Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central part of the Queens borough in New York City. It is the fourth-largest central business area in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major place for shopping and business, with the crossing of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue at its center being the third busiest in the city, after Times Square and Herald Square.
Flushing was first settled on October 10, 1645, on the eastern side of Flushing Creek as part of New Netherland. It was originally named Vlissingen, after a Dutch city. In 1664, the English took control of New Amsterdam. When Queens County was created in 1683, Flushing was one of the five original towns in Queens. In 1898, Flushing became part of the City of Greater New York. Development grew in the early 1900s with the building of bridges and public transportation. In the late 1900s and early 2000s, many immigrants from China, India, and Korea moved to Flushing. This led to the creation of the original Queens Chinatown and made Flushing a place where many cultures come together.
Flushing has many residential areas, and its diversity is shown by the wide range of ethnic groups living there. It is served by several train stations on the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington Branch and by subway stations on the IRT Flushing Line (7 and <7> trains). The subway line ends at Main Street.
Flushing is in Queens Community District 7, and its ZIP Codes are 11354, 11355, and 11358. It is protected by the New York City Police Department’s 109th Precinct.
History
Before European settlers arrived, the Lenape Indians lived in Flushing. On October 10, 1645, Flushing was founded on the eastern side of Flushing Creek under a document from the Dutch West India Company. It was part of the New Netherland colony, which was ruled from New Amsterdam (now Lower Manhattan). The settlement was first called Vlissingen, named after a city in Europe that was the base of the Dutch West India Company. By 1657, the name was changed to "Vlishing." Eventually, the English name "Flushing" became the official name, even though many early settlers were British people who moved from the nearby Connecticut Colony.
Unlike other towns in the region, Flushing’s charter allowed residents to practice any religion without interference from government or church leaders. However, in 1656, Peter Stuyvesant, the leader of New Amsterdam, banned Quakers from staying in the area. On December 27, 1657, the people of Flushing created a protest called The Flushing Remonstrance. This document argued for religious freedom, even for groups like Jews, Turks, and Egyptians, and warned that the town’s charter would not be broken. A farmer named John Bowne held Quaker meetings in his home and was arrested, then sent to Holland. He later convinced the Dutch West India Company to allow Quakers and others to worship freely. Because of this, Flushing is often called the birthplace of religious freedom in the New World.
During the Dutch period, landmarks such as the John Bowne House (built around 1661) on Bowne Street and the Old Quaker Meeting House (built in 1694) on Northern Boulevard remain. The Remonstrance was signed at a house that once stood where the State Armory was located, now a police facility on Northern Boulevard between Linden Place and Union Street.
In 1664, the English took control of New Amsterdam and renamed the area the Province of New York. When Queens County was created in 1683, Flushing was one of the five original towns in the county. The town was dissolved in 1898 when Queens became a borough of New York City, and today the term "Flushing" usually refers to a smaller area, such as the former Village of Flushing.
Flushing was an important place during the Province of New York, as Governor Cadwallader Colden, who led the area before the American Revolution, lived at his Spring Hill estate.
Flushing was home to the first commercial tree nurseries in North America, including the Prince, Bloodgood, and Parsons nurseries. A 14-acre area of Parsons’s plants was preserved in Kissena Park. The names of streets that cross Kissena Boulevard are based on plants and are listed in alphabetical order from Ash Avenue to Rose Avenue. Flushing also provided trees for Central Park in Manhattan. For many years, Flushing had many greenhouses and horticultural businesses.
During the American Revolution, Flushing, like most areas in present-day Queens County, supported the British and provided shelter for British soldiers. One group of Scottish Highlanders was stationed in Flushing during the war. After the Battle of Long Island, an officer named Zackary Perrine was captured near Flushing Bay while likely gathering intelligence and was later executed.
The 1785 Kingsland Homestead, once the home of a wealthy Quaker merchant, is now the home of the Queens Historical Society.
In the 19th century, as New York City grew, Flushing became a popular residential area due to its closeness to Manhattan. On April 15, 1837, the Village of Flushing was officially created within the Town of Flushing. The village included neighborhoods such as Flushing Highlands, Bowne Park, Murray Hill, Ingleside, and Flushing Park.
The Flushing and North Side Railroad opened its Port Washington Branch to Flushing in 1854, connecting the area to Hunters Point on the East River. By the mid-1860s, Queens County had 30,429 residents. The Village of College Point was created in 1867, and the Village of Whitestone was created in 1868. In 1875, Flushing established the first free public high school in what is now New York City. Flushing also had a library since 1858, which is the oldest in Queens County and only slightly younger than Brooklyn’s library (built in 1852).
In 1898, the Town of Flushing, along with other areas of Queens County, was combined into the City of New York to form the Borough of Queens. All towns, villages, and cities within the new borough were dissolved.
As New York City expanded, farmland in Flushing was divided and developed, turning the area into a densely populated neighborhood. A major factor in this was the Halleran real estate agency, which used the slogan "Ask Mr. Halleran!" in ads from the American Civil War until the 1930s. The phrase "So This Is Flushing" from its maps became a well-known saying.
The construction of bridges over the Flushing River and the development of roads increased traffic to Flushing. In 1909, the Queensboro Bridge opened, connecting Queens to midtown Manhattan. The next year, Pennsylvania Station opened, and the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road began running to Manhattan. Broadway, a main road in Flushing, was widened and renamed Northern Boulevard. The Roosevelt Avenue Bridge over the Flushing River, which carries four lanes of traffic and the subway’s Flushing Line (7 and <7> trains), was the largest trunnion bascule bridge in the world when completed in 1927. The following year, the Main Street terminal of the Flushing subway line opened, giving the neighborhood direct subway access.
Flushing was an early place where movies were made, before the American film industry moved to Hollywood and Chicago. Decades later, the RKO Keith’s movie palace in Flushing hosted performances by actors like Mickey Rooney, the Marx Brothers, and Bob Hope.
In the 1970s, immigrants from Taiwan settled in Flushing, which had previously been mostly non-Hispanic white residents with a small Japanese community. A large South Korean population also lived in Flushing. Taiwanese immigrants were the first group of Chinese-speaking people
Demographics
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Flushing had a population of 72,008 people, which was an increase of 2,646 (3.8%) compared to the 69,362 people counted in 2000. The neighborhood covers an area of 853.06 acres (345.22 hectares) and has a population density of 84.4 people per acre (54,000 people per square mile; 20,900 people per square kilometer).
The racial makeup of Flushing included 69.2% (49,830) Asian, 9.5% (6,831) white, 4.2% (3,016) Black, 0.1% (74) Native American, 0.1% (59) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (172) from other races, and 1.8% (1,303) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race made up 14.9% (10,723) of the population.
Community Board 7, which includes Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone, had 263,039 people as of NYC Health’s 2018 Community Health Profile. The average life expectancy in this area was 84.3 years, which is longer than the median life expectancy of 81.2 years for all New York City neighborhoods. Most people in the area are middle-aged or elderly: 22% are between 25 and 44 years old, 30% are between 45 and 64 years old, and 18% are over 65 years old. Fewer people are young (17%) or in college (7%).
As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 7 was $51,284. In 2018, about 25% of Flushing and Whitestone residents lived in poverty, which was higher than the 19% poverty rate in all of Queens and the 20% rate in all of New York City. About 6% of residents were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who struggle to pay rent, was 57% in Flushing and Whitestone, higher than the 53% boroughwide rate and 51% citywide rate. Based on this data, as of 2018, Flushing and Whitestone were considered high-income areas compared to the rest of the city and were not gentrifying.
Cultural enclaves
Flushing Chinatown, also called Mandarin Town, is the largest Chinatown in the world and one of the fastest-growing areas. It is sometimes called "Chinese Times Square" or "Chinese Manhattan." In Mandarin, Flushing is known as "Falasheng" (法拉盛; pinyin: Fǎlāshèng). The Chinatown is centered around the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Many Chinese businesses are located on the blocks around or west of Main Street. However, the Chinatown is growing southeast along Kissena Boulevard and north beyond Northern Boulevard.
In the 1970s, a Chinese community began settling in Flushing, which had mostly non-Hispanic white residents. Taiwanese immigrants were the first to arrive, followed by other Chinese groups. In 1986, an estimate said there were about 60,000 Chinese people in Flushing. By 1990, Asians made up 41% of the population in Flushing’s core area, and Chinese people were 41% of that Asian population. Today, ethnic Chinese people are becoming a larger part of both the Asian population and the overall population in Flushing. Many legal and illegal immigrants from Mainland China continue to move to Flushing, increasing the Chinese population. In 2011, a newspaper reported that Flushing’s Chinatown was New York City’s second-largest Chinese community, with 33,526 Chinese people. This number was larger than Manhattan’s Chinatown but smaller than Brooklyn’s. Business activity in Flushing’s Chinatown has continued to grow even during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Flushing now competes with Manhattan’s Chinatown as a center of Chinese culture. The Lunar New Year Parade is a popular annual event. Several Chinese supermarkets, such as Hong Kong Supermarket and New York Supermarket, are located in Flushing. The World Journal, one of the largest Chinese-language newspapers outside China, is based in nearby Whitestone. Many Chinese- and English-language publications are available in Flushing, including SinoVision, a major Chinese-language television network in North America.
A wide variety of Chinese cuisines are available in Flushing, including Hakka, Taiwanese, Shanghainese, Hunanese, Sichuanese, Cantonese, Fujianese, Xinjiang, Zhejiang, and Korean Chinese food. Even less common styles, like Dongbei cuisine from Northeast China, Mongolian cuisine, and Uyghur cuisine, are now found in Flushing. People in Flushing speak many types of Chinese, such as Mandarin, Fuzhou dialect, Min Nan (Hokkien), Wu Chinese (Wenzhounese, Shanghainese, Suzhou dialect, Hangzhou dialect), and Cantonese. Mongolian is also spoken there. Flushing Chinatown is now larger and more populated than the original Chinatown in Manhattan, and its cultural importance has grown.
As Flushing Chinatown has grown, many businesses and organizations that offer education have opened there. Some provide classes in Mandarin, the most common language in China. Social services to help Chinese immigrants are also available. As of the 2020s, about three-fourths of the Asian population in Flushing are of Chinese descent, making them the majority of the Asian population there.
There is also a Koreatown that started in Flushing but has expanded to areas like Murray Hill, Bayside, Douglaston, and Little Neck in Queens, as well as Nassau County. Koreatown was originally centered around Union Street, with later growth along Northern Boulevard. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Queens had 64,107 Korean residents.
In the 1980s, many Korean immigrants moved to Flushing, including medical workers and students. They settled on Union Street between 35th and 41st Avenues, opening restaurants, karaoke bars, grocery stores, schools, banks, and other businesses. As the Korean community grew wealthier and more numerous, they expanded eastward along Northern Boulevard, buying homes in wealthier areas of Queens and Nassau County. This expansion created a Korean Restaurant Street near Murray Hill station. The growth was limited westward by the Flushing Chinatown on Main Street. By 2010, Queens had 64,107 Korean residents, the largest number in the U.S. with at least 500 Korean Americans per square mile. The Korean American population in the New York area is the second-largest outside of Korea.
The Korea Times, a newspaper based in Seoul, is active in Long Island’s Koreatown. This area has many restaurants serving traditional and regional Korean food. Korean is spoken often alongside English and Chinese languages, and signs using the Hangul alphabet are common. Social services to help Korean immigrants are available in Koreatown. There is also a group of people in Flushing who are of both Korean and Chinese descent and can speak Mandarin, Korean, and English.
East Flushing, which is part of Greater Flushing, has a large Chinese community and most of Downtown Flushing. However, East Flushing also includes Irish, Greek, Russian, Italian, Jewish, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, Sri Lankan, Japanese, Malaysian, and Hispanic communities, mostly Colombians and Salvadorans. East Flushing is more visibly diverse than Downtown Flushing because its residents are from many different backgrounds, leading to more businesses serving each group.
The northeastern part of Flushing near Bayside has many Italian and Greek businesses, such as bakeries, grocery stores, and restaurants. The northwest area has a mix of Jewish, Greek, and Italian communities. Most of central Flushing is a mix of White, Hispanic, and Asian residents.
An area south of Franklin Avenue has many Indian, Pakistani, Afghan, and Bangladeshi businesses. This South Asian community has been in Flushing since the late 1970s, making it one of the oldest Little India neighborhoods in North America. The Sri Maha Vallabha Ganapati Devasthanam (Sanskrit: श्री महावल्लभ गणपति देवस्थानम्, Tamil: ஸ்ரீ மகா வல்லப கணபதி தேவஸ்தானம்) on Bowne Street in Flushing was the first traditional Hindu temple established in North America.
Subsections
Broadway–Flushing, also called North Flushing, is a residential area with many large homes. The name comes from the "Broadway" station of the Long Island Rail Road. This station is located east of where the LIRR's Port Washington Branch crosses Northern Boulevard. When the station opened in 1866, this area was called "Broadway." Part of this neighborhood has been named a State and Federal historic district because of its elegant, park-like appearance. The City of New York has rezoned much of the area to keep its low-density, residential character. Broadway-Flushing is roughly bounded by 29th Avenue to the north, Northern Boulevard and Crocheron Avenue to the south, 155th Street to the west, and 172nd Street to the east.
Linden Hill is bounded by 25th Avenue to the north, Willets Point Boulevard to the north, 154th Street to the east, Northern Boulevard to the south, and the Whitestone Expressway to the west.
Linden Hill was originally a rural estate owned by the Mitchell family. Ernest Mitchell owned land to the west called Breezy Hill, and his father owned the area now called Linden Hill. These two areas are sometimes called the Mitchell-Linden neighborhood. A major change happened in the early 1950s when Neisloss Brothers, along with architect Benjamin Braunstein, planned a cooperative project on Linden Hill and nearby swamp land. This project aimed to build middle-income housing for World War II and Korean War veterans. The construction was done under Section 213 of the Federal Housing Act of 1950, which provided mortgage insurance for non-subsidized projects. Later, Gerace and Castagna, with architects Samuel Paul and Seymour Jarmul, developed the larger Linden Towers. Paul also designed Embassy Arms. In total, 41 six-story buildings with 3,146 apartments were built in the Linden Hill, Mitchell Gardens, Linden Towers, and Embassy Arms cooperatives.
Linden Hill was once mostly populated by European-American, Jewish residents. Today, it is mostly Chinese-American.
Murray Hill is bounded by 150th Street to the west and 160th Street to the east. It is part of ZIP Codes 11354, 11355, and 11358. Historically, it was home to Irish and Italian immigrant families. In recent years, many Korean and Chinese immigrants have moved there. Murray Hill in Flushing is often confused with the larger Murray Hill neighborhood in Manhattan. The Long Island Rail Road's Murray Hill and Broadway stations serve the area.
Before becoming a residential area in 1889, Murray Hill had large nurseries owned by the King, Murray, and Parsons families. The Kingsland Homestead is now a museum run by the Queens Historical Society. The Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary, and Victorian Garden are also located there. Comic strip artist Richard F. Outcault, who created The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown, lived on 147th Street in Murray Hill.
Queensboro Hill, in southern Flushing, is bordered by College Point Boulevard to the west, Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park to the north, Reeves Avenue and the Long Island Expressway to the south, and Kissena Boulevard to the east. It is part of ZIP Codes 11355 and 11367. The area includes the NewYork–Presbyterian/Queens hospital. One of the main churches is the Queensboro Hill Community Church, a multi-racial congregation of the Reformed Church in America. Turtle Playground serves the residents of this area, which is often called South Flushing.
Pomonok is a neighborhood in South Flushing. This public housing development was built in 1949 on the former site of Pomonok Country Club. The name comes from an Algonquian word meaning "land of tribute" or "land where there is traveling by water." Electchester, a cooperative housing complex at Jewel Avenue and Parsons Boulevard, was established in 1949 by Harry Van Arsdale Jr. and Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. They purchased 103 acres of the former country club and built apartment buildings. About 5,550 people live in 2,500 units across 38 buildings, many of which are six-story brick structures. Public School 200 is located on land donated by Electchester. The union provided most of the mortgage, and New York state offered tax abatements. Electchester was classified as a "limited dividend nonprofit" and followed state regulations. The first families paid $475 per room for equity shares and $26 per month per room for carrying charges on apartments with three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half rooms.
Both housing complexes are patrolled by the N.Y.P.D.'s 107th Precinct. There is also an N.Y.P.D. P.S.A.-9 Housing Police Unit station in the Pomonok Houses. Pomonok is part of Queens Community District 8.
The Waldheim neighborhood, a subdivision in Flushing built mainly between 1875 and 1925, is bounded by Sanford and Franklin Avenues to the north, 45th Avenue to the south, Bowne Street to the west, and Parsons Boulevard to the east. It is located southeast of Flushing's downtown commercial area and next to Kissena Park. Waldheim, meaning "home in the woods" in German, is known for its large homes with different architectural styles and an unusual street layout.
Waldheim was home to some of Flushing's wealthiest residents until the 1960s. Notable residents included the Helmann family, the Steinway piano-making family, and A. Douglas Nash, who managed a nearby Tiffany glass plant. Starting in the 1980s, homes in Waldheim were demolished by the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens, a major landowner in the area. In 2008, the city rezoned the neighborhood to help preserve its low-density, residential character. Like the Broadway neighborhood, preservationists have not been able to get Waldheim designated as a Historic District by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. As of 2017, some structures in Waldheim were still being torn down.
Points of interest
Flushing is a community with many different religions. Places of worship in Flushing include the Dutch colonial era Quaker Meeting House, the historic Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Queens, St. Andrew Avellino Roman Catholic Church, St. George's Episcopal Church, the Free Synagogue of Flushing, the Congregation of Georgian Jews, St. Mel Roman Catholic Church, St. Michael's Catholic Church, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Shrine Church, Holy Annunciation Russian Orthodox Church, St. John's Lutheran Church, Queensboro Hill Community Church, Hindu Temple Society of North America, and the Muslim Center of New York.
There are more than 200 places of worship in Flushing.
In 1657, while Flushing was still a Dutch settlement, a document called the Flushing Remonstrance was created by Edward Hart, the town clerk. This document was signed by about thirty citizens who protested a rule made by Peter Stuyvesant, the director general of New Amsterdam, that banned the protection of Quakers. The Remonstrants referred to the Flushing Town charter of 1645, which promised freedom to believe in different religions.
Flushing has many registered New York City Landmarks, several of which are also on the National Register of Historic Places. Some city landmarks are located on the Queens Historical Society's Freedom Mile. Flushing Town Hall on Northern Boulevard is the headquarters of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, and includes a concert hall and cultural center. Other landmarks include the Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead, the Weeping Beech, Old Quaker Meeting House, Flushing High School, St. George's Church, the Lewis H. Latimer House, and the lobby of the former RKO Keith's movie theater. The Flushing Armory, on Northern Boulevard, was once used by the National Guard.
Other landmarks in Flushing, not on the Freedom Mile, include the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing, the Fitzgerald/Ginsberg Mansion on Bayside Avenue, and the Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary, and Victorian Garden. In addition, the Broadway-Flushing Historic District, Free Synagogue of Flushing, United States Post Office, and Main Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Queens Botanical Garden is located on 39 acres between College Point Boulevard and Main Street. It has been open continuously since its debut as an exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair and has been at its current location since 1963. The Botanical Garden continues Flushing's horticultural tradition, which began with 18th-century tree nurseries and seed farms in the area.
Public parks and playgrounds in Flushing are managed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, an 897-acre park, is the largest park in Queens. The site hosted two World's Fairs, in 1939–1940 and 1964–1965, and the park's infrastructure reflects the construction from those events. The northern part of the park includes Citi Field, home of the New York Mets of Major League Baseball, which opened in 2009 and replaced the former Shea Stadium. To the south is the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the home of the US Tennis Open.
Several attractions in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park were originally built for the World's Fairs. One of the most notable is the Unisphere, a famous 12-story-high stainless steel globe that was the centerpiece of the 1964 New York World's Fair and is now a city landmark. The park also has a stone marker for two 5,000-year-old Westinghouse Time Capsules made of special alloys, which record 20th-century life in the United States and were dedicated in 1938 and 1965. Other attractions include the Queens Museum of Art, which has a scale model of New York City, the largest architectural model ever built; Queens Theatre in the Park; the New York Hall of Science; and the Queens Zoo. The New York State Pavilion was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
- Kissena Park is a 234-acre park with a lake as its center.
- Kissena Corridor Park is a 100-acre park that connects two areas, linking Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to Kissena Park. It includes a baseball field and a playground called Rachel Carson Playground.
- Bowne Park is an 11-acre park built on the former estate of New York City Mayor Walter Bowne.
- Flushing Fields is a 10-acre greenbelt that includes the home athletic field of Flushing High School.
- Queens Crossing, at 39th Avenue and 136th Street, opened in 2017.
- New World Mall, at Roosevelt Avenue east of Main Street.
- One Fulton Square, at 39th Avenue and Prince Street, opened in 2014.
- The Shops at Skyview Center, at College Point Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, opened in 2010. The mall also includes a condominium development above it.
- Flushing Commons, at 39th Avenue and Union Street, opened its first phase in 2017. This is a multi-phase project that includes retail and housing.
- Tangram, at 39th Avenue and 133rd Street, first opened in 2022. It includes a food hall, children's swim school, and the first 4DX movie theater in Queens.
Police and crime
The areas of Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone are protected by the NYPD's 109th Precinct, which is located at 37-05 Union Street. In 2010, the 109th Precinct was ranked 9th safest among 69 patrol areas based on crime rates per person. By 2018, the rate of violent crimes per person in Flushing and Whitestone was lower than the citywide rate. The rate of people being sent to jail in this area was 145 per 100,000 people, which is also lower than the citywide rate.
Compared to the 1990s, the 109th Precinct has fewer crimes today. From 1990 to 2018, crime rates across all categories dropped by 83.7%. In 2018, the precinct reported 6 murders, 30 rapes, 202 robberies, 219 felony assaults, 324 burglaries, 970 grand larcenies, and 126 grand larcenies auto.
Fire safety
Flushing includes the following New York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations:
- Engine Company 273/Ladder Company 129 – 40-18 Union Street
- Engine Company 274/Battalion 52 – 41-20 Murray Street
- Engine Company 320/Ladder Company 167 – 36-18 Francis Lewis Boulevard
Additionally, FDNY EMS Station 52 is located at 135–16 38th Avenue.
Health
As of 2018, preterm births and births to teenage mothers are less common in Flushing and Whitestone compared to other areas in the city. In Flushing and Whitestone, there were 63 preterm births for every 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 8 births to teenage mothers for every 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Flushing and Whitestone have a higher than average population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, 14% of residents in Flushing and Whitestone were uninsured, slightly higher than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Flushing and Whitestone is 0.0073 milligrams per cubic metre (7.3 × 10 oz/ft), less than the city average. Thirteen percent of residents in Flushing and Whitestone are smokers, which is lower than the city average of 14%. In Flushing and Whitestone, 13% of residents are obese, 8% are diabetic, and 22% have high blood pressure—compared to citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23%, respectively. In addition, 15% of children in Flushing and Whitestone are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Ninety-five percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is higher than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 71% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," lower than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Flushing and Whitestone, there are 6 bodegas.
The nearest major hospitals are NewYork–Presbyterian/Queens and Flushing Hospital Medical Center. NewYork–Presbyterian/Queens serves Flushing as well as surrounding communities with comprehensive medical care services. Numerous tertiary medical clinics also serve the residents of Flushing.
Post offices and ZIP Codes
Flushing has several ZIP Codes. Downtown Flushing and western Murray Hill are in ZIP Code 11354. South Flushing, including Queensboro Hill and Waldheim, is in ZIP Code 11355. Eastern Murray Hill and Broadway-Flushing are in ZIP Code 11358. ZIP Codes 11356 and 11357, which are part of College Point and Whitestone, cover small areas of northern Flushing and Linden Hill. The United States Post Office has three nearby post offices:
- Flushing Station – 41–65 Main Street
- Linden Hill Station – 29–50 Union Street
- Station A – 40–03 164th Street
ZIP Codes starting with 113 are managed from the Flushing Post Office. The area with ZIP Codes beginning with 113 extends west to Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, southwest to Ridgewood, south to Forest Hills, southeast to Fresh Meadows, and east to Bayside and Little Neck.
Education
As of 2018, Flushing and Whitestone had a college-educated population rate similar to the rest of the city. In these areas, 37% of people aged 25 and older had a college degree or higher. At the same time, 23% had less than a high school education, and 40% were high school graduates or had some college education. In comparison, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents had a college degree or higher. From 2000 to 2011, the percentage of students in Flushing and Whitestone excelling in math increased from 55% to 78%. Reading achievement rose slightly, from 57% to 59% during the same time.
Elementary school student absenteeism in Flushing and Whitestone was lower than the citywide average. In these areas, 9% of elementary school students missed 20 or more days of school each year, compared to 20% citywide. Additionally, 86% of high school students in Flushing and Whitestone graduated on time, which is higher than the citywide average of 75%.
Public schools in Flushing are managed by the New York City Department of Education. The following public elementary schools serve grades PK-5, unless otherwise noted:
- PS 20 John Bowne
- PS 21 Edward Hart
- PS 22 Thomas Jefferson
- PS 24 Andrew Jackson (grades K-5)
- PS 32 State Street
- PS 107 Thomas A. Dooley
- PS 120
- PS 163 Flushing Heights
- PS 214 Cadwallader Colden
- PS 242 Leonard P Stavisky Early Childhood School (grades PK-3)
- PS 244 The Active Learning Elementary School (grades PK-3)
Public middle schools include:
- IS 25 Adrien Block
- JHS 185 Edward Bleeker
- JHS 189 Daniel Carter Beard
- IS 237 Rachel Carson
- East-West School of International Studies (grades 6–12), located in the same building as I.S. 237
The eight public high schools in Flushing are:
- John Bowne High School
- East-West School of International Studies (grades 6–12)
- Robert F. Kennedy Community High School
- Townsend Harris High School, a selective high school located on the Queens College campus, which was once ranked among the best public high schools in the United States by U.S. News & World Report
- The Flushing International High School
- Flushing High School, the oldest free public high school (founded in 1875) in what is now New York City. It is housed in a Gothic Revival building built between 1912 and 1915 and declared a NYC Landmark in 1991
- The Queens School of Inquiry
- Queens Academy High School
Private high schools in the area include:
- Archbishop Molloy High School
- Holy Cross High School
On December 22, 1980, The Japanese School of New York moved from Jamaica Estates, Queens, to Fresh Meadows, Queens, near Flushing. In 1991, the school moved to Yonkers, Westchester County, New York, and then to Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1992.
Because of the high number of Chinese and Korean immigrants who value education, many cram schools (Buxiban and hagwon) are located in Flushing and along Northern Blvd. into Nassau County.
Queens College, founded in 1937, is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). It is often mistaken for being in Flushing because of its Flushing mailing address. However, it is actually located in the nearby neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills on Kissena Boulevard near the Long Island Expressway. The City University of New York School of Law was founded in 1983 near the Queens College campus and was located at 65–21 Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills until 2012. It moved to Long Island City for the Fall 2012 semester. The Law School operates Main Street Legal Services Corp., a legal services clinic.
Flushing was home to the first public library in Queens, founded in 1858. Today, the Queens Public Library system includes five libraries in Flushing. The largest library, the Flushing branch, is located at the intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Main Street in Flushing’s central business district. It is the busiest branch of the Queens Public Library and the highest-circulation system in the United States. This library has an auditorium for public events. The current building, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, is the third to be built on the site. The first was a Carnegie library, built through a gift from Andrew Carnegie.
Other branches include:
- East Flushing – 196-36 Northern Boulevard
- McGoldrick – 155-06 Roosevelt Avenue
- Mitchell-Linden – 31-32 Union Street
- Queensboro Hill – 60-05 Main Street
Additionally, the Auburndale, Hillcrest, and Pomonok libraries carry Flushing addresses but are not located in Flushing proper.
Transportation
The following MTA Regional Bus Operations bus routes serve Flushing:
The n20G Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus route to Great Neck runs along Sanford Avenue and Northern Boulevard and ends in Flushing. The n20x NICE bus route to Roslyn Clock Tower travels along the same path as the n20G route between Flushing and Great Neck and also follows the n20H route between Great Neck and Hicksville.
There is one New York City Subway station in Flushing: Flushing–Main Street station, located at the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. This station is served by the 7 and <7> trains. It was one of the busiest stations in the New York City Subway system in 2018.
The Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington Branch serves Flushing through the following stations:
• Mets–Willets Point
• Flushing–Main Street
• Murray Hill
• Broadway
Important highways in the area include the Van Wyck Expressway and Whitestone Expressway (Interstate 678), Grand Central Parkway, and Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495). Northern Boulevard, a part of New York State Route 25A, runs from the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City through Flushing into Nassau County. The Roosevelt Avenue Bridge over Flushing Creek was the largest fixed trunnion bascule type in the world when it opened in 1927. However, it was no longer used as a moving bridge after marine navigation was eliminated in the late 1930s.
Political representation
The political influence of Flushing is growing, as more people from Flushing hold important positions in government. John Liu, who was born in Taiwan, served as a member of the New York City Council for District 20, which includes Flushing and other areas in northern Queens. He was elected New York City Comptroller in November 2009. In 2018, Liu won a race against current member Tony Avella to become one of the first two Asian Americans in the New York State Senate.
At the same time, Peter Koo, who was born in Shanghai, was elected to take Liu’s place in the City Council. In 2012, Grace Meng, a resident of Flushing and a member of the New York State Assembly, was elected to the United States Congress. She became the first Asian-American representative from the eastern part of the United States.
In popular culture
- The first Charmin toilet paper commercials with Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson) were filmed in Flushing at the Trade Rite (now H-Mart) supermarket on Bowne Street and Roosevelt Avenue.
- The rock band Kiss performed for the first time at the Coventry Club on Queens Boulevard in 1973. The band’s name is believed to come from Kissena Boulevard in Flushing.
- Joel Fleischman, a character from the 1990s TV show Northern Exposure, was said to have moved to Flushing. The show often used real places on Main Street, Flushing, as settings.
- The celebration in the 1993 movie The Wedding Banquet, directed by Ang Lee, takes place at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Downtown Flushing.
- Fran Fine, the character played by Fran Drescher in The Nanny, was said to have grown up in Flushing, where her family still lived. Drescher was born at Flushing Hospital.
- In Marvel Comics’ original Iron Man series, Flushing was the location of Stark Industries (later Stark International)’s munitions plant. In the movie Iron Man 2, the Stark Expo is set in Flushing.
- On the TV show All in the Family, during an episode where Edith Bunker is arrested for shoplifting, she mentions the names of old stores that once existed in downtown Flushing. The Bunkers also mention living on Union Street in Flushing.
- The main characters in The Black Stallion series lived in Flushing. The book describes many real streets and landmarks from Flushing in the 1940s.
- In the musical Hair, the character Claude Bukowski is from Flushing.
- In episode seven of White Collar, characters Neal Caffrey and FBI agent Tim Burke investigate a crime in Chinatown. However, part of the episode was filmed in Flushing.
- In The Simpsons episode “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” Homer, after drinking too much crab juice and needing a restroom, sees a bus heading to Flushing Meadows and imagines it is a field full of toilets.
- The 2014 novel Preparation for the Next Life by Atticus Lish is set mainly in Flushing and nearby areas. The story follows the unexpected romance between an Iraq War veteran and a Uighur immigrant.
- In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the book mentions Flushing: “About half way between West Egg (Great Neck) and New York, the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile.”