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Queens

Coordinates: 40°45′N 73°52′W / 40.750°N 73.867°W / 40.750; -73.867
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the female head of a royal family, see Queen.
Queens
Queens County, New York
Borough of New York City and county
Flag of Queens
Flag
Official seal of Queens
Seal
Location within New York City
Location within New York City
Coordinates: 40°45′N 73°52′W / 40.750°N 73.867°W / 40.750; -73.867
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CityNew York City
CountyQueens County
Settled1683
Named forCatherine of Braganza
Government
 • Borough PresidentDonovan Richards (D)
 • District Attorney
(Queens County)		Melinda Katz (D)
Area
[1]
 • Total181.5 sq mi (470.0 km2)
 • Land108.7 sq mi (281.6 km2)
 • Water72.8 sq mi (188.4 km2)
Population
 (2020)[2]
 • Total2,405,464
 • Density22,120/sq mi (8,542/km2)
DemonymQueensite[3]
Time zoneUTC−5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EST)
ZIP Code format
110xx, 111xx, 113xx, 114xx, 116xx
Area code(s)718, 347, 929, 917
WebsiteOfficial Website of the Queens Borough President

Queens is a borough of New York City and a county of New York State. It was named for Catherine of Braganza, the Queen of England and wife of King Charles II of England.

The Unisphere, a symbol of the Borough of Queens

Queens is in western Long Island. The East River separates it from Manhattan in the east and The Bronx in the north. Queens' only land boundary with another New York City borough is with Brooklyn in the south and west. Jamaica Bay separates most of Queens from its Rockaway Peninsula in the south. Nassau County lies to the east. Until 1899, Nassau County was part of Queens County.

About 2.4 million people live in Queens and it is the largest borough of New York City in size and second in population (after Brooklyn). According to the United States census, Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the USA. That means that it has the most people from different kinds of places, religions, and ethnic groups of any place in the USA. Large parts of Queens are urban and an equal part is suburban.

Transportation

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Queens is home to both of New York City's airports, LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Queens is connected to the Bronx by three bridges: the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge and the Triborough Bridge. It is connected to Manhattan by two bridges and one tunnel: the Triborough Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel.

Many controlled-access highways cross Queens, including I-495 (the Long Island Expressway), I-278 (the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), and I-678 (the Van Wyck Expressway, pronounced Van Wike). Important state highways in Queens include the Grand Central Parkway, which becomes the Northern State Parkway when it crosses the Queens border into Nassau County.

Many New York City Subway lines go through Queens. The most famous is the Flushing Line, the 7 Train, which has the nickname "International Express" because it goes through many neighborhoods where many immigrants live. Other subway lines in Queens include the A Train, C Train, E Train, F Train, G Train, J Train, M Train, N Train, R Train, V Train, W Train, and Z Train.

Queens has a very large bus system that goes to all parts of the borough. Some bus routes go to Brooklyn, Manhattan, or the Bronx.

The Long Island Rail Road also has many stations in Queens. The Port Washington Line crosses northern Queens. There are busy stations at Woodside, Queens, Forest Hills, and Flushing. The central depot and main station for the railroad is in the neighborhood of Jamaica.

Sport & Recreation

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Shea Stadium, former home of the Mets

The New York Mets of the National League of Major League Baseball play in Citi Field in Queens. The U.S. Open, a famous and important tennis tournament, is played in Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows Park south of the baseball stadium.

Neighborhoods

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A street in the neighborhood of Forest Hills Gardens, Queens

Queens has dozens of neighborhoods and named areas. These include:

References

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  1. ↑ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  2. ↑ ""P1: TOTAL POPULATION"". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  3. ↑ "What we learned: 2019 — New Yorkers are everywhere, like it or not". New York Daily News. December 31, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Borough of Manhattan, New York - Map and Latitude Longitude GPS Coordinates". Archived from the original on 13 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.

Other websites

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Media related to Queens, New York City at Wikimedia Commons
Queens travel guide from Wikivoyage

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