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Howard Beach

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Homes on Hawtree Creek in Howard Beach

Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Bordered in the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue, the south by Jamaica Bay, the east by 102nd-104th Streets and the west by 78th Street. Howard Beach borders the neighborhoods of Ozone Park to the north and Broad Channel to the south. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 10.[1]

Heavily Italian-American, Howard Beach is well known for being home to many organized crime figures; notably both mob bosses John Gotti and Joe Massino resided here.

History

Howard Beach was established in the 1890s by William J. Howard, a Brooklyn glove manufacturer who operated a 150 acre (0.61 km²) goat farm on meadow land near Aqueduct Racetrack, as a source of skins for kid gloves. In 1897, he bought more land and filled it in, and the following year he built 18 cottages and opened a hotel near the water, which he operated until it was destroyed by fire in October of 1907. He gradually bought more land, and formed the Howard Estates Development Company in 1909. He dredged and filled the land until he was able to accumulate 500 acres (2 km²) by 1914. He laid out several streets, water mains and gas mains, and built 35 houses that were priced in the $2,500-$5,000 range.

The Long Island Rail Road established a station that was first named Ramblersville in 1913, and a Post Office by the same name opened soon thereafter. A casino, beach, and a fishing pier were added in 1915, and the name was changed to Howard Beach on April 6, 1916. Development continued, and the ownership was expanded to a group of investors who sold lots for about $690 each starting in 1922.

Geography

Cross Bay Boulevard, in Howard Beach, Queens NY.

Like most Queens neighborhoods, Howard Beach is composed of several smaller neighborhoods — Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, 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 Boulevard.

Cross Bay Boulevard is the main commercial strip of Howard Beach and going northward it eventually turns into Woodhaven Boulevard after Ozone Park. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the Boulevard was made up almost exclusively of locally-owned shops and restaurants. However starting in the 1990s, chain stores and restaurants began moving in and now most of the well-known franchises are on the Boulevard. Entertainment venues on Cross Bay Boulevard such as the Kiddie-Park and Cross-Bay Lanes were popular until their demise in the 1970s and 1980s.

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.

The Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge (named for a deceased member of the United States House of Representatives who once represented the district that includes Howard Beach) connects mainland Queens to Broad Channel.

Government

Joseph Addabbo, Jr., the son of former Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo, represents the area as its New York City Councilman. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) represents that part of Howard Beach East of Cross Bay Boulevard, while Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) represents the part west of Cross Bay Boulevard.

Transportation

Coleman Square

The A Train Subway stop in Howard Beach was once a Long Island Rail Road station on the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch. Frequent fires on the trestle to Broad Channel 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.[2]

The Howard Beach-JFK subway station located at Coleman Square 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 provided a free shuttle bus to the terminals at JFK Airport. The Airtrain provides a quick and convenient connection to the terminals of JFK.

Schools

For grades 9-12, most residents attend John Adams High School in nearby Ozone Park, Specialty High Schools, such as Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park or Catholic High Schools.

Religion

Howard Beach incident

Howard Beach gained some attention on December 20, 1986 when three African-American men were assaulted by local teenagers: William F. Bollander, Harry J. Buonocore, Salvatore DeSimone, Thomas F. Farino, Scott Kern, Jason Ladone, Jon L. Lester, Michael A. Pirone, James M. Povinelli, Robert D. Riley and John Saggese[3][4]. Thomas Gucciardo, one of the 12 accused in this case, was latter acquitted.[5] One of the victims, Michael Griffith, was killed when a passing motorist's car ran over him on the Belt Parkway as he was attempting to flee from the pursuers. It was one of the three random killings of African Americans by white mobs which provoked a wave of ethnic tension in New York City during the 1980s. The other victims were Willie Turks and Yusuf Hawkins

2005 incident

Another incident took place on June 29, 2005, when three African-Americans who admittedly went to Howard Beach to steal a car, were attacked with baseball bats; one of them was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized, and two arrests were made in the case. The convicted assailant, Nicholas "Fat Nick" Minucci, had claimed that the victims had attempted to rob him.[6] On June 10, 2006, Minucci, 20, who uttered a racial epithet during the baseball bat attack, was found guilty of the racially motivated assault and robbery of Glenn Moore.[7] On July 17, 2006, Minucci was sentenced to 15 years in prison.[8]

2007 incident

Another incident took place on Halloween night 2007, when a confrontation between minority youths from Brooklyn and white locals resulted in injured two injured white teens. What caused the confontation is not certain, but a 10:00PM a group of thirty to forty black and Hispanics males chased four white youths into a McDonalds and assaulted them. Victim Joseph Friedman was struck in the head with a broom handle that broke on contact. Friedman was taken to the hospital, where the wound was tended to with seven staples. Another victim, Shawn Carmotta, was struck in the back of the neck and experienced pain and bruising. Witness reported hearing racial slurs during the attack. Five suspects, Patrick Pugh, George Morales, Victor Tossas, Terrance Scott, and Talique Jackson, were later arrested and indicted for assault, menacing and criminal possession offenses. A possible bias motive is still under investigation..[9] The Thursday following the attacks, more than 150 Howard Beach residents marched down 157th Avenue calling for the accused to be charged with hate crimes.[10]

Demographics

Howard Beach is home to a large Italian American population, as well as smaller Jewish, Irish, Hispanic, and Polish communities. As of 2000, The neighborhood's population is 92.5% white, one of the highest White populations in the borough.[11] 28,098 respondents in the 11414 ZCTA provided ancestry information broken down as follows:[12]

Ancestry Population Percent
Italian 13,915 49.7%
Irish 3,350 11.9%
German 2,218 7.9%
Polish 1,106 3.9%
Russian 800 2.8%
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%

Notable residents (past and present)

Maps and aerial photos

References

  1. ^ Queens Community Boards, New York City. Accessed September 3, 2007.
  2. ^ Forgotten-ny.com: Long Island Rail Road Rockaway Line, accessed June 8, 2006.
  3. ^ Ravo, Nick. "12 Defendants In Attack Case: A Diverse Group." The New York Times, 11 February 1987.
  4. ^ Fried, Joseph P. "5 in Racial Case Refuse to Testify In Second Trial." The New York Times, 22 June 1988.
  5. ^ Howard Beach Man, 19, Cleared, New York Times, July 15, 1988
  6. ^ Howard Beach 'bias' attack: Accused bat-wielding thug arraigned on hate crime charge, New York Daily News, June 30, 2005.
  7. ^ Batsman Convicted of Howard Beach Hate Crimes, The New York Times, June 10, 2006.
  8. ^ Fat Nick gets 15 years, The New York Daily News, July 18, 2006.
  9. ^ Queens: Clash Investigated as Bias Crime, The New York Times, November 2, 2007.
  10. ^ http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2007/11/howard_beach_ra.php
  11. ^ Zip Code Tabulation Area 11414, United States Census Bureau. Accessed May 29, 2007.
  12. ^ Census Data Ancestry for the 11414 5-Digit ZCTA, United States Census Bureau, accessed June 8, 2006.
  13. ^ Ararton, Ahrvey. "Sports of The Times; 'We've Lost Another of Our Kids'", The New York Times, September 20, 1994. Accessed November 3, 2007. "It was the finals of the United States Open, and it was Gerulaitis, out of Howard Beach, Queens, against McEnroe, out of Douglaston, Queens."
  14. ^ Raab, Selwyn. "A Mafia Family's Second Wind; Authorities Say Bonannos, All but Written Off, Are Back", The New York Times, April 29, 2000. Accessed November 12, 2007. "A heavyset man, 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 200 pounds, Mr. Massino lives with his wife, Josephine, in a modest home in Howard Beach, Queens. It is about a block from where his close friend John J. Gotti, the boss of the Gambino family, lived before he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1992 for murder and racketeering."
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