Utopia Parkway (Queens)

Last updated
Utopia Parkway
Utopia Pkwy
Utopia Pkwy 19 Av TWC jeh.jpg
The parkway crossing 19th Avenue in Whitestone
Utopia Parkway (Queens)
Owner City of New York
Maintained by NYCDOT
Length5.1 mi (8.2 km) [1]
Location Queens, New York City
Nearest metro station 169 Street-Hillside Avenue
Coordinates 40°43′46″N73°47′36″W / 40.729472°N 73.793333°W / 40.729472; -73.793333
South endGrand Central Pkwy Shield free.svg Grand Central Parkway in Hillcrest
Major
junctions
I-495.svg I-495 in Utopia
NY-25A.svg NY 25A in Murray Hill
Cross Island Pkwy Shield free.svg Cross Island Parkway in Clearview
North endDead end in Beechhurst

Utopia Parkway is a major street in the New York City borough of Queens. Starting in the neighborhood of Beechhurst and ending in the Jamaica Estates neighborhood, the street connects Cross Island Parkway and Northern Boulevard in the north to Union Turnpike, Grand Central Parkway and Hillside Avenue in the south.

Contents

History and naming

Simon Freeman, Samuel Resler, and Joseph Fried incorporated the Utopia Land Company in 1903. [2] The following year, the Utopia Land Company bought 161.25 acres (65 ha) of land between the communities of Jamaica and Flushing. [3] [4] The Utopia Land Company intended to build a cooperative community for Jewish families interested in moving away from the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They intended to name the streets after those on the Lower East Side, where there was already a large Jewish population. [4] After its initial acquisition, the company was unable to secure enough funding to further develop the area. [5] In 1909, 118 acres (48 ha) of the land was sold to Felix Isman of Philadelphia for $350,000. [6] Utopia Parkway was named after Freeman, Resler, and Fried's unrealized plan. [5]

Utopia Parkway also shares its name with Utopia Playground, a park built atop a filled-in pond bound by Utopia Parkway, Jewel Avenue, and 73rd Avenue. [7] Utopia Playground was opened by the New York City Department of Parks in 1942. [8] It was the site of the Black Stump School and later the Black Stump Hook, Ladder and Bucket Company. [8]

Transportation

Utopia Parkway is served by a branch of the Q16 north of 26th Avenue, the Q30 south of Horace Harding Expressway and the Q31 south of Hollis Court Boulevard.

The American Rock band Fountains of Wayne named their second studio album, Utopia Parkway, after the street.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside Park (Manhattan)</span> Public park in New York City

Riverside Park is a scenic waterfront public park in the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, and Hamilton Heights neighborhoods of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The park measures 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 100 to 500 feet wide, running between the Hudson River and Henry Hudson Parkway to the west and the serpentine Riverside Drive to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briarwood, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Briarwood is a middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by the Van Wyck Expressway to the west, Parsons Boulevard to the east, Union Turnpike to the north, and Hillside Avenue to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canarsie, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood in New York City

Canarsie is a mostly residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of Brooklyn, New York City. Canarsie is bordered on the east by Fresh Creek Basin, East 108th Street, and Louisiana Avenue; on the north by Linden Boulevard; on the west by Ralph Avenue; on the southwest by Paerdegat Basin; and on the south by Jamaica Bay. It is adjacent to the neighborhoods of East Flatbush to the west, Flatlands and Bergen Beach to the southwest, Starrett City to the east, East New York to the northeast, and Brownsville to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross Island Parkway</span> Highway in New York

The Cross Island Parkway is a controlled-access parkway in New York City and Nassau County, part of the Belt System of parkways running along the perimeter of the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The Cross Island Parkway runs 10.6 miles (17.1 km) from the Whitestone Expressway in Whitestone past the Throgs Neck Bridge, along and across the border of Queens and Nassau County to meet up with the Southern State Parkway, acting as a sort of separation point which designates the limits of New York City. The road is designated as New York State Route 907A (NY 907A), an unsigned reference route, and bears the honorary name 100th Infantry Division Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodhaven, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Woodhaven is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the north by Park Lane South and Forest Park, on the east by Richmond Hill, on the south by Ozone Park and Atlantic Avenue, and the west by the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad Channel, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock, the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica Hills, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Jamaica Hills is a small middle class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is surrounded by Hillcrest, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica, and Briarwood. It is centered on the terminal moraine that runs the length of Long Island. Originally populated with people who left neighborhoods under ethnic transition, Jamaica Hills started to become more ethnically diverse after 1964. The population today is very mixed with a large South Asian population and smaller populations from the Caribbean, Central America, and China. Because of the opening of a Greek Orthodox church in the 1960s, many Greek immigrants also live in the area. Jamaica Hills is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 107th Precinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fresh Meadows, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Fresh Meadows is a neighborhood in the northeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. Fresh Meadows used to be part of the broader town of Flushing and is bordered to the north by the Horace Harding Expressway and Auburndale; to the west by Pomonok, St. John's University, Hillcrest, and Utopia; to the east by Cunningham Park and the Clearview Expressway; and to the south by the Grand Central Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 678</span> Highway in New York

Interstate 678 (I-678) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway that extends for 14 miles (23 km) through two boroughs of New York City. The route begins at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jamaica Bay and travels north through Queens and across the East River to the Bruckner Interchange in the Bronx, where I-678 ends and the Hutchinson River Parkway begins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Basin, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Mill Basin is a residential neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, New York City. It is on a peninsula abutting Jamaica Bay and is bordered by Avenue U on the northwest and the Mill Basin/Mill Island Inlet on its remaining sides. Mill Basin is adjacent to the neighborhood of Bergen Beach to the northeast, Flatlands to the northwest, Marine Park to the southwest, and Floyd Bennett Field and the former Barren Island to the southeast. Mill Basin also contains a subsection called Old Mill Basin, north of Avenue U.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station</span> New York City Subway station in Queens

The Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike station is an express station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Union Turnpike and Queens Boulevard on the border of Kew Gardens and Forest Hills, Queens, it is served by the E and F trains at all times, and the <F> train during rush hours in the reverse peak direction. Despite the station's name, Union Turnpike forms the border between Kew Gardens and Forest Hills, and the station straddles that border, with multiple entrances located in each neighborhood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alley Pond Park</span> Public park in Queens, New York

Alley Pond Park is the second-largest public park in Queens, New York City, occupying 655.3 acres (265.2 ha). The park is bordered to the east by Douglaston, to the west by Bayside, to the north by Little Neck Bay, and to the south by Union Turnpike. The Cross Island Parkway travels north-south through the park, while the Long Island Expressway and Grand Central Parkway travel east-west through the park. The park primarily consists of woodlands south of the Long Island Expressway and meadowlands north of the expressway. It is run and operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica Estates, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Jamaica Estates is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Jamaica Estates is part of Queens Community District 8 and located in the northern portion of Jamaica. It is bounded by Union Turnpike to the north, Hillside Avenue to the south, Utopia Parkway and Homelawn Street to the west, and 188th Street to the east. The main road through the neighborhood is Midland Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Turnpike (New York)</span> Boulevard in Queens and Nassau County, New York

Union Turnpike is a thoroughfare stretching across part of Long Island in southern New York state, mostly within central and eastern Queens in New York City. It runs from Myrtle Avenue in Glendale, Queens, to Marcus Avenue in North New Hyde Park, Nassau County, about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside New York City border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Q17 (New York City bus)</span> Bus route in Queens, New York

The Q17 bus route constitutes a public transit line in Queens, New York City, running primarily along Kissena Boulevard, the Long Island Expressway service road and 188th Street between two major bus-subway hubs in the neighborhoods of Jamaica and Flushing. It is one of the busiest local bus routes in Queens. Operated by the North Shore Bus Company until 1947, the route is now operated by MTA Regional Bus Operations under the New York City Transit brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spring Creek, Brooklyn</span> Neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City

Spring Creek, previously called Spring Creek Basin, is a neighborhood within the East New York section of Brooklyn in New York City. It roughly comprises the southern portions of East New York between Flatlands Avenue to the north, and Jamaica Bay and the Gateway National Recreation Area to the south, with the Brooklyn neighborhood of Canarsie to the west and the Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach to the east. It is named after Spring Creek, one of several creeks that formerly ran through the area and drained into Jamaica Bay.

Mapleton is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City, bounded by 16th Avenue on the west, Dahill Road on the east, 57th Street on the north, and 65th Street on the south. It borders Bensonhurst and Borough Park to the west, and Midwood to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvert Vaux Park</span> Public park in Brooklyn, New York

Calvert Vaux Park is an 85.53-acre (34.61 ha) public park in Gravesend, Brooklyn, in New York City. Created in 1934, it is composed of several disconnected sections along the Belt Parkway between Bay 44th and Bay 49th Streets. The peninsula upon which the park is located faces southwest into Gravesend Bay, immediately north of the Coney Island Creek. The park was expanded in the 1960s by waste from the construction of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and was renamed after architect Calvert Vaux in 1998. It is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as NYC Parks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowne Park</span> Public park in Queens, New York

Bowne Park is a 11.79-acre (4.77 ha) park in Broadway–Flushing, Queens, New York, east of downtown Flushing. It is bordered by 29th Avenue on the north, 32nd Avenue on the south, 155th Street on the west, and 159th Street on the east. The park consists of a playground, basketball courts, bocce court, and a kettle pond. The area immediately surrounding the park, developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was originally also marketed as "Bowne Park" and is part of modern-day Murray Hill and Broadway–Flushing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Tilly Park</span> Public park in Queens, New York

Captain Tilly Park is a 9.16-acre (3.71 ha) park in Jamaica Hills, Queens, New York, north of downtown Jamaica. It is bordered by 165th Street to the west, 85th Avenue to the north, Chapin Parkway and Gothic Drive to the northeast, and Highland Avenue to the south. The park consists of a kettle pond named Goose Pond, the only remaining kettle pond in Jamaica Hills.

References

  1. Google (July 1, 2018). "Utopia Parkway" (Map). Google Maps . Google. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  2. "New York Incorporations" . The New York Times. May 13, 1903. p. 14. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  3. "In the Real Estate Field; Harlem Plots Bought for Improvement -- Ex-Gov. Morton's Purchase -- New Building at Broadway and Fifty-Fifth Street -- Dealings by Brokers and at Auction" . The New York Times. March 26, 1904. p. 15. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  4. 1 2 "A Hebrew Utopia" . The New York Times. June 7, 1905. p. 16. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Schneider, Daniel B. (January 26, 1997). "F.Y.I.: A Utopia in Queens" . The New York Times. p. CY2. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  6. "Isman's $350,000 Purchase; Philadelphia Operator Buys Tract of 118 Acres Near Jamaica" . The New York Times. June 13, 1909. p. 14. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  7. "Utopia Playground Highlights". NYC Parks. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Shaman, Diana (December 21, 2003). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Utopia, Queens; A Neighborhood Aspires to Its Name" . The New York Times. p. 11.7. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved February 23, 2019.