Wikipedia

Briarwood, Queens

Briarwoodis amiddle-classneighborhood in theNew York CityboroughofQueens.The neighborhood is roughly bounded by theVan Wyck Expresswayto the west,Parsons Boulevardto the east,Union Turnpiketo the north, andHillside Avenueto the south.

Briarwood
Neighborhood of Queens
A residential intersection in Briarwood, 85th Avenue and 150th Street
A residential intersection in Briarwood, 85th Avenue and 150th Street
Map
Location within New York City
Coordinates:40°43′N73°49′W/ 40.71°N 73.81°W/40.71; -73.81
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
CityNew York City
County/BoroughQueens
Community DistrictQueens 8
Named forBriarwood Land Company
Elevation
[1]
11 m (36 ft)
Population
(2000)
• Total
53,877
Race/Ethnicity
• White26.7%
• Black33.3%
• Hispanic29.3%
• Asian14.4%
• Other/Multiracial16.8%
Economics
•Median income$50,157
ZIP Code
11435
Area code(s)718, 347, 929,and917

Briarwood is named for the Briarwood Land Company, headed by Herbert A. O'Brien, who started around 1905 developing the heavily wooded area that gave the neighborhood its name; O'Brien's efforts ended in bankruptcy and development in the area finally started in the 1920s.[2][3]Today, Briarwood contains a diverse community of Asian-American, White American, Hispanic/Latino, and African American and Afro-Caribbean residents. It is part ofQueens Community Board 8.[4]

Geography

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Briarwood, located northwest of downtownJamaica,contains one of the highest points in Queens. It is located approximately between theVan Wyck Expressway(Interstate 678) to the west,Union Turnpiketo the north,Parsons Boulevardto the east, andHillside Avenue(NY 25) to the south.[5]

Demographics

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Briarwood is a diverse community, according to 2010 census data that groups Briarwood with neighboring Jamaica Hills, the population consists ofAsian-Americans(14.4%),White(26.7%),Hispanics(29.3%), andAfrican Americans(33.3%).[6]This is a marked change from the post-World War IIperiod (1950s–1980s) when the neighborhood was almost exclusively white, with a large and active Jewish community. Economic activity is mostly confined to small restaurants, delis, markets, and other small businesses.

The neighborhood contains housing for middle-class families.

Education

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Schools in Briarwood: M.S. Q217 Robert A. Van Wyck and P.S. Q117 J. Keld/Briarwood School

Briarwood is home to the CatholicArchbishop Molloy High School,which moved to Briarwood from the Upper East Side in 1957. Some of the school's more famous alumni areNew York GovernorAndrew Cuomo,actorDavid Caruso,former New York City Police CommissionerRaymond Kelly,NBA professional basketball playersKenny SmithandKenny Andersonand professional wrestlerColin Cassady.Also the infamous Serrao brothers from Richmond Hill, Queens. The school is named in honor ofArchbishopThomas Molloy.It has about 1,550 students.

Also located in Briarwood is Robert A. Van Wyck M.S. 217Q, a middle school of 1,300 students in grades 6–8. The school was established in 1955 and was named after the first mayor of theGreater City of New York,Robert A. Van Wyck,aTammany Halllawyer.[7]

Transportation

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The neighborhood is served by theIND Queens Boulevard Lineof theNew York City Subwayat theBriarwoodstation (E,​F,and<F>trains). In that subway station, there were many paintings done by the students of Archbishop Molloy High School, M.S. 217Q, andP.S.117Qduring the mid-1980s. They are titled, "Beautifying Briarwood". The paintings were removed during a renovation of the station in 2014. TheNew York City Busroutes serving the neighborhood are theQ20A,Q20B,Q25,Q34,Q44 SBSandQ60.

History

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The neighborhood is named for the Briarwood Land Company, headed by Herbert A. O'Brien, which built housing there around 1905 or 1907.[8][9]O'Brien decided on the name Briarwood because of thebramblesin its thick woods.[8][9]The Ottilie Orphan Home was built on 148th Street in 1906.[9]The Briarwood Land Company went bankrupt soon afterward, however, and the area was largely empty until 1924 when it was divided and sold at auction. Land went for $300 each for inside residential lots to $2,800 for lots alongQueens Boulevard.[10]Over the next four years, several single-family homes were built on the land.[8][10]Briarwood's first school, P.S. 117, was built in 1927.[9]Additional land was auctioned in 1928.[10]

On May 30, 1928, about 500 members of theKlansmen of Queensassembled in the forest of Briarwood.[11]They burned a50-foot cross,sang songs, and gave speeches.[11]When police officers arrived, the group's leader, Major Emmett J. Smith, said that they had the right to assemble and speak on the land, because they had signed a lease to the land the previous day.[11]The group soon left the area, without any physical violence or arrests having taken place.[11]

In 1936, a company called Briarwood Estates, owned by Leon, Morty and A. B. Wolosoff, started buildingColonialandold English-style homes north of 84th Drive and west of Main Street.[9][12]The homes sold for about $5,000, the equivalent to $110,000 in 2023.[13]AfterWorld War IIended, other developers built houses closer toParsons Boulevard.[9]

TheUnited NationsbuiltParkway Village,a 670-unit development, as housing for its employees around 1947.[14]The development is alongUnion Turnpike,betweenMain StreetandParsons Boulevard.[14]Parkway Village is now aco-opand no longer connected to the United Nations.[14]

On November 23, 1954, Main Street's extension south toQueens Boulevardopened, and apartments were built in the neighborhood around the same time.[9][15]

Notable residents

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See also:Category:People from Briarwood, Queens

Notable residents of Briarwood have included:

References

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  1. ^"Elevation of Briarwood, Queens, NY, USA".Worldwide Elevation Map Finder.Maplogs.com.
  2. ^Briarwood Playground,New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.Accessed January 1, 2024. "The Briarwood neighborhood was developed by Herbert A. O’Brien in 1905, owner of the Briarwood Land Company. The enterprise was initially unsuccessful, and the land was not fully developed until the 1920s, when the lots formerly owned by the company were sold at auction."
  3. ^Shaman, Diana."If You're Thinking of Living In/Briarwood; Queens Area Gaining a Stronger Identity",The New York Times,July 14, 2002. Accessed January 1, 2024. "The name Briarwood goes back to 1907 when an early developer, Herbert A. O'Brien, formed the Briarwood Land Company, giving it that name because the land was covered with woods and briars. The company, however, went broke."
  4. ^Queens Boards,New York City.Accessed January 26, 2024.
  5. ^"Builder Purchases Large Plot in Queens As Site for 870-Room Apartment Project".The New York Times.February 26, 1939. p. R143.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  6. ^Haller, Vera (July 16, 2014)."Briarwood, Queens: A Quiet Refuge Bounded by Traffic".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  7. ^"Robert A. Van Wyck M.S. 217Q".New York City Board of Education.
  8. ^abcSheridan, Dick (July 25, 1999)."Quest Paved Median's Way: Retiree Steering Beautify Project".New York Daily News.p. 1.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020– via newspapers.com.
  9. ^abcdefgShaman, Diana (July 14, 2002)."If You're Thinking of Living In/Briarwood; Queens Area Gaining a Stronger Identity".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  10. ^abc"Briarwood Estates Sale; Edwin Mayer, Auctioneer, Will Offer Jamaica Tract".The New York Times.May 6, 1928. p. 197.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  11. ^abcd"500 Klansmen Defy 1,000 Police in Song; Queens Army, With Stirring Airs and Fiery Cross, Routs" Foes "Deployed at Rallying Place".The New York Times.May 31, 1928. p. 14.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  12. ^"Demand for Houses Spurs Construction in Suburbs".The New York Times.March 15, 1936. p. RE1.ISSN0362-4331– via ProQuest.
  13. ^"Long Island Opens More Home Areas".The New York Times.April 12, 1936. p. RE1.ISSN0362-4331– via ProQuest.
  14. ^abcShaman, Diana (June 14, 1987)."If You're Thinking of Living In: Briarwood".The New York Times.p. R11.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  15. ^"Queens Thoroughfare Extended".The New York Times.November 24, 1954. p. 19.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 23,2020.
  16. ^abcJackson, Kenneth T.,ed. (2010).The Encyclopedia of New York City(2nd ed.). New Haven:Yale University Press.p. 779.ISBN978-0-300-11465-2."Well-known residents have included the diplomat Ralph Bunche, the feminist and social activist Betty Friedan, and the civil rights leader Roy Wilkins."
  17. ^"Former Gov. Mario Cuomo remembered as a good friend of Staten Island".SI Live.January 2, 2015.RetrievedDecember 4,2023.
  18. ^Silverberg, Alex."Comic Thanks His Queens Upbringing"ArchivedJune 13, 2007, at theWayback Machine,copy of article fromThe Queens Tribune,July 6, 2007. Accessed October 18, 2007. "Hofstetter has been all around Queens. He spent his younger years in Briarwood before moving on to Forest Hills, and finally settling down in Rego Park for the duration of his teen years."
  19. ^Garron, Barry. "Eyes on the PrizeArchivedMarch 20, 2009, at theWayback Machine",Emmy Magazine,January 2008.
  20. ^"Conviction on Conspiracy Of Rabbi Is Overturned In Check-Cashing Case",The New York Times,April 21, 1977. Accessed January 1, 2024. "The three-judge panel reversed the Aug. 12, 1976, conviction that led to the imposing by Judge Constance B. Motley of a six-month prison term and $8,000 fine last Sept. 24 for Rabbi Elyakim G. Rosenblatt, 43 years old, of Briarwood, Queens, who is dean of the Rabbinical College of Queens."
  21. ^Rosin, Hanna."Early Americans",The Washington Post,July 4, 2005. Accessed January 1, 2024. "The latest wave of immigrants to land in Briarwood are the Bukharan Jews, from the former Soviet Union."
  22. ^Moyano, Freddy."An encounter with Steven Weber",Press Times,February 13, 2023. Accessed July 15, 2023. "Born in New York City, more specifically in the Briarwood neighborhood that is rooted in the borough of Queens, Weber recalled the stories his dad used to tell him about the Packers."
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