Laurelton is a largely middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens and part of the former town of Jamaica. Merrick Boulevard, which bisects the community in a generally east–west direction, forms its commercial spine. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard to the west, 121st Avenue to the north, Laurelton Parkway to the east, and Conduit Avenue to the south.
Laurelton | |
|---|---|
 228th Street at 138th Avenue in Laurelton | |
 Location within New York City | |
| Coordinates: 40°40′30″N 73°44′42″W / 40.675°N 73.745°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  New York |
| City |  New York City |
| County/Borough |  Queens |
| Community District | Queens 13[1] |
| Population | |
• Total | 24,453 |
| Race/Ethnicity | |
| • Black | 90.1% |
| • White | 1.5 |
| • Asian | 0.7 |
| • Native American | 0.3 |
| • Hispanic | 5.5 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 11413, 11422 |
| Area codes | 718, 347, 929, and 917 |
Laurelton is located in Queens Community District 13; its ZIP Codes are 11413 and 11422.[1] It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 105th Precinct.
History
editLaurelton derives its name from the Laurelton station on the Long Island Rail Road, which was named for the laurels that grew there over 100 years ago. It was developed by Dean Alvord and was modeled after an English village, with stately Tudor-style homes, both attached and detached.[4] A few co-ops exist in a former garden apartment complex, there has been some new construction but no high-rise buildings, which has enabled Laurelton to keep its small-town feel.
The area of Laurelton closest to Rosedale and Cambria Heights consists primarily of single-family homes whereas the area abutting Springfield Gardens contains more multi-family homes. The area south of Merrick Boulevard contains many large, individually designed houses, while certain blocks to the north, running eastward from Francis Lewis Boulevard, have attached, Tudor-style rowhouses. Laurelton also has a series of streets with landscaped and tree-lined center malls.[5]
Demographics
editIn the 1930s through the 1970s, Laurelton was home to many Jewish-American families, home to female American radio trio NBC radio vocal harmonists Three X Sisters during the 1930s, but succeeding generations since the 1960s have included various Afro-descended groups, including African-Americans, Caribbean/West Indians and West Africans, many of whom were attracted to Laurelton's more suburban-like environment.[5][6]
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Laurelton was 24,453, a decrease of 1,922 (7.3%) from the 26,375 in 2000. Covering an area of 909.17 acres (367.93 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 26.9 inhabitants per acre (17,200/sq mi; 6,600/km2).[2]
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 1.5% (366) White, 90.1% (22,032) African American, 0.3% (73) Native American, 0.7% (171) Asian, 0.5% (12) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (97) from other races, and 1.6% (391) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.5% (1,344) of the population.[3]
Private school education
edit- Cariculum Academy of Southeast Queens A Community Schoolhouse
Transportation
edit
Belt Parkway exits 24A/B, 23A, and 22 service Laurelton. The section of the Belt Parkway known as the Laurelton Parkway was the subject of a master plan[7] as part of the city's emerging system of greenways and bikeways. The restoration of this 1.5 miles (2.4 km) link was completed in 2006.
The Laurelton station on the Long Island Rail Road, located at 225th Street and 141st Road, offers service via the Far Rockaway and Long Beach branches.
Residents also have access to MTA Regional Bus Operations buses Q5, Q77, Q84 and Q85, which connect to New York City Subway stops in Jamaica. The X63 express bus to Manhattan also stops in Laurelton.[8]
Notable residents
edit- David Bergman (born 1950), gay writer/academic.[9]
- Joel Brind, professor of human biology and endocrinology at Baruch College.[10]
- Sam DeLuca (1936–2011), New York Jets right guard in the 1970s.[11]
- Mikey D (born 1967), rapper for Main Source and Mikey D & LA Posse.[12]
- David Greenglass (1922–2014), machinist and atomic spy for the Soviet Union who worked on the Manhattan Project.[13]
- Derrick Harmon (born 1963), NFL running back for the San Francisco 49ers from 1984-1986.[14]
- Ronnie Harmon (born 1964), running back, kick returner who played in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.[14]
- Marcus Jansen (born 1968), Expressionist painter. Attended PS 156 in Laurelton.[15]
- Hettie Jones (1934–2024), poet/memoirist and former wife of writer Amiri Baraka.[16]
- Meir Kahane (1932–1990), founder of the Jewish Defense League.[17]
- Doron Lamb (born 1991), professional basketball player for Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A[18]
- Neil Leifer (born 1942), photographer and filmmaker known mainly for his work in the Time Inc. family of magazines. [citation needed]
- Bernard Madoff (1938–2021), former NASDAQ chairman, convicted of the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.[19]
- Ruth Madoff (born 1941), wife of Bernie Madoff.[20]
- Irving Mosberg (1908–1973), politician who served in the New York Senate from 1958 to 1967.[21]
- Winston Rodney (born 1945), reggae music legend, known as "Burning Spear".[22]
- Elliot Sperling (1951–2017), expert on Tibetan history and the Tibet-China conflict and chair of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b "NYC Planning | Community Profiles". communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ a b Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
- ^ a b Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (March 23, 1997). "Delicately Oriental, but 'Practical'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Beyer, Gregory. "Prosperous Area Seeks Shops to Match", The New York Times, April 24, 2009. Accessed November 2, 2017. "IN parts of Laurelton, Queens, you can look down seemingly endless streets lined with Tudor homes, each a collection of squat rectangles with roofs so pointed as to have come from a child’s drawing.... 'Mine is the eighth-wealthiest district in the city, and a large part of that is Laurelton,' said Councilman James Sanders Jr., of the 31st Council District. “One of the things that make Laurelton unique is that it sits in the only census tract where blacks make more money than whites.'"
- ^ Roberts, Sam. "Black Incomes Surpass Whites in Queens", The New York Times, October 1, 2006. Accessed November 2, 2017. "In Queens, the median income among black households, nearing $52,000 a year, has surpassed that of whites in 2005, an analysis of new census data shows.... The gains among blacks in Queens, the city’s quintessential middle-class borough, were driven largely by the growth of two-parent families and the successes of immigrants from the West Indies. Many live in tidy homes in verdant enclaves like Cambria Heights, Rosedale and Laurelton, just west of the Cross Island Parkway and the border with Nassau County."
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. August 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
- ^ Bergman, David. "The Pleasure of Libraries", GLBTF Newsletter, Fall 1998, p. 5. Accessed January 16, 2023. "I have loved libraries all my life. Even the branch library in Laurelton, the neighborhood in Queens where I grew up, had a particular charm."
- ^ Yeoman, Barry. "The scientist who hated abortion; Endocrinologist Joel Brind says research has shown him the truth about abortion, and that's why he set out on a crusade that now reaches into the heart of the nation's most powerful cancer agency. But what if he's wrong?", Discover, February 1, 2003. Accessed November 2, 2017. "Joel Brind was a 10-year-old growing up in Laurelton, New York, when he realized he wanted to become a cancer researcher."
- ^ "At Home With A Jet Star", New York Daily News, December 11, 1966. Accessed January 16, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "On a football field, they don't come any tougher than Sam DeLuca of the Jets.... Sam becomes a much milder man, however, after he makes the short drive from Shea Stadium to a quiet residential section of Laurelton, Queens, where he lives with his wife, Henrietta, and their three children."
- ^ "Mikey D". Bomb Hip Hop. 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Melton, H. Keith; and Wallace, Robert. Spy Sites of New York City: A Guide to the Region's Secret History, p. 139. Georgetown University Press, 2020. ISBN 9781626167094. Accessed January 16, 2023. "David Greenglass was sentenced to a 15-year prison sentence and released in 1960. For many years prior to his death in 2014, he lived with his wife, Ruth and their children, at 130-73 228th Street in Laurelton, Queens, under assumed names."
- ^ a b "At Iowa, Harmon Makes Offense Go", The New York Times, October 10, 1984. Accessed November 2, 2017. "Greg, 23 years old, is the oldest Harmon brother, followed by Gary, 22, the musically inclined nonathlete of the family, and then Derrick, 21, Ronnie, 20, and Kevin, who will be 19 on Oct. 26. The boys grew up in a two-story brick home in Laurelton, Queens."
- ^ "1883 MAGAZINE". January 7, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Rosemary Banks. "The Story Behind Hettie Jones' Metamorphosis", Orlando Sentinel, July 15, 1990. Accessed January 16, 2023. "The night of Billie's second TV appearance found Hettie Cohen visiting her hometown of Laurelton, in Queens, celebrating a belated 24th birthday with her mother."
- ^ Kaufman, Michael T. "The Complex Past of Meir Kahane", The New York Times, January 24, 1971. Accessed January 16, 2023. For a year and a half around the time of the preparation of the manuscript, Meir Kahane would frequently commute to Washington, leaving his home in Laurelton, Queens, on Mon day and returning for the Sabbath on Friday."
- ^ Lelinwalla, Mark. "Former Loughlin standout Doron Lamb returns to Gauchos", New York Daily News, June 16, 2009. Accessed January 16, 2023. "The stage was the Rumble in The Bronx basketball tournament on Saturday, and Doron Lamb was getting the Bronx cheer..... The Laurelton product added emphasis with a tomahawk dunk on a fast break with seconds remaining in his Gauchos' 71-47 thrashing of Triple Threat at Manhattan College."
- ^ Segal, David; and Cowan, Alison Leigh. "Madoffs Shared Much; Question Is How Much", The New York Times, January 14, 2009. Accessed February 9, 2009.
- ^ Seal, Mark. "Ruth’s World", Vanity Fair (magazine), August 4, 2009. Accessed July 4, 2019. "But Ruth was from Laurelton, a middle-class community in Queens, and her single-family house was already a major step up for her parents, Saul and Sara Alpern, who had moved there from an apartment building in Brooklyn."
- ^ Staff. "Candidate Picked Here; Queens Democrats Designate Mosberg for State Senate", The New York Times, December 13, 1957. Accessed November 2, 2017. "Mr. Mosberg is 49 years old and lives with his wife and two children at 141-05 228th Street, Laurelton, Queens."
- ^ Rummell, Nick. "Burning Spear Seeks Rights to Songs", Courthouse News Service, July 7, 2015. Accessed January 16, 2023. "Reggae legend Burning Spear claims in court that Florida-based Tammi Music reneged on a deal to return copyrights to dozens of his own songs, and refuses to provide an accounting of what they've earned.... In addition, he says, he bargained for the right to conduct a financial audit within one year's time related to the earnings from his songs, and for all relevant documents to be sent to his Laurelton, N.Y. home."
External links
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