40 THE QUEENS COURIER • WHITESTONE • JANUARY 19, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM living in college point & whitestone Whitestone’s growth into a middle-class town BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF editorial@qns.com/@QNS Rooted in a rural past, Whitestone is today a burgeoning middle-class neighborhood that off ers the comforts of suburbia just a few miles from Manhattan. According to the New York City Department of City Planning, Whitestone is one of the oldest European settlements on Long Island, dating to the 1640s. Dutch farmers who founded the settlement named the area for a large, white boulder that broke the tides along the shore. Information from the New York City Parks Department notes that these farmers purchased the land from the Matinecock Native Americans at the price of one ax per 50 acres. One of the area’s most prominent settlers was Francis Lewis, a merchant who was an original signatories on the Declaration of Independence. Lewis settled into the area in 1765 aft er retiring from the trade business, and he lived there when starting his political career in the Continental Congress and throughout the Revolutionary War. One of Whitestone’s public parks is named aft er Francis Lewis, and locals frequently fl ock to the waterfront grounds to snap photos of the illuminated bridge over the wide expanse of water below. Th e Whitestone community is extremely close-knit, with many families living in the area for generations. Residents pitch in to plan many local events throughout the year and several civic associations exist to reinforce the sense of small-town solidarity within the larger context of New York City. Perhaps its most prominent landmark is the bridge co-named for the neighborhood and its northern neighbor. Th e Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, from its 1939 opening, has been regarded as one of the city’s busiest crossings, with thousands of cars and trucks traveling it each day. Carrying Interstate 678 across the East River, it links the Hutcheson River Parkway in the Bronx with the Whitestone Expressway, which feeds into the Van Wyck Expressway, and the Cross Island Parkway. Quick Whitestone facts Note: Census fi gures for the 11357 ZIP code Population: 39,150 Median age: 44.9 Male population: 18,574 (47.4%) Female population: 20,576 (52.6%) Average household size: 2.56 Total housing units: 16,023 Occupied units: 15,149 (94.5%) Median household income: $73,750 Foreign-born population: 13,125 (33.5%) Individuals below poverty level: 6% Students attaining at least a high school diploma: 85.9% NYPD 109th Precinct 37-05 Union St., Flushing, Phone 718-321-2250 Representatives in government Congress: Tom Suozzi Assembly: Ed Braunstein and Michael Simanowitz State Senate: Tony Avella City Council: Paul Vallone
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