Howard Beach, Queens

Howard Beach is a suburban neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bordered in the north by the Belt Parkway and South Conduit Avenue, the south by Jamaica Bay, the east by 102nd to 104th Streets and the west by 78th Street, the border with Brooklyn. 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.

Howard Beach is home to a large Italian population. The ZIP code is 11414.

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 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 he built 35 houses that were priced in the $2,500-$5,000 range.

The Long Island Rail Road established a station in 1905 that was named Ramblersville, 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. Development, however, was limited to the areas east of Cross Bay Blvd. near the LIRR station known as Coleman Square. The rest of Howard Beach consisted of empty marsh land except the area to the south of Coleman Square, which consisted of many small fishing bungalows that dotted Hawtree Creek and Jamaica Bay. This area of Howard Beach would retain the name Ramblersville until it became more popularly known as Hamilton Beach. Despite the proximity to the main Howard Beach station located at Coleman Square, the LIRR would establish a station a quarter of a mile down the line at Hamilton Beach in 1919.

After World War II, Queens and Long Island went through a major suburban building boom, leading to filling in the marsh land west of Cross Bay Blvd. and to the development of many Cape Cod and high-ranch style houses on 50 and 60 x 100 lots. This area was officially named Rockwood Park or New Howard Beach, while the area east of Cross Bay Boulevard became known as Old Howard Beach. In the early 1950s, farm land north of Rockwood Park was developed with the building of many red-brick two-story garden-style cooperative apartments along with some six-story co-op and condo apartment buildings. A number of private two-family houses were also built in the neighborhood and named Lindenwood. The neighborhoods continued to be developed through the 1960s and 70s while Cross Bay Blvd. developed as the area's main shopping district. During the 1990s and 2000s Rockwood Park saw even further high-scale development as many of the area's old houses were torn down and replaced with upscale million-dollar mini-mansions.

Geography
Howard Beach is composed of several smaller neighborhoods &mdash; Howard Beach, Old Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Ramblersville, Rockwood Park, Lindenwood, 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; northward it becomes Woodhaven Boulevard in Ozone Park. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Cross Bay Boulevard was made up almost exclusively of locally owned shops and restaurants. Well known chain stores and franchises began to appear in the 1990s. Kiddie Park and Cross Bay Lanes, entertainment venues on Cross Bay Boulevard, were popular until their demise in the 1970s and 1980s.

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.

Bernard Coleman Memorial Square (colloquially Coleman Square) is the small plaza at the Howard Beach-JFK station on the IND Rockaway Line of the New York City Subway (served by the train) and the AirTrain JFK station in Howard Beach. There is a memorial to servicemen from Howard Beach who died in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Government
Joseph Addabbo, Jr., the son of former Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo, represents the area as member of the New York State Senate. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, (D-NY) represents the part of Howard Beach east of Cross Bay Boulevard, while Congressman Anthony D. Weiner, (D-NY) represented the part west of Cross Bay Boulevard until his resignation in June 2011. Eric Ulrich is the New York City Councilman for Howard Beach.

Transportation
The A Train subway station in Howard Beach was once a Long Island Rail Road station on the 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 is served by the A train (and was the terminus of the former JFK Express, known colloquially as the "Train To The Plane," from the late 1970s into the early 1990s). Prior to the AirTrain JFK (from a Jamaica subway station), the Port Authority provided a free shuttle bus to the terminals at JFK Airport. The Airtrain provides a connection to the terminals of JFK from a subway station in Jamaica.

Schools

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

For grades 9-12, most residents attend John Adams High School in nearby Ozone Park, specialty high schools that include Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park and Catholic High Schools that include Christ the King, St. Francis Prep and Archbishop Molloy.

Howard Beach 1986 incident
Howard Beach gained some national attention on December 20, 1986, when three African-American men were assaulted by local teenagers, resulting in one death.

At approximately midnight on December 20, 1986, three African-American men, Michael Griffith, 24, Cedric Sandiford, 36, and Timothy Grimes, 20, entered New Park Pizzeria on Cross Bay Boulevard after their car broke down in the adjacent neighborhood of Broad Channel, approximately three miles to the south. By some witness accounts, a teen driver in a passing car yelled a racial epithet at the men and a verbal altercation ensued. Three of these teens later returned with seven to nine friends, aged 15 to 18. The three Black men fled, pursued by the teens. Grimes escaped unscathed, while Sandiford was caught and assaulted with baseball bats, tree limbs and fists. Griffith was killed by a car on the Belt Parkway, where he had run while attempting escape. Early the next morning, then-Mayor Ed Koch condemned the crime in the media, comparing the incident to a lynching. Then-Governor Mario Cuomo appointed a special prosecutor, Charles J. Hynes.

One of the accused youths, Robert D. Riley, the son of a New York City police officer, agreed to cooperate with authorities in exchange for leniency. Riley fingered Jon L. Lester, Jason Ladone, Scott Kern and Michael Pirone as the ringleaders of the attack. The four teens were charged with manslaughter, second-degree murder and first-degree assault. After a lengthy trial, Ladone, Kern and Lester were convicted of second-degree manslaughter and assault. Ladone was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Kern got up to 18 years. Lester received 10 to 20 years. As part of his plea bargain, Riley received six months in jail and 400 hours of community service.

A second wave of seven teens were accused of lesser charges; William Bollander, James Povinelli and Thomas Farino were convicted of second-degree riot charges after a lengthy appeals process. Salvatore DeSimone and Harry J. Buonocore pleaded guilty to the same charge. John Saggese was acquitted of the riot charge, and Thomas Gucciardo was acquitted of the charges of attempted murder, assault and riot.

Al Sharpton led several protests in the neighborhood Special prosecutor Hynes has since gone on to become the District Attorney of Brooklyn and has written a book about the incident.

2005 incident
Another incident took place on June 29, 2005, when three African-Americans were attacked with baseball bats. One of them was injured seriously enough to be hospitalized, and two arrests were made. The convicted assailant, Nicholas Minucci, 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.

2007 incident
Another incident took place on Halloween night 2007, when a confrontation between minority youths from Brooklyn and White locals resulted in two injured white teens. What caused the confrontation is not certain, but at 10:00 PM a group of 30 to 40 Black and Hispanic males chased four White youths into a McDonald's restaurant and assaulted two of them. Joseph Friedman was struck in the head with a broom handle that broke on contact. Friedman was taken to the hospital, where the wound was tended to with seven staples. Another victim, Sean Camaratta, was punched in the face and experienced minor injuries. Witnesses reported hearing racial slurs during the attack. Five suspects, Patrick Pugh, George Morales, Victor Tossas, Terrance Scott and Talique Jackson, were later arrested and indicted for assault, menacing and criminal possession offenses. The Thursday following the attacks, more than 150 Howard Beach residents marched down 157th Avenue, calling for the accused to be charged with hate crimes. A bias motive was investigated, but prosecution efforts were hindered when a police lineup produced one positive identification of Tossas, but nothing else, and DNA tests of the defendants came back negative.

Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 28,121 residents in Howard Beach. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 87.5% White, 2.8% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.0% African American, 2.3% from other races and 1.2% from two or more races. The population was 10% Hispanic or Latino of any race and 13.9% foreign born. The estimated median household income as of 2007 was $69,800.

Notable residents (past and present)

 * Jack Kerouac, writer. A plaque for him can be found on Cross Bay Blvd. and 133rd Ave.; his apartment is now home to the Lindenwood Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and across the street is the bar Glen Patrick's, where he reportedly replenished his "fuel" while writing "On the Road."
 * Woody Guthrie, folk music legend (son Arlo Guthrie's music is frequently copyrighted to "Howard Beach Music, Inc.")
 * Vitas Gerulaitis, professional tennis player
 * The Honorable Mario Mancuso, former national security official and senior member of the administration of President George W. Bush
 * James Maritato, professional wrestler
 * George Martin, played for the New York Giants football team
 * John Gotti, mafia boss
 * Anthony Indelicato, mobster and son of Alphonse Indelicato
 * Vito Antuofermo, former boxer and actor
 * Joe Massino, mafia boss
 * Rick Hearst, soap-opera actor
 * DJ Skribble, DJ, producer, remixer, radio personality and TV star.

Notable Media Events

 * A movie entitled "Howard Beach: Making A Case For Murder" was based on the 1986 racial incident.
 * On The Chris Rock Show, comedian Chris Rock proposed renaming Cross Bay Boulevard after Tupac Shakur, asking the residents of the predominantly White neighborhood to sign a petition.
 * In the 1989 Spike Lee Movie "Do the Right Thing," in a riot scene near the end of the film, a chant rises up: "Howard Beach! Howard Beach! Howard Beach!" The scene immediately follows one wherein a young Black man is killed by police who use excessive force to break up a fight.