Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of 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 ...
of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States. It is next to the
Aqueduct Racetrack
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park, Queens, South Ozone Park and Jamaica, Queens, Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack locate ...
in
South Ozone Park
South Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is just north of John F. Kennedy International Airport, between Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east.
Adja ...
, a popular spot for
Thoroughbred racing
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing i ...
and home to the
Resorts World Casino & Hotel. Traditionally home to a large
Italian-American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...
population, Ozone Park has grown to have many residents of Caribbean, Hispanic, and Asian backgrounds.
While New York City neighborhoods do not have formal boundaries, Ozone Park is considered to have a northern border at
Atlantic Avenue; the southern border is North
Conduit Avenue
Conduit Avenue (Conduit Boulevard in Brooklyn) is an arterial road in New York City, the vast majority of which is in Queens. The divided highway runs from Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn to Hook Creek Boulevard in Rosedale, Quee ...
, the western border is the
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
/Queens border line; and the eastern border is up to 108th Street and Aqueduct Racetrack.
Ozone Park is in two
community districts, divided by Liberty and 103rd Avenues. The southern half of the neighborhood is in
Queens Community District 10,
which is covered by
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 106th Precinct,
while the northern half is in
Queens Community District 9 and covered by the NYPD's 102nd Precinct.
Its ZIP Codes are 11416 and 11417.
[Queens Community Boards](_blank)
, 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 ...
. Accessed September 3, 2007.
Etymology
The name "Ozone Park" was chosen for the development to "lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
to a park-like community".
[Shaman, Diana]
"If You're Thinking of Living In/Ozone Park; Changing Faces, Enduring Values"
''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 ...
'', October 5, 2003. Accessed August 30, 2018. "Housing development dates to the late 19th century, when two partners, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, began carving farmland into building lots after the New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Rail Road opened service in 1880 from Long Island City to Howard Beach. The developers chose the name Ozone Park to lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean to a parklike community." The "Ozone" in the neighborhood's name referred to a park-like area with cool ocean breezes, an archaic definition that is not related to the present-day definition of
the alternate form of oxygen.
History
Early history
An area now part of Ozone Park that pre-dated that community was called "Centreville". It was founded in the 1840s and was centered around Centreville Street and the Centreville Community Church. Part of Ozone Park is still called "Centreville".
In the 1870s, two immigrants from France named Charles Lalance and Florian Grosjean developed a factory in
Woodhaven. The factory manufactured cooking materials and
porcelain enamelware, but burned down in 1876. Lalance and Grosjean built a second factory, as well as a hundred houses for workers, at Atlantic Avenue and 92nd Street in modern-day Ozone Park.
During the 1870s, an
economic depression
An economic depression is a period of carried long-term economical downturn that is result of lowered economic activity in one major or more national economies. Economic depression maybe related to one specific country were there is some economic ...
caused residents of New York City to look for better housing opportunities in the suburbs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, where housing would be cheaper. In 1880, the
New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica ...
began service on the
Montauk Branch
The Montauk Branch is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City on the west to Montauk on the east. How ...
and
Rockaway Beach Branch
The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica B ...
from
Long Island City
Long Island City (LIC) is a residential and commercial neighborhood on the extreme western tip of Queens, a borough in New York City. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; New Calvary Cemetery in Sunnyside to the ...
to
Howard Beach, Queens
Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, to the south by Jamaica Bay in Broad Channel, to the east by ...
. Two years later, two wealthy partners named Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton bought plots of land around what would later become the
Woodhaven Junction station.
The Rockaway Beach Branch's
Ozone Park station opened in 1883.
Advertisements for Ozone Park proclaimed that the development had "pure air" and "no malaria". Ozone Park was called "the
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
of Brooklyn" because at the time, the borough of Queens did not yet exist, and Harlem was a thriving Jewish and Italian neighborhood in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Hitchcock and Denton chose the "Ozone Park" name because in the 1880s, ozone was associated with breezes from the sea, and the Atlantic Ocean was located nearby.
Development
The
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
's
Fulton Street elevated railroad line above
Liberty Avenue opened in 1915, with a station at
Lefferts Avenue (now Lefferts Boulevard). The elevated train system only charged a 5-cent fare. The nickel fare was another major factor in the development of Ozone Park, as residents could travel across the entire elevated and subway system for 5 cents. After the opening of the elevated line, real estate developers began buying up all the lots on either side of Liberty Avenue in hopes the new station would attract more people to want to live in Ozone Park.
Extensive housing construction occurred in the 1920s.
[ The houses featured enclosed front porches, open back porches and stained-glass windows in the living rooms. Most of the houses were single family ]detached
A stand-alone house (also called a single-detached dwelling, detached residence or detached house) is a free-standing residential building. It is sometimes referred to as a single-family home, as opposed to a multi-family residential dwelli ...
or semi-detached
A semi-detached house (often abbreviated to semi) is a single family duplex dwelling house that shares one common wall with the next house. The name distinguishes this style of house from detached houses, with no shared walls, and terraced house ...
(sharing a common wall - often called a twin or a semi) built to roughly the same plan, with the living room, dining room and kitchen all in line and three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The stairs were usually in the dining room.
During the 1920s, Woodhaven Avenue was the main north–south artery in the area, though its southern terminus was at Liberty Avenue. In conjunction with the extension of Woodhaven Avenue to the Rockaway Peninsula
The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of th ...
, the avenue was widened to and renamed Woodhaven Boulevard. The extension itself, named Cross Bay Boulevard, opened to traffic in 1925.[Staff]
"Jamaica Bay Highway Ready This Month; New $7,000,000 Boulevard Will Be Open to Motorists the Week of Oct. 26."
''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 ...
'', October 11, 1925. accessed August 30, 2018. "The Jamaica Bay Boulevard, which will run from Liberty Avenue, Ozone Park, Queens, to Rockaway Beach, shortening the distance between the Rockaway peninsula and Manhattan and Brooklyn nearly ten miles, will be opened to public traffic late this month. When completed its cost will have been $6,935,972."
Because Ozone Park was now more accessible by car, the land became much more valuable, leading to a construction boom . Between 1921 and 1930, Ozone Park saw a population increase of over 180% from 40,000 to 112,950 people.
With this increase in population came the need for schools and sources of entertainment. In response to this demand came the construction of John Adams High School in 1930. This school was built just as the construction boom slowed down and right before the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The 1,800-seat Cross-Bay Movie Theatre opened in December 1924, and a 2,000-seat theater at 102nd Street and Liberty Avenue was also built during this time.[
One area of Ozone Park is known as "The Hole", and includes the area bounded by 75th (Ruby) Street, South Conduit Avenue, 78th Street and Linden Boulevard. It is named as such because the houses in this area were built below grade, with a ground level that is lower than the surrounding area.] The area is run-down, and suffers from frequent flooding. In the 1930s, the city of New York decided to install sewers and sewer lines in Ozone Park to stop the flooding that had become a major problem. In order to install the sewers, the houses had to be raised almost an entire floor. Owners were given a stipend to raise their homes but some chose not to do so. The first floor in some of the non-raised homes subsequently became basements. In 2004, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's water supply and works to reduce air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution.
Under a 1.3 billion do ...
made plans to connect the neighborhood to the city's sewer system to combat the flooding by raising the land.
Later years
The Centreville Community Church merged with the United Methodist Church of Ozone Park in 1957 and a new church, the Community Methodist Church of Ozone Park, was built at the Southeast corner of Sutter Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard
Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South o ...
. It was completed for Christmas 1958. The old church and the property that surrounded it were sold to Aqueduct Racetrack and the old, historic church was torn down in mid-1959.
The Lalance and Grosjean factory closed in the 1960s and was left to deteriorate over two decades. In 1981, the factory complex was designated as a New York City Landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
. What remains is now "adaptively reused" as a medical clinic. Only the factory's old clock tower remains.
In 1996, a scandal broke surrounding two Ozone Park Jewish cemeteries, Mokom Sholom Cemetery and Bayside Cemetery, which share a coterminous tract bounded by 80th and 84th Streets and Liberty and Pitkin Avenues (the adjoining Acacia Cemetery was not involved). Allegations of the re-using of graves of long-dead mostly infants and small children from the mid-to-late 19th century, for re-sale to recent Russian Jewish immigrants, were made against the owners of Mokom Sholom. In addition, Mokom Sholom and Bayside had also been damaged by a combination of vandals, grave-robbers, and self-styled necromancers, though the former was affected to a greater extent. WABC-TV
WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...
reported on damage to Mokom Sholom, while damage to Bayside was repaired through philanthropic efforts, headed by the late city councilman Al C. Stabile.
Demographics
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 Ozone Park was 21,376, an increase of 324 (1.5%) from the 21,052 counted 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](_blank)
Population Division - 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 ...
Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 30.5% (6,511) 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 ...
, 5.6% (1,188) 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 ...
, 0.4% (82) Native American, 19.4% (4,143) 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 ...
, 0.0% (2) 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 ...
, 2.6% (559) from other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 3.6% (779) 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 ...
or 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 37.9% (8,112) of the population.[Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010](_blank)
Population Division - 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 ...
Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The entirety of Community Board 10, which comprises Howard Beach, southern Ozone Park (south of 103rd Avenue), and South Ozone Park, had 125,603 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.7 years. This is higher than 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 between 0–17, 28% between 25 and 44, and 28% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 13% respectively.
As of 2017, the median household income
Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...
in Community Board 10 was $73,891. In 2018, an estimated 19% of Ozone Park and Howard Beach residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in ten residents (10%) 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 56% in Howard Beach and South Ozone Park, higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Ozone Park and Howard Beach are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...
.
Demographic changes
Since its beginnings, Ozone Park has been largely populated by various groups of immigrants
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
. The first wave were French immigrants associated with a pot factory on Atlantic Avenue. Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
and the Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
made up a large part of Ozone Park in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Eventually Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
started to migrate into Ozone Park from East New York, Brooklyn
East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough lin ...
. Most of the current Italians in the neighborhood are originally from Brooklyn. A significant Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
population also developed based around Saint Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church and its associated elementary school.
At the turn of the 21st century immigrants from Latin America, South Asia (Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
), the West Indies, and South America (Indo-Guyanese & Indo-Surinamese) moved in, adding a diverse atmosphere to the neighborhood, which is especially apparent along 101st Avenue and Liberty Avenue near the neighborhood's border with Richmond Hill.[ The neighborhood was largely Italian-American; however, these new arrivals have made Ozone Park become one of the fastest-growing and most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. There is a large ]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 ...
population in Ozone Park, mainly concentrated in the northern portion of the neighborhood near the Woodhaven border, and an African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
minority, spread throughout the neighborhood.
Residents vary from working-class
The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...
to middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
families, who own or rent private homes on the neighborhood's tree-lined residential streets.
Subsections
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
data from the late 18th century shows how Ozone Park was a sparsely populated neighborhood because of the lack of transportation. By 1915, the Fulton Street Line opened, connecting Ozone Park with the rest of New York City, thus starting the enormous influx by the Italians. Ozone Park then formed many smaller sub-neighborhoods with specific identities.
Other sections
Centreville, which still uses this name, is bordered by Aqueduct on the east, Cross Bay Boulevard on the west, North Conduit Avenue on the south, and Rockaway Boulevard
Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways.
Route description
It begins as an un ...
on the north. Liberty Heights is a triangular area bordered by Liberty Avenue on the south, diagonal-running 101st Avenue (Jerome Avenue) from the southwest to the northeast, and Woodhaven Boulevard to the east. Balsam Village was named after Balsam Farms, which sold off parcels of land for development, and is bordered by Liberty Avenue and North Conduit Avenue on the north, 84th Street on the west, and Cross Bay Boulevard on the east.
Tudor Village, in southwestern Ozone Park, is extremely small, consisting of approximately two hundred and fifty homes; it spans only five residential streets and two avenues. Its population consists mostly of Italian Americans. Its residents consist of approximately six hundred people. The village was incorporated in the late 1800s and has since flourished. Tudor Village hosts suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
tree-lined streets with what is referred to as the "Tudor Malls" in its center, boasting floral arrangements throughout.
The village is also home to Tudor Park, a recreational park which features a baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
field, racquetball
Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...
courts, picnic area, and a fountain as well as a playground. Located on the southeast end of the village are another baseball field and benches and shaded areas for resting. Tudor Village is on the border of Howard Beach.
Also inside of Ozone Park are areas named Magnolia Court (95th St & 150th Rd), Park Village (Tahoe St & North Conduit Ave), Kaybern Court (97-52 75th St), Ozone Plaza (84-23 103rd Ave), Dumont Village (Dumont Ave & 85th St), Greentree Condos (Albert Road & 95 St), Albert Gardens (94-20 Albert Rd), Newlyn Estates (85-22 Dumont Ave), and Sterling Manor (105-25 88th St).
Police and crime
Howard Beach, southern Ozone Park (south of 103rd Avenue), and South Ozone Park are patrolled by the 106th Precinct of the NYPD
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 ...
, located at 103-53 101 Street. The 106th Precinct ranked 26th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. The rate of car thefts is high because of the area's proximity to the Belt Parkway, a major travel corridor. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 32 per 100,000 people, Howard Beach and South Ozone Park's rate of violent crime
A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, violent act is t ...
s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 381 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.
The 106th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 81.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 6 murders, 16 rapes, 183 robberies, 246 felony assaults, 133 burglaries, 502 grand larcenies, and 97 grand larcenies auto in 2018.
In the 1980s, the 106th Precinct became the source and scene of several police brutality
Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
incidents, including the stun gunning of high schooler Mark Davidson on April 17, 1985, who was arrested on marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
possession charges. One of the officers, Michael Aranda, accused of stun-gunning Davidson was later acquitted
in 1991.
Fire safety
Ozone Park contains a New York City Fire Department
The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
(FDNY) fire station, Engine Co. 285/Ladder Co. 142, at 103-17 98th Street.
Health
, preterm birth
Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the Childbirth, birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks Gestational age (obstetrics), gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 we ...
s are more common in Ozone Park and Howard Beach than in other places citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Howard Beach and South Ozone Park, there were 97 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 14.2 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Ozone Park and Howard Beach have a low population of residents who are uninsured
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to Hedge ( ...
. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 8%, lower than the citywide rate of 12%.
The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
, in Ozone Park and Howard Beach is , less than the city average. Twelve percent of Ozone Park and Howard Beach residents are smokers, which is lower than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Howard Beach and South Ozone Park, 27% of residents are obese
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
, 19% are diabetic
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased app ...
, and 34% have high blood pressure
Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...
—compared to the citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23% respectively. In addition, 21% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.
Eighty-three percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is less than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 77% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," about equal to the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Howard Beach and South Ozone Park, there are 8 bodegas.
The nearest major hospitals are Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center
The Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center (often called Brookdale Hospital, or Brookdale for short) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) medical services provider in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. Brookdale's primary and secondary servi ...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and Jamaica Hospital
Jamaica Hospital Medical Center is a private, non-profit teaching hospital and emergency facility in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City, on the service road of the Van Wyck Expressway at Jamaica Avenue. The hospital is a clinical ...
in 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 ...
.
Post office and ZIP Codes
Ozone Park is covered by the ZIP Code 11416 north of 103rd Avenue and 11417 south of 103rd Avenue. The United States Post Office
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...
operates both zip codes out of the Ozone Park Station at 91-11 Liberty Avenue.
Transportation
Numerous New York City Bus
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 ...
routes stop in the area, such as the . The runs through the neighborhood without stopping. The 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 ...
's IND Fulton Street Line () and IND Rockaway Line
The IND Rockaway Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, operating in Queens. It branches from the IND Fulton Street Line at Rockaway Boulevard, extending over the Jamaica Bay, into the Rockaways. The ...
() also run through the neighborhood.
Politics and government
In the 2016 Presidential election, most precincts in Ozone Park voted for the Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
candidate, Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, over her Republican Party (United States), Republican Party opponent Donald Trump by a margin of over 50%.
Ozone Park is split between New York's 5th congressional district, 5th, and New York's 7th congressional district, 7th. These districts are represented by Gregory Meeks and Nydia Velazquez, respectively, .
Ozone Park is part of the 10th,and 15th New York State Senate, State Senate districts, represented by James Sanders Jr., and Joseph Addabbo Jr. respectively, and the 23rd, 31st, and 38th New York State Assembly, State Assembly districts, represented by Stacey Pheffer Amato, Khaleel Anderson, and Jenifer Rajkumar respectively. It is part of Districts 28 and 32 in the New York City Council, respectively represented by Adrienne Adams (politician), Adrienne Adams and Joann Ariola.
Education
Ozone Park and Howard Beach generally have a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . While 28% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 23% have less than a high school education and 49% 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 Ozone Park and Howard Beach students excelling in math rose from 33% in 2000 to 61% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 37% to 48% during the same time period.
Ozone Park and Howard Beach's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Howard Beach and South Ozone Park, 18% 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 Ozone Park and Howard Beach graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.
Schools
Public schools
* PS 63 Old South School (grades Pre-K to 5, and special education)
* PS 64 Joseph P. Addabbo School (grades K-5, special education)
* PS 65 The Raymond York Elementary School (grades K-5)
* MS 137 America's School-Heroes (grades 6–8)
* MS 202 Robert H. Goddard (grades 6–8)
* JHS 210 Elizabeth Blackwell (grades 6–8)
* PS 316 Queens Explorers Elementary School (grades Pre-K to 5, and special education)
* Robert H. Goddard High School of Technology and Communications (grades 9–12)
* John Adams High School (grades 9–12)
*High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture (grades 9–12)
* PS 377 (grades 3K, Pre-K to 1)
* PS 335 (grades Pre-K to 5)
Private schools
* St Elizabeth's RC Elementary
* Divine Mercy Catholic Academy (originally Nativity B.V.M. and St. Stanislaus Schools, which were combined renamed in 2007)[Zambito, Thomas]
"Catholic schools, convents and properties on the block as parishes struggle with debt"
''New York Daily News'', September 26, 2011. Accessed September 23, 2021. "St. Stanislaus shut down four years ago when dwindling student populations forced a merger with nearby Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary school into the Divine Mercy Catholic Academy."
* Little Dolphin Pre-School
* Our Lady of Perpetual Help Academy RC Elementary
Closed schools
* Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish School[
* Our Lady of Wisdom RC Secondary
* St. Mary Gate of Heaven RC Elementary
* St. Stanislaus Parish School][
]
Library
The Queens Public Library operates the Ozone Park branch at 92-24 Rockaway Boulevard.
In popular culture
Ozone Park has served as the setting and subject of numerous media works.
Film
* ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993) features a scene set at Aqueduct Racetrack.
* ''A Shock to the System (1990 film), A Shock to the System'' (1990) contains a scene filmed in the old Aqueduct Racetrack (IND Rockaway Line), Aqueduct Racetrack station.
* ''Boss of Bosses'' (2001, starring Chazz Palminteri) features a scene with John Gotti in Ozone Park at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club.
* ''Goodfellas'' (1990) is an Academy Award-winning gangster film that takes place in and around Ozone Park.
* ''Holy Rollers (film), Holy Rollers'' (2010) features external shots of the Gold and Zimmerman houses.
* ''Lucky Number Slevin'' (2006) contains a scene at the beginning, wherein the father and son are at Aqueduct Racetrack.
* ''This Is My Life (1992 film), This Is My Life'' (1992) starring Julie Kavner as Dottie Ingels living in Ozone Park
Television
* ''Getting Gotti'' (1994 TV film starring Lorraine Bracco) is based on a real-life woman, Diane Giacalone, who grew up in Ozone Park and through the years watched Gotti rise to power on the streets of Ozone Park; she eventually became an Assistant US Attorney and built up a case against him.
* The ''Perfect Crimes'' History (U.S. TV channel), History Channel documentary features the Lufthansa heist and discusses the Lucchese crime family crews living, killing and running businesses in Ozone Park.
* ''The Sopranos'' character, Rusty Millio#Rusty Millio, Rusty Millio (played by Frankie Valli), lives in Ozone Park, as revealed in the episode "Live Free or Die (The Sopranos), Live Free or Die".
Notable events
* Pope John Paul II celebrated Catholic mass, mass for 75,000 people at Ozone Park's Aqueduct Racetrack in October 1995.
Notable people
Notable current and former residents of Ozone Park include:
* Ray Abruzzo (born 1954), actor who appeared in ''The Sopranos''
* Joseph Patrick Addabbo (1925-1986), Congressman; P.S. 64 was named after him.[Shaman, Diana]
"If You're Thinking of Living In/Ozone Park; Changing Faces, Enduring Values"
''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 ...
'', October 5, 2003. Accessed September 23, 2021. "'It's a great community,' said Councilman Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., who represents Ozone Park and lives there with his wife, Dawn.... At the foot of the tree-shaded enclave, which stretches from North Conduit Avenue to Pitkin Avenue and from 81st to 87th Streets, lies the 2.8-acre Joseph P. Addabbo Park, named after Representative Addabbo, a lifelong resident of Ozone Park who served in Congress from 1960 until his death in 1986."
* Joseph Addabbo Jr. (born 1964), member of the New York State Senate from the 15th District and of the New York City Council from the 32nd Council District. He is the son of Joseph Patrick Addabbo.[
* Pedro Beato (born 1986), relief pitcher of the Baltimore Orioles
* Charles Camarda (born 1952), astronaut, Mission Specialist on STS-114.
* ''The Capris'', 1950s Doo Wop group.
* Kvitka Cisyk (1953–1998), singer and actress
* Gerald Edelman (1929–2014), 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
* Elizabeth Eden (1946–1987), real life character of Leon from the 1975 film ''Dog Day Afternoon''.
* Peter Facinelli (born 1973), actor
* Mary Flaherty (baseball), Mary Flaherty (1926–2000), player for two seasons in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
* John Frascatore (born 1970), baseball player
* John Gotti (1940–2002), Mafia boss (headed the Gambino crime family)
* Neal Heaton (born 1960), former MLB baseball pitcher
* Carol Heiss (born 1940), Olympics figure skater
* Rob Keighron, Father Rob Keighron (born 1980), Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Priesthood (Catholic Church), priest, co-host/co-producer of ''The Catholic Guy''
* Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) - writer, lived in Ozone Park with his parents at 133-01 Cross Bay Boulevard for 11 years after discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1943. He wrote his first novel, ''The Town and the City'', as well as the quintessential ''On the Road'', while living in Ozone Park. His friends jokingly called him "The Wizard of Ozone Park".
* Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), singer/actress.
* Jack Lord (1920-1998), actor, star of the 1960s ''Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series), Hawaii Five-0'' TV series, attended John Adams High School (New York City), John Adams High School located on Rockaway Boulevard in Ozone Park
* Joe Lo Truglio (born 1970), actor best known for his appearance on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''.
* Bernadette Peters (born 1948), actress/singer.tJoseph Pintauro, American playwright, novelist and poet
* Joseph Pintauro (born 1930), playwright, novelist and poet
* Justin Credible, Peter Polaco (born 1973), professional wrestler better known by his ring name, "Justin Credible".
* Tom Postilio, real estate broker and star of HGTV's ''Selling New York''.
* John J. Santucci (1932–2016), lawyer and politician][John Santucci dies; former Queens DA was 85](_blank)
Jo Napolitano, ''Newsday'' (June 27, 2016)
* Nick Scotti (born 1966), actor, singer and model.
* Ronald Spadafora (1954–2018), FDNY Chief
* Anthony Trentacosta (1940–2005), Gambino crime family member
* Eric Ulrich (born 1985), member of the New York City Council from the 32nd Council District.
* Thomas Von Essen (born 1945), Senior Vice President at Giuliani Partners and 30th New York City Fire Commissioner.
* Debra Wilson (born 1962), actress, comedian, voice actress and TV presenter
Notes
References
External links
*
{{coord, 40.68, -73.85, type:city_region:US-NY, display=title
Ozone Park, Queens,
Neighborhoods in Queens, New York
Little Italys in the United States