Queens

Introduction

Queens County is a county of New York State, coterminous with the borough of Queens in New York City. It was named for the queen consort at the time counties were established in New York, Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II.

Geography

Queens County consists of the northwestern part of Long Island and a few smaller islands, including Rikers Island, the location of a city jail.

Demography

As of the 2000 census, Queens was the most ethnically diverse county in the United States.

Law/Government

Like the other counties which are contained within New York City, there is no county government, but county courts and some others such as the district attorney (public prosecutor) do exist.

History

Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. By 1870 Queens County consisted of six towns: Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, North Hempstead, Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. In 1870, the city of Long Island City was incorporated, consisting of what had been the Village of Astoria and some unincorporated areas in the Town of Newtown. When Greater New York was formed in 1898, Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and the Rockaway Peninsula of the Town of Hempstead became the borough of Queens in that new city. The part of Queens County that was not annexed to New York City, consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and all of the Town of Hempstead except the Rockaway Peninsula, was constituted as the new Nassau County in 1899.