Bayside, Queens

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A typical residential street in Bayside.

Bayside is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York in the United States. It is one of New York's most ethnically diverse suburbs, though inside the City limits.

1 History
2 Location and boundaries
3 Demographics
4 Education
- 4.1 Schools
- 4.2 Libraries
5 Parks
6 Claims to fame
7 Landmarks
8 Famous people
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

Bayside's history dates back to 2000 B.C., when the Matinecock Native American tribe first settled there. In the Late 17th century, the area was settled by English colonists. By the middle of the eighteenth century, early settlers left their homes in Flushing and developed a farming community, Bay Side. During the Revolutionary War, the Bayside-Little Neck area suffered from raids by whaleboatmen from the Connecticut shores. In one of the raids, the Talman house was attacked and the miller was killed.

[edit] Location and boundaries

Bayside is located in northeastern Queens, and is part of Queens Community Board 11.^[1] Its geographical boundaries are: Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, 223rd Street to the east, Grand Central Parkway to the south,^[2] and Cross Island Parkway/Little Neck Bay to the north. Bayside is bordered by neighboring communities Douglaston/Little Neck to the east, Auburndale to the west, and Oakland Gardens to the south.^[3].

Bay Terrace is a community of garden apartments located in the north section of the neighborhood; an adjacent shopping center was named after the community. The northern section of Bay Terrace also has a view of the Throgs Neck Bridge, which leads to The Bronx.

Bayside's major highways include the Long Island Expressway, Clearview Expressway, and the Cross Island Parkway. Bayside is also connected to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and Long Island by the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch at the Bayside station.

A Greenway lying between Cross Island Parkway and Little Neck Bay connects Bayside to Douglaston, Queens and to Alley Pond Park.

Francis Lewis Boulevard is a major street notorious for drag racing, which has resulted in several fatalities to drivers and pedestrians over the years.^[4]

[edit] Demographics

Bayside is a very diverse neighborhood with many ethnic minorities but few racial tensions. The Bayside population is predominantly White and Asian, but includes substantial populations of Chinese, Italian, Korean, Irish, Hispanic, Russian, Greek, and Jewish residents. Out of the 34,539 residents of Bayside (zip code 11361) as of the 2000 census, 61.7% of residents were born in the United States, and 37.1% were foreign-born. Half of Bayside households speak English only at home, while the other half speak non-English languages in their households.

Bayside contains 13,977 housing units. The majority of Bayside residents are part of family households, with an average household size of 2.54 individuals. The median age of Bayside's citizens is 41.5 years, and 18.1% of residents are senior citizens. 86.6% of residents age 25 and over have at least graduated from high school, while 38.4% have a bachelor's degree or higher, making Bayside a more educated community than the average American neighborhood. The median household income as of 1999 is $54,031, and 88% of all households own at least one car.^[5]

[edit] Education

[edit] Schools

Bayside is part of the New York City Department of Education's district 26, the highest performing school district for grades K-9 in all of New York City. As such, many parents have forged proof of residence within Bayside, so that their kids may attend District 26 schools. The district includes 20 elementary schools and 5 middle schools.^[3]

Bayside is home to a number of New York City high schools:

as well as a number of parochial schools:

Sacred Heart School Catholic School
Redeemer Lutheran School Lutheran school
St. Robert's Bellarmine School Catholic School

Bayside is also home to the following colleges:

Queensborough Community College, a branch of the City University of New York (CUNY) system^[6]

[edit] Libraries

Queens Borough Public Library operates the Bayside and Bay Terrace Branches.

[edit] Parks

Alley Pond Park
Bowne Park
Crocheron Park
Cunningham Park
Throggs Neck Park
John Golden Park
Raymond O'Connor Field

[edit] Claims to fame

Bayside was the site of alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a housewife named Veronica Lueken. The apparitions began in 1970 at St. Robert Bellarmine Church. Lueken died in 1995.
The movie Sally of the Sawdust (1925) was filmed in Bayside.^[3]
Bayside has been included in CNN Money's list of Most Expensive Housing Markets,^[7] and was also a contender for CNN Money's ranking of Best Places to Live 2005,^[8] and Best Places to Retire 2005.^[9]
Crocheron Park, in Bayside, once had a hotel, where Boss Tweed hid after his escape from prison in 1875.

[edit] Landmarks

Lawrence Cemetery - 216th Street & 42nd Avenue.^[10]
Fort Totten, New York - A fort built during the Civil War to guard the north enterance to NYC Harbor, along with Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, in 1862.
Straiton-Storm Cigar Factory - Built c. 1872, The factory was the largest cigar manufacturer in America. The three story, wood frame building was of the French Second Empire style.
All Saints Episcopal Church - The first church in Bayside, built in 1892, contains examples of Louis Comfort Tiffany's work.
Cornell-Appleton house at 214-33 33rd Rd. Archibald Cornell's wife inherited the 100 acre farm from her father more than 160 years ago. This twelve-room house is thought to be one of the oldest in Bayside. With past and continuing research, it has been traced back to 1852. In 1905, the house was sold to Edward Dale Appleton, of the Appleton Publishing Company. Mrs. Appleton and her sister were passengers aboard the Titanic when it hit an iceberg and sank. Both women were rescued by the ship Carpathia. This is also the second-oldest home in Queens.