Astoria (New York)
Astoria is a borough in the extreme northwest of Queens in New York City . The area is bounded to the west by the East River and is bordered by Ditmars to the north, Woodside to the east and Sunnyside to the south . In the southwest, Ravenswood also borders Astoria.
Astoria is the most populous neighborhood in Queens. About 250,000 people live here.
history
Originally the area was called "Hallet's Cove", this came from the first landowner William Hallet Sr., who had settled here in 1659 with his wife Elizabeth Fones. It was not until the 19th century that the district regained importance after its settlement, when wealthy New Yorkers built large residences on 12th and 14th Street.
After the official establishment of "Hallet's Cove" by the fur dealer Steven Halsey in 1839, the village developed more and more into a popular destination for other wealthy New York business people.
After a short time the village was renamed to its current name. For this, the German-born and then richest man in the world, Johann Jakob Astor , was chosen as the namesake because he was a close friend of Halsey. Provided that Astor would invest $ 2,000 in the construction, the name should last. Although he only invested $ 500, many of his friends and supporters campaigned for Astoria to keep his name in a subsequent dispute over the name. Astor owned a summer home on Randalls Island at the time of renaming and could see Astoria through Hell Gate. Despite being named after him, Astor never set foot in Astoria in his life.
In the second half of the 19th century Astoria experienced a renewed boom together with the surrounding settlements. Due to numerous immigrants, including many Germans, the industry in the area grew and one of the German immigrants, the piano maker Heinrich Steinweg from the Harz region , founded the company Steinway & Sons in Manhattan in 1853 , which is now a leader in piano manufacture. After the company was founded, the Steinways built a sawmill, foundry, and tram line to speed up the wing production process. After the company continued to grow rapidly, it was decided to build a separate settlement near Astoria for the workers of the factory. The so-called “ Steinway Village ” was part of the company and offered schools that taught in both German and English .
In 1870, Astoria merged with several neighboring settlements, including Steinway, in the city of Long Island City . In 1898 the Long Island City was incorporated into New York City.
The district also played an important role in the early US film industry. The American Museum of the Moving Image and the Kaufman Astoria Studios , which have operated from Astoria for more than 85 years, underscore the area's position in the industry.
geography
Together with Dutch Kills, Ravenswood, Long Island City and Steinway, Astoria is part of Queens Community District 1 , but there are no official borders to the neighboring districts. As noted above, the borough was part of Long Island City before it was incorporated into New York City in 1898. Even if this is no longer the case today, parts of Astoria are still counted as "Long Island City" by the United States Postal Service .
While the district in the west undoubtedly borders the East River, there is also controversy in the north about the location of the southern border with Ravenswood. Broadway is generally seen as the limit. In the northeast, the district is bounded by the headquarters of Consolidated Edison .
The boundaries of the district are often "altered" quite roughly by real estate agents.
traffic
Interstate 278 , which runs over the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (until 2008: Triborough Bridge) and which also runs through Astoria, gives the district a good connection to Manhattan , the Bronx and eastern Long Island . Astoria is also served by the BMT Astoria Line ( ) of the New York City subway system, which runs to Manhattan.
The Northeast Corridor used by Amtrak trains runs through Astoria, but there is no stop there. To the east of Astoria is New York-LaGuardia Airport .
Attractions
There are numerous attractions in Astoria. Particularly noteworthy are the Kaufman Astoria Studios mentioned above and listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1978 , the Hell Gate Bridge and the Steinway & Sons factory , where guided tours through the plant are offered.
Other noteworthy places in the district are New York's oldest beer garden, the Bohemian Hall , and Astoria Park with its huge swimming pool. The Greater Astoria Historical Society offers guided tours of these attractions.
population
Astoria was first settled by immigrants from the Netherlands and Germany in the 17th century . After the wave of immigration from 1820 to 1924, in which Heinrich Steinweg also moved to New York, numerous Irish came to New York City due to the Great Famine in Ireland , many of whom also settled in Astoria. Next to the Irish, the Italian immigrants represent the largest group. Many of them opened restaurants, bakeries and pizzerias, which still shape the image of Astoria today.
In addition to the immigrants of these two population groups, other immigrants from Europe soon came. As early as the 1920s, the Astoria Center of Israel was built in Astoria by Jewish immigrants. The building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2009.
Greeks , mainly from the Peloponnese , emigrated to the USA since the 19th century, the climax were the years 1910 to 1930. A significant number of these emigrants settled in Astoria. Until the late 1970s, Greek taverns, restaurants and grocery stores were very present in the cityscape, so a Greektown was created. In addition to the Greeks, Greek-speaking Cypriots also settled. In the last few decades the number of Greeks in the quarter has decreased noticeably. While 22,579 Greeks still lived in the district in 1980, ten years later, in 1990, there were only 18,127 residents of Greek origin. This can be explained by the lack of immigration, a low birth rate and emigration to other parts of the city.
Since the 1970s, more and more people from the Arab world have emigrated to the USA, and especially to New York City. The first Arab immigrants from Lebanon were followed over the years by Egyptians , Syrians , Yemenis , Tunisians , Moroccans and Algerians . Since the 1990s Steinway Street has been predominantly dominated by Arab shops.
In recent years, Brazilians and other South Americans have also increasingly settled in Astoria.
Popular culture
Astoria has been used as a backdrop for one or more scenes in numerous films and video games. These uses, as well as other popular associations with the neighborhood, are listed below.
- Astoria served as the main location for the 1991 comedy film Born in Queens . One of the screenwriters, Tony Spiridakis of Greek origin , has roots in Astoria Greek society.
- In the TV series Seinfeld , the 37th Street block between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue is often seen as an establishing shot because the parents of the character George Costanza, played by Jason Alexander , live here.
- The series Cosby was also shot in Astoria. Some scenes were recorded in the Kaufmann Studios.
- In the 1970 film Joe , the character played by Peter Boyle lives in Astoria.
- The sitcom All in the Family is also set in Astoria, but the address of Archie Bunker's house (704 Hauser Street) is fictitious.
- Some of the films Goodfellas and In the Streets of the Bronx were shot in Astoria.
- The film version of the off-Broadway musical Godspell shows several locations in Astoria, including some prominent places under the Hell Gate Bridge.
- The 1982 comedy The Storm (A Surprising Comedy), starring John Cassavetes, features scenes filmed in cafes on 23rd Avenue and 31st Street.
- In the 1996 film Girls Town, Astoria Park is shown in several scenes.
- The film Hollywood Ending by and with Woody Allen shows neighboring districts that are close to Kaufman Studios.
- Astoria can be seen in a scene from the comedy Arthur . In this a Batmobile drives along 34th Street and 34th Avenue.
- Astoria also appears in one scene in the 1976 film King Kong . In this two main characters climb the subway between Astoria Boulevard and 31st Street.
- The 2008 British film Accidentally Married was filmed on 33rd Street and 23rd Avenue in the neighborhood.
- The film Kids - In the Streets of New York takes place in Astoria, just like the original novel. The film is about the youth of the director Dito Montiel, who grew up in Queens in the 1980s and suffered a lot.
- The Greek television series Stous 31 Dromous ("On 31st Street") was filmed in 2007 in Astoria.
- The “Steinway” district from the video game Grand Theft Auto IV is based on Astoria. In Steinway, among other things, there is the “Steinway Beer Garden”, a copy of the Bohemian Hall, which however has a German-Irish style. In addition, Steinway is home to “Steinway Park”, which is based on Astoria Park.
- Astoria can also be seen as one of the locations in the video game The Godfather II.
- The novel The Great Gatsby also contains a scene in Astoria. In this, the main character Jay Gatsby is stopped by a police officer on a motorcycle in the neighborhood.
- Sufjan Stevens recorded much of his Illinois album in Astoria in 2005 . To do this, he used "The Buddy Project Recording Studio" on 23rd Avenue in the neighborhood.
Personalities
- George Gibbs (1815–1873), geologist
- Ed Gardner (1901–1963), actor, writer, screenwriter and director
- Chester Carlson (1906–1968), physicist and patent attorney, grew up in Astoria
- Ethel Merman (1908–1984), actress and singer
- Hillary Brooke (1914–1999), actress
- Eddie Bracken (1915–2002), actor
- Maria Callas (1923–1977), Greek soprano
- Tony Bennett (born 1926), jazz singer and entertainer
- Franz Schurmann (1926–2010), historian
- Whitey Ford (* 1928), former pitcher for the New York Yankees
- George Maharis (* 1928), actor and comedian
- Patrick McGoohan (1928–2009), actor
- John H. Meier (* 1933), investors and former businessman in the Watergate scandal involved
- Al Oerter (1936-2007), discus thrower
- Christopher Walken (born 1943), actor
- Francis P. Mulvey (* 1944), economist
- Raymond Chappetto (* 1945), Catholic auxiliary bishop in Brooklyn
- Luke Halpin (born 1947), actor
- Melanie Safka (* 1947), singer and songwriter
- George Tsontakis (* 1951), composer and conductor
- Dee Snider (* 1955), singer in the glam metal band Twisted Sister
- Jennifer Rush (born 1960), singer
- Eric Metaxas (* 1963), author, speaker and radio host
- Dito Montiel (* 1965), author and musician
- David Schwimmer (* 1966), actor and director
- Ted Alexandro (* 1969), comedian
- Anthony Giacchino (* 1969), filmmaker and producer
- John Frusciante (* 1970), musician, former guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Michael Malone (* 1971), basketball coach
- Chamique Holdsclaw (* 1977), basketball player
- Melanie Martinez (* 1995), singer
Individual evidence
- ^ History of Long Island City ( Memento of the original from December 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The districts of Long Island City ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ History of Astoria ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ descriptions on Astoriaqueens.com
- ↑ Information on the company's website
- ↑ Information about the settlement from the Greater Astoria Historical Society ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on Kaufmanastoria.com ( Memento of the original from September 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The History of the Jewish Society in the Quarter ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Astoria: "A Little Greece" in New York . hellenism.net. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- ^ Article in the archives of the New York Times
- ^ Astoria, Queens: A Greek Community in New York
- ↑ The series in the IMDb
- ↑ The series in the IMDb
- ↑ Article about the district in the German GTA Wiki
- ↑ Article about the beer garden in the German GTA Wiki
- ↑ Article about the park in the German GTA Wiki
- ↑ Article on Schurmann's death in the New York Times
Web links
- The website of the Greater Astoria Historical Society (English)
- Information about the area (English)
Coordinates: 40 ° 46 ′ N , 73 ° 56 ′ W