s 38 The QUEE NS Courier • WELCOME TO • JULY 7, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com welcome to flushing s FLUSHING PROFILE BY BRIANA ELLIS bellis@qns.com/@briinformed For those who enjoy New York’s hustle and bustle, downtown Flushing may feel like Manhattan to you. The rich Asian culture of the neighborhood encompasses restaurants, retail stores, real estate and entertainment. Demographic The community’s demographic transformed in the 1970s and ‘80s, as middle-class whites moved to Long Island and Chinese/Korean immigrants settled in. More than six in 10 Flushing residents are of Asian descent. They include people of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese descent. Data also cites that 65.4 percent of Flushing residents are foreign born, compared to 22.3 percent of people in New York. The median household income was $44,839 in 2013, with 24.5 percent of the Flushing population living below the poverty line. On the other hand, 100 percent of married couples in Flushing are both working, compared to New York’s 65.3 percent. Culture Nicknamed the “Chinese Manhattan” by The New York Times, Flushing rivals New York City’s famous Chinatown, due to its booming downtown area. Downtown Flushing is the epitome of Asian culture with a great variety of food, languages and celebrations. Food As you walk through the cluttered Main Street strip, you’ll find several street markets and Chinese supermarkets with tons of goods. Fish, fresh produce, fried food and Chinese ingredients are sold on the extensive blocks. Diners can visit restaurants that serve popular styles of Chinese cuisine including Taiwanese, Shanghainese, Hunanese, Cantonese, Zheijang, Korean Chinese cuisine and more. Languages Although Flushing is predominantly Chinese, it is still the home of diverse Asian languages. Some of these include Mandarin Chinese, Northeastern Mandarin, Wu Chinese, Cantonese and Taiwanese. Some dialects are Fuzhou, Beijing and Hangzhou. Entertainment Thousands of people attend the Lunar New Year parade in Flushing each year, where participants are draped in traditional garments with gigantic dragon puppets to celebrate the new year. The neighborhood has multiple landmark buildings, including the Fitzgerald-Ginsberg Mansion and Flushing Town Hall— a concert hall and cultural center on Northern Boulevard. Have a day of family fun petting animals at the Queens Zoo, or discover nature’s beauty at the New York Hall of Science and the Queens Botanical Garden. On the sports side, Flushing’s own Citi Field is the home of the New York Mets, while USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center hosts the U.S. Tennis Open every year. Visit the flagship park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, this summer for free SummerStage concerts, a Louis Armstrong event and plenty more. Real Estate The commercial success of Downtown Flushing continues to prosper as the years progress. Street vendors on Main Street sell handcrafted goods and products that are undeniably unique. The four-story New World Mall on Roosevelt Avenue has stores that sell groceries, cosmetics, housewares and electronics on its upper floors and a food court on the lower level. The Shops at SkyView Center mall, which opened in 2010, includes major retail stores like Target, Nordstrom, Best Buy and restaurants. The real estate market favors Flushing, due to its highly sought-after condominiums and new buildings. The commuter-friendly location has some residential properties on sale for over a million dollars, according to Street Easy. Auburndale is an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Flushing, connected to Community Board 11 and Murray Hill. Broadway-Flushing, also known as North Flushing, is a residential area with many large houses. It’s generally bounded from 29th Avenue to the north, Northern Boulevard and Crocheron Avenue to the south, 155th Street to the west and 172nd Street to the east. A portion of this area has been solidified as a state and federal historic district due to its scenic park layout. Linden Hill is another section of Flushing, served by the 109th Precinct and Community Board 7. It generally extends from 25th Avenue to Willets Point Boulevard to the north, 154th Street to the east, Northern Boulevard to the south and the Whitestone Expressway to the west. Queensboro Hill in southern Flushing and its border centralizes around College Point Boulevard on the west side, Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park to the north, to the south by Reeves Avenue and the Long Island Expressway, plus Kissena Boulevard to the east. Transportation Main Street, Flushing is a major transportation hub in the commuter-friendly area. The New York City Subway operates the 7 Line Route at the Flushing–Main Street train station, located at the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) runs the Long Island Rail Road’s Port Washington Branch that has five rail road stations in Flushing. In addition to the Flushing–Main Street station, nearby stations include Mets–Willets Point, Murray Hill, Broadway and Auburndale. Major highways connected to the Flushing area include the Van Wyck Expressway, Whitestone Expressway, Grand Central Parkway and Long Island Expressway. Northern Boulevard extends from the Queensboro Bridge in Long Island City through Flushing into Nassau County. Several MTA buses run throughout Flushing, such as the Q12, Q13, Q15, Q15A, Q16,Q17, Q20A, Q20B, Q26, Q27, Q28, Q44 SBS, Q48 and Q58 routes. Additional MTA routes are Q19, Q25, Q34, Q50, Q65, Q66. The n20 and n21 Nassau Inter-County Express bus routes end in Flushing. Politics Many elected officials in Flushing are also of Asian descent, including Councilman Peter Koo, Assemblyman Ron Kim and Councilwoman Grace Meng. “Flushing is a diverse and vibrant community that continues to grow and thrive, and I’ve watched it flourish it firsthand as somebody who grew up in the area. Although we must ensure that new residential and retail space meets the needs of local residents, development in Flushing has greatly contributed to the area and our local economy,” Meng told The Courier. “Flushing is a bustling area with fantastic restaurants, shops, markets and other small businesses. On the weekends, tourists and many from outside the area often come to Flushing to check out these dining establishments, and the outstanding food and culture that exists here.”
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