Ozone Park, Queens

Ozone Park is a blue-collar and working class neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens, bordering Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, and City Line, Brooklyn. Different parts of the neighborhood are covered by Queens Community Board 9 and 10.

The northern border is Atlantic Avenue; the southern border is South Conduit Avenue; and the eastern border is 108th Street. The western border is the county line with Brooklyn (mostly along Ruby and Drew Streets ). It is the home of the Aqueduct Racetrack, a popular spot for thoroughbred racing.

History
During the 1870s, an economic depression caused residents of New York City to look for better housing opportunities in the suburbs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, where it would be cheaper. Two partners, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, first began carving farmland into building lots. They were able to do it because of their wealth and substantial capital. Housing was first developed in the area after the Long Island Rail Road began service through the area in 1880 as part of its route from Long Island City to Howard Beach. Ozone Park was created and settled in 1882. The name Ozone Park was chosen to "lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean to a park-like community." Ozone Park was considered the country to all those that lived in Manhattan. Ozone Park was also a very serene place to have loved ones rest in peace, in what was termed the country. Before the turn of the 20th century, there was an attempt to develop up to nine neighborhoods with the "park" title. Ozone Park was the only one these neighborhoods that continues to exist, mostly because of the daily service at the now defunct Ozone Park station on the Long Island Rail Road. The name persisted because of the many commuters who passed through the Ozone Park station and referred to it as an important landmark. The railroad station was also responsible for the increasing development of the neighborhood because the access to the railroad allowed people to get into the city easily, increasing its popularity among families looking to move into a suburb.

The final improvement to the local transit system was the elevated railroad line at Liberty Avenue in 1914. In addition to this railroad station came the nickel fare, which was another major factor in the development of Ozone Park. The nickel fare gave residents the ability to travel anywhere along the railroad line for a set price of 5¢. This new fare was considered to be the "single most effective stimulus to home building" in the Ozone Park area, because the real estate developers began buying up all the lots on either side of Liberty Avenue in hopes the new station would attract more people to want to live in Ozone Park.

Prior to 1922, Woodhaven Boulevard was the only important north-south street in town. Then officials decided to expand Woodhaven Boulevard all the way south to the Rockaways and finally opened to traffic in 1925. This made Ozone Park more accessible by both bus and car. Since cars were also becoming more popular at this time, the land became much more valuable, leading to a construction boom in an attempt to fill any empty lot. Between the years of 1921 and 1930, Ozone Park saw a population increase of nearly 300% from 40,000 to 112,950 people. With this extraordinary increase in population came the need for schools and sources of entertainment. In response to this demand came the construction of John Adams High School in 1930. This school came right as the construction boom slowed down and right before the Great Depression. John Adams High School is still open today. Furthermore, in 1925 the development of the Cross Bay Movie Theatre gave residents the ability to go and see a show while also connecting with neighbors.

One infamous area of Ozone Park is known as "the hole," which is a term that is used for areas of Ozone Park where houses are below grade. In the 1930s the city of New York decided to install sewers and sewer lines in Ozone Park to stop the serious flooding that was a major problem. In order to install the sewers the houses had to be raised almost an entire floor. Owners were given a stipend to raise their homes but some chose not to raise them, leaving them down under. The first floors of some homes subsequently became basements. This area was mostly on 75th, 76th, 77th and 78th streets, although there are still a few homes that are below grade that still have not been raised till this day.

Demographics
Since its beginnings, Ozone Park has been largely populated by different groups of immigrants. Germans and Irish made up a large part of Ozone Park in the late 19th century and early 20th century. By 1910 Italians, who were one of the largest ethnic groups in the neighborhood from 1915–1983, started to migrate into Ozone Park from East New York, Brooklyn. Most of the Italians currently in the neighborhood are from Brooklyn. Fears of changing neighborhoods caused a stir amongst the Italians there that caused them to move into Ozone Park, which at the time had mostly German and Irish residents, who themselves had migrated from neighboring East New York. Census from the early years show that Ozone Park was sparsely populated due to the lack of transportation. By 1915 the Fulton Street Line opened, connecting Ozone Park with the rest of NYC, thus starting the enormous growth by the Italians. Ozone Park then formed many smaller neighborhoods within a neighborhood, trying for separate identities. The Tudor Village section, which is still known by this name, was located on the south bordered by Pitkin Ave. and North Conduit Ave. and from East to West Cross Bay Blvd. and North Conduit Ave. Centerville, which also still uses this name, is bordered by Aqueduct on the east, Cross Bay Blvd on the west, North Conduit Ave. on the south and Rockaway Blvd. on the north. Liberty Heights, which name is known only by the old timers, was bordered by Liberty Avenue on the south, 101st Ave. (Jerome Ave.) on the north, Woodhaven Blvd. on the east and Drew Street on the west. Balsam Village, which name also is known only by the old timers, was named after Balsam Farms after the sell-off of parcels of land for development and is bordered by Liberty Avenue on the north, 84th Street on the west and Cross Bay Boulevard on the east.

By the advent of the 21st century, immigrants from Latin America, South Asia (Bangladesh), the West Indies and South America (Indo-Guyanese & Indo-Surinamese) had moved in, adding a diverse atmosphere to the neighborhood, which is especially apparent along 101st Avenue and Liberty Avenue near the neighborhood's border with Richmond Hill. These new arrivals have made Ozone Park one of the fastest growing and ethnically diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Aside from these larger groups, there is a large Hispanic population, mainly concentrated in the northern portion of the neighborhood near the Woodhaven border, and an African-American minority, spread throughout the neighborhood.

Residents vary from working-class to middle-class families who own or rent private homes on the neighborhood's tree-lined residential streets. There are pockets of wealthier areas in the southern part of the neighborhood close to the Belt Parkway.

Transportation
There are many bus routes that run through Ozone Park. The Q7 runs on Rockaway Boulevard, Q10 and QM18 run on Lefferts Boulevard, Q21 and Q41 run on Cross Bay Boulevard, Q11 up Woodhaven Boulevard, Q112 on Liberty Avenue, the Q8 on 101st Avenue, and the Q24 on Atlantic Avenue. The Q53 also runs on Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard.

The New York City Subway's IND Fulton Street Line runs along Liberty Avenue and becomes elevated upon entering the neighborhood from Brooklyn. The station at Rockaway Boulevard is a major junction between trains that head towards the Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard station and trains that head to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue, an often confusing or unknown detail for tourists on their way to JFK Airport on the latter line.

Pop Culture

 * In the 2001 TV movie Boss of Bosses, starring Chazz Palminteri, there is a scene with John Gotti in Ozone Park at the Bergin Hunt and Fish Club at 98-04 101st Avenue.
 * The 1994 TV movie Getting Gotti, starring Lorraine Bracco, is based on a real-life woman, Diane Giacalone, who grew up in Ozone Park and through the years first-handedly watched Gotti rise to power on the streets of Ozone Park. She became an assistant US attorney and built a case against him.
 * The 1999 History Channel documentary Perfect Crimes featured the Lufthansa heist and talked about Lucchese crime family's living and killing and running businesses in Ozone Park.
 * In a scene in the beginning of the 2006 crime thriller Lucky Number Slevin, the father and son are at Aqueduct Racetrack.
 * In the 1993 drama film A Bronx Tale, there is a scene at Aqueduct Racetrack.
 * A scene from 1990 movie A Shock to the System was filmed in the old Aqueduct Raceway station.
 * The 2004 film Searching For Bobby DeNiro was filmed in Aldo's II Pizzeria in Ozone Park.

Schools

 * Public Schools
 * P.S. 63 Old South School
 * P.S. 64 Joseph P. Addabbo School
 * P.S. 65 The Raymond York Elementary School
 * Middle School 137 America's School-Heroes
 * Junior High School 202 R. H. Goddard
 * Robert H Goddard High School Of Technology and Communications 308
 * Junior High School 210 Elizabeth Blackwell
 * John Adams High School
 * Private Schools
 * St Elizabeth's RC Elementary
 * St Mary Gate of Heaven RC Elementary
 * Divine Mercy Catholic Academy (originally Nativity B.V.M. and St. Stanislaus Schools, which were combined renamed in 2007)
 * Little Dolphin Pre-School
 * Our Lady of Perpetual Hope
 * Closed Schools
 * Our Lady of Wisdom RC Secondary

Notable residents


Notable current and former residents of Ozone Park include:
 * Charles Camarda - astronaut, Mission Specialist on STS-114
 * Joseph Patrick Addabbo - Congressman and has P.S. 64 named after him.
 * Joseph Addabbo, Jr., member of the New York City Council from the 32nd Council District.
 * The Capris - 1950s Doo Wop group. Smith / W.9th Street
 * Elizabeth Eden (1946–1987), Real life character of "Leon" from the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon.
 * Gerald Edelman (1929-), 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
 * Peter Facinelli - (born November 26, 1973), actor.
 * John Frascatore (1970-), Baseball Player.
 * Diane Giacalone former Assistant U.S. Attorney and John Gotti prosecutor
 * John Gotti (1940–2002) Mafia Boss.
 * Neal Heaton (1960-), MLB baseball pitcher.
 * Carol Heiss (1940-), Olympics figure skater.
 * Jimmy Herring - Middleweight Boxer
 * Jack Kerouac (1922–1969), writer. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, he lived in Ozone Park with his parents after discharge from the U.S. Navy in 1943. He wrote his first novel, The Town and the City, as well as the quintessential On the Road while living in Ozone Park. His friends jokingly called him "The Wizard of Ozone Park,"
 * Cyndi Lauper (1953-), singer/actress. (104th Street)
 * Bernadette Peters (1948-), actress/singer.
 * Thomas Von Essen - Senior Vice President at Giuliani Partners and 30th New York City Fire Commissioner.
 * Joe Lo Truglio (1970-), actor.
 * Debra Wilson (1962-), Actress/Comedienne/Voice Actress/TV presenter
 * Anthony Trentacosta - Gambino Family
 * Ray Abruzzo - Actor (The Sopranos)
 * Nick Scotti - Actor/singer/model
 * Gerald Edelman - 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine