East Elmhurst, Queens
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East Elmhurst is a culturally diverse area in New York City, in the northwest of the borough of Queens. It is located north of Jackson Heights and Corona. It comprises largely of moderate-income families, but also has some low-income areas. It is also compromised of Trainsmeadow, which is the western section of East Elmhurst. It is patrolled by the New York Police Department's 115th Precinct. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 3.[1]
For decades after the early 1940's, East Elmhurst was an oasis of relative black privilege that included police officers and schoolteachers as well as entertainers. They moved to the area because it was one of the few neighborhoods in the New York City area where blacks could buy homes. Neighborhood Blacks pressed for jobs at the nearby 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs and at La Guardia Airport, and higher incomes broke the color bar in East Elmhurst. Ditmars Boulevard soon became known as the "Black gold coast."
East Elmhurst developed a bourgeoisie and a strong network of churches and fraternal organizations like the Knights of Pythias. There were tennis and riding clubs and Boy Scout troops. Black families lived alongside white families, a situation that assured better schools and garbage collection, and that a visit by friends of a different race was not an occasion for intense curiosity.
Despite crime peaks during the crack epidmeic of the 1980's, violent crime is no longer a problem in East Elmhurst[2] This area also includes the middle school named after Louis Armstrong The exact borders are somewhat arguable. The neighborhood is often thought to include the entire area north of Northern Boulevard to LaGuardia Airport, between the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Shea Stadium.
In recent years, the enclave has become increasingly Latino, with Dominicans, Mexicans, and other immigrants fresh to the middle class buying houses where Black residents have died or retired. In the East Elmhurst 11369 ZIP code, almost 50 percent of the 36,000 residents were born abroad.
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[edit] Education
Schools in the neighborhood include Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School, an all-boys catholic school for grades 9-12
[edit] Notable residents
Notable current and former residents include:
- Malcolm X
- Langston Hughes
- Louis Armstrong
- Ella Fitzgerald
- Jackie Robinson
- Willie Mays
- Tommy Agee
- P. J. Hill, Jr.
- Christopher "Kid" Reid
- Christopher "Play" Martin
- Hurby "Luv Bug" Azor
- Mark "Wizard ME" Eastmond
- Ron "Amen-Ra" Lawrence
- Louis Eric "Eric B." Barrier
- Kwamé Holland
