Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, 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 ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It is bounded by

Roosevelt Avenue Roosevelt Avenue and Greenpoint Avenue are main thoroughfares in the New York City boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. Roosevelt Avenue begins at 48th Street and Queens Boulevard in the neighborhood of Sunnyside. West of Queens Boulevard, the ...

on the north; the

Long Island Expressway Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the

New York Connecting Railroad The New York Connecting Railroad or NYCR is a rail line in the borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City. It links New York City and Long Island by rail directly to the North American mainland. Amtrak, CSX, Canadian Pa ...

on the west. The village, originally named Middleburgh, was established in 1652 by English Puritans, approximately from

New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...

. When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed it New Town, which was eventually simplified to Newtown. It remained a rural community until the late 1890s, when it was renamed Elmhurst and became part of the

City of Greater New York The City of Greater New York was the Merger (politics), consolidation of the New York City, City of New York with Brooklyn, western Queens County, and Staten Island, which took effect on January 1, 1898. New York had already annexed the Bronx ...

. Elmhurst became heavily developed with residential and commercial structures in the early 20th century, and many immigrants started moving in during the latter part of the century. Elmhurst is located in Queens Community District 4 and its ZIP Code is 11373. It is patrolled by the

New York City Police Department The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

's 110th Precinct. Politically, Elmhurst is represented by the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City in the United States. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The council serves as a check against the mayor in a mayor-council government mod ...

's 25th District and small parts of the 21st, 24th, and 29th Districts.

History

17th and 18th centuries

The village was founded in 1652 in the Dutch colony of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

() by English

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. They named it ('Middleburgh') after the capital of the Dutch province of

Zeeland Zeeland (; ), historically known in English by the Endonym and exonym, exonym Zealand, is the westernmost and least populous province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the southwest of the country, borders North Brabant to the east ...

, which had been a refuge of Puritans fleeing religious persecution in England. The village was located approximately from the growing city of

() and just east of the settlement at Maspat (now called Maspeth), which had been abandoned following threats and attacks by local

Lenape The Lenape (, , ; ), also called the Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. The Lenape's historica ...

Native Americans. When the British took over New Netherland in 1664, they renamed Middleburgh as (New Town) to maintain a connection to its Dutch heritage. This was eventually simplified to Newtown. In a deed dated July 9, 1666, the settlers took title to the lands of Newtown from the Native American tribes. A town building, near what is now Broadway and Corona Avenue, was erected to serve as both a community and religious building. Use of this building was shared by the different religious denominations in Middleburgh: the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

, the

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, and the

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

. In 1669, the town planned a new church for all of these denominations, on a plot of land donated by Ralph Hunt near Grand Avenue and Queens Boulevard. According to the town records, the new building was to cost forty pounds, half in corn and half in cattle. The village of Newtown was established as the town seat for the township in 1683, when Queens County was reorganized as a "one county, five towns" model. The Town of Newtown, which had a town hall, jail, tax office, and town clerk's office, was the center of a municipality that comprised the villages that were located north of present-day Forest Park and west of Flushing Meadows. By 1700, the town had a population of 1,000, including 405 youths under the age of sixteen, 434 adults, and 161 slaves. Among the English settlers in the present Elmhurst section of Newtown was Gershom Moore, who lived at what is now the intersection of Broadway, 45th Avenue, and Elmhurst Avenue. A chance seedling on his farm eventually produced the Newtown Pippin, Colonial America's most famous apple. The St. James Church was founded in 1704, followed by the Reformed Church of Newtown in 1731. The Colonel Bernardus Bloom Farmhouse at 90-11 56th Avenue, which existed from the 17th century to 2015, was one of the oldest surviving farmhouses in Newtown through the 21st century.

19th century

Newtown was also the center of a population of free blacks and slaves by the early 19th century. With the program of gradual abolition and the

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves by their owners. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that the most wi ...

of some slaves by masters following the American Revolution, the free population increased. In 1828, a year after slavery in New York state was finally abolished under the terms of a 1799 gradual abolition law, landowner James Hunter and his wife deeded to the community for a church and parsonage. They had already been using land at Corona Avenue and 90th Street as a burial ground since about 1818. This was associated with the United African Society of Newtown, by 1906 known as St. Mark's A.M.E. Church. By 1886, more than 300 burials had been made in the cemetery. The church moved further east and gradually the burial ground was forgotten until the remains of a woman were discovered in an iron coffin in 2011 during development. The church is hoping to buy the land for preservation. More concentrated residential development in the area was spurred by the completion of a horsecar line, the Grand Street Line, which reached New Town in 1854. The

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad 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 County on Long Islan ...

's Main Line was built through Newtown in 1876, attracting more residents to the neighborhood.

Renaming and incorporation into city

Cord Meyer bought land at Broadway and Whitney Avenue in 1896. He proposed that the town be renamed "Elmhurst", meaning "a grove of elms"; in 1897, one year before Queens County was incorporated in the Greater City of New York, the town was renamed. The renaming was done partially to disassociate the town from nearby Maspeth and the smelly, polluted

Newtown Creek Newtown Creek, a long tributary of the East River, is an estuary that forms part of the border between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, in New York City. River engineering#Channelization, Channelization made it one of the most heavily-use ...

, and partially to celebrate the

elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, p ...

s (''

Ulmus americana ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America. The trees can live for several hundred years. It is a very Hardiness (plants), hardy ...

'') that abounded in the area. Elmhurst developed as a fashionable district due to a

housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...

built by the Cord Meyer Development Company between 1896 and 1910, north of the Port Washington Branch railroad station. Cord Meyer expanded its holdings between 1905 and 1930, including Elmhurst Square, Elmhurst South, Elmhurst Heights, and New Elmhurst. Elmhurst also was the site of the Grand Street LIRR station just west of the current Grand Avenue – Newtown subway station. The Grand Street LIRR station was served by the Main Line and the former

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 Jama ...

. In the 1930s, the

Independent Subway System The Independent Subway System (IND; formerly the ISS) was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of the New York City Subway. It was first constructed as the IND Eighth Avenue Line, Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan in 1932. ...

's Queens Boulevard line was built through the neighborhood, spurring economic development but also destroying many old buildings. Prior to World War II, Elmhurst had become an almost exclusively

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

neighborhood, made up of early 20th century immigrants and their descendants. Following the war, Elmhurst evolved into what has been considered one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City, as immigrants arrived from new areas. By the 1980s, there were persons from 112 nations in residence in the neighborhood, which has continued to diversify since then. Among the most numerous ethnic groups that have settled in the area are

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...

and

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

s. For many years, the Elmhurst gas tanks, a pair of large

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

storage structures built in 1910 and 1921 on 57th Avenue between 74th and 80th Streets, were well-known landmarks, standing high. Because the

frequently became congested in that area, "backup at the Elmhurst Gas Tanks" became a familiar phrase in radio

traffic reporting Traffic reporting is the near real-time distribution of information about road conditions such as traffic congestion, detours, and traffic collisions. The reports help drivers anticipate and avoid traffic problems. Traffic reports, especially ...

. The gas storage facilities were removed in 2001. The site was redeveloped and opened as Elmhurst Park in 2011.

Land use

Elmhurst contains a variety of

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

districts, including manufacturing, commercial, residential, and mixed-use. Much of the neighborhood is composed of detached or multi-family houses, though there are also

rowhouse A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

districts, apartment buildings of up to six or seven stories, and large developments such as

LeFrak City LeFrak City (originally spelled Lefrak and pronounced ) is a 4,605-apartment development in the southernmost region of Corona, Queens, Corona and the easternmost part of Elmhurst, Queens, Elmhurst, a neighborhood in the New York City borough (New ...

. Commercial overlays are located primarily along Queens Boulevard, Broadway, and Grand and Corona Avenues. Several tracts are also zoned for shopping centers, which are occupied by Elmhurst's malls. Light-manufacturing zones are located near the western end of the neighborhood, mainly between the LIRR's Port Washington Branch and 51st Avenue.

Official landmarks

Some buildings in Elmhurst are listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP) and/or are designated New York City Landmarks (NYCL): * Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge Number 878 (NRHP, NYCL), built in 1923–1924, once the largest Elks lodge in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...

* First Presbyterian Church of Newtown (NRHP), built in 1895 * Newtown High School (NYCL), a Flemish Renaissance Revival-style building erected in 1921 and expanded in 1931 * Reformed Church of Newtown (NRHP, NYCL), one of the oldest wood churches in New York City, first established by Dutch

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

s in 1731 * St. James Church (NRHP, NYCL), built in 1735 and the oldest surviving

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

building in the city The Elmhurst branch of the Jamaica Savings Bank was previously a New York City Landmark, but the designation was removed in 2005.

Demographics

Based on data from the 2022 census, the population of Elmhurst was 160,534, an increase of 72,107 from the 88,427 counted in 2010. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/elmhurst-corona#demographics Accessed February 2025 The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 6.7%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 8.1%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.2% (133) Native American, 33.8% Asian, 0.0% (28)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, 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 th ...

, 0.4% (338) from other races, and 1.6% (1,423) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 49.6% of the population.https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/elmhurst-corona#demographics Accessed February 2025 Elmhurst's Latino population is 20.4% South American (9.8% Ecuadorean, 7.2% Colombian, 1.8% Peruvian, 0.4% Argentinean, 0.4% Bolivian, 0.2% Chilean, 0.2% Venezuelan), 11.6% Mexican, 3.1% Dominican, 1.8% Puerto Rican, 1.5% Central American (0.5% Salvadoran, 0.4% Guatemalan, 0.3% Honduran), and 0.7% Cuban. The entirety of Community Board 4, which comprises Elmhurst and Corona, had 135,972 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 85.4 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 17% are between the ages of 0 and 17, 39% between 25 and 44, and 24% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 8% and 12% respectively. As of 2022, the median

household income Household income is a measure of income received by the household sector. It includes every form of cash income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, investment income and cash transfers from the government. It may include near-cash gover ...

in Community Board 4 was $66,480.https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/elmhurst-corona#demographics Accessed February 2025 In 2022, an estimated 17.9% of Elmhurst and Corona residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in fourteen residents (7%) 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 62% in Elmhurst and Corona, higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. As of the 2020 census data from

New York City Department of City Planning The Department of City Planning (DCP) is the department of the government of New York City responsible for setting the framework of city's physical and socioeconomic planning. The department is responsible for land use and environmental review, p ...

, Elmhurst is primarily populated by 55,800 Asian residents and 42,600 Hispanic residents, however there were between 5,000 to 9,999 White residents and less than 5,000 Black residents.

Chinese enclave

Elmhurst's rapidly growing

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

(艾浒唐人街) is the second largest in Queens, the other Chinatown being located in Flushing. Previously a small area with Chinese shops on Broadway between 81st Street and Cornish Avenue, this newly evolved second Chinatown in Queens has now expanded to 45th Avenue and Whitney Avenue and is developing as a satellite of the Flushing Chinatown. In Chinese translation, Elmhurst is named 艾浒 (Àihǔ in

Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ( zh, s=现代标准汉语, t=現代標準漢語, p=Xiàndài biāozhǔn hànyǔ, l=modern standard Han speech) is a modern standard form of Mandarin Chinese that was first codified during the republican era (1912–1949). ...

). There are also many other

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

n businesses and shops in the area, including

Malaysian Chinese Malaysian Chinese, Chinese Malaysians, or Sino-Malaysians are Malaysians, Malaysian citizens of Chinese people, Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Malaysian Malays, Malay majority, and , const ...

, Singaporean Chinese,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n, Thai, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese. Hong Kong Supermarket and New York Supermarket serve as the largest Chinese supermarkets selling different food varieties to the Elmhurst Chinatown. The

Cathay Bank Cathay Bank () is a Chinese American bank founded in 1962. Cathay is headquartered in Chinatown, Los Angeles, with a corporate center in nearby El Monte, California. It has branches in California, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Washington, ...

serves as the only Chinese bank and the main financial resource business for the growing enclave, though USA HSBC, Chase, and other banks also are located in Elmhurst along Broadway. Like Flushing's Chinatown, it is also very highly populated by Mandarin speakers, although many also speak other

varieties of Chinese There are hundreds of local Chinese language varieties forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Sino-Tibetan language family, many of which are not Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the m ...

. Since the 2000s, Elmhurst Chinatown has expanded to the nearby neighborhood of

Corona, Queens Corona is a neighborhood in the Borough (New York City), borough of Queens in New York City. It borders Flushing, Queens, Flushing and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the east, Jackson Heights, Queens, Jackson Heights to the west, Forest Hill ...

Police and crime

Elmhurst and Corona are patrolled by the 110th Precinct of the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

, located at 94-41 43rd Avenue. The 110th Precinct ranked 15th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 34 per 100,000 people, Corona and Elmhurst'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 (law), force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violence, vio ...

s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 227 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 110th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 83.2% between 1990 and 2020. The precinct reported 4 murders, 29 rapes, 270 robberies, 359 felony assaults, 196 burglaries, 485 grand larcenies, and 138 grand larcenies auto in 2020.

Fire safety

Elmhurst is served by two

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) is the full-service fire department of New York City, serving all Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs. The FDNY is responsible for providing Fi ...

(FDNY) fire stations: * Engine Co. 287/Ladder Co. 136/Battalion 46 – 86-53 Grand Avenue * Engine Co. 289/Ladder Co. 138 – 97-28 43rd Avenue FDNY EMS Station 46 is located on the grounds of Elmhurst Hospital Center.

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 ...

s are less common in Elmhurst and Corona than in other places citywide, but births to teenage mothers are more common. In Elmhurst and Corona, there were 83 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 25.8 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Elmhurst and Corona have a high population of residents who are uninsured. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 25%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of

air pollutant Air pollution is the presence of substances in the air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be gases like ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles like soot and dust. It affects both outdoor ...

, in Elmhurst and Corona is , slightly higher than the city average. Fifteen percent of Elmhurst and Corona residents are smokers, which is equal to the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Elmhurst and Corona, 20% of residents are

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

, 9% are

diabetic Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

, and 23% have

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, 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 itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

—compared to the citywide averages of 20%, 14%, and 24% respectively. In addition, 24% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Eighty-eight percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is about the same as the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 68% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", lower than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Elmhurst and Corona, there are 16 bodegas. The

Elmhurst Hospital Center Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst, is a 545-bed public hospital in the Elmhurst, Queens, Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. It is one of the 11 acute care hospitals of NYC Health + Hospi ...

is located in Elmhurst.

Incidents

In March 2020, Elmhurst Hospital became the "center of the center" of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York state as

the state A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

itself experienced the most cases in

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The neighborhoods of Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights were most affected by the pandemic in New York City. , these communities, with a cumulative 303,494 residents, had recorded 12,954 COVID-19 cases and 1,178 deaths.

Post office and ZIP Code

Elmhurst is covered by ZIP Code 11373. The

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal serv ...

operates two post offices in Elmhurst: the Elmhurst A Station at 80-27 Broadway and the Elmhurst Station at 59-01 Junction Boulevard.

Religion

Places of worship include: First Elmhurst Presbyterian jeh

* Ascension Roman Catholic Church (86-13 55th Avenue) * Bangladesh Hindu Mandir (94-39 44th Avenue) * Christian Testimony Church (87-11 Whitney Avenue). Originally a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

—as evidenced by the former presence of the word Mizpah (watchtower) above the front door—the building is now a Christian church with a congregation composed mainly of Chinese people, with services in both English and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin ( ; zh, s=, t=, p=Guānhuà, l=Mandarin (bureaucrat), officials' speech) is the largest branch of the Sinitic languages. Mandarin varieties are spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers over a large geographical area that stretch ...

. * Elmhurst Baptist Church (87-37 Whitney Avenue), founded in 1900, built in 1902. The congregation is very diverse and multi-ethnic. The church building is constructed of stone. * Elmhurst Islamic Center (EIC) (87-07 55th Avenue) * Elmhurst Muslim Center (42-12 79th Street) * Masjid Al Taufiq (41-02 Forley St) * First Presbyterian Church of Newtown (Queens Boulevard and 54th Avenue) built in 1895, the congregation was established in 1652 * Geeta Temple Asharam (92-09 Corona Avenue) * Jain Center of America (43-11 Ithaca Street), founded in 1973 * New Life Fellowship Church (82-10 Queens Boulevard) is housed in the building of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge Number 878. * The Reformed Church of Newtown (85-15 Broadway), founded in 1731. The original church was built in 1733, with a replacement built in 1831, expanded in 1851, and fitted with

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

by 1874. The church has a small, historic graveyard on the side facing Corona Avenue. * The Rock Church at Elmwood Theatre (57-02 Hoffman Drive), at 57th Avenue and Hoffman Drive, is housed in the former Loews Elmwood Theater. The theater, built in 1928, was formerly one of the largest theaters in the city and currently seats 3,000 people. Its name was a

portmanteau word In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.) Israeli שלט ''shalát'' 'remote control', an ellipsis ...

, composed of the names "Elmhurst" and "Woodhaven", the latter alluding to nearby Woodhaven Boulevard. One of the city's last community theaters, it was considered for demolition in 1968 and in 1999; both times, the site was planned as an adjunct for the nearby, now-closed, St. John's Queens Hospital. The theater closed in 2002 and was purchased by the Rock Church, but was temporarily used as a music venue before the church opened in 2006. The theater has a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

and a huge sign saying "Elmwood" on the roof. * Satya Narayan Mandir (75-15 Woodside Avenue) * St. Adalbert Roman Catholic Church (52-29 83rd Street), founded in 1892 * St. Bartholomew's Church (43-22 Ithaca Street), founded in 1906, present structure built in 1930. The original church, built in 1910, is at Whitney and 43rd Avenues. * St. James Church (originally St. James Episcopal Church, at Broadway and 51st Avenue) is Elmhurst's oldest extant building, having been built in 1734 under the rule of British

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. In 1848, it became a community center and Sunday school, upon which the church moved to a new building that later burned down. A

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

atop the original building was destroyed in an 1882 storm. The original church building is now on the

Malls

Elmhurst has two urban shopping malls: Queens Center and the smaller Queens Place Mall. The 150-store Queens Center, bounded by Queens Boulevard, 57th and 59th Avenues, and 90th and 94th Streets, opened on September 12, 1973, and was renovated and expanded across 92nd Street in 2002–4. With a

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured in square metres or square feet) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the bui ...

of , the mall has had retail sales per square foot nearly triple the national average. It was built on land previously occupied by a 24-ride children's

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

named

Fairyland Fairyland (Early Modern English: ''Faerie''; ( Scottish mythology; cf. (Norse mythology)) in English and Scottish folklore is the fabulous land or abode of fairies or ''fays''. Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of ...

, which opened in 1949 and closed in 1968. The site was also formerly a supermarket and automobile parking. The smaller Queens Place, bounded by Queens Boulevard and by Justice, 55th, and 56th Avenues, is designed in a cylindrical shape and opened in 1965. Originally planned as a traditional rectangular construction designed to replace several blocks of residences, the mall had to be redesigned because the owner of the corner house at 55th Avenue and Queens Boulevard, Mary Sendek, refused to sell what had been her childhood home. The site of the corner home was demolished after Sendek died, and that site is now a small collection of stores.

Streets and street names

57th Avenue was known as the Flushing and Newtown Turnpike. Built in 1801, it connected with present-day Flushing Avenue in Maspeth, and extended all the way to

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

. The Elks Lodge's name is shared by a local street, Elks Road, a short road in a cluster of 2- and 3-story orange and yellow brick buildings located between Grand Avenue, 79th Street, and Calamus Avenue, that were built in 1930 by Louis Allmendinger for the Matthews Company. Hoffman Drive is a remnant of the wide Hoffman Boulevard. Hoffman Boulevard was straightened and renamed

Queens Boulevard Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica in Queens, New York City, United States. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25. Queens Boulevard runs northwest to ...

, but a short slip road, Hoffman Drive, leads from 57th Avenue to Woodhaven Boulevard. Horace Harding Expressway was once a turnpike called Nassau Boulevard, which went from Elmhurst to Flushing, Bayside, and Little Neck. It was renamed for Horace J. Harding (1863–1929), a finance magnate who directed the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

and the New York Municipal Railways System; Harding encouraged city planner

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...

's system of

parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

s on New York, and after Harding died, the boulevard—now the service road of the

—was renamed after him. Horse Brook Island is a traffic island at the intersection of 90th Street, Justice Avenue, and 56th Avenue. The traffic island is reminiscent of the former Horse Brook, a creek that flowed to the Flushing River from the present-day intersection of Kneeland Avenue and Codwise Place. The space was renovated from 1986 to 1994. Justice Avenue, an Elmhurst road that has existed since the American colonial period, follows an unusual curved path through Elmhurst due to a now-defunct railroad line immediately to the south.

, a wide at-grade highway that stretches from

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, was formerly composed of two small dirt roads: Old Jamaica Road and Hoffman Boulevard. In the 1910s, it was paved and widened to 12 lanes. It is sometimes called the "Boulevard of Death" because of the high fatality rate on Queens Boulevard. The majority of Whitney Avenue, which stretches from 83rd Street in the west to

and 93rd Street to the northeast, is on a tilted street grid, developed in the early 20th century. The street grid consists of Broadway; Aske, Benham, Case, Denman, Elbertson, Forley, Gleane, Hampton, Ithaca, Judge, Ketcham, Layton, Macnish Streets; Ketcham Place; and Baxter, Pettit, Britton, Vietor, Elmhurst, Whitney, and Lamont Avenues. Whitney Avenue also has the most religious institutions of any street in Elmhurst. Woodhaven Boulevard was known as Trotting Course Lane because it was named when horses were the main mode of transport. Although it extends to Cross Bay Boulevard in the Rockaways, two small parts of the original lane still exist in Forest Hills.

Parks

Elmhurst Park is on 57th Avenue west of 80th Street. There is a children's playground with slides, swings, and exercise machines, as well as walking paths and a lawn atop a hill. The land for the park was formerly occupied by gas tanks. The park itself was opened in 2011. It includes the Queens Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which was finished in 2019. Moore Homestead Park is located between Broadway and 45th Avenue. There is a children's playground with slides and swings and there are different sections where people can play basketball, handball, and chess. The park is named after a nearby homestead owned by Clement Clarke Moore, whose ancestor John Moore helped negotiate Newtown's land area with the Native American population there. The park, originally acquired by the

and then turned into a playground, was renovated in the 1990s, and again in the 2020s. Frank D. O'Connor Playground is located on Broadway between Woodside Avenue and 78th Street. There is also a children playground, basketball and handball area. Opened in 1937 and renovated in 1996, the park is named after former state senator Frank D. O'Connor. Veterans Grove is located on 43rd Avenue by Judge and Ketcham Streets. It is a small park mainly for younger children. The park's plaque states that it was dedicated "to the memory of those soldiers from Elmhurst who lost their lives serving in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

." The park land was acquired in 1928, and the park was originally called the Elmhurst Memorial Park. It was renovated in 1994–6. Horsebrook Island is a small triangular green space at the junction of 56th Avenue, Justice Avenue and 90th Street that was named after a stream that once ran through the Newtown settlement. The creek was buried in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Libra Triangle is a small triangular green space at the junction of Justice Avenue and Broadway. Newtown Playground is located on 92nd Street and 56th Avenue. There are two children's playgrounds, chess tables, swings, sprinklers, and a small lawn. The park is named after the original name of Elmhurst given by the English. It is one block away from Queens Center Mall and Newtown High School's athletic field.

Education

Elmhurst and Corona generally have a lower ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the city . While 28% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 30% have less than a high school education and 42% 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 Elmhurst and Corona students excelling in math rose from 36% in 2000 to 66% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 42% to 49% during the same time period. Elmhurst and Corona's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Elmhurst and Corona, 11% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per

school year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classes and do rel ...

, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 81% of high school students in Elmhurst and Corona graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

Elmhurst contains the following schools: *PS 7 - Louis F. Simeone *PS 13 - Clement C Moore *PS 89 - Elmhurst *PS 102 - Bayview *PS 877 - 51st Avenue Academy- now called PS 7 Academy *St. Adalbert School *St. Bartholomew School *IS 5 - The Walter Crowley Intermediate School * Newtown High School is located in a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

, C. B. J. Snyder-designed building at Corona Avenue and 90th Street that was built in 1897. * Cathedral Preparatory School and Seminary, the last full-time Roman Catholic high school seminary day school in operation in the United States. *The Elmhurst Educational Complex is a renovated spice factory housing multiple educationally robust schools. Opened in 2008, it contains three high schools, an elementary school, and an early childhood center. *Central Queens Academy Charter School

Library

The Queens Public Library's Elmhurst branch is located at 86-01 Broadway. The original Elmhurst branch, a Carnegie library constructed in 1906, was closed in 2011 and demolished in 2012 for a complete rebuild that was designed to double the building's original size. Planned to be completed in two years, the reconstruction of the library took more than twice the original expected time and exceeded its $27.8 million budget. The new four-story, building, which included elements of the original structure, was opened to the public in December 2016 at a cost of $32 million.

Transportation

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

stations include Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue, Woodhaven Boulevard, Grand Avenue–Newtown, and Elmhurst Avenue, all served by the of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In addition, the IRT Flushing Line, served by the , runs along Roosevelt Avenue, the north border of Elmhurst, with stations at 74th Street–Broadway, 82nd Street–Jackson Heights, and 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue. Local buses include the . Express buses going to and from

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

during weekday rush hours include the . Elmhurst is bounded by the

to the south and by the

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...

to the west.

, Woodhaven Boulevard, Junction Boulevard,

, and Broadway are major roads in the community. Elmhurst is connected to Manhattan and Jamaica by Queens Boulevard, and is connected to

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

by Woodhaven Boulevard and to

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the North Shore (Long Island), northwestern shore of Long Island, bord ...

by Junction Boulevard.

Notable residents

* Tommie Agee (1942–2001), baseball player *

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

(1927–2016), jazz player *

Eric B The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Nor ...

(born 1965), DJ from the hip-hop duo Eric B. & Rakim *

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

(1927–2023), calypso singer and Grammy winner * Julissa Bermudez (born 1983), Dominican-American actress, co-host for countdown show '' 106 & Park''. * Brian Brady (born 1962), right fielder who played for the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

. * William J. Casey (1913–1987), director of CIA, born in Elmhurst *

Patty Duke Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ...

(1946–2016), former president of Screen Actor's Guild, recipient of an Academy Award of Merit for her role in the movie '' The Miracle Worker'' * Joan Hackett (1934–1983), the actress who appeared on television, film and stage. * Homeboy Sandman (born 1980), rapper. * Bill Kenville (1930–2018), former NBA basketball player. * Fumio Kishida (born 1957), former Prime Minister of Japan, attended P.S. 013 Clement C. Moore elementary school in Elmhurst. * Omar Minaya (born 1958), former General Manager of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, raised in Elmhurst, Newtown High School alumnus * Benjamin Moore (1748–1816), bishop of New York, father of Clement C. MooreStaff
"Industry, Growth In 1879 Queens"
''Queens Gazette'', February 13, 2013. Accessed July 20, 2016. "On Shell Road in Newtown (known today as Elmhurst) sat a stately, elegant mansion, one of several homes in the area once occupied by the Moore family. Benjamin Moore, an Episcopal bishop, and president of Columbia University, and his brother Samuel Moore, a distinguished physician, were raised here. The bishop’s son, Clement Clark Moore, also raised on the family property, wrote the yuletide poem ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', better known as ''‘Twas the Night before Christmas’'." * Clement Clarke Moore (1779–1863), author of the poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas"; the site of his home is now a paved playground at Broadway and 82nd Street * John Moore, founder of Elmhurst and the first independent minister allowed in New England *

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes refe ...

(1832–1908), vaudeville entertainer and theater manager, sometimes called "The Father of mericanVaudeville" * Carroll O'Connor (1924–2001), actor, best known for his role as Archie Bunker on ''

All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

'' * Frank D. O'Connor (1909–1992), attorney and judge * Smush Parker (born 1981), former NBA basketball player, attended Newtown High School. * Jessica Ramos (born 1985), politician * Lindy Remigino (1931–2018), sprinter who won two gold medals at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. * Tommy Rettig (1941–1996), who played "Jeff" on the '' Lassie'' TV series, attended PS 89 * Dixie Roberts, vaudeville tap and specialty dancer, who was a featured dancer in the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

. *

Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectual an ...

(1936–2016), former

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a Justice (title), justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the J ...

, attended PS 13 * Risë Stevens (1913–2013), opera singer, attended Newtown High School * Charlie Villanueva (born 1984), Dominican-American NBA power forward for the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

In popular culture

McDowell's, the fictional restaurant depicted in the 1988 film ''

Coming to America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis, based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, and starring Murphy (in various roles), Arsenio ...

'', is located in Elmhurst. For the week-long shot, the filmmakers cosmetically altered an existing

Wendy's Wendy's International, LLC, is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (businessman), Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of D ...

restaurant, which was closed in May 2013 and was razed by December 2013 to make way for condominiums. Images of surrounding streets were also used in the movie. The CBS show ''Blue Bloods'' filmed for its third season on the residential streets of Elmhurst in 2012. Part of the '' Revenge of the Green Dragons'' was filmed in Elmhurst with cameos from locals.Chang, Justin
"Film Review: ''Revenge of the Green Dragons''"
''

Variety (magazine) ''Variety'' is an American trade magazine owned by Penske Media Corporation. It was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933, ''Daily Variety'' was launched, based in ...

'', October 28, 2014. Accessed July 20, 2016. "As laid out in Fredric Dannen's detailed 1992 New Yorker account (the authoritative basis for Loo and Michael Di Jiacomo's patched-together script), the Green Dragons were a ruthless street gang in Elmhurst, Queens, consisting primarily of first-generation Chinese youths whose awareness of their third-class citizenship bred a particularly menacing form of social rebellion."

References

External links

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Old Elmhurst Blog
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