Astoria Queens Neighborhood

Astoria is a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of the borough of Queens in New York City. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City (bordering at Broadway), Sunnyside (bordering at Northern Boulevard), and Woodside (bordering at 50th Street).

Ethnic heritage

Astoria was first settled by the Dutch and Germans in the first half of the 17th century. The next wave of immigration came in the 1890s when newly-arrived Czech, Irish and Italian immigrants moved to Astoria. By the 1920s, Irish immigrants founded many of the neighborhood's Catholic parishes – Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St. Patrick's, St. Mary's, Immaculate Conception, Most Precious Blood, and St. Joseph's. Most of these churches continue to serve Catholic community, which now includes more recent arrivals from Latin America and Eastern Europe.

The 1960s saw a large number of ethnic Greeks from Greece, Albania and Cyprus. The Greek cultural imprint can be seen in the numerous Greek restaurants, bakeries, taverns and cafes, as well as several prominent Greek Orthodox churches.

Since the early 1990s, Astoria has seen a recent wave of immigration from Central and Eastern Europe, notably arrivals from Bosnia, Croatia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Albania and Serbia. New immigrant groups from the Middle East, Tibet, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Latin America, Brazil and Southern Europe have also settled in the neighborhood, reflecting the general trend in ethnic diversity in Queens County.

Many of these ethnic groups have maintained cultural ties by establishing sports and social clubs, as well as other community organizations.

Geography

There is some debate as to what constitutes the geographic boundaries of Astoria. Traditionally, Broadway was the southern-most limit, however many residents and businesses south of Broadway identify themselves as Astorians for convenience, since Long Island City is considered to be a strictly industrial area. The eastern part of Astoria, with Steinway Street (see below) as its main thoroughfare, is sometimes called Steinway and considered to be a separate neighborhood.

Astoria is served by the N and W subway lines, which runs along an elevated track above 31st Street. Subway stops are located at several east-west avenues, with the terminus at Ditmars Boulevard, which extends roughly eastward from Astoria Park to the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia Airport. The next major avenue south of Ditmars with a subway stop is Astoria Boulevard, which flanks the Grand Central Parkway and the Triborough Bridge. Below that is the 30th Avenue stop, then Broadway.

Farthest south is 36th Avenue, a minor commercial strip which is a prominent Bengali area with traditional restaurants and shops. The primary streets running north-south are Vernon Boulevard along the East River; 21st Street, a major traffic artery with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial areas; 31st Street; and Steinway Street (named for Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, founder of the Steinway & Sons piano factory, a major commercial street with many retail stores, and a very prominent Middle Eastern section between Astoria Boulevard and 28th Avenue.

Community facts

* Attractions in Astoria include the Kaufman Astoria Studios' Museum of the Moving Image, Isamu Noguchi Museum, and Socrates Sculpture Park. Astoria Park, along the East River, is Astoria's largest park and contains the Astoria Pool—the jewel of New York City's public pools and former site of the U.S. Olympic trials.

* The Hell Gate Bridge and New York Connecting Railroad viaduct rise high above Astoria.

* The oldest beer garden in New York City, Bohemian Hall, dating from October 1, 1910, when, before the first Greek immigration, Astoria was largely Irish, Italian and "Bohemian" (now Czech) and Slovak.

* In All in the Family, Archie Bunker and his family lived at the fictional address 704 Hauser Street in Astoria.

* 37th Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue is sometimes referred to as "the Seinfeld Street." In the Seinfeld television show, this street is occasionally seen in external establishing shots as the block where George Costanza's parents live.

* Scott Joplin, composer noted for his famous ragtime music, is buried in St. Michael's cemetery in Astoria.

Origin of the name

Originally, Astoria was known as Hallet's Cove, but was renamed after the famous millionaire John Jacob Astor in order to persuade him to invest $2,000 in the neighborhood. He contributed only $500 to the neighborhood, but the name stayed. It has been said that Astoria was named for a man who never set foot in it. A bitter battle over naming the village was finally won by supporters and friends of John Jacob Astor (1763-1848). Astor, entrepreneur and real estate tycoon, had become the wealthiest man in America by 1840 with a net worth of over $40 million. As it turns out, Astor did live in " Astoria"—his summer home, built in Manhattan on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue, from which he could see the new Long Island village across the River named in his honor.