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 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.
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 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).[7]
Unlike all other towns in 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 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.[8] As such, Flushing is claimed to be a birthplace of religious freedom in the New World.[9]
Landmarks remaining from 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.
English colony
In 1664, the English took control of
New Amsterdam, ending Dutch control of 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.[10] 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 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 the site of the first commercial
tree nurseries in North America, the most prominent being the
Prince, Bloodgood, and Parsons nurseries.[13] A 14-acre (5.7 ha) tract of Parsons's exotic specimens was preserved on the north side of
Kissena Park.[14] 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 the north to Rose Avenue in the south.[15] Flushing also supplied trees to the Greensward Project, now known as
Central Park in Manhattan.[16] 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 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.
During 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.[18][19][20] The official seal was merely the words, "Village of Flushing", surrounded by nondescript flowers. No other emblem or flag is known to have been used. The Village of Flushing included the neighbourhoods of Flushing Highlands, Bowne Park,
Murray Hill, Ingleside, and Flushing Park.[20]
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.[21] By the mid-1860s, Queens County had 30,429 residents. The
Village of College Point was incorporated in 1867,[22] 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, 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 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.[23][24]
20th-century development
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.[25] With 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.[26] Broadway, a main roadway through Flushing, was widened and renamed Northern Boulevard.[27] 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), was the largest trunnion bascule bridge in the world when it was completed in 1927.[28][29] The next year, the
Main Street terminal of the Flushing subway line opened in downtown Flushing, giving the neighborhood direct subway access.[30]
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.[citation needed]
Over 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 the next few decades as people from different provinces started to arrive.[31][32][33][34] 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.[35][36]
In the 21st century, Flushing has cemented its status as an international "
melting pot", predominantly attracting immigrants from Asia, particularly from throughout 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, the largest Chinatown by this metric outside Asia and one of the largest and fastest-growing Chinatowns in the world.[37] In January 2019, the New York Post named Flushing as New York City's "most dynamic outer-borough neighborhood".[38] Flushing is undergoing rapid
gentrification by Chinese transnational entities.[39]
Based on data from the
2010 United States census, the population of Flushing was 72,008, an increase of 2,646 (3.8%) from 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/km2).[2]
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.[43]: 2, 20 This is longer than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[44]: 53 (PDF p. 84) [45] 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 was lower, at 17% and 7%, respectively.[43]: 2
As of 2017, the median
household income in Community Board 7 was $51,284.[46] 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, 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[update], Flushing and Whitestone are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not
gentrifying.[43]: 7
Flushing Chinatown, or Mandarin Town[47] is the world's largest and one of the fastest-growing Chinatowns, known as the "Chinese
Times Square" or the "Chinese
Manhattan".[48][40][41] In
Mandarin, Flushing is known as "Falasheng" (
Chinese: 法拉盛;
pinyin: Fǎlāshèng).[49] 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.[37] However, Chinatown continues to expand southeastward along Kissena Boulevard and northward beyond
Northern Boulevard.
In 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.[31] A 1986 estimate by the Flushing Chinese Business Association approximated 60,000 Chinese in Flushing alone.[50] By 1990, Asians constituted 41% of the population of the core area of Flushing, with Chinese in turn representing 41% of the Asian population.[31] 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[51][52] and illegal[53] immigration from
Mainland China continue to spur the ongoing rise of the ethnic Chinese population in Flushing. According to 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.[54] 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.[55]
Flushing now rivals Manhattan's Chinatown as a center of
Chinese culture.[56][57] 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.[58][59][60] The World Journal, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside China, is headquartered in adjacent
Whitestone.[61] Numerous other Chinese- and English-language publications are available in Flushing, including
SinoVision, one of North America's largest Chinese language television networks.
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 the intent to educate the community. Some entities offer education in
Mandarin, the most spoken Chinese variety in mainland China.[66] A diverse array of social services geared toward assisting recent as well as established
Chinese immigrants is readily available in Flushing.[67] 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.[68][69][70]
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.[72] They established a foothold on Union Street in Flushing between 35th and 41st Avenues,[72] featuring restaurants and
karaoke (noraebang) bars, grocery markets, education centers and
bookstores, banking institutions, offices,
consumer electronics vendors,
apparelboutiques, and other commercial enterprises.[71] As 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.[71][75] This expansion has led to the creation of an American Meokjagolmok, or Korean Restaurant Street, around the
Murray Hill station.[71] The eastward pressure to expand was also created by the inability to move westward due to the Flushing Chinatown on Main Street.[72] Per the
2010 United States census, the Korean population of Queens was 64,107,[76] representing the largest municipality in the United States with a density of at least 500 Korean Americans
per square mile.[77] The
Korean American population, consisting of 218,764 individuals in the
New York metropolitan area,[78] 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 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.[79]
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 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 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 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.[80][81] However, Indians are migrating eastward into neighborhoods in northeastern Queens and into Nassau County, as with many Chinese and Korean immigrants.[citation needed]
Subsections
Broadway–Flushing
Broadway–Flushing, also known as North Flushing, 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 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 the north, 154th Street to the east,
Northern Boulevard to the south and the
Whitestone Expressway to the west.[82]
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.[83] The two areas are sometimes referred to as the Mitchell-Linden neighborhood. A major change in 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.[83] The construction was carried out under Section 213 of the Federal Housing Act of 1950 which provided mortgage insurance for non-subsidized projects.[84] Gerace and Castagna with architects Samuel Paul and Seymour Jarmul subsequently developed 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 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.[75] Traditionally the home of families of
Irish and
Italian immigrants, many
Korean and
Chinese immigrants have moved into Murray Hill in recent years.[85] Murray Hill within Flushing is often confused with the larger
Murray Hill neighborhood on the East Side of
Manhattan.[75][86]
The
Long Island Rail Road's
Murray Hill and
Broadway stations serve the area.
Queensboro Hill in southern Flushing 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 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
Pomonok is a neighborhood in South Flushing. This large public housing development[90] 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 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 km2) 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 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.[91]
Both housing complexes are patrolled by 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.[92]
Waldheim
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 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.[93]
Waldheim was the home of some of Flushing's wealthiest residents until 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.[94] In 2008, the city rezoned the neighborhood to help preserve the low-density, residential character of 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[update], structures in Waldheim were still being torn down.[95]
Pure Presbyterian Church, located at 142–08 32nd Avenue, near Union Street
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, 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.[96]
There are more than 200 houses of worship in Flushing.[97]
In 1657, while Flushing was still a Dutch settlement, a document known as the
Flushing Remonstrance was created by Edward Hart, the town clerk, where some thirty ordinary citizens protested a ban imposed by Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of New Amsterdam, forbidding the harboring of Quakers. The
Remonstrants cited the Flushing Town charter of 1645, which promised liberty of conscience.[9]
The
Queens Botanical Garden is located on 39 acres (16 ha) between College Point Boulevard and Main Street.[113] It has been in operation continuously since its opening as an exhibit at the
1939 New York World's Fair,[114] and has been at its current location since 1963.[115] The Botanical Garden carries on Flushing's
horticultural tradition that dates back to the area's 18th-century tree nurseries and seed farms.[114]
Several attractions were originally developed for the World's Fairs in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. One of the most prominent is the
Unisphere, the iconic 12-story-high stainless steel globe that served as the centerpiece for the 1964 New York World's Fair, which was made a city landmark.[122] Additionally, there is a stone marker for the two 5,000-year
Westinghouse Time Capsules made of special
alloys buried in the park, chronicling 20th-century life in the United States, dedicated both in 1938 and 1965. Also in the park are the
Queens Museum of Art which features a scale model of the City of New York, the largest architectural model ever built;
Queens Theatre in the Park; the
New York Hall of Science; and the
Queens Zoo.[123] The
New York State Pavilion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[112]
Other parks
Kissena Park is a 234-acre (0.95 km2) park with a lake as a centerpiece.[124]
Kissena Corridor Park is a 100-acre (0.40 km2) park which connects two separate corridors, adjoining Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to Kissena Park. It contains a baseball field and a playground called
Rachel Carson Playground.[125]
Bowne Park is an 11-acre (45,000 m2) park developed on the former estate of New York City Mayor
Walter Bowne.[126]
Flushing Fields is a 10-acre (40,000 m2) greenbelt that includes the home athletic field of Flushing High School.[127]
Malls
Queens Crossing, at 39th Avenue and 136th Street, which opened in 2017.[128]
New World Mall, at Roosevelt Avenue east of Main Street
One Fulton Square, at 39th Avenue and Prince Street, which opened in 2014.[129]
The Shops at Skyview Center, at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, which opened in 2010.[130] The mall also contains a condominium development atop it.[131]
Flushing Commons, at 39th Avenue and Union Street, which opened its first phase in 2017. This is a multi-phase retail and housing development project.[132]
Tangram, at 39th Avenue and 133rd Street. It is in development and set to house the first
4DX movie theater in Queens.[133]
Police and crime
Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone are patrolled by the 109th Precinct of the
NYPD, located at 37-05 Union Street.[134] The 109th Precinct ranked 9th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010.[135] As of 2018[update], with a non-fatal assault rate of 17 per 100,000 people, Flushing and Whitestone's rate of
violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 145 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.[43]: 8
The 109th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 83.7% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 6 murders, 30 rapes, 202 robberies, 219 felony assaults, 324 burglaries, 970 grand larcenies, and 126 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[136]
Engine Company 273/Ladder Company 129 – 40-18 Union Street[138]
Engine Company 274/Battalion 52 – 41-20 Murray Street[139]
Engine Company 320/Ladder Company 167 – 36-18 Francis Lewis Boulevard[140]
In addition,
FDNY EMS Station 52 is located at 135–16 38th Avenue.
Health
As of 2018[update],
preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Flushing and Whitestone than in other places citywide. In Flushing and Whitestone, there were 63 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 8 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[43]: 11 Flushing and Whitestone have a higher than average population of residents who are
uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 14%, slightly higher than the citywide rate of 12%.[43]: 14
The concentration of
fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of
air pollutant, in Flushing and Whitestone is 0.0073 milligrams per cubic metre (7.3×10−9 oz/cu ft), less than the city average.[43]: 9 Thirteen percent of Flushing and Whitestone residents are
smokers, which is lower than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[43]: 13 In Flushing and Whitestone, 13% of residents are
obese, 8% are
diabetic, and 22% have
high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23% respectively.[43]: 16 In addition, 15% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[43]: 12
Ninety-five percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 71% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", lower than the city's average of 78%.[43]: 13 For every supermarket in Flushing and Whitestone, there are 6
bodegas.[43]: 10
Flushing is covered by multiple
ZIP Codes. Downtown Flushing and western Murray Hill is covered by 11354; south Flushing, including Queensboro Hill and Waldheim, is included in 11355; and eastern Murray Hill and Broadway-Flushing fall within 11358. ZIP Codes 11356 and 11357, which are part of College Point and Whitestone respectively, also cover small parts of northern Flushing and Linden Hill.[143] The
United States Post Office operates three post offices nearby:
Flushing and Whitestone generally have a similar rate of college-educated residents to the rest of the city as of 2018[update]. While 37% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 23% have less than a high school education and 40% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[43]: 6 The percentage of Flushing and Whitestone students excelling in math rose from 55% in 2000 to 78% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 57% to 59% during the same time period.[148]
Flushing and Whitestone's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Flushing and Whitestone, 9% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per
school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%.[44]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [43]: 6 Additionally, 86% of high school students in Flushing and Whitestone graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.[43]: 6
Public schools
Flushing's public schools are operated by the
New York City Department of Education. Flushing contains the following public elementary schools, which serve grades PK-5 unless otherwise indicated:[149]
Flushing High School, the oldest free public high school (1875) in what is now New York City. It is housed in a distinctive
Gothic Revival building built between 1912 and 1915 and declared a NYC Landmark in 1991.
As a result of the high number of Chinese and Korean immigrants with (
Confucius) educationally orientated outlooks, there is a large number of
cram schools (
Buxiban and
hagwon) located not only in Flushing, but also following Northern Blvd. west into Nassau County.[168]
Higher education
Queens College, founded in 1937, is a senior college of the
City University of New York (CUNY), and is commonly misconstrued to be within Flushing neighborhood limits due to its Flushing mailing address. It is actually located in the nearby neighborhood of
Kew Gardens Hills on Kissena Boulevard near the
Long Island Expressway. The
City University of New York School of Law was founded in 1983 adjacent to the Queens College campus, and was located at 65–21 Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills until 2012.[169] It moved to
Long Island City for the Fall 2012 Semester. The Law School operates Main Street Legal Services Corp., a legal services clinic.
Libraries
Flushing contained the first public library in Queens, founded in 1858. Today,
Queens Public Library contains five libraries in Flushing.[170]
The largest of the libraries is the Flushing branch, located at the intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street in Flushing's central business district.[171] It is the busiest branch of the Queens Public Library,[171][172] the highest-circulation system in the United States.[173] This library has an auditorium for public events. The current building, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, is the third to be built on the site—the first was a
Carnegie library, built through a gift of
Andrew Carnegie.[172]
The
n20GNassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus route to Great Neck, which runs along Sanford Avenue and Northern Boulevard, terminates in Flushing.[178] The n20x NICE bus route to
Roslyn Clock Tower, which follows the n20G route that goes between Flushing and Great Neck, and the n20H that goes between Great Neck and Hicksville.
The political stature of Flushing appears to be increasing significantly, with many Chinese from Flushing becoming New York City Council members.
Taiwan-born
John Liu, former
New York City Council member representing District 20, which includes Flushing and other northern Queens neighborhoods, was elected
New York City Comptroller in November 2009. In 2018, Liu defeated incumbent
Tony Avella to become the first of two Asian Americans in the
New York State Senate.
The first series of
Charmin toilet paper commercials featuring
Mr. Whipple (
Dick Wilson) were filmed in Flushing at the Trade Rite supermarket on Bowne Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
The rock band
KISS first played at the Coventry Club on Queens Boulevard in 1973, and is said to have derived its name from
Kissena Boulevard in Flushing.[183]
Joel Fleischman, the fictional character from the 1990s comedic drama Northern Exposure, was said to have relocated from Flushing. Often, references were made to actual locations around Main Street, Flushing.
The eponymous celebration in Taiwanese director
Ang Lee's 1993 comedy hit The Wedding Banquet takes place in Downtown Flushing's
Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel.
Fran Drescher's character
Fran Fine on the TV show The Nanny, was said to have been raised in Flushing, where her family still lived. Drescher was born in Flushing Hospital.
Flushing was the location of the Stark Industries (later Stark International) munitions plant in
Marvel Comics' original Iron Man series. In the movie Iron Man 2, the Stark Expo is located in Flushing.
On the
Norman Lear-produced TV show All in the Family, in the episode when
Edith Bunker was arrested for
shoplifting, she mentions the names of a few long-gone stores that were in downtown Flushing. The Bunkers also mention having lived on Union Street in Flushing.
The main characters of The Black Stallion series resided in Flushing and many of Flushing's streets and landmarks in the 1940s were mentioned in the first book.
In the musical Hair, the character Claude Bukowski is from Flushing.
In The Simpsons episode "
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Homer, after having drunk a large quantity of crab juice and unable to find a restroom, sees a bus going to Flushing Meadows and imagines it to be a field full of toilets.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby alludes to Flushing: "About half way between West Egg (
Great Neck) and New York, the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile."[184]
Notable people
Judd Apatow (born 1967), stand-up comedian, director, producer, actor, screenwriter[185]
Annet Artani (born 1976), singer-songwriter and international pop star[186]
Susan Wu Rathbone (1921–2019), a community leader in New York City, founder and head of the Chinese Immigrants Service and the Queens Chinese Women's Association
^
ab"NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning.
Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
^"Before the Five Borough City:Queens".
Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009. This later map shows former boundaries of the Town of Flushing. The map does not show the towns that were part of Queens and are now part of Nassau.
^New York Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. VIII, 1924, pgs 12–20
^Thompson, Benjamin Franklin. History of Long Island: Containing an Account of the Discovery and Settlement; with Other Important and Interesting Matters to the Present Time. 1838, page 381,
^Flushing Charter (1839) [April 15, 1837]. Charter, By-Laws, and Oridinances of the Village of Flushing. I.F. Jones (printer).Retrieved October 18, 2021.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (
link)
^Sarah Ngu (January 29, 2021).
"'Not what it used to be': in New York, Flushing's Asian residents brace against gentrification". The Guardian US. Retrieved August 13, 2020. The three developers have stressed in public hearings that they are not outsiders to Flushing, which is 69% Asian. 'They've been here, they live here, they work here, they've invested here,' said Ross Moskowitz, an attorney for the developers at a different public hearing in February...Tangram Tower, a luxury mixed-use development built by F&T. Last year, prices for two-bedroom apartments started at $1.15m...The influx of transnational capital and rise of luxury developments in Flushing has displaced longtime immigrant residents and small business owners, as well as disrupted its cultural and culinary landscape. These changes follow the familiar script of gentrification, but with a change of actors: it is Chinese American developers and wealthy Chinese immigrants who are gentrifying this working-class neighborhood, which is majority Chinese.
^Eileen Sullivan (November 24, 2023).
"Growing Numbers of Chinese Migrants Are Crossing the Southern Border". The New York Times. Retrieved November 24, 2023. Most who have come to the United States in the past year were middle-class adults who have headed to New York after being released from custody. New York has been a prime destination for migrants from other nations as well, particularly Venezuelans, who rely on the city's resources, including its shelters. But few of the Chinese migrants are staying in the shelters. Instead, they are going where Chinese citizens have gone for generations: Flushing, Queens. Or to some, the Chinese Manhattan..."New York is a self-sufficient Chinese immigrants community," said the Rev. Mike Chan, the executive director of the Chinese Christian Herald Crusade, a faith-based group in the neighborhood.
^Vedanta Society in San Francisco (1906) or the Vedanta Center in Boston (1910) are sometimes considered to be the first Hindu temple in the US. However they were not fully consecrated traditional temples.
^"Murray Hill Queens Commercial District Needs Assessment"(PDF). City of New York. January 6, 2023. p. 1. Retrieved December 17, 2023. ... the local Korean and Chinese populations have grown to make up 47% and 40% of the neighborhood's Asian population respectively.
^"Kissena Park : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939.
Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^"Kissena Corridor Park : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939.
Archived from the original on February 23, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^"Bowne Park : NYC Parks". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. June 26, 1939.
Archived from the original on May 2, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^
ab"
本校の歩みArchived January 17, 2014, at
archive.today."
The Japanese School of New York. Retrieved on January 10, 2012. "1975.9.2. Jamaica Queensにて「ニューヨーク日本人学校」開校。" and "1980.12.22 Queens Flushing校に移転。" and "1991.8.18. Westchester Yonkers校へ移転。"
^Toy, Vivian S.
"Love Me, Love My Apartment"Archived November 28, 2018, at the
Wayback Machine, The New York Times, February 10, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2016. "But then she started dating Michael Bellusci, a musician who has been on tour with the musical Beatlemania as Ringo. He was an owner of the house in Flushing, Queens, that he grew up in, and had converted the attic into a music studio."
^Bland, James AllenArchived July 23, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine, Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Accessed September 23, 2007. "James Bland was born on October 22, 1854, in Flushing, Long Island, New York, to Allen M. Bland and Lidia Ann (Cromwell) Bland, one of 12 children."
^McManus, Margaret.
"Not-So-Cool Godfrey Cambridge", Toledo Blade, May 1, 1966. Accessed June 21, 2016. "Godfrey macarthur Cambridge, born to British Guiana parents, who emigrated first to Sydney, Nova Scotia, and then came to New York, grew up in Flushing, Long Island."
^Wizards Radio Network,
Washington Wizards. Accessed December 7, 2020. "Originally from Flushing Queens, New York, Consor currently resides in Rockville, Maryland with his wife, Mara, and two sons, Kenny, and Jonny."
^Cotter, Holland (July 13, 2007).
"Poetic Theaters, Romantic Fevers". The New York Times.
Archived from the original on November 5, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2007. But they meant the world to this intensely shy artist, who lived on sweets, worshiped forgotten divas and made portable shrines to them — his version of spiritual art — in the basement of the small house he shared with his mother and disabled brother in Flushing, Queens.
^Scileppi, Tammy.
"Beating the odds, Queens-style"Archived January 9, 2017, at the
Wayback Machine, TimesLedger, June 22, 2012. Accessed January 8, 2017. "In a phone interview with the actress best known for her small-screen role as comical character Fran Fine from the 1990s CBS series The Nanny, the former Queens girl talked about growing up in Flushing and how some chapters of her life inspired two successful sitcoms."
^Cooper, Michael.
"New Yorker to Be Music Director of Phoenix Symphony", The New York Times, February 21, 2014. Accessed January 8, 2017. "The Phoenix Symphony's new music director is a native New Yorker who goes west by way of France: Tito Muñoz, who has led French orchestras in Lorraine and Nancy.... Mr. Muñoz, 30, is from Flushing, Queens."
^Richard Riordan BiographyArchived January 9, 2017, at the
Wayback Machine, Junior League of Los Angeles. Accessed January 8, 2017. "Born in Flushing, New York, Richard J. Riordan, a partner at Bingham McCutchen law firm, graduated from Princeton University and Michigan Law School."