Laurelton is a largely middle-class neighborhood in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

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and part of the former town of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. Merrick Boulevard, which bisects the community in a generally east–west direction, forms its commercial spine. It is bounded by

Springfield Boulevard Springfield Boulevard is a major north/south roadway that runs through the eastern section of Queens, New York. It is long and goes from Northern Boulevard in Bayside, to 147th Avenue in Springfield Gardens. Springfield Boulevard runs through ...

to the west, 121st Avenue to the north, Laurelton Parkway to the east, and Conduit Avenue to the south. Laurelton is located in Queens Community District 13 and its ZIP Codes are 11413 and 11422. It is patrolled by the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

's 105th Precinct.

History

Laurelton derives its name from the Laurelton station on the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

, 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 Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

homes, both attached and detached. 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 Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the we ...

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 In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house (British English, UK) or townhouse (American English, US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings party ...

. Laurelton also has a series of streets with landscaped and tree-lined center malls.

Demographics

In the 1930s through the 1970s, Laurelton was home to many Jewish-American families, home to female American radio trio

NBC radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

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. Beyer, Gregory
"Prosperous Area Seeks Shops to Match"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 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.'" Based on data from the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, the population of Laurelton was 24,453, a decrease of 1,922 (7.3%) from the 26,375 in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -

Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 1.5% (366)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 90.1% (22,032)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.3% (73) Native American, 0.7% (171)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.5% (12)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.4% (97) from other races, and 1.6% (391) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 5.5% (1,344) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -

Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.

Private school education

Cariculum Academy of Southeast Queens
A Community Schoolhouse

Transportation

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as t ...

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 as part of the city's emerging system of greenways and bikeways. The restoration of this link was completed in 2006. The

Laurelton station The Laurelton station is a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch, in the Laurelton neighborhood of Queens, New York City. It is 14.9 miles (24.0 km) from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. The station is located at the int ...

on the

, located at 225th Street and 141st Road, offers service via the Far Rockaway and

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

branches. Residents also have access to

MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...

buses , which connect to

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

stops in Jamaica. The express bus to Manhattan also stops in Laurelton.

Notable residents

* David Bergman (born 1950), gay writer/academic. *

Joel Brind Joel Lewis Brind is a professor of human biology and endocrinology at Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York ...

, professor of human biology and

endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

at Baruch College. *

Sam DeLuca Saverio Frank "Sam" DeLuca (May 2, 1936 – September 13, 2011) was an American Professional Football offensive lineman in the American Football League and later a radio and television football coverage broadcaster. He played six seasons, three ...

(1936-2011),

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

right guard in the 1970s. *

Derrick Harmon Derrick Todd Harmon (born April 26, 1963) is a former professional American football player who played running back for the San Francisco 49ers from 1984 to 1986. Harmon played college football at Cornell University, where he still holds numerous ...

(born 1963), NFL running back for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

from 1984-1986. *

Ronnie Harmon Ronnie Keith Harmon (born May 7, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). After a standout career at the University of Iowa in the Big Ten Conference, he played for 12 ...

(born 1964), running back, kick returner who played in the NFL for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

."At Iowa, Harmon Makes Offense Go"
''

'', 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." *

Marcus Jansen Marcus Antonius Jansen (born 1968) is an American painter. Early life and education Jansen was born and raised in New York City. He attended the Kunstgewerbe Schule Berufskolleg für Technik und Medien am Platz der Republik in Mönchengladba ...

(born 1968), Expressionist painter. Attended PS 156 in Laurelton. * Hettie Jones, poet/memoirist and former wife of writer

Amiri Baraka Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous bo ...

. * Meir Kahane (1932-1990), head of the youth group of the Young Israel of Laurelton; founded the Jewish Defense League. *

Doron Lamb Doron Emmanuel Calvin Lamb (born November 6, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A. He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. High school career Lamb was born in Que ...

(born 1991),

Kentucky Wildcats basketball The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

player. *

Neil Leifer Neil Leifer (born December 28, 1942) is an American sports photographer and filmmaker known mainly for his work in the Time Inc. family of magazines. Early life and education Neil Leifer grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York ...

(born 1942), photographer and filmmaker known mainly for his work in the Time Inc. family of magazines. * Bernard Madoff, former

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...

chairman, convicted of the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. * Ruth Madoff (born 1941), wife of Bernie Madoff. *

Irving Mosberg Irving Mosberg (May 6, 1908 – April 25, 1973) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Life He was born on May 6, 1908, in New York City. He attended the public schools and Morris High School in the Bronx. He attended New York Uni ...

(1908-1973), politician who served in the New York Senate from 1958 to 1967.Staff
"Candidate Picked Here; Queens Democrats Designate Mosberg for State Senate"
''

'', 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." *

Winston Rodney Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ar ...

Reggae music legend, AKA "Burning Spear". *

Elliot Sperling Elliot Sperling (January 4, 1951 – January 29, 2017) was one of the world's leading historians of Tibet and Tibetan-China, Chinese relations, and a MacArthur Fellow. He spent most of his scholarly career as an associate professor at Indiana Uni ...

(1951-2017), expert on Tibetan history and the Tibet-China conflict and chair of Central Eurasian Studies at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

References

External links

Laurelton Civic AssociationThe Laurelton Blog
{{Queens Neighborhoods in Queens, New York Communities developed by Dean Alvord