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Astoria in Queens

Friday, 9 February 2024 - 11:00 am (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: North America / Nordamerika
Category/Kategorie: General, New York City Reading Time:  7 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast, and Woodside and East Elmhurst to the east. As of 2019, Astoria has an estimated population of 95,446.

The area was originally called Hallet’s (or Hallett’s) Cove after its first landowner William Hallet, who settled there in 1652 with his wife, Elizabeth Fones Hallet’s Cove was incorporated on April 12, 1839, and was later renamed for John Jacob Astor, then the wealthiest man in the United States, in order to persuade him to invest in the area. During the second half of the 19th century, economic and commercial growth brought increased immigration. Astoria and several other surrounding villages were incorporated into Long Island City in 1870, which in turn was incorporated into the City of Greater New York in 1898. Commercial activity continued through the 20th century, with the area being a center for filmmaking and industry.

The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallet’s Cove (also spelled Hallett’s Cove), after its first landowner William Hallet, (or Hallett) who settled there in 1652 with his wife, Elizabeth Fones, though they moved to Flushing after their farm was destroyed by Native Americans. The peninsula was bordered to the north by Hell Gate, to the west by the East River, and the south by Sunswick Creek. Hallet bought the land in 1664 from two native chiefs named Shawestcont and Erramorhar. Beginning in the early 19th century, affluent New Yorkers constructed large residences around 12th and 14th Streets, an area that later became known as Astoria Village (now Old Astoria). Hallet’s Cove, incorporated on April 12, 1839, and previously founded by fur merchant Stephen A. Halsey, was a noted recreational destination and resort for Manhattan’s wealthy. The area was renamed for John Jacob Astor, then the wealthiest man in the United States with a net worth of more than $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village finally was won by Astor’s supporters and friends. From Astor’s summer home in Yorkville, Manhattan — on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue — he could see across the East River the new Long Island village named in his honor. Astor, however, never actually set foot in Astoria.

During the second half of the 19th century, economic and commercial growth brought increased immigration from German settlers, mostly furniture and cabinet makers. One such settler was Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, patriarch of the Steinway family who founded the piano company Steinway & Sons in 1853, which today is a worldwide piano company. Later on, the Steinways built a sawmill and foundry, as well as a streetcar line. The family eventually established Steinway Village for their workers, a company town that provided school instruction in German as well as English. Part of the motivation for locating the Steinway factory in Queens was to keep the workers isolated from the ferment of labor organizing and radicalism occurring in other parts of New York, notably the Lower East Side. Astoria and several other surrounding villages, including Steinway, were incorporated into Long Island City in 1870. Long Island City remained an independent municipality until it was incorporated into the City of Greater New York in 1898. The area’s farms were turned into housing tracts and street grids to accommodate the growing number of residents. Among the places of interest in Astoria are:

• Museum of the Moving Image in the former Kaufman Astoria Studios building
• Isamu Noguchi Museum
• Socrates Sculpture Park
• Astoria Park along the East River, is Astoria’s largest park and also contains the largest of New York City’s public pools (at 330 feet long) which was also the former site of the 1936 and 1964 U.S. Olympic trials.
• The Hell Gate Bridge and New York Connecting Railroad/Northeast Corridor viaduct rise high above Astoria.
• The oldest beer garden in New York City, Bohemian Hall, was founded in 1910 when Astoria was largely Irish, Italian, Bohemian (Czech), and Slovak.
• The Greater Astoria Historical Society in the historic Quinn Memorial Building on the corner of Broadway and 36th Street serves as a valuable historical resource and provides tourist information.
• St. Michael’s Cemetery on Astoria Boulevard is the burial place of composer and pianist Scott Joplin and gangster Frank Costello.
• Steinway & Sons piano factory located at 1 Steinway Place (not to be confused with Steinway Street) has been in operation in Astoria since the late 19th century and represents a legacy of award-winning craftsmanship, arts patronage, and the once vibrant, stand-alone Steinway Village. Limited tours of the factory are available.
• The Modern Art Foundry, a foundry, is located in Astoria.
• In addition to Bohemian Hall, the Astoria Center of Israel, Paramount Studios Complex, Sohmer and Company Piano Factory, Steinway Mansion, and Trinity Lutheran Church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• The 1938 birthplace of xerography, and thus Xerox, by Chester Carlson at 32-05 37th Street.
• Rainey Park, on an 8-acre (3.2 ha) site located on Vernon Boulevard between 33rd Road and 34th Avenue, is the largest park in Ravenswood, once an exclusive neighborhood with spacious plots of land along Vernon Boulevard.

Read more on nyctourism.com – Astoria, Wikivoyage Long Island City and Astoria and Wikipedia Astoria (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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