Corona, Queens facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Corona
Neighborhood
The intersection of Corona Avenue, 108th Street, and 52nd Avenue
Country	United States
State	New York
City	New York City
County/Borough	Queens
Community District	Queens 3, Queens 4
Founded	1854
Named for	Crown Building Company
Population  (2010)
• Total	109,695
	Includes North Corona and South Corona
Race/Ethnicity
• Hispanic	73.6%
• Asian	10.0%
• Black	9.5%
• White	5.3%
• Other/Multiracial	1.6%
Economics
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	11368
Area codes	718, 347, 929, and 917

Corona is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hills and Rego Park to the south, Elmhurst to the southwest, and East Elmhurst to the north. Corona's main thoroughfares include Corona Avenue, Roosevelt Avenue, Northern Boulevard, Junction Boulevard, and 108th Street.

Corona has a multicultural population with a Latino majority, and is the site of historic African-American and Italian-American communities. After World War II, the majority of the neighborhood's residents were mostly Italian, German, Irish and of other European ancestries. Corona also has a significant Chinese population.

Corona is mostly part of Queens Community District 4. The section north of Roosevelt Avenue, known as North Corona, is the northern section of Corona and is in Community District 3. Corona is patrolled by the 110th and 115th Precincts of the New York City Police Department.

History

The area was originally known as West Flushing, but various theories have arisen for its etymology. One theory is that it was renamed by music producer Benjamin W. Hitchcock, a developer who renamed the area in 1872 and sold off land for residential development. Another theory is that real estate developer Thomas Waite Howard, who became the first postmaster in 1872, petitioned to have the post office name changed to Corona in 1870, suggesting that it was the "crown of Queens County". A third theory is that the name Corona derives from the crown used as an emblem by the Crown Building Company, which is said to have developed the area. The Italian immigrants who moved into the new housing stock referred to the neighborhood by the Italian or Spanish word for "crown", or corona.

Corona was a late-19th-century residential development in the northeastern corner of the old Town of Newtown. Real estate speculators from New York started the community in 1854, the same year that the New York and Flushing Railroad began service to the area largely to serve a newly opened race course. It was at the Fashion Race Course in 1858 that the first games of baseball to charge admission took place. The games, which took place between the All Stars of Brooklyn and the All Stars of New York, are commonly believed to be the first all-star baseball games and in essence the birthplace of professional baseball. A trophy baseball from this tournament sold in 2005 for nearly $500,000.

During the second half of the 1940s through the 1960s, many legendary African-American musicians, civil rights leaders and athletes moved to the neighborhood. In the last half of the 20th century, Corona saw dramatic ethnic successions. In the 1950s, what was predominantly an Italian-American and African-American neighborhood began to give way to an influx of Dominicans. In the late 1990s, Corona saw a new wave of immigrants from Latin America. The area north of Roosevelt Avenue contained the heart of the historic African-American community. The intersection of 108th Street and Corona Avenue is the historic center of the Italian-American community, sometimes referred to as Corona Heights. The majority Hispanic community now consists of Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Bolivians, Peruvians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, and Chileans. There are also Asian Americans (Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Japanese) as well as Italian Americans and African Americans.

Structures

Brazilian Adventist Church

Dorie Miller Residential Cooperative, built in 1952, comprises six buildings, containing 300 apartments, with 1,300 rooms in total. The cooperative is named after Doris "Dorie" Miller, a U.S. Naval hero at Pearl Harbor and the first African-American recipient of the Navy Cross. Among its original residents were jazz greats Nat Adderley & Jimmy Heath; Kenneth and Corien Drew, publishers of Queens' first African-American newspaper, The Corona East Elmhurst News, Thelma E. Harris founder of Aburi Press and prominent Queens Judge Henry A. Slaughter. Corona was also the childhood home of Marie Maynard Daly, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.

The Louis Armstrong House attracts visitors to the neighborhood and preserves the legacy of musician Louis Armstrong, one of Corona's most prominent historical residents. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Lemon Ice King in Corona

The Lemon Ice King of Corona, an ices shop, is located at 52nd Avenue, Corona Avenue, and 108th Street. Founded in 1944 by Peter Benfaremo, it is a neighborhood point of interest. The shop attracts international tourists due to having been featured in the opening credits of the TV show The King of Queens.

Corona used to have three kettle ponds. One of them, Linden Pond, was located a block south of 103rd Street–Corona Plaza station and was the centerpiece of Park of the Americas, located near the original center of Corona. The pond had become a public health hazard by the early 20th century, and was renovated in 1912; it was removed altogether when the park was renovated in 1947. The second was Shady Lake, located at what is now the intersection of 53rd Avenue, Corona Avenue, and 108th Street. The pond, originally used to harvest ice, was drained in the 20th century; the Lemon Ice King of Corona and William F. Moore Park are now located near the site. A third, Backus Lake at 98th Street and 31st Avenue, was also considered a nuisance by the 1900s, and was drained in 1917.

Corona Plaza

Corona Plaza, located at Roosevelt Avenue and National Street, was previously an underutilized lot and truck route that was transformed over the course of several years into a pedestrian plaza for community programming and inclusive living. In the latter half of the 20th century, the area that is now Corona Plaza was a lot that connected the street to a row of mainly immigrant-owned businesses. The neighborhood of Corona had an overflow of immigrants who struggled to find employment which exacerbated illegal trading, much of which would occur through the use of trucks that could park in this unofficial lot. By the early 21st century, Corona Plaza was gradually given more attention and became a community space for the ethnically diverse population of Corona.

In 2005, the nearby Queens Museum began applying for permits to temporarily close off the streets that allowed vehicle access to the plaza and hosted public events (typically art based) that the residents of the community could attend. Seeing the lot's future potential, the Queens Museum partnered with the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC) to develop plans to reuse the space. The partners saw this as an opportunity for grassroots, art-led engagement that would unite residents. The two groups' individual intentions both contributed to the creation of the permanent plaza: the QEDC supports developing local businesses while the Queens Museum creates a stronger presence in the neighborhood for its arts programs,

The space was first transformed in 2012 as a temporary plaza with chairs and tables that prohibited through traffic. It was later made permanent by the Department of Design and Construction, which filled in the lot with concrete, added built-in seating and a performance space, new pedestrian lighting, and plants to reinforce the liveliness. Later added was a drinking fountain, WalkNYC wayfinding signs, bike racks to serve commuters, an automatic pay toilet, and more furniture. Maintenance and technical assistance (including daily cleaning) services for the plaza are funded by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT), which has also partnered with the Queens Museum to bring programming to the newly transformed space. The plaza was fully implemented in early 2018 at a cost of around $5.6 million. Corona Plaza is recognized by urban planning circles as a project that has created a new community space.

Demographics

According to the 2010 census, the total population of Corona was about 110,000. Corona is overwhelmingly Hispanic with all other demographics (Asian, non-Hispanic black, and non-Hispanic white) being definitively below the borough average.

Corona is divided into two neighborhood tabulation areas, Corona (south of Roosevelt Avenue) and North Corona (north of Roosevelt Avenue), which collectively comprise the population of the greater neighborhood.

Corona

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Corona south of Roosevelt Avenue was 57,658, a change of 5,576 (9.7%) from the 52,082 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 462.74 acres (187.26 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 124.6 inhabitants per acre (79,700/sq mi; 30,800/km²).

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 8.4% (4,851) White, 13.6% (7,845) Black, 0.2% (130) Native American, 12.7% (7,346) Asian, 0% (9) Pacific Islander, 0.5% (280) from other races, and 1.3% (723) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 63.3% (36,474) of the population.

The entirety of Community Board 4, which comprises Corona and Elmhurst, had 135,972 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 85.4 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 17% are between the ages of 0–17, 39% between 25 and 44, and 24% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 12%, respectively.

As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 4 was $51,992. In 2018, an estimated 27% of Corona and Elmhurst residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in fourteen residents (7%) 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 62% in Corona and Elmhurst, higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51%, respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018^[update], Corona and Elmhurst are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

As according to the 2020 census data from New York City Department of City Planning, Corona had 51,500 Hispanic residents, there were between 10,000 and 19,999 Asian residents, and 5,000 to 9,000 Black residents, meanwhile the White residents were less than 5000.

North Corona

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of North Corona was 52,037, a change of 4,881 (9.4%) from the 47,156 counted in 2000. Covering an area of 413.24 acres (167.23 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 125.9 inhabitants per acre (80,600/sq mi; 31,100/km²).

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 1.8% (929) White, 4.9% (2,566) African American, 0.1% (67) Native American, 6.9% (3,597) Asian, 0% (5) Pacific Islander, 0.7% (351) from other races, and 0.5% (259) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 85.1% (44,263) of the population.

The 2020 census data from New York City Department of City Planning showed North Corona having between 30,000 and 39,999 Hispanic residents, meanwhile each the White, Black, and Asian residents were all each less than 5,000 residents.

Fire safety

Engine Co. 289/Ladder Co. 138

Corona is served by two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations:

• Engine Co. 324/Satellite 4/Division 14 – 108-01 Horace Harding Expressway
• Engine Co. 289/Ladder Co. 138 – 97-28 43rd Avenue

Post office and ZIP Code

Corona is covered by ZIP Code 11368. The United States Post Office operates two post offices in Corona: the Corona A Station at 103-28 Roosevelt Avenue and the Elmhurst Station at 59-01 Junction Boulevard.

Religion

The original Church of Lady of Sorrows, 37th Avenue, which burned in 2015

There are many churches representing diverse denominations. Antioch Baptist Church at 103rd Street and Northern Boulevard is a prominent African American congregation dating to 1936 with a membership of 700. Saint Leo Catholic Church, established in 1903 in what was once Sycamore Avenue and Elm Street, is a Roman Catholic church located at 104 Street and 49th Avenue in South Corona. In North Corona there is Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church at 104th Street and 37th Avenue was built in 1899 largely out of red brick with a nearby convent of the same period. Today it conducts most of its masses in Spanish and attracts large weekend crowds. On January 4, 2015, the church burned; it was rebuilt in 2016. The Congregation Tifereth Israel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

Education

Corona and Elmhurst generally have a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018^[update]. While 28% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 30% have less than a high school education and 42% 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. The percentage of Corona and Elmhurst students excelling in math rose from 36% in 2000 to 66% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 42% to 49% during the same time period.

Corona and Elmhurst's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Corona and Elmhurst, 11% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 81% of high school students in Corona and Elmhurst graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

PS 92 Harry T Stewart Sr

The following public elementary schools are located in Corona and serves grades K–5 unless otherwise indicated:

• PS 14 Fairview
• PS 16 the Nancy Debenedittis School
• PS 19 Marino Jeantet
• PS 28 Thomas Emanuel Early Childhood Center (grades PK–2)
• PS 92 Harry T Stewart Sr (grades PK–5)
• PS 143 Louis Armstrong
• Pioneer Academy

The following public middle and high schools are located in Corona:

• IS 61 Leonardo da Vinci (grades 6–8)
• High School for Arts and Business (grades 9–12)
• Corona Arts & Sciences Academy (grades 6–8)

Library

The Queens Public Library contains three branches in Corona:

• The Corona branch, located at 38-23 104th Street
• The Langston Hughes branch, located at 100-01 Northern Boulevard
• The LeFrak City branch, located at 98-30 57th Avenue

Transportation

The New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line (7 <7> trains) runs through the neighborhood with stops at Mets–Willets Point, 111th Street, 103rd Street–Corona Plaza, and Junction Boulevard. The Q23, Q38, Q48, Q58, Q66, Q72, Q88 buses also serve the neighborhood.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Corona include:

In popular culture

• Books about Corona's history and present include Roger Sanjek's The Future of Us All and Steven Gregory's Black Corona.
• Chapter 6 of Andrew Morton's biography Madonna describes American pop singer Madonna's brief stint as a Corona resident in the late 1970s and early '80s.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald referred to the Flushing Meadows–Corona Park dumps as the "valley of ashes" in his novel The Great Gatsby.
• Paul Simon referred to a fictional character as "Rosie, the queen of Corona" in his 1972 song Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard.
• Lemon Ice King of Corona appears in the opening credits of the TV show The King of Queens.
• Archie Bunker of All in the Family, at fictional 704 Hauser Street.

See also

In Spanish: Corona (Queens) para niños