H I S T O R Y

From The Peopling of New York City

~ G A L L E R Y ~E N V I R O N M E N T~H I S T O R Y~ E C O N O M Y~C U L T U R E~D E M O G R A P H I C S

Jackson Heights wasn’t always a busy crossroads in New York. Like most of Queens, Jackson Heights remained a sparsely populated farmland in the 19th century, while Brooklyn and Manhattan grew into dense urban centers. It was identified on a map of Queens before the 1900s because it did not exist until thereafter. It was the area that was known as Newton in Elmhurst. But the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 transformed the borough into a viable commuter suburb. A man by the name of Edward MacDougall bought a 325 parcel of land in the former township of Elmhurst.

Edward MacDougal^[1]

In the 1920s McDougall founded the Queensboro Corporation and recruited leading architects to begin converting Jackson Heights from farmland into a planned community of novel cooperative apartment buildings designed to let in plenty of light and air. Styles were borrowed from everywhere, including Tudor, Spanish, Italianate, and Art Deco.^[2]

Pre–World War II co-ops and homes built by the Queensboro Corporation in Jackson Heights have been land marked, and are now part of the Jackson Heights Historic District, which is the second largest historic district in Queens. The Jackson Heights Historic District has the largest density of sidewalk trees and greenery in New York City along its lush residential streets. Jackson Heights is among the first garden city communities built in the United States, as part of the international Garden city movement at the turn of the last century. There are more private parks (historically called gardens by the residents) within walking distance of each other than in any other city in America. The private gardens help make the historic part of the neighborhood highly desirable.

The Towers

Unlike many other co-ops, the Greystones do not have an interior garden. Built in 1917 and originally named simply the "Garden Apartments," the Greystones were the first of the famous Jackson Heights co-ops.

They Greystones

They were comprehensive full block developments. The Buildings were made of gray stone and had several long windows; they were also set back from the lot line permitting lawns and planting in the front of the building.Maximum of sunlight and ventilation were achieved by limiting room depth to two rooms on four sides of the block. They line 80th Street between 35th and 37th Avenues in Jackson Heights.

English Style Home on 71st street

In addition to Jackson Heights’ cooperative apartment buildings, in 1924 the Queensboro Corporation built two and one-family “English Garden” homes. Most of these homes were “convertibles”. The outward appearance is of a one-family structure, but the upstairs could be rented out thanks to an interior door and staircase. Or the same family could use the whole building. To avoid repetition, Queensboro built the homes in groups of two and five, with variations in roofing and entrance, with lush hidden gardens behind the house and garage. The English homes are on 70th through 73rd streets between Northern Boulevard and 34th avenue.

Famous Past Residents of Jackson Heights

• Alfred Eisenstadt - A famous photographer who was born in Germany, but moved to Jackson Heights in 1935 in order to escape the Nazi oppression. He worked for Life magazine 1936 to 1972 and he took pictures of events and celebrities, which appeared on more than 86 cover pages.

Famous photo of sailor kissing a beautiful nurse in time square^[3]

• John Leguizamo - Comedian & Actor John Leguizamo was born in Colombia and came to Queens, NY at the age of 3. He attended Joseph Pulitzer I.S.145 in Jackson Heights and went to highschool at Murry Bergtraum Highschool where he was voted "most talkative" of his class. He then went on to attend NYU where he took acting classes, and the rest was history....

Comedian John Leguizamo^[4]

Collateral Damage

Actor and Comedian John Leguizamo starred in popular films such as:

Humboldt Park (2008)
Paraiso Travel (2008)
Love in the Time of Cholera (2007)
The Honeymooners (2005)
Point of Origin (2003)
Undefeated (2003)**Filmed in Jackson Heights
Collateral Damage (2002)
Empire (2002)
Moulin Rouge (2001)
William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1996)
Carlito's Way (1993)
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (1990)
Street Hunter (1990)

Rome & Juliet

John Leguizamo: Freak "Broken Antenna"

• Lucy Liu - Hollywood Actress Lucy Liu was born in Jackson Heights, Queens and was raised by her Taiwanese parents. Liu has said she grew up in a "diverse neighborhood." Mandarin was spoken in the household until she learned English at the age of five. She also attended Joseph Pulitzer I.S.145, and Stuyvesant High School. She went on to attend NYU for one year and then transferring to the University of Michigan. Liu began acting in 1989, after auditioning for a role in the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year. Liu was cast in the lead role, although she had originally only tried out for a supporting part...

Actress Lucy Liu^[5]

Kill Bill

Starred in popular films such as:

Rise: Blood Hunter (2007)
3 Needles (2006)
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004)
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Hotel (2003)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Shanghai Noon (2000)
Jerry Maguire (1996)

Charlie's Angels

• Susan Sarandon - Actress Susan Sarandon was born in New York City to Lenora Marie (Italian ancestry) and Phillip Leslie Tomalin (Welsh/Irish ancestry), who worked as an advertising executive, television producer, and nightclub singer during the big band era, which caused her family to always be on the move. After leaving Jackson Heights to New Jersey, Sarandon graduated from Edison High School, in Edison, NJ, in 1964. She then attended The Catholic University of America from 1964 to 1968. In 1969, Sarandon went to a casting call for the motion-picture Joe with her then husband Chris Sarandon. Although he did not get a part, she was cast in a major role of a disaffected teen who disappears into the seedy underworld, the movie was a great success and as we now know, so is she...