Howard Beach, Queens

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.

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.

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

• PS 146 The Howard Beach School K-6 http://howardbeach.com/history/images/PS146.jpg
• PS 207 K-8
• PS 232 The Walter Ward School K-8
• Our Lady of Grace School K-8
• Saint Helen School K-8

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

• Our Lady of Grace
• Saint Helen Roman Catholic Church
• Saint Barnabas Church
• Howard Beach Assembly of God
• Chabad of Howard Beach
• Howard Beach Judea Center
• Rockwood Park Jewish Center

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. Thomas Gucciardo, one of the 12 accused in this case, was latter acquitted. 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. The incident triggered a wave of racial tension in New York City and gained national attention.

Howard Beach redux

A similar incident to the 1986 event 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. 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. On July 17, 2006, Minucci was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

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. 28,098 respondents in the 11414 ZCTA provided ancestry information broken down as follows:

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)

• Vitas Gerulaitis professional tennis player.
• John Gotti mob boss
• Woody Guthrie, folk music legend (son Arlo Guthrie's music is frequently copyrighted by "Howard Beach Music, Inc.")
• William J. Howard, founder
• Anthony Indelicato, mobster and son of Alphonse Indelicato.
• James Maritato professional wrestler.
• George Martin, played for the New York Giants
• Joe Massino mob boss
• Richard Pearlman - volunteer EMT killed at World Trade Center on 9/11.
• Firefighter Raymond R. York, victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Maps and aerial photos

• Map from Google Maps
• Satellite photo from Google Maps
• Topographical map from Terraserver
• Aerial photo from Terraserver
• Hybrid satellite image/street map from WikiMapia

External links

• a Howard Beach Web Site