Laurelton is a largely middle-class neighborhood 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 ...

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 ...

and part of the former town of

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 ...

. Merrick Boulevard, which bisects the community in a generally east–west direction, forms its commercial spine. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard to the west, 121st Avenue to the north, Laurelton Parkway to the east, and

Conduit Avenue Conduit Avenue (Conduit Boulevard in Brooklyn) is an arterial road in New York City, the vast majority of which is in Queens. The divided highway runs from Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn to Hook ...

to the south. Laurelton is located in Queens Community District 13; its ZIP Codes are 11413 and 11422. 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 105th Precinct.

History

Laurelton derives its name from the Laurelton station on 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 ...

, which was named for the laurels that grew there over 100 years ago. It was developed by Dean Alvord and was modeled after an English village, with stately Tudor-style homes, both attached and detached. A few co-ops exist in a former garden apartment complex, there has been some new construction but no high-rise buildings, which has enabled Laurelton to keep its small-town feel. The area of Laurelton closest to Rosedale and Cambria Heights consists primarily of single-family homes whereas the area abutting Springfield Gardens contains more multi-family homes. The area south of Merrick Boulevard contains many large, individually designed houses, while certain blocks to the north, running eastward from

Francis Lewis Boulevard Francis Lewis Boulevard is a boulevard in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The roadway is named for Francis Lewis, a Queens resident who was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The boulevard z ...

, have attached, Tudor-style rowhouses. Laurelton also has a series of streets with landscaped and tree-lined center malls.

Demographics

In the 1930s through the 1970s, Laurelton was home to many

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

families, home to female American radio trio

NBC radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

vocal harmonists

Three X Sisters The Three X Sisters were an American all-girl harmony singing trio initially known as The Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce. They were on stage singing together in New York City, on Broadway, as early as 1922 and formed their trio in 1924, which was c ...

during the 1930s, but succeeding generations since the 1960s have included various Afro-descended groups, including African-Americans, Caribbean/West Indians and West Africans, many of whom were attracted to Laurelton's more suburban-like environment.Beyer, Gregory
"Prosperous Area Seeks Shops to Match"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', April 24, 2009. Accessed November 2, 2017. "IN parts of Laurelton, Queens, you can look down seemingly endless streets lined with Tudor homes, each a collection of squat rectangles with roofs so pointed as to have come from a child’s drawing.... 'Mine is the eighth-wealthiest district in the city, and a large part of that is Laurelton,' said Councilman James Sanders Jr., of the 31st Council District. “One of the things that make Laurelton unique is that it sits in the only census tract where blacks make more money than whites.'" Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Laurelton was 24,453, a decrease of 1,922 (7.3%) from the 26,375 in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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

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

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no 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 ...

, 90.1% (22,032)

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 ...

, 0.3% (73) Native American, 0.7% (171) Asian, 0.5% (12)

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% (97) from other races, and 1.6% (391) 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 5.5% (1,344) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -

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

Education

Cariculum Academy of Southeast Queens
A Community Schoolhouse *https://www.queensunited.org/

Transportation

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkways that form a belt-like circle around the Borough (New York City), New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt ...

exits 24A/B, 23A, and 22 service Laurelton. The section of the Belt Parkway known as the Laurelton Parkway was the subject of a master plan as part of the city's emerging system of greenways and bikeways. The restoration of this link was completed in 2006. The Laurelton station on the

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

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

branches. Residents also have access to

MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the Public transport bus service, bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service (bus rapid transit ...

buses , which connect to

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 ...

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

Notable residents

* David Bergman (born 1950), gay writer/academic. * Joel Brind, professor of

human biology Human biology is an interdisciplinary area of academic study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, anatomy, epidemiology, anthropology, ecology, nutrition, populat ...

and

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

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

. *

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

(1936–2011),

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

right guard in the 1970s. * Mikey D (born 1967), rapper for Main Source and Mikey D & LA Posse. *

David Greenglass David Greenglass (March 2, 1922 – July 1, 2014) was an American machinist who worked on the Manhattan Project and was an atomic spy for the Soviet Union. He was briefly stationed at the Clinton Engineer Works uranium enrichment facility at O ...

(1922–2014),

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

and

atomic spy Atomic spies or atom spies were people in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada who are known to have illicitly given information about nuclear weapons production or design to the Soviet Union during World War II and the early Cold W ...

for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

who worked on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

. * Derrick Harmon (born 1963), NFL running back for the

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

from 1984-1986. * Ronnie Harmon (born 1964), running back, kick returner who played in the NFL for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

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

'', October 10, 1984. Accessed November 2, 2017. "Greg, 23 years old, is the oldest Harmon brother, followed by Gary, 22, the musically inclined nonathlete of the family, and then Derrick, 21, Ronnie, 20, and Kevin, who will be 19 on Oct. 26. The boys grew up in a two-story brick home in Laurelton, Queens." *

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

(born 1968), Expressionist painter. Attended PS 156 in Laurelton. * Hettie Jones (1934–2024), poet/memoirist and former wife of writer

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

. *

Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israel, Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli pol ...

(1932–1990), founder of the Jewish Defense League. * Doron Lamb (born 1991), professional basketball player for

Scafati Basket Scafati Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as Givova Scafati, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Scafati, Campania. The club competes in the top level Italian professional basketball league, the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). Hi ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

Neil Leifer Neil Leifer (born December 28, 1942) is an American sports photographer and filmmaker known mainly for his work with ''Sports Illustrated'' and ''Time (magazine), Time''. His photograph of Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston, taken on May 25, ...

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

Bernard Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American financial criminal and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest known Ponzi scheme in history, worth an estimated $65 billion. He was at one time ...

(1938–2021), former

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

chairman, convicted of the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. * Ruth Madoff (born 1941), wife of Bernie Madoff. * Irving Mosberg (1908–1973), politician who served in the

New York Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term ...

from 1958 to 1967. * Winston Rodney (born 1945), reggae music legend, known as "Burning Spear".Rummell, Nick
"Burning Spear Seeks Rights to Songs"
''

Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service is an American news service primarily focusing on civil litigation. It offers both free and paid services. Its core audience is lawyers and law firms, who subscribe to the service;Courthouse News Service v. Schaefer', Civi ...

'', July 7, 2015. Accessed January 16, 2023. "Reggae legend Burning Spear claims in court that Florida-based Tammi Music reneged on a deal to return copyrights to dozens of his own songs, and refuses to provide an accounting of what they've earned.... In addition, he says, he bargained for the right to conduct a financial audit within one year's time related to the earnings from his songs, and for all relevant documents to be sent to his Laurelton, N.Y. home." * Elliot Sperling (1951–2017), expert on Tibetan history and the Tibet-China conflict and chair of Central Eurasian Studies at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

References

External links

Laurelton Civic AssociationThe Laurelton Blog
{{Authority control Neighborhoods in Queens, New York