Flushing River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Flushing River, also known as Flushing Creek, is a waterway that flows through the northern part of central Queens in New York City, emptying into the East River. The river is located in a valley that may have been a larger riverbed prior to the last Ice Age, neatly dividing Queens into a western and an eastern halves.
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[edit] The Channel
The headwaters of the Flushing River were once located in the present-day neighborhood of Kew Garden Hills, where Vleigh Place traces the Vleigh (old Dutch for Valley) of the headwaters. In the larger valley that comprises the present-day Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the river meandered through salt marshes, collecting water from Kissena Creek and Horse Brook before emptying into Flushing Bay on the East River. The mouth of the river became the site of the early Flushing settlement.
[edit] The History
The town of Flushing was first settled in 1645 under charter of the Dutch West India Company and was named after the city of Vlissingen, in the southwestern Netherlands. It is said that the name Vlissingen means "salt meadow," given as a nod to the tidal waters of Flushing Meadows. Pronunciation was corrupted to "Flushing" by the town's English-speaking inhabitants. During his presidency, George Washington arrived to Flushing by boat. The first crossing a drawbridge at [[Northern Boulevard], built in the early 19th century.
By the 1850s, a second crossing, Strong's Causeway was built near the present-day Long Island Expressway, extending Corona Avenue towards Flushing. This crossing was located near the confluence of Horse Brook and the Flushing River. In the mid-19th Century, the growing city of Brooklyn gave the land around the river to the Brooklyn Ash Removal Company, which turned the salt marshes into landfill. The pollution was chronicled by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, where Jay Gatsby observed the "valley of ashes" on his train ride between Manhattan and Long Island.
In 1936, Robert Moses proposed closing the ash landfill and transforming it into a park through its use as a World Fair site. With the exception of the Willets Point triangle, the landfill was leveled, the riverbed was straightened, and the southern paert of the river was deepened to form the Meadow and Willow lakes. At its northern section, a tidal gate bridge was built to keep tide feom the East River from flooding into the park. By then, Horse Brook was long gone, covered by the future Long island Expressway. Kissena Creek was also filled in for use as parkland to prevent flooding in the surrounding neighborhoods. Dammed and reduced in size, the river became navigable only up to Roosevelt Avenue. At its southern end, the subway yards reduced some of the lfwo coming from the headwaters.
For the 1964 World's Fair, the river was further reduced, when its middle section was filled in for parkland. Flowing out of Meadow Lake, the river was reduced to a canal beneath the Van Wyck Expressway, narrowing into pipes going into the Fountain of the Planets, a circular pool used for fountain displays. From there, the pipes took the river towards the tidal bridge, reemerging as a river.
Over the years, pollution from the Willets Point industrial area, surrounding highways, and dumping made the river an eyesore and a health hazard. In 2002, a sewage treatment plant was completed near College Point Boulevard, and the city took stronger enforcement measures against industries in Willets Point.
[edit] Restoring the River
As other waterways in New York have seen their shores revitalized with parks, the shoreline of Flushing Bay was given a waterfront promenade in 2001. The success of this project led to calls for a similar riverfront promenade less than a mile upstream near downtown Flusing. There are also ongoing plans by the city to raze Willets Point in favor of a convention center and hotels.
Among the more ambitious proposals include reopening the bured part of Flushing River, which would mean closing two soccer fields, and altering the park's golf course. At Meadow Lake, the abandoned Aquacade arena from the 1939 World's Fair has been demolished in favor of a pier with a sitting area, however the boathouse from the fair remains abandoned. At the river's source, Willow Lake, nature trails remain overgrown with plants, and are currently closed to the public.
[edit] 2012 Olympic Proposal
When the city of New York declared its candidacy for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, part of the proposal included merging the two lakes, with a new bridge at Jewel Avenue. The proposal generated widespread community opposition, citing aesthetics in the proposed lake's rectagular shape; traffic and lack of public access during the games, loss of parkland, and disruption to wildlife living in Willow Lake. Failing to secure its bid, the city has since shelved plans to unite the two lakes.
