Glendale, Queens facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Glendale
Neighborhoods of Queens
Myrtle Avenue in Eastern Glendale
Country	United States
State	New York
City	New York City
County/Borough	Queens
Community District	Queens 5
Founded	1642
Population  (2010)
• Total	32,496
Race/Ethnicity
• White	61.4%
• Hispanic	33.4
• Asian	3.1
• Black	1.2
• Other/Multiracial	0.9
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Code	11385
Area codes	718, 347, 929, and 917

Glendale is a neighborhood in the west-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Forest Hills to the east, Ridgewood to the west, Woodhaven to the south, and Middle Village to the north.

Glendale was built on a swampy area previously called Fresh Pond. The neighborhood was later developed into an industrial area, though it is now a more residential neighborhood. Glendale's land area is long on its east-west axis and narrow on its north-south axis. The area is surrounded mainly by cemeteries, although the neighborhood also contains several large parks, including part of Forest Park.

Glendale is located in Queens Community District 5 and its ZIP Code is 11385. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 104th Precinct. Politically, Glendale is represented by the New York City Council's 30th District.

History

Originally named Fresh Ponds, this was a swampy area of land with fresh water pools. It was part of 74,000 acres (30,000 ha) of land collectively called Newtown, chartered by the Dutch West India Company in 1642. Fresh Ponds became a thriving German farming community in the 19th century.

Harry Houdini's grave

In 1847, the State Rural Cemeteries Act was passed in New York, which put an end to the establishment of any new cemeteries in Manhattan. Cemetery owners were encouraged to build in Brooklyn and Queens. Glendale quickly became almost encircled by cemeteries being located in what is called the "Cemetery Belt".

In 1860, developer George C. Schott was given a large amount of land in Fresh Ponds as repayment for a debt. Schott renamed Fresh Ponds after his native Glendale, Ohio. Nine years later, John C. Schooley, a real estate agent, bought a substantial amount of property and also called it Glendale. Schooley laid out streets and divided his property into 469 lots, measuring 25 by 100 feet (7.6 m × 30.5 m), which he then sold off for $300 each. In 1869, a railroad stop at 73rd Street (then named Wyckoff Avenue) was opened by the South Side Railroad, which was sold in 1874 to the North Side Railroad, which then was merged into the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in 1876, becoming part of the Montauk Branch. In 1927, the station burned down and was never replaced.

Between the 1880s and World War I, Glendale was renowned for having many sources of entertainment. It had a bowling alley at Myrtle Avenue and 73rd Street; Cooney Herman’s Saloon; Liberty Park; Louis Hellen’s Saloon and picnic grove at Cooper Avenue and 73rd Street; and a trolley along Union Turnpike that ran to Schutzen Park. Development began along Myrtle Avenue, Glendale's main thoroughfare, as many family-run stores began opening and steam powered trolleys were introduced on "The Avenue" in 1891. After World War I, Glendale's economic base shifted from farming to textiles and breweries. The largest employer was the Atlas Terminal, a vast industrial park, consisting of 16 factories. Because of the skilled work force living in the area and the many small machine shops located here, Glendale played a big part in the war effort during World War II and, especially in the Manhattan Project, which produced the first atomic bombs. During World War II, most of the aircraft and military equipment made on Long Island was shipped by rail through this area. Meanwhile, new housing was being developed in the area as well; by 1937, the neighborhood's sole extant farm was being developed as housing.

Between 1933 and 1936, the controversial Interborough (now Jackie Robinson) Parkway, designed by Robert Moses, was built through Glendale, displacing hundreds of bodies buried in the Cypress Hills Cemetery. The parkway, strongly opposed by residents of neighborhoods surrounding Forest Park, displaced Riebling’s Greater New York Park and Casino, and caused the Forest Park Golf Course to need to be redesigned.

In 1998, service to the Glendale LIRR station was discontinued, and in 2012, the last passenger service through the area was discontinued. However, freight trains still operate, although in recent years, controversy over trains transporting radioactive waste through the community has arisen. All goods shipped by rail with a destination on Long Island (Brooklyn, Queens and Nassau and Suffolk counties), must come through the Fresh Pond/Fremont Yards, located in Glendale, which is the crossroads of the LIRR Montauk Branch, the Bay Ridge Branch (which serves the docks and float barges in Sunset Park, Brooklyn), the Bushwick Branch and the New York Connecting Railroad, which connects them all to the rest of the country by traveling north to Selkirk, New York, and across the Hudson River to New Jersey and west. The biggest product currently shipped from here is municipal waste and construction and demolition debris.

Atlas Terminal was demolished in 2004 and replaced by a massive shopping center called The Shops at Atlas Park, which opened in April 2006.

Architecture

In the lower portion of Glendale, just east of the Bushwick branch of the LIRR, three national historic districts were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. These are the 75th Avenue-61st Street Historic District, Central Avenue Historic District and Cooper Avenue Row Historic District. Each of these districts contains significant numbers of early 20th century buildings made with the distinctive yellow Kreischer brick.

Parks

Myrtle Avenue was greatly enjoyed for its parks, often frequented by picnickers. With the steam trolley running along the Avenue, several investors bought a total of 500 acres (2 km²) of land in the eastern end of Glendale and opened a number of parks and beer gardens. In the 1890s, on the north side of Myrtle Avenue from what is now 83rd Street to Woodhaven Boulevard, Schmidt's Woods, Glendale Schuetzen Park, Greater New York Park and Casino, and Tivoli Park—all picnic parks—opened. On the south side of Myrtle Avenue from 88th Place to Woodhaven Boulevard were El Dorado Park, Emerald Park and Florida Park. These parks drew large crowds, not only from Glendale but from Eastern Brooklyn, where there were no proper parks at the time. One of the sections of Glendale, now known as "Liberty Park", is located on the site of a former beer garden of the same name. Another section of Glendale, adjacent to the LIRR Fresh Pond/Fremont Yards, was named after the Ivanhoe Park beer garden at that location. "Doddies", located at Cooper Avenue and 74th Street, was the last of the beer gardens, surviving into the late 1960s with an outdoor picnic area and the first neighborhood bar to have a television in the late 1940s or early 1950s. Redeemer Lutheran School occupies the site of "Hoffman Hall", a beer garden and dance hall. In the mid-1920s, the parks closed because they were unable to financially weather Prohibition.

From August 9, 1895 until 1898, one hundred and twenty-four parcels were bought for the new 538-acre (218 ha) Forest Park, which is composed of many of these former picnic parks. Since Brooklyn and Queens were incorporated into New York City by the time all of the park's land was procured, the park's name was shortened from the original moniker of "Brooklyn Forest Park". A bandstand built in Forest Park in 1898 preceded a bandshell built in 1920; for almost a century, George Seuffert Sr.—and later, his son, Dr. George F. Seuffert—played free concerts at the bandshell every weekend until the latter died in 1995. The bandstand is now for public use. Forest Park also has a public golf course, as well as horse riding trails (stables are located nearby, off the park grounds). Forest Park Drive, which runs throughout the park, is closed to vehicles from Woodhaven Boulevard to Metropolitan Avenue, making it a popular spot for skaters.

Dry Harbor Playground, at Myrtle Avenue and 80th Street, opened in 1934. It has swings, seesaws, a wavy slide, a flagpole, and a school gym. It was created when Edward Bourcier gave away 17 acres (6.9 ha) of his land as part of Forest Park. The playground also consists of an attached one-story house.

In 1940–1, the property of PS 67, as well as an adjoining lot, became the location of the Glendale Playground at Central Avenue and 70th Street. The playground opened in 1942.

In 1949, a former Minor League Baseball field at 65th Place named Farmers’ Oval after the Glendale Farmers Base Ball Club team, which had played at the field for half a century prior, was the site of a groundbreaking for a new park. In 1967, the park was officially renamed the Joseph F. Mafera Park, memorializing the late Queens Borough president. At Mafera Park, roller hockey can be played on the rink there.

On the easternmost edge of Glendale, on the site between the train tracks of the Rockaway Beach and Montauk Branches of the LIRR where an old ice house once stood, is Seither Stadium, the home field of the Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village and Maspeth Little League.

South of the Liberty Park section of Glendale (and separated by cemeteries as well as the Jackie Robinson Parkway) is Ridgewood Reservoir, a naturalistic part of Highland Park. The New York City government renovated it in 2013 by adding new period lighting and fences.

Noted restaurants and bars

Glendale was renowned for its many authentic German restaurants, namely Zum Stammtisch (The Family Table), Von Westernhagen's, Gebhardt's, and Hans Gasthaus. However, in the last decade all but Zum Stammtisch have closed doors for good. Stammtisch can be found highly regarded in most New York City tour guides even though it is located in an outer borough. Cooper's, on 88th Street just south of Cooper Avenue, was featured in the TV show The King of Queens; it was later taken over by new ownership and is now called Yer Man's Irish Pub.

The oldest operating business in Glendale dates to the 1830s. Originally called the Woods Inn, the Woods is a two-story house with a bar on the first floor and apartments, which were once rooms-for-rent, on the second floor. It is conveniently located just half a block from the former LIRR train station. Since that station's closing, it is an off-the-beaten-path watering hole for locals.

Glendale's newest additions, include Room 55 (formerly Tazzina), and Edison Place (formerly Von Westernhagen's). Additionally, the Shops at Atlas Park has a number of chain and independent restaurants, including California Pizza Kitchen, Chili's Grill & Bar, Johnny Rockets, Starbucks, Manor Oktoberfest, and Shiro of Japan. It also includes a Cold Stone Creamery and a movie theater.

"Cemetery belt"

Within Glendale's "cemetery belt", the cemeteries that surround Glendale include Cypress Hills, Lutheran All Faiths, Salem Fields, Mount Lebanon, Mount Carmel, New Mount Carmel, Beth El (New Union Field), Mount Neboh, and Union Field. Some of these cemeteries are the resting places of many famous people, including Jackie Robinson, Mae West, and Harry Houdini, at whose tomb devotees gather each year on Halloween to see if he can pull off the ultimate escape trick and return from the grave. Cypress Hills Cemetery is the site of the New York City Police "Arlington" and also contains the graves of Confederate soldiers who died in local prisons and hospitals. It also was one of the earliest military cemeteries and its most unusual resident is a circus elephant.

Transportation

The following New York City Subway stations serve Glendale:

• Fresh Pond Road (M train)
• Forest Park, which is partly in Glendale, is served near its southern edge by 75th Street–Elderts Lane (J and ​Z train), 85th Street–Forest Parkway (J train), and Woodhaven Boulevard (J and ​Z train)

The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Glendale:

• B13: to DeKalb Avenue (L train) or Gateway Center via 61st and 62nd Streets, Cooper Avenue and Cypress Hills Street
• Q11, Q21: to Woodhaven Boulevard (Elmhurst) (M and ​R train) or Howard Beach via Woodhaven Boulevard
• Q29: to 82nd Street–Jackson Heights (7 train) via 80th Street
• Q39: to Court Square (7 <7>​, E, ​G​, and M trains) via Forest Avenue and Fresh Pond Road
• Q47: to LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal via 80th Street
• Q52 SBS: to Woodhaven Boulevard (Elmhurst) (M and ​R train) or Arverne via Woodhaven Boulevard
• Q53 SBS: to 61st Street–Woodside (7 <7> trains)/Woodside LIRR or Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street (A S trains) via Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway
• Q54: to Williamsburg Bridge Plaza Bus Terminal or Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (E J and ​Z trains) via Metropolitan Avenue
• Q55: to Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues (L​ and M train) or 121st Street (J and ​Z train) via Myrtle Avenue

The Long Island Rail Road had a station at Edsall Avenue and 73rd Street, which opened in 1868 and served the Montauk Branch. It closed on March 16, 1998, due to low usage, with only two passengers a day using the stop. The nearest operating LIRR stations are in Kew Gardens and Forest Hills.

In popular culture

• In 1971, the sitcom All in the Family premiered. The house seen in the opening of the show is at 89-70 Cooper Avenue.
• A Stranger Is Watching (1982) starring Rip Torn was filmed in a Glendale bar, The Woods, and most of the crew ate lunch with the owner at that time, John Virga.
• Part of an episode of NYPD Blue was also filmed at The Woods in the late 1990s.
• Another of Glendale's bars, The Assembly, figured prominently in the 1996 film Trees Lounge, written, directed, and starring Steve Buscemi. It served as the set for the fictional bar for which the movie is named.
• Cooper's Ale House (now "Yer Man's Irish Pub") is featured in the show The King of Queens as a local bar.

Demographics

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Glendale was 32,496.

The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 61.4% (19,793) White, 1.2% (384) African American, 0.2% (67) Native American, 3.1% (1,004) Asian, 1.0% (5) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (78) from other races, and 0.9% (310) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 33.4% (10,855) of the population.

The entirety of Community Board 5, which comprises Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale, had 166,924 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years. This is about equal to the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 22% are between the ages of 0–17, 31% between 25–44, and 26% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 13% respectively.

As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 5 was $71,234. In 2018, an estimated 19% of Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in seventeen residents (6%) 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 46% in Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth, lower than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Middle Village, and Glendale are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

Education

Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018. While 33% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 16% have less than a high school education and 50% 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 Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth students excelling in math rose from 36% in 2000 to 67% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 42% to 49% during the same time period.

Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth, 14% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 82% of high school students in Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

Glendale is home to seven schools: P.S. 68 Elementary, P.S. 91 Elementary, P.S. 113 Elementary, I.S. 119 The Glendale Intermediate School, Sacred Heart Elementary, Central Queens Academy Charter and Elm Community Charter.

Library

The Queens Public Library's Glendale branch is located at 78-60 73rd Place. It also has an annex at The Shops at Atlas Park.

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of Glendale include:

• Richard Arkwright (1732-1792), a pioneer in the spinning industry, which revolutionized the knitwear industry. PS 91 in Glendale is named after him.
• Big Cass (born 1986), professional wrestler formerly with WWE.
• Daniel Daly (1873-1937), the most decorated hero of the United States Marine Corps and Medal of Honor recipient, lived out his final years after World War I in Glendale.
• Harry Houdini (1874-1926), magician, buried in Machpelah Cemetery
• Rafael Ramos (1974-2014), slain NYPD officer, who lived in Glendale before moving to Cypress Hills
• Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007), shortstop who spent his entire 13-year baseball career with the New York Yankees.
• Dan Schneider (born 1965), writer

Images for kids

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  The Shops at Atlas Park