CLICK THE MENU ITEM ABOVE FOR A MORE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS:
THE WEST VILLAGE: There is no neighborhood like the West Village (Greenwich
Village, the village). Its a diverse neighborhood that has a life of itself,
flowing with artists and musicians, and actors.
In the mid-19th century, however, as the city spread north of 14th Street,
the Village became the province of immigrants, bohemians, and students (New
York University [NYU], today the nation's largest private university, was
planted next to Washington Square in 1831). Its politics were radical and
its attitudes tolerant, which is one reason it became a home to such a large
lesbian and gay community.
ABOUT SOHO: Starting at Houston (pronounced how-ston) Street, walk south down Broadway, stopping to browse the stores and vendor stands between Houston and Prince streets. The sole remaining museum on the block is the New Museum of Contemporary Art, devoted exclusively to living artists. Within the Prada store at 575 Broadway, Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas has created a high-tech setting for the Italian house of fashion. Several art galleries share these blocks as well, most notably at 568 Broadway, which houses 10 galleries, and the trendy Armani Exchange store on the ground level.
ABOUT CHELSEA: As Broadway marches north and west across Manhattan it Chelseaforms a series of squares beginning with Union Square at 14th Street. The square itself hosts a popular Greenmarket, and before Christmas, a crafts market. In this neighborhood are some of the city's trendiest restaurants lining Park Avenue South up to 23rd Street. Madison Square, the site of the original Madison Square Garden, is dominated by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Tower and the Flatiron Building (20-stories and triangular). It was once the end of "ladies mile," the city's most fashionable shopping district along Broadway and Sixth Avenue; this area still has great shopping. To its east is Gramercy Park, a small, fenced park acessible only to residents of its surrounding townhouses. Theodore Roosevelt was born in this neighborhood.
Bayside has been included in CNN Money's list of Most Expensive Housing Markets,[4] and was also a contender for CNN Money's ranking of Best Places to Live 2005, and Best Places to Retire 2005.
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 18th 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. In the 19th century Bayside
was still mostly farmland. Middle 20th century urban sprawl, with the help
of better roads, suburbanized it. During the 1920s, many actors and actresses,
such as Rudolph Valentino, lived in Bayside. It was known as the "it"
spot, outside of the city. These wealthy residents had large waterfront estates
and mansions, that still exist today.
Bayside was the site of one of New York City's most notorious crimes in 1908. Peter Hains, a prominent army officer, abetted by his brother, sea novelist Thornton Jenkins Hains, gunned down prominent editor William Annis at his yacht club. The so-called "Regatta Murder" led to a widely-publicized trial at the Flushing County Courthouse. Peter Hains was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years at Sing Sing, while Thornton Hains was acquitted.
Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens NY.
[edit] Location and boundaries
Bayside is located in northeastern Queens, on the North Shore, and is part
of Queens Community Board 11.Its geographical boundaries are: Francis Lewis
Boulevard to the west, 233rd Street to the east, Grand Central Parkway to
the south, 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, Whitestone to the north, and Oakland Gardens to the
south
Bay Terrace is garden apartment community 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.
Francis Lewis Boulevard, one of Bayside's main streetsThe north end of the
Brooklyn-Queens Greenway is in Little Bay Park, under the Throgs Neck Bridge
approaches, with convenient connection to the Utopia Parkway bicycle lane.
It lies between Cross Island Parkway and Little Neck Bay, connecting Bayside
to Douglaston, Queens and Alley Pond Park, and eventually to central Queens
and Coney Island.
Francis Lewis Boulevard is a major street notorious for drag racing, which has resulted in several fatalities to drivers and pedestrians over the years.
Northern Bayside is known for its quiet tree-lined streets and clean well kept homes.[citation needed]
Demographics
Bayside is a balance of city and suburb, with well kept homes and landscaping.
It is known as one of the more expensive areas to live in. The Bayside population
at the time of the 2000 census was 65.6% White/European American with Jewish,
Italian, Greek, Irish, and Russian residents. Around the mid 1990's, a significant
number of Korean families began moving into the area. At the time of the 2000
U.S. census, 22.7% of Bayside residents identified as "Asian alone",
mostly Korean. 4.5% of Bayside residents were Black or African-American, and
.1% as Native Hawaiian of or other Pacific Islanders. An additional .3% identified
themselves as some other race alone and 3.2% claimed an ethnic/racial heritage
of two or more races. 11.8 of Bayside residents identified themselves as Hispanic
or Latino [of any race]. Out of the 29,206 residents of Bayside as of the
2000 census, 65.4% of residents were born in the United States, and 34.6%
were foreign-born. The 3 largest foreign born groups in Bayside are Koreans
[25%], Chinese [13%], and Greeks [9%]. 52.9% of Bayside households speak English
only at home, 10.4 % speak Spanish, 15.2 speak European, and 20.7% speak Asian
or Pacific Island language at home. The northern part of Bayside, including
Bay Terrace, has a large concentration of Whites/Europeans, particularly people
of Jewish and Italian heritage. The southern and eastern portions of Bayside
have a more diverse population.[12]
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.
Bayside is an upper middle class neighborhood with many wealthy residents. The estimated median household income as of 2005 is $62,611, and 88% of all households own at least one car.[13]
Crime
Bayside is one of the safest neighborhoods in Queens.[14] As of 2007, there
were 0 murders, 3 rapes, 20 robberies, 20 assaults, and 200 burglaries committed
in 2007.[citation needed]
Education
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.
The district includes 20 elementary schools and 5 middle schools.[10]
Bayside is home to a number of New York City high schools:
Bayside High School
Benjamin Cardozo High School
Francis Lewis High School
as well as a number of parochial schools:
Sacred Heart School Catholic School
Redeemer Lutheran School Lutheran school
St. Robert Bellarmine School Catholic School
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School Catholic School
Bayside is also home to Queensborough Community College, a branch of the City
University of New York (CUNY) system[15].
Libraries
Queens Borough Public Library operates the Bayside and Bay Terrace Branches.
Parks
[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.[10]
Bayside has been included in CNN Money's list of Most Expensive Housing Markets,[4]
and was also a contender for CNN Money's ranking of Best Places to Live 2005,[5]
and Best Places to Retire 2005.[6]
Crocheron Park, in Bayside, once had a hotel, where Boss Tweed hid after his
escape from prison in 1875.
The character played by Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam"
was from Bayside (even though the real life Adrien Cronauer wasn't).
The movie The Nanny Diaries was filmed in Bayside, about 2 blocks away from
P.S 213.[citation needed]
Bayside is featured on a 1997 episode of NYPD Blue titled "Taillight's
last Gleaming." NYPD Lieutenant Arthur Fancy is pulled over driving through
Bayside with his wife by two NYPD officers assigned to a Bayside Precinct
for reasons that appear to be racially motivated. Fancy then has the senior
officer transferred out of his predominantly White Precinct in Bayside to
a predominantly Black Precinct in Brooklyn North as punishment.
The movie Frequency is set in Bayside Queens. Dennis Quaid's character brags
that he is from "Bayside Queens, born and bred!"
The band Bayside is an American punk rock band signed to Victory Records from
Bayside, Queens, from which their named is derived.
Landmarks
All Saints Episcopal ChurchLawrence Cemetery - 216th Street & 42nd Avenue.[16]
Fort Totten, New York - A fort built during the Civil War to guard the north
entrance to New York 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 Road. Archibald Cornell's wife inherited
the 100-acre (0.40 km2) 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 the
second-oldest home in Queens.
Famous people
Throughout its history, Bayside has been home to several notable people, including:
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