Howard Beach

Howard Beach is a neighborhood in southwestern Queens, New York. Bordered in the north by the Belt Parkway, the south by Jamaica Bay, the east by John F. Kennedy International Airport and the west by Brooklyn. It also borders the neighborhoods of Ozone Park to the north and Broad Channel to the south. Howard Beach is home to a large Italian-American population, as well as a smaller Jewish, Irish and Polish populations. Mob boss John Gotti also had a home here and the neighborhood gained local attention for being home to many members of the Mafia; Gotti hosted a large fireworks display on 101st Street, near the Bergen Fish & Hunt Club each year on July 4, until New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani put an end to the practice.

In the mid 1950s the northernmost section of Howard Beach was comprised of a small wooded area (Cherry Forest) and a dairy farm (Mary's Farm), approximately 25% of the remaining area has houses on it.

Geography

The Joseph P. Addabbo Bridge (named for a former [deceased] member of the United States House of Representatives who once represented the district that includes Howard Beach) connects mainland Queens to Broad Channel and then over the South Channel Bridge to the Rockaway Peninsula (The Rockaways) from Howard Beach. Joseph Addabbo Jr., the son of the former Congressman, represents the area as its New York City Councilman. Congressman Gregory Meeks represents that part of Howard Beach East of Cross Bay Boulevard.

What "outsiders" refer to as Howard Beach is to those who live there a collection of several diverse neighborhoods — Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach (No relation to the Hamilton Beach Company kitchen appliances), Ramblersville, Rockwood Park, Lindenwood, Old Howard Beach, and Howard Park. Howard Beach proper is a small peninsula bordered by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue on the north, Jamaica Bay on the south, Hawtree Creek on the east separating it from Hamilton Beach and Shellbank Basin on the west that separates it from Cross Bay (Woodhaven) Blvd.

Just Northeast of Howard Beach is Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park.

Transportation

The A Train Subway stop in Howard Beach was once a Long Island Rail Road station on the Long Island Railroad's Rockaway Beach Branch. Frequent fires on the trestle (bridge) to Broadchannel helped to force the LIRR to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the 1950s which allowed the city to purchase the line from the LIRR in 1956. (see Forgotten-ny.com).

The Howard Beach subway station provides a connection to both the A train and AirTrain JFK (and was the terminus of the former JFK Express, known colloquially as the "Train To The Plane," in the late 1970s into the early 1990s). Prior to the AirTrain JFK, the Port Authority PANYNJ provided a free shuttle bus to the terminals at JFK Airport. The Airtrain, provides a quicker and more convenient connection at the price of $5.00 for each entry or exit at Howard Beach or Jamaica, a unlimited monthly pass is available for $40.00. Visitors on extended delays or layovers at JFK Airport have lately been paying the $10.00 fee ($5.00 each way) to visit the small shops and pub at Coleman Square.

Maps

• Google Maps:Map
• Google Maps: Satellite Photo
• Terraserver Topographical
• Terraserver Aerial Photo

Schools and Religion

• Our Lady of Grace Church and School
• Saint Helen Church and School
• PS 146 The Howard Beach School
• PS 207

Saint Barnabas Howard Beach Assembly of God

Notable residents (past and present)

• Woody Guthrie (son - Arlo Guthrie's music is frequently copyright "©1973 Howard Beach Music, Inc."
• John Gotti reputed mob boss.
• Vitas Gerulaitis Tennis Player.

The Howard Beach Incident

Howard Beach gained some unwanted attention on December 20, 1986 when three African-American men were assaulted by local teenagers. One of the victims was killed when a passing motorist's car ran over him on the Belt Parkway as he was trying to flee from the pursuers. The incident triggered a wave of racial tension in New York City and gained national attention.

Howard Beach redux

A similar incident took place on June 29, 2005, when three African-American men were attacked with baseball bats; one of the victims was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized, and two arrests were made in the case. One of the suspects was previously convicted of assaulting a Sikh he had mistaken for a Muslim on the evening of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Demographics

The 2000 Census reports a population of 28,121.

• White alone - 26,313 93.6%
• Non White - 1,808 6.4%
• Black 336 1.2%

(full details at Census Data Race) Additionally, 28,098 respondents provided ancestry information Broken down as follows:

• Italian 13,385 47.6%
• Irish 3,350 11.9%
• German 2,218 7.9%
• Polish 1,106 3.9%
• Russian 800 2.8%
• English 591 2.1%
• Greek 352 1.3%
• Romanian 183 0.7%
• Austrian 161 0.6%
• French 143 0.5%
• Swedish 117 0.4%
• Scottish 117 0.4%
• Lithuanian 113 0.4%
• African 113 0.4%

(counts below 100 omitted but available at: Census Data Ancestry)