn Chinatown (布鲁克林華埠) , and larger than Manhattan's Chinatown. The growth of the business activity at the core of Downtown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued to flourish despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Flushing now rivals Manhattan's Chinatown as

336-453: A "bathtub lake". Prior to the renovation, Kissena Lake was part of a wetland, which was believed to be a worthless type of land during the 20th century. A later renovation entailed categorization and major cleanup of the tree groves by Parks Department interns. In May 1951, Robert Moses announced plans to raise the grade the western stretch of Kissena Corridor Park between Flushing Meadows and 164th Street, including Kissena Park, by using it as

448-512: A Dutch Garden for Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, and a redesign of Union Square to accommodate a new subway station . New York City was the main beneficiary of Parsons' designs; they included numerous bathrooms, some designed to resemble Greek temples. In 1899, Parsons founded the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in conjunction with ten other well established practitioners on

560-551: A basis of three tenets: From 1901–1902 and 1905–1907, Parsons served as the President of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Parsons published numerous magazine articles and at least six books on landscape gardening throughout his life. He depended on media publicity to accomplish a goal only once; he sought help from local newspapers to help rid Central Park of shantytowns . Throughout his professional career, Parsons

672-856: A center of Chinese culture . The Lunar New Year Parade has become a growing annual celebration of Chinese New Year . In addition, several Chinese supermarkets such as Hong Kong Supermarket and New York Supermarket have locations in Flushing. The World Journal , one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside China, is headquartered in adjacent Whitestone . Numerous other Chinese- and English-language publications are available in Flushing, including SinoVision , one of North America's largest Chinese language television networks. The popular styles of Chinese cuisine are ubiquitously accessible in Flushing, including Hakka , Taiwanese , Shanghainese , Hunanese , Sichuanese , Cantonese , Fujianese , Xinjiang , Zhejiang , and Korean Chinese cuisine . Even

784-547: A forceful declaration that any infringement of the town charter would not be tolerated. Subsequently, a farmer named John Bowne held Quaker meetings in his home and was arrested for this and deported to Holland. Eventually he persuaded the Dutch West India Company to allow Quakers and others to worship freely. As such, Flushing is claimed to be a birthplace of religious freedom in the New World. Landmarks remaining from

896-639: A gazebo and a swimming pool with lake water, both of which were removed. Kissena Park is located on a 19th-century railroad right-of-way . A raised nature trail running through Kissena Park was originally the main line of the Central Railroad of Long Island of A.T. Stewart (later the White Line or Creedmore branch of the Long Island Rail Road . It ran from Flushing to Bellerose and was later extended from Bellerose to Garden City . In August 1940,

1008-619: A habitat for wood duck . Just east of the lake was a water pumping station. It was used first by the College Point Water Works, then by the Citizens Water Supply Company of Newtown, and finally as a city-owned pumping station. Samuel Parsons's children, Samuel Bowne Parsons and Robert Bowne Parsons, later took over running the nursery, and by 1898, Samuel Bowne Parsons's son George H. Parsons, had taken over as superintendent of Parsons Nurseries. Later that year, George

1120-572: A stretcher. City officials announced in 2022 that they would replace a dirt path leading to the Kissena Velodrome with a concrete path at a cost of $ 6.25 million. Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens . The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing

1232-459: A team of collectors, Parsons Nurseries found exotic trees and shrubs to import into the United States, and its advertisements filled gardening magazines with depictions of these exotic plants. During the late 1880s, Parsons Nurseries was importing 10,000 Japanese maples into the United States each year with help from Swiss immigrant John R. Trumpy. Parsons Nurseries also was the first to introduce

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1344-459: A temporary garbage dump. Moses had already began filling the sites of other future parks with municipal waste, including Spring Creek Park and Marine Park in Brooklyn. The plans were opposed by Queens Borough President Maurice A. FitzGerald . On June 7, 1951, Moses eliminated plans for the dump, as well as an extension of 146th Street that had been planned along with the dump. The western stretch of

1456-459: Is 57% in Flushing and Whitestone, higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018 , Flushing and Whitestone are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying . Flushing Chinatown, or Mandarin Town is the world's largest and one of the fastest-growing Chinatowns, known as the "Chinese Times Square " or

1568-532: Is a residential area with many large homes. The name refers to the area served by the "Broadway" station of the Long Island Rail Road . The Broadway station is located immediately east of the location where the LIRR's Port Washington Branch crosses Northern Boulevard, which when the station was opened in 1866 was called "Broadway". Part of this area has been designated a State and Federal historic district due to

1680-507: Is a Koreatown that originated in Flushing, but has since spread eastward to Murray Hill , Bayside , Douglaston , and Little Neck in Queens, and also into Nassau County . The Koreatown has historically been centered around Union Street, with the later growth being concentrated around Northern Boulevard east of Union Street. As of the 2010 United States census , the Korean population of Queens

1792-551: Is a major commercial and retail area, and the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue at its core is the third-busiest in New York City, behind Times Square and Herald Square . Flushing was established as a settlement of New Netherland on October 10, 1645, on the eastern bank of Flushing Creek . It was named Vlissingen, after the Dutch city of Vlissingen . The English took control of New Amsterdam in 1664, and when Queens County

1904-463: Is a mix of Jews , Greeks , and Italians . Most of central Flushing is an ethnic mix of Whites , Hispanic Americans , and Asian Americans . An area south of Franklin Avenue houses a concentration of Indian , Pakistani , Afghan , and Bangladeshi markets. This concentration of Indian American and other South Asian American businesses south of Franklin Avenue has existed since the late 1970s, one of

2016-529: Is also informally known as "Kissena Park". Kissena Park's natural features were formed during the Wisconsin glaciation , about 20,000 years ago. The site of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park , slightly west of Kissena Park, was originally part of the ancestral path of the Hudson River , and the present-day Kissena Lake was located on the eastern shore of the river. The glacier covered much of Long Island , where Queens

2128-633: Is bordered to the west by College Point Boulevard, to the north by Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park, to the south by Reeves Avenue and the Long Island Expressway , and to the east by Kissena Boulevard . Queensboro Hill is a part of ZIP Codes 11355 and 11367 and contains the NewYork–Presbyterian/Queens hospital. One of the leading churches is the Queensboro Hill Community Church, a multi-racial congregation of

2240-473: Is cold", "cold place", or "cool water", and the park was later named after the lake. After Parsons died in 1906, part of his former nursery was incorporated in the modern-day park. The name "Kissena Park" can also refer to a residential section of Flushing just north of the park. Kissena Park opened in 1910, and it was incorporated into Kissena Corridor Park in the mid-1950s. Various improvement projects have been conducted during Kissena Park's history, including

2352-603: Is known to have been stationed at Flushing during the war. Following the Battle of Long Island , Zackary Perrine, an officer in the Continental Army , was apprehended near Flushing Bay while on what was probably an intelligence gathering mission and was later hanged. The 1785 Kingsland Homestead , originally the residence of a wealthy Quaker merchant, now serves as the home of the Queens Historical Society . During

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2464-458: Is known to have been used. The Village of Flushing included the neighbourhoods of Flushing Highlands, Bowne Park, Murray Hill , Ingleside, and Flushing Park. The Flushing and North Side Railroad opened its Port Washington Branch to Flushing in 1854, providing access to Hunters Point on the East River shore. By the mid-1860s, Queens County had 30,429 residents. The Village of College Point

2576-572: Is located at a northern entrance to Kissena Park, at Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue. Another memorial, a boulder with an inscription dedicated to World War I soldiers from Queens, is located on the southern shore of Kissena Lake. Kissena Park is located in the center of the Kissena Corridor Park , a mostly continuous chain of parks several miles long, and is part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway . The corridor, in turn, runs along

2688-403: Is located, and formed a terminal moraine through the center of the island. One of these recesses became Kissena Lake. When the glacier receded, it created several recesses in the land, some of which were filled with water. The topography of Flushing and Northeast Queens was formed during this time, including the creation of Kissena Lake. Glaciation also created a natural source of well water for

2800-484: Is now emerging. Given its rapidly growing status, the Flushing Chinatown has surpassed in size and population the original New York City Chinatown in the borough of Manhattan and this substantial growth has resulted in a commensurate rise in this Chinatown's cultural status. In accompaniment with its rapid growth, Flushing in particular has witnessed the proliferation of highly competitive businesses touted as educational centers as well as non-profit organizations declaring

2912-681: Is patrolled by the New York City Police Department 's 109th Precinct. Flushing was originally inhabited by the Lenape Indians prior to colonization and European settlement. On October 10, 1645, Flushing was established on the eastern bank of Flushing Creek under charter of the Dutch West India Company and was part of the New Netherland colony that was governed from New Amsterdam (Lower Manhattan). The settlement

3024-549: Is reflected by the numerous ethnic groups that reside there. Flushing is served by several stations on the Long Island Rail Road 's Port Washington Branch , as well as the New York City Subway 's IRT Flushing Line ( 7 and <7> ​ trains), which has its terminus at Main Street . Flushing is located in Queens Community District 7 , and its ZIP Codes are 11354, 11355, and 11358. It

3136-472: Is served by Public School 200, which is on land donated by Electchester. The union provided the majority of the mortgage. New York state offered tax abatements. Electchester was classified as a "limited dividend nonprofit", subject to state regulations. The first families paid $ 475 per room for equity shares, and carrying charges of $ 26 per month per room, on apartments ranging from three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half rooms. Both housing complexes are patrolled by

3248-513: Is the second largest population of ethnic Koreans outside Korea. The Korea Times , a news organization based in Seoul, carries a significant presence in the Long Island Koreatown. The Long Island Koreatown features numerous restaurants that serve both traditional and/or regional Korean cuisine. Korean is spoken frequently alongside English and Chinese varieties, and retail signs employing

3360-808: Is travelling by water". In Pomonok, there is also Electchester , a cooperative housing complex at Jewel Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Pomonok, which was established by Harry Van Arsdale, Jr. and Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in 1949, when Van Arsdale worked with the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry to purchase 103 acres (0.42 km ) of the former Pomonok Country Club and build apartment buildings. 5,550 people live in about 2,500 units in 38 buildings, many of which are six-story brick structures. It

3472-644: The American Civil War to the end of the 1930s its slogan "Ask Mr. Halleran!" could be seen in ads all over Long Island, and the phrase from its maps "So This Is Flushing" became a catchphrase. The continued construction of bridges over the Flushing River and the development of other roads increased the volume of vehicular traffic into Flushing. In 1909, the Queensboro Bridge over the East River opened, connecting Queens County to midtown Manhattan . With

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3584-454: The California privet in the United States from Japan. Kissena Lake was initially used as a mill pond . Parsons later used Kissena Lake for ice cutting , where surface ice from lakes and rivers is collected and stored in ice houses and use or sale as a cooling method before mechanical refrigeration was available. However, as recently as the 1900s, both Kissena Lake and Gutman's Swamp served as

3696-615: The Free Synagogue of Flushing , the Congregation of Georgian Jews , St. Mel Roman Catholic Church, St. Michael's Catholic Church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church, Holy Annunciation Russian Orthodox Church, St. John's Lutheran Church, Queensboro Hill Community Church, Hindu Temple Society of North America, and the Muslim Center of New York. There are more than 200 houses of worship in Flushing. Samuel Parsons Parsons

3808-973: The Hangul alphabet are ubiquitous. A significant array of social services toward assisting recent and established Korean immigrants is available in Koreatown. There is also a significant population of Korean-Chinese or Chinese-Koreans in Flushing who can speak Mandarin, Korean, and English. The neighborhood of East Flushing, technically within Greater Flushing, also houses a substantial Chinese community along with most of Downtown Flushing . However, East Flushing also substantially includes Irish , Greek , Russian , Italian , Jewish , Spanish , and Portuguese communities, as well as communities of Indians , Sri Lankans , Japanese , Malaysians , and Hispanics , mostly Colombians and Salvadorans . This neighborhood tends to be more diverse visibly than Downtown Flushing because of

3920-647: The New York City Board of Estimate approved Queens Borough President George U. Harvey 's request to acquire the former Stewart Railroad right-of-way from Flushing Meadows at Lawrence Street (College Point Boulevard) east to Fresh Meadow Road (now Utopia Parkway ). The right-of-way was acquired into two tracts. The western tract west of Kissena Park and Kissena Boulevard extended 1 mile (1.6 km) with an average width of 500 feet (150 m). The eastern segment also extended one mile past Kissena Park, with an average width of 85 feet (26 m). The western stretch of

4032-699: The United States , primarily in San Diego’s Balboa Park and New York City's Union Square . Parsons' most notable designs outside of New York City are Balboa Park in San Diego, California , and Pinelawn Memorial Park on Long Island . Before the early 1900s, one in every four hardwood trees in North America's eastern forests was an American chestnut . Together with oaks they predominated in 80 million hectares of forest from Maine to Florida and west to

4144-458: The "Chinese Manhattan ". In Mandarin , Flushing is known as "Falasheng" ( Chinese : 法拉盛 ; pinyin : Fǎlāshèng ). The Chinatown of Flushing is centered around the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, and many of the area's Chinese businesses are located on the blocks around, or west of, Main Street. However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward along Kissena Boulevard and northward beyond Northern Boulevard . In

4256-663: The 1960s. Notable residents include the Helmann family of condiment fame, the Steinway piano-making family, as well as A. Douglas Nash, who managed a nearby Tiffany glass plant. Starting in the 1980s, homes in Waldheim were destroyed by the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens, one of the area's largest land owners. In 2008, the city rezoned the neighborhood to help preserve the low-density, residential character of

4368-484: The 1970s, a Chinese community established a foothold in the neighborhood of Flushing, whose demographic constituency had been predominantly non-Hispanic white. Taiwanese began the surge of immigration, followed by other groups of Chinese. A 1986 estimate by the Flushing Chinese Business Association approximated 60,000 Chinese in Flushing alone. By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of

4480-549: The 1980s. the park was being used as an illegal dumping ground. Algae buildup in Kissena Lake necessitated another restoration project, which was undertaken in 1983. Subsequently, a local naturalist named Charlie Emerson started planting a garden in 1986. The garden and an adjoining nature center were dedicated for Emerson in 1990. Meanwhile, the Velodrome had deteriorated over the years, and, by 2000, efforts were underway to renovate

4592-474: The 19th century, as New York City continued to grow in population and economic vitality, so did Flushing. Its proximity to Manhattan was critical in its transformation into a fashionable residential area . On April 15, 1837, the Village of Flushing was incorporated within the Town of Flushing. The official seal was merely the words, "Village of Flushing", surrounded by nondescript flowers. No other emblem or flag

Kissena Park - Misplaced Pages Continue

4704-490: The 69,362 counted in 2000 . Covering an area of 853.06 acres (345.22 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 84.4 inhabitants per acre (54,000/sq mi; 20,900/km ). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 9.5% (6,831) white , 4.2% (3,016) black , 0.1% (74) aboriginal American , 69.2% (49,830) Asian , 0.1% (59) Pacific Islander , 0.2% (172) from other races , and 1.8% (1,303) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.9% (10,723) of

4816-463: The Chippewa. The name was given to the lake by horticulturalist Samuel Bowne Parsons (father of Samuel Parsons Jr. ), who operated a nursery near the lake in the late 1800s. Kissena and Kissena Corridor Parks share the name with Kissena Boulevard which runs north-to-south between the two parks, and Kissena Creek , which formerly ran through the park. The area of Flushing surrounding the two parks

4928-585: The Dutch period in Flushing include the John Bowne House (c. 1661) on Bowne Street and the Old Quaker Meeting House (1694) on Northern Boulevard . The Remonstrance was signed at a house on the site of the former State Armory, now a police facility, on the south side Northern Boulevard between Linden Place and Union Street. In 1664, the English took control of New Amsterdam , ending Dutch control of

5040-506: The Kissena Corridor site between Main Street and Kissena Boulevard with municipal waste as a landfill . Afterward, the landfill would be excavated to install the sewer, and would act as a cover for the sewer. At the time, using garbage to fill the marshlands was considered more economical than filling it with clean dirt. In addition, the fill would help mitigate mosquitoes which inhabited the area around Kissena Creek. An existing landfill

5152-423: The Kissena Corridor was eventually landfilled in the 1950s from dirt excavated for the construction of the Long Island Expressway . The Kissena Velodrome, a 400-meter (1,300 ft) velodrome , was constructed in the center of the park in 1962. It was used during the 1964 New York World's Fair and the U.S. team trials for the 1964 Summer Olympics . It is the only remaining bicycle track in New York City. By

5264-523: The N.Y.P.D.'s 107th Precinct. There is also an N.Y.P.D. P.S.A.-9 Housing Police Unit station located in the Pomonok Houses. Pomonok is part of Queens Community District 8 . The Waldheim neighborhood, an estate subdivision in Flushing constructed primarily between 1875 and 1925, is bound by Sanford and Franklin Avenues on the north, 45th Avenue on the south, Bowne Street on the west and Parsons Boulevard on

5376-513: The New Netherland colony, and renamed it the Province of New York . When Queens County was established in 1683, the "Town of Flushing" was one of the original five towns which comprised the county. Many historical references to Flushing are to this town, bounded from Newtown on the west by Flushing Creek (now Flushing River ), from Jamaica on the south by the watershed , and from Hempstead on

5488-619: The Ohio Valley, reaching heights of up to 40 metres (130 ft) and growing two meters around the middle. Chestnuts sometimes piled so high on the forest floor that people would scoop them up with shovels. Both humans and a wide variety of animals relied on this abundant and easily gathered resource for food, particularly in winter. Chestnut trees also had significant economic value. American carpenters preferred chestnut over other materials for making certain products. Lightweight, rot-resistant, straight-grained and easy to work with, chestnut wood

5600-536: The Parsons land. This land was used to create the "Kissena Park" residential development. New York City bought the rest of the Parsons land and a few other land parcels to create Kissena Park. A 14-acre (5.7 ha) tract of Parsons's exotic specimens was preserved and is now the Historic Grove. In 1907, Paris and McDougal were accused of graft and fraud after they attempted to sell 87 acres (35 ha) of land back to

5712-592: The Reformed Church in America. Turtle Playground serves the residents of this section of Flushing. This area is often referred to as South Flushing. Pomonok is a neighborhood in South Flushing. This large public housing development was built in 1949 on the former site of Pomonok Country Club . The name comes from an Algonquian word for eastern Long Island , and means either "land of tribute" or "land where there

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5824-532: The Town of Flushing (along with two other towns and other land of Queens County) was consolidated into the City of New York to form the new Borough of Queens. All towns, villages, and cities within the new borough were dissolved. Local farmland continued to be subdivided and developed transforming Flushing into a densely populated neighborhood of New York City. A major factor in this was the Halleran real estate agency. From

5936-551: The Utopia Playground. The system of waterways was mostly a wetland area. The very first people to occupy the area were the Native Americans, though little evidence remains of their settlements. The site was then settled by Dutch and English settlers who founded the town of Flushing . In 1868, Samuel Parsons opened Parsons Nurseries, one of the earliest commercial gardens, near what is now Fresh Meadows Lane. With help of

6048-535: The World War I memorial knoll on the south side of Kissena Lake was dedicated in 1921. Kissena Park was originally envisioned as the primary park of Queens, similar to Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It contained landscaping, similar to both parks: the western end of Kissena Lake drained into the creek and was traversed by a bridge, similar to Central Park's Gapstow Bridge . The park also included

6160-417: The addition of the velodrome in 1962 and restorations of the lake in 1942 and 1983. Subsequently, the Kissena Velodrome was restored and rededicated in 2004, and a Korean War memorial was dedicated in 2007. Kissena Park is bounded by Booth Memorial Avenue to the south; Kissena Boulevard to the west; Rose, Oak, Underhill, and Lithonia Avenues to the north; and Fresh Meadows Lane to the east. The south side of

6272-639: The adjacent Kissena Corridor Park are named after Kissena Lake. The word "Kissena" is from the Chippewa language meaning "it is cold", "cold place", or "cool water". The Chippewa ( Ojibwe ) Native Americans are not native to the New York area, but rather to the Midwestern United States . However, the New York area was inhabited by the Canarsee and Rockaway Lenape groups, who are Algonquian peoples along with

6384-475: The area. Kissena Lake was part of a watercourse called Kissena Creek, previously known as Mill Creek or Ireland Mill Creek, which ran east-to-west through what are now Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park. The creek began at a swamp in the modern Kew Gardens Hills and Pomonok areas south of Kissena Park. Past the swamp, the creek traveled east parallel to 72nd Avenue, then turning north in modern Fresh Meadows, traveling parallel to today's Utopia Parkway to

6496-467: The city at inflated prices, earning $ 140,000 as a result. A grand jury was convened to investigate the transaction. Joseph Bermel , the Queens borough president at the time, was later found to be involved in the deal, having allegedly received $ 12,000 from the transaction. In March 1908, the grand jury recommended that those involved be found guilty of graft. Later that month, Bermel was charged with perjury and bribery after he tried to hide his involvement in

6608-427: The city's only remaining velodrome , a lake of the same name, two war memorials, and various playgrounds and sports fields. The site of Kissena Park was originally part of a tree nursery operated by Samuel Parsons in the late 19th century, though parts of the park were also the site of a Long Island Rail Road line. The lake on Parsons's property was named "Kissena", which comes from the Chippewa language meaning "it

6720-406: The community grew in wealth and population and rose in socioeconomic status , Koreans expanded their presence eastward along Northern Boulevard, buying homes in more affluent and less dense neighborhoods in Queens and Nassau County. This expansion has led to the creation of an American Meokjagolmok , or Korean Restaurant Street , around the Murray Hill station . The eastward pressure to expand

6832-590: The completion of Morningside Park . In collaboration with architect Stanford White , Parsons and Vaux also produced the Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park and the Grand Army Plaza Arch near Prospect Park in Brooklyn . Throughout their tenure together Parsons noticed that Vaux was a very passionate believer in naturalistic parks, but was reluctant to push himself forward. After Vaux’s death, Parsons went on to design Balboa Park (then known as City Park) in San Diego , Albemarle Park in Asheville, North Carolina , St. Nicholas Park in New York City,

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6944-426: The core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population. However, ethnic Chinese are constituting an increasingly dominant proportion of the Asian population as well as of the overall population in Flushing and its Chinatown. High rates of both legal and illegal immigration from Mainland China continue to spur the ongoing rise of the ethnic Chinese population in Flushing. According to

7056-423: The east by what later became the Nassau County line. The town was dissolved in 1898 when Queens became a borough of New York City, and the term "Flushing" today usually refers to a much smaller area, for example the former Village of Flushing. Flushing was a seat of power as the Province of New York up to the American Revolution was led by Governor Cadwallader Colden , based at his Spring Hill estate. Flushing

7168-399: The east. The area is immediately southeast of the downtown Flushing commercial core, and adjacent to Kissena Park. a small district of upscale "in-town" suburban architecture. Waldheim, German for "home in the woods", is known for its large homes of varying architectural styles and is laid out in an unusual street pattern. Waldheim was the home of some of Flushing's wealthiest residents until

7280-432: The elegant, park-like character of the neighborhood. Much of the area has been rezoned by the City of New York to preserve the low density, residential quality of the neighborhood. Broadway-Flushing is approximately bounded by 29th Avenue to the north, Northern Boulevard and Crocheron Avenue to the south, 155th Street to the west, and 172nd Streets to the east. Linden Hill is bound by 25th Avenue to Willets Point Boulevard to

7392-427: The home of families of Irish and Italian immigrants, many Korean and Chinese immigrants have moved into Murray Hill in recent years. Murray Hill within Flushing is often confused with the larger Murray Hill neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan . The Long Island Rail Road 's Murray Hill and Broadway stations serve the area. Before the area was developed for residential housing in 1889, Murray Hill

7504-425: The intent to educate the community. Some entities offer education in Mandarin , the most spoken Chinese variety in mainland China. A diverse array of social services geared toward assisting recent as well as established Chinese immigrants is readily available in Flushing. As of the 2020s, about 3/4 of the Asian population in the area are of Chinese descent making them the majority of the Asian population. There

7616-459: The intersection of Lawrence Street and Fowler and Blossom Avenues, near the modern-day Queens Botanical Garden west of Kissena Park. On February 19, 1948, the final contract for the project, including the trunk line from 188th Street to Francis Lewis Boulevard , was authorized from the Board of Estimate. On February 27, the Queens borough sewer engineer announced that the cost of the sewer project would run to over $ 10 million, $ 2.25 million higher than

7728-503: The land west of Kissena Boulevard was to become the Kissena Corridor Park, which would connect Flushing Meadows and Kissena Parks. The eastern stretch of the land would be developed into a second corridor called the "Cunningham Corridor", which would connect Kissena Park with Cunningham Park further southeast. The corridors would include playgrounds, sports fields, park trails, and bicycle and bridle paths which would connect to existing paths in Cunningham Park. The Kissena Corridor project

7840-476: The larger Linden Towers several years after this. Paul was additionally the architect of Embassy Arms. In total, 41 six-story buildings containing 3,146 apartments comprising the Linden Hill, Mitchell Gardens, Linden Towers, and Embassy Arms cooperatives were erected. Once a primarily European-American neighborhood, Linden Hill is now a diverse mix of European-Americans , Asian-Americans and Latino-Americans . The Asian-American population has expanded markedly in

7952-443: The largest Chinatown by this metric outside Asia and one of the largest and fastest-growing Chinatowns in the world. In January 2019, the New York Post named Flushing as New York City's "most dynamic outer-borough neighborhood". Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification by Chinese transnational entities. Based on data from the 2010 United States census , the population of Flushing was 72,008, an increase of 2,646 (3.8%) from

8064-786: The likes of Mickey Rooney , the Marx Brothers and Bob Hope . In the 1970s, immigrants from Taiwan established a foothold in Flushing, whose demographic constituency had been predominantly non-Hispanic white, interspersed with a small Japanese community. Additionally, a large South Korean population also called Flushing home. The Taiwanese immigrants were the first wave of Chinese-speaking immigrants who spoke Mandarin (Taiwanese also spoken) rather than Cantonese to arrive in New York City. Many Taiwanese immigrants were additionally Hokkien and had relatives or connections to Fujian province in China, which led to large influxes of Fuzhounese Americans . Over

8176-573: The manager of his father’s nursery in Flushing, Queens . Parsons then went to school at Yale University and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1862, after which he spent several years studying and practicing farming. When he returned home to the family nursery, it had started supplying Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux , two famous designers responsible for the Greensward Plan for New York City 's Central Park . The site of

8288-574: The modern Kissena Park Golf Course just south of Flushing Cemetery . The creek then turned west through the modern Kissena Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Queens Botanical Garden sites before meeting Flushing Creek at what is now the Fountain of Planets / Pool of Industry in Flushing Meadows. The system included several lakes, including Kissena Lake, as well as a pond in Fresh Meadows now occupied by

8400-508: The more even distribution of the ethnicities of East Flushing residents resulting in more ethnic businesses catering to each community rather than the dominance of Chinese and to a lesser extent Korean businesses in Downtown Flushing. The northeastern section of Flushing near Bayside continues to maintain large Italian and Greek presences that are reflected in its many Italian and Greek bakeries, grocery stores and restaurants. The northwest

8512-645: The neighborhood. As with the Broadway neighborhood, preservationists have been unable to secure designation as an Historic District by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission , and As of 2017 , structures in Waldheim were still being torn down. Flushing is a religiously diverse community. Houses of worship in Flushing include the Dutch colonial epoch Quaker Meeting House, the historic Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens, St. Andrew Avellino Roman Catholic Church, St. George's Episcopal Church,

8624-645: The new head landscape architect of New York City and remained there until 1911. During Parsons' partnership with Vaux , the two produced many notable designs, including Abingdon Square and Christopher Street Park , both in Greenwich Village ; the restoration of the Ladies Pond in Central Park, which at the time was infested with malaria carrying mosquitos ; the siting of Grant's Tomb in Riverside Park and

8736-506: The next few decades as people from different provinces started to arrive. Due to loosened emigration restrictions in mainland China, there has been a growing Northern Chinese population in Flushing. The regional food cuisines have led to Flushing being considered the "food mecca" for Chinese regional cuisine outside of Asia. In the 21st century, Flushing has cemented its status as an international " melting pot ", predominantly attracting immigrants from Asia, particularly from throughout

8848-608: The north to Rose Avenue in the south. Flushing also supplied trees to the Greensward Project , now known as Central Park in Manhattan. Well into the 20th century, Flushing contained many horticultural establishments and greenhouses. During the American Revolution, Flushing, along with most settlements in present-day Queens County, favored the British and quartered British troops, though one battalion of Scottish Highlanders

8960-584: The north, 154th Street to the east, Northern Boulevard to the south and the Whitestone Expressway to the west. Linden Hill was originally a rural estate owned by the Mitchell family. Ernest Mitchell owned an adjacent area to the west known as Breezy Hill and his father owned the area now called Linden Hill. The two areas are sometimes referred to as the Mitchell-Linden neighborhood. A major change in

9072-527: The nursery is within present-day Kissena Park , and Parsons Boulevard , which runs through much of the family nursery's land, is named after him. Parsons became Vaux's apprentice from 1879 to 1884 and his partner from 1887-1895. When Vaux became the head landscape architect of the New York City Parks Department , with him came Parsons, who took over the unpaid position of Superintendent of Planting. After Vaux's death in 1895, Parsons became

9184-510: The oldest Little India neighborhoods in North America. The Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam ( Sanskrit : श्री महावल्लभ गणपति देवस्थानम्, Tamil : ஸ்ரீ மகா வல்லப கணபதி தேவஸ்தானம்) at 45–57 Bowne Street in Flushing was the very first of the traditional Hindu temple organized in North America. However, Indians are migrating eastward into neighborhoods in northeastern Queens and into Nassau County, as with many Chinese and Korean immigrants. Broadway–Flushing , also known as North Flushing,

9296-570: The opening of Pennsylvania Station the next year, the Port Washington Branch, now part of the Long Island Rail Road , started running to midtown Manhattan. Broadway, a main roadway through Flushing, was widened and renamed Northern Boulevard. The Roosevelt Avenue Bridge over the Flushing River, which carries four lanes of traffic and the New York City Subway 's elevated Flushing Line ( 7 and <7> ​ trains),

9408-407: The park is mostly meadow land. Kissena Park contains a small lake, Kissena Lake, on the northeast corner. Formerly a wetland, it was transformed into a "bathtub lake" during a 1942 renovation. A freshwater marsh is located on the southern shore of the lake. The Historic Grove is located on a 14-acre (5.7 ha) site on the north end of the park, and contains trees from a nursery that formerly occupied

9520-443: The park site. It contains an old-growth forest that existed prior to the park's creation. The 400-meter (1,300 ft) Kissena Velodrome , at the center of the park, is used for track cycling and is the city's only remaining bicycle track. The velodrome hosts multiple bicycling programs, including Star Track. The rest of the park contains various playgrounds, soccer fields, tennis courts, and baseball fields. A Korean War memorial

9632-425: The path of a former Long Island Rail Road line that was originally known as Central Railroad of Long Island . A plaque commemorating the railroad is located at the northwest corner of the park. Bicycle paths connect the park westward to Main Street . The former Long Island Motor Parkway , now a bike path, connects Kissena Park with Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park via the Kissena Corridor. Kissena Park and

9744-509: The population. The entirety of Community Board 7, which comprises Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone, had 263,039 inhabitants as of NYC Health 's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.3 years. This is longer than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged and elderly: 22% are between the ages of between 25 and 44, 30% between 45 and 64, and 18% over 65. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents

9856-616: The previous figure. The main trunk of the Corridor Sewer was completed by September 1948, although many of the feeder lines had yet to be constructed. At the end of the 1939–40 New York World's Fair in 1940, debris from the demolition of the fair exhibits was used to fill the section of the future Kissena Corridor west of Main Street (today's Queens Botanical Garden ). By 1941, the New York City Department of Sanitation led by Commissioner William F. Carey began planning to fill

9968-570: The region, the charter of Flushing allowed residents freedom of religion as practiced in Holland "without the disturbance of any magistrate or ecclesiastical minister". However, in 1656, New Amsterdam Director-General Peter Stuyvesant issued an edict prohibiting the harboring of Quakers . On December 27, 1657, the inhabitants of Flushing approved a protest known as The Flushing Remonstrance . This petition contained religious arguments even mentioning freedom for "Jews, Turks, and Egyptians," but ended with

10080-561: The relatively obscure Dongbei style of cuisine indigenous to Northeast China is now available in Flushing, as well as Mongolian cuisine and Uyghur cuisine . Varieties of Chinese spoken in Flushing include Mandarin Chinese , Fuzhou dialect , Min Nan ( Hokkien ), Wu Chinese ( Wenzhounese , Shanghainese , Suzhou dialect , Hangzhou dialect ), and Cantonese ; in addition, the Mongolian language

10192-723: The rural nature of Linden Hill occurred in the early 1950s. Neisloss Brothers with architect Benjamin Braunstein envisioned a cooperative project to be set on Linden Hill and landfill on the adjacent swamp to the west which would provide middle-income housing to veterans of World War II and the Korean War . The construction was carried out under Section 213 of the Federal Housing Act of 1950 which provided mortgage insurance for non-subsidized projects. Gerace and Castagna with architects Samuel Paul and Seymour Jarmul subsequently developed

10304-475: The scandal. He resigned his post as borough president in April 1908 and was subsequently scheduled to give testimony at a grand jury trial, but fled the United States the day before he was to testify. Bermel's lawyer and brother were also charged with perjury. The actual construction of the park involved draining and filling in the marshland that made up the majority of the park's area. Kissena Park opened in 1910, while

10416-580: The southern part of Linden Hill in the past decade (as it has throughout Flushing) and the Latino-American population has also grown noticeably. Conversely, the European-American population has lessened somewhat, though European-Americans still remain in great numbers north of Bayside Avenue, west of 149th Street. Murray Hill is bounded by 150th Street to the west and 160th Street to the east and straddles ZIP Codes 11354, 11355, and 11358. Traditionally

10528-408: The track. In 2003, a $ 2.3 million restoration drained the lake in stages, resulting in its current appearance. The city water was replaced with well water, an aeration system was installed the concrete bulkheads were replaced with natural-looking materials such as rocks and plants, and a small island for birds and turtles was built within the lake. The Kissena Velodrome was also restored, and the track

10640-461: The various provinces of China , but including newcomers from all over the world. Flushing Chinatown is centered around Main Street and the area to its west, most prominently along Roosevelt Avenue , which have become the primary nexus of Flushing Chinatown. However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward along Kissena Boulevard and northward beyond Northern Boulevard . The Flushing Chinatown houses over 30,000 individuals born in China alone,

10752-495: The years, many new non-Cantonese ethnic Chinese immigrants from different regions and provinces of China started to arrive in New York City and settled in Flushing through word of mouth. This wave of immigrants spoke Mandarin and various regional/provincial dialects. The early 1990s and 2000s brought a wave of Fuzhounese Americans and Wenzhounese immigrants, who mostly spoke Mandarin, and who settled in Flushing as well as Elmhurst . Flushing's Chinese population became diverse over

10864-604: Was 64,107. In the 1980s, a continuous stream of Korean immigrants emerged into Flushing, many of whom began as workers in the medical field or Korean international students who had moved to New York City to find or initiate professional or entrepreneurial positions. They established a foothold on Union Street in Flushing between 35th and 41st Avenues, featuring restaurants and karaoke ( noraebang ) bars, grocery markets, education centers and bookstores , banking institutions, offices, consumer electronics vendors, apparel boutiques , and other commercial enterprises. As

10976-568: Was already present on Rose Avenue in Kissena Park. This dump, which collected ashes, garbage, and refuse from Flushing, began operations in the 1930s. A second Kissena Park landfill on North Hempstead Turnpike (Booth Memorial Avenue) was opened on November 14, 1943 and closed in July 1945. Concurrently with the Kissena Corridor project, Kissena Lake was dredged in 1942 as part of a Works Progress Administration initiative. This transformed Kissena Lake into

11088-461: Was also created by the inability to move westward due to the Flushing Chinatown on Main Street. Per the 2010 United States census , the Korean population of Queens was 64,107, representing the largest municipality in the United States with a density of at least 500 Korean Americans per square mile . The Korean American population, consisting of 218,764 individuals in the New York metropolitan area ,

11200-545: Was also supposed to include the construction of a major storm sewer through the corridor, which the Parks Department said was necessitated as a result of "the great extent of this natural drainage basin." In 1942, the federal War Production Board barred the construction of the Corridor Sewer, due to steel requirements for the World War II effort. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the sewer project were held on April 1, 1947, at

11312-589: Was born February 8, 1844, in New Bedford, Massachusetts , to Samuel Bowne Parsons (1819–1906) and Susan R. Howland (1824–1854). His father was the son of Samuel Parsons (1774–1841), who moved to Flushing from Manhattan around 1800 and married Mary Bowne (1784–1839). His father was an accomplished and well noted horticulturist , who was the first to import Japanese Maples and propagate rhododendrons . Parsons received his practical training and knowledge of landscaping and landscape materials working for J. R. Trumpy,

11424-466: Was established in 1683, the Town of Flushing was one of the original five towns of Queens. In 1898, Flushing was consolidated into the City of Greater New York . Development came in the early 20th century with the construction of bridges and public transportation. An immigrant population, composed mostly of Chinese , Indians , and Koreans , settled in Flushing in the late 20th century. Flushing contains numerous residential subsections, and its diversity

11536-474: Was found in the lavatory by his father; he had died of heart failure. Parsons Nurseries closed in 1901. The land was acquired for Kissena Park (then called Kissena Lake Park) between 1904 and 1914. The family of Samuel Bowne Parsons had sold off his nursery following his 1906 death. The nursery was located at the north end of the modern park at Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue. Real estate developers John W. Paris and Edward McDougal (or MacDougall) bought most of

11648-463: Was incorporated in 1867, and the Village of Whitestone was incorporated in 1868. The first free public high school in what is now New York City was established in Flushing in 1875. Flushing, then a small village, established a library in 1858, the oldest in Queens County and only slightly younger than the library of the City of Brooklyn (built in 1852). In 1898, although opposed to the proposal,

11760-533: Was known for his ability to merge elegant plantings and the extensive knowledge he had gained from his father with the native environment without disrupting the Genius Loci (the spirit of place) of the sites he designed. He was able to maintain his design characteristics in all of his design projects without completely copying his earlier work. He remains a founding father of the modern day landscape architecture institution, and his designs are still visible throughout

11872-507: Was lower, at 17% and 7%, respectively. As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 7 was $ 51,284. In 2018, an estimated 25% of Flushing and Whitestone residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in seventeen residents (6%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent,

11984-540: Was named Vlissingen, after the city of Vlissingen , which was the European base of the Dutch West India company. By 1657, the residents called the place "Vlishing". Eventually, the formal traditional English name for the Dutch town, "Flushing", would be settled upon (despite being a Dutch colony, many of the local early settlers were British , who trickled down from nearby Connecticut colony ). Unlike all other towns in

12096-452: Was rededicated in 2004. In 2007, the Korean War memorial was unveiled at the park's northern entrance at Parsons Boulevard. The memorial, designed by William Crozier, commemorates Korean War veterans from Queens. Its centerpiece is a bronze sculpture called The Anguish of Experience , which depicts "a solitary soldier whose face portrays the agony of war", followed by five soldiers who carry

12208-567: Was the largest trunnion bascule bridge in the world when it was completed in 1927. The next year, the Main Street terminal of the Flushing subway line opened in downtown Flushing, giving the neighborhood direct subway access. Flushing was a forerunner of Hollywood , when the young American film industry was still based on the U.S. East Coast and Chicago . Decades later, the RKO Keith 's movie palace would host vaudeville acts and appearances by

12320-564: Was the location of several large nurseries owned by the King, Murray, and Parsons families. The Kingsland Homestead has been preserved as the home of the Queens Historical Society . The Voelker Orth Museum , Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden is also located in Murray Hill. Comic strip artist Richard F. Outcault , the creator of The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown , lived on 147th Street in Murray Hill. Queensboro Hill in southern Flushing

12432-490: Was the site of the first commercial tree nurseries in North America, the most prominent being the Prince , Bloodgood, and Parsons nurseries. A 14-acre (5.7 ha) tract of Parsons's exotic specimens was preserved on the north side of Kissena Park . The nurseries are also commemorated in the names of west–east avenues that intersect Kissena Boulevard; the streets are named after plants and ordered alphabetically from Ash Avenue in

12544-468: Was used to build houses, barns, telegraph poles, railroad ties, furniture and even musical instruments. In 1876, Parsons imported Japanese chestnut trees which he then sold to customers in several states across the country. Some of these shipments concealed the pathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica . The disease chokes the trees to death by wedging itself into their trunks and obstructing conduits for water and nutrients. Asian chestnut trees evolved

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