Maspeth, Queens



Maspeth is a small community in the borough of Queens in New York City. Neighborhoods that share borders with Maspeth are Woodside and Sunnyside to the north, Long Island City to the northwest, Greenpoint to the west, East Williamsburg to the southwest, Fresh Pond and Ridgewood to the south and Middle Village and Elmhurst to the east.

History
The area known today as Maspeth was chartered by Dutch and English settlers in the mid-17th century. The Dutch purchased land in Queens in 1635 and began chartering towns in a few years. In 1642 they settled Maspat, under a charter granted to Rev. Francis Doughty. Maspat became the first European settlement in Queens. The settlement was leveled the following year in an attack by Native Americans, and the surviving settlers returned to Manhattan. It wasn't until nine years later, in 1652, that settlers ventured back to the area, settling an area slightly inland from the previous Maspat location. This new area was called Middleburg and eventually developed into what is now the town of Elmhurst, bordering Maspeth. Following the immigration waves of the 19th century, Maspeth was home to a shanty town of Boyash (Ludar) Gypsies between 1925 and 1939, though it was eventually bulldozed.

The name "Maspeth" is derived from the name of Mespeatches Native Americans, one of the 13 main Native American tribes that inhabited Long Island. It is translated as "at the bad waterplace," relating to the many stagnant swamps that existed in the area.

Columbusville
Columbusville is the name formerly applied to a section of Maspeth. It was a development of Edward Dunn that took place on 69th Place (originally known as 5th Avenue) between Grand Avenue and Caldwell Avenue during 1854-55 and was subsequently absorbed into Maspeth. The name fell into disuse in the 1890s.

Community
The Metropolitan Avenue Bridge carries Grand Street (Brooklyn) eastward across English Kills from Williamsburg, where it becomes Grand Avenue, Maspeth's main street for dining and business. Grand Avenue continues eastward to end in Elmhurst. Cemeteries take up a large part of this small neighborhood, although for the most part they are separated from residential areas. Single-family houses and multiple-dwelling homes make up most of Maspeth; there are hardly any apartment buildings, except for the co-ops on 65th Place, also known as The Plateau.

The former Furman Island - in Newtown Creek - and 43rd Street through 58th Street are industrial lowlands, and 60th Street to 72nd Street is residential. The Phelps Dodge Corporation was present from 1920 to 1983. The Phelps Dodge mining company heavily contaminated Newtown Creek, which separates northern Brooklyn from western Queens and serves barge traffic. Other freight moves on the Long Island Rail Road Montauk Branch and the lightly used Bushwick Branch. A new West Maspeth rail freight station has been proposed in connection with a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel to diminish truck traffic across New York City. It is opposed by residents who don't want more trucks in Maspeth.

There is access to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (Interstate 278) and Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495). The BQE crosses Newtown Creek on the Kosciuszko Bridge. These expressways are accessible at 69th and Grand Street and at 48th Street, where they cross. Plans to convert Woodhaven Boulevard into the Maspeth Expressway at the time the Belt Parkway was built never fully materialized but did get as far as constructing viaducts to take Woodhaven Boulevard over Atlantic Avenue and over the railroad tracks between Union Turnpike and Metropolitan Avenue.

For many years a pair of cylindrical natural gas tanks were a well known landmark in Maspeth. These tanks were considered "sister tanks" of similar (but differently operating) gas holders at the Newtown Holder Station in Elmhurst (Queens) NY. There were many similarities: both were visible from major roadways, both were painted in an FAA-required red/white checkered color scheme, and both have been demolished. However, the Maspeth holders were fixed above-ground structures, whereas the Elmhurst ones were rising/falling gasometers.

Maspeth was the first English settlement in Queens County. However, conflicts with the Mespet tribe in 1643 forced many settlers to move to what is now Elmhurst.

Most people who live in Maspeth are of Polish, Slavic, Italian, Irish, German, Hispanic or Chinese descent. Holy Cross R.C. Church is the focal point of the three parishes in Maspeth. It has weekly masses, in English and Polish. It also conducts the yearly Stations of the Cross, a procession on the streets every Good Friday, starting from Holy Cross, going on to St. Stanislaus (St. Stans) and finally ending at Transfiguration. The three parishes are only two blocks apart. The Polish go to Holy Cross, the Irish and Spanish to St. Stanislaus, and the Lithuanians to Transfiguration. Only the parish of St. Stanislaus is currently running a Catholic school for Maspeth. The Catholic school for Holy Cross closed its doors in June 2005 due to a lack of funding, but Holy Cross still runs its weekend Polish School along with CCD classes. All three parishes in Maspeth are a basis for the Maspeth community.

Maspeth is home to the Metropolitan Oval, a European style soccer field built in 1925 by German-Hungarian immigrants.

Education
Schools in the area include:
 * Holy Cross R.C. Church - Maspeth : Polish School and CCD classes on the weekends.
 * IS 73 The Frank Sansivieri Intermediate School in Maspeth is where most of the community's children attend grades 6 through 8.
 * PS 58, The School of Heroes, was dedicated in 2002 on Grand Avenue at the site of the original Finast supermarket.
 * PS 153, Maspeth Elementary School
 * Saint Stanislaus Kostka School (Nursery - 8 Catholic School under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn)
 * Martin Luther High School (9-12 private school)

Transport
Although there is no subway station in Maspeth, several bus routes make subway connections, including:
 * B57 to Flushing Avenue ( trains), Flushing Avenue ( train), Jay Street – Borough Hall ( trains)
 * Q18 bus to Woodside – 61st Street ( trains), Northern Boulevard ( trains), or 30th Avenue ( trains)
 * Q39 bus to Forest Avenue ( train), Queensboro Plaza ( trains), 23rd Street – Ely Avenue ( trains), or Long Island City – Court Square ( train)
 * Q45 bus to 69th Street or 74th Street – Broadway ( train) or to Roosevelt Avenue – Jackson Heights ( trains)
 * Q58 bus to Grand Avenue – Newtown ( trains), Flushing – Main Street ( trains), Fresh Pond Road ( train), Forest Avenue ( train), Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues ( trains)
 * Q59 bus to Grand Avenue – Newtown ( trains), Woodhaven Boulevard ( trains), 63rd Drive – Rego Park ( trains), or Grand Street ( train)
 * Q67 bus to Middle Village – Metropolitan Avenue ( train), Hunters Point Avenue ( trains), 21st Street – Van Alst ( train), Queensboro Plaza ( trains), Queens Plaza ( trains), 23rd Street – Ely Avenue ( trains), or Long Island City – Court Square ( train)