Forest Park (Queens, New York)
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Forest Park is a park in 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 ...
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 ...
of
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 ...
. Spanning , it is the tenth-largest park in New York City and the third-largest in Queens. Acquired between 1895 and 1898, it was originally referred to as Brooklyn Forest Park, since the original owner was the then-independent city of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. The park contains a forest. It sits on hills left behind by the
Wisconsin glacier The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleate ...
and is a haven for native plants and wildlife in the midst of the city's sprawl. In addition to the park's large full-time bird population, migratory birds pass through in the spring and fall. Several trails are available for area residents and urban day hikers. Other facilities include playgrounds, a carousel, a running track, two dog runs, a pond, tennis courts, basketball courts, baseball fields, a skate park, and a golf course. The park is operated and maintained by the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
.City of New York; ''The Green Book'' Official Directory of the City of New York 2005–2006 Edition; P.265.


History

Approximately 20,000 years ago, the
terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...
of the receding
Wisconsin Glacier The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleate ...
that formed
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, known as the
Harbor Hill Moraine The Harbor Hill Moraine, in the geography of Long Island, forms the northern of two ridges along the "backbone" of Long Island. Description The Harbor Hill Moraine, skirting the North Shore, represents the terminal moraine of the most recent ...
, established a string of hills and kettles through the center of Long Island. The site of Forest Park was part of the ancestral lands of several Native American tribes, specifically the Rockaway,
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 ...
, and
Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
. The site was settled by Europeans in 1635 when the
Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company () was a Dutch chartered company that was founded in 1621 and went defunct in 1792. Among its founders were Reynier Pauw, Willem Usselincx (1567–1647), and Jessé de Forest (1576–1624). On 3 June 1621, it was gra ...
claimed the land. For the next two and a half centuries, the site was occupied by several private landowners.


Development


Planning

The development of Forest Park dates to the early 1890s, before 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 ...
was created. At the time, the city of
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
and the various towns in Queens County were not yet part of New York City. In early 1892, New York state legislators introduced a bill to create one or more new parks in Kings County (where the city of Brooklyn was located).; That May, the
New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...
passed Chapter 461 of the Laws of 1892,; which authorized the city of Brooklyn to identify sites for new parks. The legislation empowered the Brooklyn government to appoint a commissioner to "select and locate parks in the County of Kings, or adjacent thereto". James S. T. Stranahan, the onetime president of the Brooklyn Board of Park Commissioners, originally envisioned one large park extending eastward to
Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...
, and westward to
Park Slope, Brooklyn A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...
. However, Brooklyn's rapid development made this impossible; the largest remnants of this proposed landscape are Forest Park and the Prospect Park in Brooklyn. In conjunction with the park's development, there were also plans to extend
Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the borough (New York City), New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's fir ...
from central Brooklyn to Highland Park and Forest Park. Although the extension of Eastern Parkway was constructed as far as Highland Park, the section between Highland and Forest parks was not completed because Cypress Hills Cemetery officials would not allow a roadway to be constructed directly across their land. Brooklyn mayor Charles A. Schieren appointed a committee to obtain sites for new parks.; At the time, there were more vacant sites available in Queens County than in Kings County. By November 1894, Brooklyn park commissioner Frank Squier had suggested issuing bonds to buy land in Queens County; a public hearing on the site was hosted the next month. Squier claimed that the new Queens park would cost one-fourth as much as Prospect Park, which had been developed a quarter-century earlier,; and that it would be a park "for the poor man". Albert E. Lamb, a lawyer for the Brooklyn Parks Department, said the park was necessary because Brooklyn had very little park land per capita, compared with other cities around the world. After
Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...
's landscape firm Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot published a report on possible park sites, Schieren's committee recommended in March 1895 that ten parks be developed, including a "forest park for immediate use" in
Richmond Hill, Queens Richmond Hill is a commercial and residential neighborhood located in the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. The area borders Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozo ...
, east of Cypress Hills Cemetery. Only the Kings County government could allocate funds for these parks because of a law that prohibited cities in New York state from issuing large amounts of debt to pay for new parks.


Land acquisition

In May 1895, Squier submitted a report to the
New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...
, calling for the establishment of four large and six small parks in and around Brooklyn; the largest of these was the Forest Park at Richmond Hill.; The Forest Park site was selected both because it was near Brooklyn's Eastern District and because it was a forested plateau. At the time, the park's site belonged to either about 60 or more than 100 landowners. One lawyer, Sidney V. Lowell, asked the Supreme Court not to approve the Forest Park site, claiming that the site was unsuitable for park use because it was too close to Brooklyn and Queens' Cemetery Belt.; Nonetheless, Supreme Court justice Charles F. Brown approved the report that June, allowing the Kings County treasurer to allocate funds to buy these sites. The '' Brooklyn Times-Union'' estimated that it would cost about to acquire the parkland. The Brooklyn Parks Department purchased the first parcel for Forest Park on August 9, 1895. A judge issued an injunction preventing further land acquisition that September after Nassau Electric Railroad president P. H. Flynn filed a lawsuit, claiming that the city of Brooklyn was overpaying for the land and that Squier had no authority to buy the land.; In response, Lamb said that the site had been selected following two public hearings and that Olmsted himself had recommended the site.; Flynn's partner Fred Cocheu also tried to prevent further land acquisition, claiming that the Kings County government could not legally acquire parkland,; but a judge refused to grant a further injunction.; Squier's and Schieren's political opponents claimed that the purchases were wasteful, since the park was far removed from the most developed parts of Brooklyn. By mid-1896, nearly all of the land had been acquired at a cost of $1.3 million. The site had cost between ; the most expensive sites were along
Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Myrtle is a main thoroughfare through the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton ...
, which ran along the border of the park. The newly acquired site was served by streetcar routes that traveled directly to
Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...
, and to central Brooklyn. After the parkland was acquired, land values around the park began to increase. The land acquisition was finished in 1898, and the Brooklyn government ultimately acquired 124 parcels. The park was divided by several roads and railroads, including Metropolitan Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, Union Turnpike, Woodhaven Boulevard, and two
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 ...
(LIRR) lines. After Brooklyn had been absorbed into New York City, the newly merged city's controller Bird Sim Coler alleged that the old Brooklyn city government had overpaid for some of the land.


Initial development

The Brooklyn Parks Department initially referred to the site as the Brooklyn Forest. Local media reported that the park would remain in its natural state "for some time", except for a roadway winding through the park. In 1895–1896, the landscaping firm of Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot was hired to design a curved roadway for the park and to conduct surveys of the park. The early plans called for a road connecting two of the park's entrances at
Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Fulton Street and Broadway, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...
to the south and Myrtle Avenue to the north, as well as a road traversing the park from west to east. A bridge was built in mid-1895, carrying the road across the LIRR's Main Line at the park's eastern end. To accommodate the road, the Parks Department had to fill in several valleys with up to of dirt. The Parks Department also awarded a contract for a metal fence surrounding the park, and the sidewalk on Myrtle Avenue was widened as well. Little other work occurred during 1896, except for some clearing and pruning of vegetation. The Union Land and Improvement Company donated an strip of land to the Parks Department, allowing the city of Brooklyn to construct a road from Jamaica Avenue to the park. During the park's development, existing residential buildings were auctioned, disassembled, and removed. The Brooklyn Parks Department planned two additional bridges across the LIRR's
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 ...
and Myrtle Avenue, though contracts for these bridges were not awarded until early 1897.; Contractors also built a fourth bridge to carry the road across a ravine, and the Parks Department spent $30,000 to convert a former insane asylum next to the park into an inn. J. G. Dettmer, who gave Brooklyn mayor Frederick W. Wurster a tour of the park the same year, observed that the park had "splendid" views but that the roads were still incomplete. There were also proposals to add a reservoir in the park to supply Brooklyn with fresh water,; as well as a suggestion to convert Forest Park into a military campground.


20th century

A nine-hole golf course opened in 1901. The golf course was extremely popular, and so a clubhouse and another nine holes were added in 1905. A carousel at Forest Park was likely built in 1916, although the exact date of the carousel's opening is not clear. In 1919, a group of trees was planted near the park's golf clubhouse. When Woodhaven Boulevard was widened in the 1930s or 1940s, the former American Legion building within the park was torn down. The carousel was destroyed in a fire on December 10, 1966; it was replaced by the current Forest Park Carousel, which opened in 1973. Jackson Pond was used for fishing and ice skating, but was infilled in 1966 to make way for a playground. During the park's centennial celebration in 1995, a hundred trees were planted as a part of Operation Pine Grove, funded by
American Forests American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C. Activities The mission of America ...
and the Texaco Global Re-leaf Program.


21st century

The Forest Park Carousel was 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 ...
in 2004. The Forest Park Greenhouse reopened in 2012 after it was renovated at a cost of $3.8 million.; The same year, some of the park's trees were destroyed in
Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...
and one fallen tree damaged the structure housing the Forest Park Carousel, although the carousel itself was not damaged. The hurricane also damaged the tropical section of the Forest Park Greenhouse, which was renovated in 2015 for another $1.5 million. Other parts of the park, including the Mary Whalen Playground and some sidewalks, were also renovated in the mid-2010s.


Description and features

Forest Park is the third-largest park in Queens, covering in central Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs north–south through the park, dividing it into western and eastern sections. The western half includes several structures and recreational fields, while the eastern half consists largely of woodland. Jackie Robinson Parkway also runs through the park from west to east. As built, there is a central driveway running along the
Harbor Hill Moraine The Harbor Hill Moraine, in the geography of Long Island, forms the northern of two ridges along the "backbone" of Long Island. Description The Harbor Hill Moraine, skirting the North Shore, represents the terminal moraine of the most recent ...
(which passes through the park), connecting the western end of the park to 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 at its eastern end. Forest Park measures long from west to east. Its narrowest point is at Woodhaven Boulevard, where it is only wide because the park originally surrounded a water-supply structure on three sides. Other parts of the park are up to wide. West of 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 ...
(which runs just east of Woodhaven Boulevard), the northern boundary of the park is at
Myrtle Avenue Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States. Myrtle is a main thoroughfare through the neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Clinton ...
. East of the Rockaway Beach Branch, Myrtle Avenue crosses southeastward into the park, and Union Turnpike is the park's northern boundary. The southern and eastern boundaries of Forest Park are formed by Park Lane South, while the western boundary is at Cypress Hills Cemetery.


Structures

Within Forest Park is the Overlook, the administration building for NYC Parks' properties in Queens. It is located in the far eastern end of the park near Park Lane and 80th Road. Originally a one-room structure, the Overlook has six rooms in the basement and eight rooms on the first story. This structure was designed in the
Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...
style by Birchman & Fox and was completed in 1912. The Overlook was further expanded in 1915. At the southwestern corner of the park, at the intersection of Forest Parkway and Forest Park Drive, is Oak Ridge. The structure, formerly a golf-course clubhouse, is the administration building for Forest Park. It was designed in the Dutch Colonial Revival style by the firm of Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell (who also designed the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower). As originally built, Oak Ridge had locker rooms, baths, and showers, and it led directly to the first hole of the park's golf course. When the first four holes of the golf course were relocated northward in the 1920s, a new clubhouse was erected at Myrtle Avenue and 80th Street. Oak Ridge became an administration building for the
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
(NYC Parks). There is also a greenhouse behind the Seuffert Bandshell. Known as the Forest Park Greenhouse, it was built by Lord & Burnham and constructed in either 1905 or 1910. The greenhouse is one of three operated by NYC Parks, and it supplies up to 100,000 plants annually. The current greenhouse is composed of five structures, some of which were relocated from suburban
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. It is generally closed to the public, although it is open for tours once a year.


Recreation and events

Forest Park also offers a wide array of recreational facilities, the Carousel, playgrounds, a pond, a barbecue area, a nature center, and two dog runs. Dogs can run off leash here, and there is a separate area for small dogs. Therapeutic horseback riding for people with special needs is also available in the park. The park includes the George Seuffert Sr. Bandshell, which was named after a bandleader in 1979. Annual events such as the Halloween Walk, the Victorian Christmas, Nature Trails Day, orienteering and battle re-enactments draw the participation of the surrounding neighborhoods of
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, Forest Hills, and Glendale.


Landscape features

Forest Park is situated atop the Harbor Hill Moraine, which, at the time of the park's construction, was a heavily forested ridge. The highest point in the park is about above sea level. The park contains approximately of hickory and oak trees. These include a forested section in the eastern half of the park. In addition, Forest Park contains of
bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...
s. When the park was established, the westernmost portion, about east of the western border, had a plateau measuring several hundred feet across. The park's two main roads, Forest Park Drive and Forest Parkway, intersect on this plateau. Near this intersection, across from Oak Ridge, is a grove of trees that was planted in 1919 in memory of Queens residents who had died fighting in World War I. There were originally 53 trees, but the grove was expanded over the years to 70 trees; there is a plaque nearby with the names of residents who died during the war. Until the 1930s, the Woodhaven neighborhood's annual
Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...
parades ended outside this grove. Forest Park originally had no waterways and only two small bodies of water when it was established. The first, Strack Pond, is a glacial kettle pond located inside the park near Woodhaven Boulevard and Forest Park Drive. The pond, named after a local resident killed in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, was buried in 1966 and restored four decades later. Another kettle pond, the Jackson Pond, stood at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue and Park Drive South until it was infilled in 1966. The pond was used for ice skating during the winter, and it hosted fishing, swimming, and model boat sailing during the summer.


Sculptures and memorials

Forest Park has several sculptures and memorials. At the intersection of Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue is the Joseph E. Schaefer Medal of Honor Memorial, an octagonal planting bed that was named after a Richmond Hill resident who served in World War II. The Schaefer memorial, dedicated in 1987, includes a pedestal with an
artillery shell A shell, in a modern military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary device, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military ...
atop it.; Nearby is the Richmond Hill War Memorial, sculpted by Joseph Pollia in 1925; it depicts a "
doughboy "Doughboy" was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s, when it was gradually replaced by " G.I." as the following ge ...
" or American infantryman.; This memorial is one of a few doughboy statues in New York City. The same intersection contains a bronze flagstaff manufactured by the
Gorham Manufacturing Company The Gorham Manufacturing Company was one of the largest American manufacturers of sterling and silverplate and a foundry for bronze sculpture. History Gorham Silver was founded in 1831 in Providence, Rhode Island by Jabez Gorham, a master cr ...
, which is located atop a pedestal and a granite base.} In addition, there is a plaque commemorating Corporal Robert Gray, who died in World War I. Other sculptures are scattered around the park. Raoul Wallenberg Square, dedicated in 1982, is located at Metropolitan Avenue and Park Lane South, near the eastern end of the park. At the square is a granite marker that commemorates
Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...
, a diplomat who saved Jewish refugees during
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. Nearby at 80th Road and Park Lane South, south of the Overlook, is the ''Job'' sculpture, a bronze sculpture atop a stone pedestal. It was dedicated in 1997 and is based on a sculpture that Nathan Rapoport created in 1968 for the 20th anniversary of the
Israeli Declaration of Independence The Israeli Declaration of Independence, formally the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel (), was proclaimed on 14 May 1948 (5 Iyar 5708), at the end of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war phase and ...
.;


Wildlife and vegetation

Birds common to Forest Park include red-tailed hawks, a variety of woodpeckers, great blue herons, mallards, northern orioles, American kestrels, ruby throated hummingbirds, ring-necked pheasants, northern flickers, eastern wood pewees, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, wood thrushes, red-eyed vireos, red-winged blackbirds, scarlet tanagers, and several species of sparrow including rufous-sided towhees. A great variety of warblers often pass through in the spring. According to the New York City Parks Department, more than 100 species of migratory birds visit the park each year. Chipmunks become visibly active in spring, along with the squirrels, raccoons, and skunks that are more often seen year-round. Turtles sun themselves in Strack Pond on warm days. On summer nights, cicada song fills the area and surrounding neighborhoods. Toads also can be heard croaking in the evenings. In mid-summer, hatching butterflies begin to gravitate to the Joe Pye Weed, dogbane, milkweed, thistle, and other native plants. Fall brings spectacular color, as many varieties of trees prepare to drop their leaves. Several species of hawks pass through. Winter is quiet, featuring the occasional tracks of small mammals in snow. Forest Park's trees include the Northern red oak (''
Quercus rubra ''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been intro ...
''), Scarlet oak (''
Quercus coccinea ''Quercus coccinea'', the scarlet oak, is a deciduous tree in the red oak section ''Lobatae'' of the genus ''Quercus'', in the family Fagaceae. It is primarily distributed in the central and eastern United States. It occurs on dry, sandy, usual ...
''), Tulip tree (''
Liriodendron tulipifera ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...
''), Shagbark hickory (''
Carya ovata ''Carya ovata'', the shagbark hickory, is a common hickory native to eastern North America, with two Variety (botany), varieties. The trees can grow to quite a large size but are unreliable in their fruit output. The nut is consumed by wildlife a ...
''), White oak (''
Quercus alba ''Quercus alba'', the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as ...
''), American beech (''
Fagus grandifolia Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted species i ...
''), American sweetgum (''
Liquidambar styraciflua ''Liquidambar styraciflua'', commonly known as the American sweetgum among other names, is a deciduous tree in the genus ''Liquidambar'' native to warm temperate areas of eastern North America and tropical montane regions of Mexico and Central A ...
''), and Black cherry (''
Prunus serotina ''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub in the r ...
''). Several trees in the park are more than 150 years old, and create a canopy with an under-layer of Dogwood (''
Cornus ''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous ...
''), Virginia creeper ('' Parthenocissus quinquefolia''), Sassafras ('' Sassafras albidum''), and Corktree (''Genus Phellodendron''). Wildflowers such as white wood aster cover the forest floor in spring, as the azaleas, dogwoods, forsythia, and other flowering plants begin to bloom. The park was ravaged in 1912 by the
chestnut blight The pathogenic fungus ''Cryphonectria parasitica'' (formerly ''Endothia parasitica'') is a member of the Ascomycota (sac fungi). This necrotrophic fungus is native to East Asia and South East Asia and was introduced into Europe and North America ...
, and for a time was used for lumbering; about the same time, greenhouses were set up to grow plants for parks throughout the city. These have since been moved to the
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...
and Bronx Park.


Transportation

Forest Park is accessible by the
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 ...
's Queens Boulevard Line () at Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike. The southern part of the park is accessible via the Jamaica Line () at 75th Street–Elderts Lane, 85th Street–Forest Parkway, and Woodhaven Boulevard. The Q56 bus runs just south of the park along
Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Fulton Street and Broadway, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...
and the Q11, Q21, Q52 SBS, and Q53 SBS routes run along Woodhaven Boulevard. The Q37 runs along Park Lane South in
Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
and Richmond Hill, while the Q55 bus is straddled by the park along Myrtle Avenue. Two lines of 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 ...
, 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 line runs the length of Long Island, 115 miles (185 km) from Long Island City to Montauk. However, in LIRR maps and sche ...
and the
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 ...
, had run through the land before Forest Park was acquired. The Rockaway Beach Branch has been abandoned since 1962, but the Montauk Branch is still used by freight trains. In the 1970s—as part of a
Program for Action Metropolitan Transportation: A Program for Action, also known as simply the Program for Action, the Grand Design, or the New Routes Program, was a proposal in the mid-1960s for a large expansion of mass transit in New York City, created under t ...
, which proposed a rail link 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 ...
—there was a proposal to connect a tunnel within the park to link the two railroad branches. Local officials and residents were strongly opposed to the tunnel, which was canceled in 1976. The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway bike path also runs through Forest Park, connecting westward to Ridgewood Reservoir and eastward to Kew Gardens.


See also

* List of parks in New York City


References


Citations


Sources

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External links


New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
{{Authority control Parks in Queens, New York Urban forests in the United States Forest parks in the United States Urban public parks Woodhaven, Queens Forest Hills, Queens Kew Gardens, Queens Richmond Hill, Queens Nature centers in New York City