Bayside, Queens

Bayside is a suburban neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York, New York in the United States. Bayside is known as one of the most expensive areas to live in in Queens, with well kept homes and landscaping. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 11.

Bayside has been included in CNN Money's list of Most Expensive Housing Markets, and was also a contender for CNN Money's ranking of Best Places to Live 2005, and Best Places to Retire 2005.

History
Bayside's history dates back to 2000 B.C., when the Matinecock Native American tribe first settled there. In the late 17th century, the area was settled by English colonists. By the middle of the 18th century, early settlers left their homes in Flushing and developed a farming community, Bay Side. During the Revolutionary War, the Bayside-Little Neck area suffered from raids by whaleboatmen from the Connecticut shores. In one of the raids, the Talman house was attacked and the miller was killed. In the 19th century Bayside was still mostly farmland. Middle 20th century urban sprawl, with the help of better roads, suburbanized it. During the 1920s, many actors and actresses, such as Rudolph Valentino, lived in Bayside. It was known as the "it" spot, outside of the city. These wealthy residents had large waterfront estates and mansions, that still exist today.

Bayside was the site of a murder by Peter Hains, a prominent army officer, abetted by his brother, sea novelist Thornton Jenkins Hains, who gunned down prominent editor William Annis at his yacht club. The so-called "Regatta Murder" led to a widely-publicized trial at the Flushing County Courthouse. Peter Hains was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years at Sing Sing, while Thornton Hains was acquitted.

Location and boundaries
Bayside is located in northeastern Queens, on the North Shore, and is part of Queens Community Board 11. Its geographical boundaries are: Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, 233rd Street to the east, Grand Central Parkway to the south, and Cross Island Parkway/Little Neck Bay to the north. Bayside is bordered by neighboring communities Douglaston/Little Neck to the east, the much larger neighborhoods of Flushing, Queens and Whitestone, Queens to the west, and Oakland Gardens to the south. The neighborhood of Bayside Hills is itself a neighborhood within Bayside.

Bay Terrace is a garden apartment community located in the north section of the neighborhood; an adjacent open-air shopping center was named after the community. The northern section of Bay Terrace also has a view of the Throgs Neck Bridge, which leads to The Bronx.

Bayside's major highways include the Long Island Expressway, Clearview Expressway, and the Cross Island Parkway. Bayside is also connected to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and Long Island by the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch at the Bayside station.

The north end of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway is in Little Bay Park, under the Throgs Neck Bridge approaches, with convenient connection to the Utopia Parkway bicycle lane. It lies between Cross Island Parkway and Little Neck Bay, connecting Bayside to Douglaston, Queens and Alley Pond Park, and eventually to central Queens and Coney Island.

Francis Lewis Boulevard is a major street notorious for drag racing, which has resulted in several fatalities to drivers and pedestrians over the years.

Bell Boulevard is a popular strip complete with numerous bars and restaurants which has transformed Bayside into a nightlife destination. The boulevard has attracted many people throughout Queens and even commuters from Long Island via the Bayside LIRR station, who enjoy the small-town vibe and the close proximity of bars, lounges and restaurants to each other.

Demographics
Bayside is a balance of city and suburb with well kept homes and landscaping. It is known as one of the more expensive areas to live in. As of the 2000 Census, Whites made up 58.8% of Bayside's population. Of people from this group, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and Greek Americans were the largest ethnic groups representing 17.6, 12.4, and 7.3% of the population respectively. German Americans made up 6.7% of the population while Polish Americans were 3.5% of the populace. In addition there is a large Asian American population, as well. Around the mid-1990s, a significant number of Korean families began moving into the area. As of the 2000 Census, Asian Americans made up a significant 22.7% of the neighborhood's population, most of which were Korean Americans, who made up 10.4% of the population and Chinese Americans, who made up 9.2% of the populace. There is a small African American community representing 4.5% of Bayside's population. American Indians made up a mere 0.2% of the neighborhood's population. Pacific Islander Americans were almost nonexistent in the neighborhood as there were only seven individuals of this ethnic group residing in Bayside at the 2000 Census. Multiracial individuals made up 3.2% of the population. Hispanics or Latinos made up 11.8% of Bayside's population with a small Puerto Rican population representing 2.6% of the neighborhood's population. In terms of nativity, 65.6% of the populace was native and 34.4% was foreign-born. In terms of language, 52.9% of the population aged 5 years and over spoke only the English language at home with the remaining 47.1% speaking a language other than English. Due to the large Hispanic community, 10.4% of Bayside's population spoke the Spanish language at home. Also, due to a large community of foreign-born European Americans, 15.2% speak an Indo-European language other than Spanish at home. And in part of the significant Asian American community, 20.7% of the population speak an Asian language at home. The northern part of Bayside, including Bay Terrace, has a large concentration of European Americans, particularly people of Italian heritage. The southern and eastern portions of Bayside have a more ethnically diverse population.

Bayside contains 11,439 housing units. The majority of Bayside's residents are part of family households representing 67.0% of all households with an average household size of 2.59. The median age of Bayside's residents is 38.3 years and 15.0% of residents are over 65 years of age. 83.8% of residents age 25 and over have at least graduated from high school, while 35.0% have a bachelor's degree or higher, making Bayside a more educated community than other American communities.

Bayside is an upper middle class neighborhood with many wealthy residents. It is one of Queens' more affluent neighborhoods. The median household income in 2005 was $62,611, and 88.0% of all households own at least one car.

Crime
An article in The Village Voice called Bayside one of the safest neighborhoods in New York City. The New York Police Department includes the portion of Bayside south of 26th Avenue in the 111th precinct; areas north of 26th Avenue are in the 109th precinct.

Schools
Bayside is part of the New York City Department of Education's district 26, the highest performing school district for grades K-9 in all of New York City. The district includes 20 elementary schools and 5 middle schools.

Bayside is home to a number of New York City high schools: as well as a number of parochial schools:
 * Bayside High School
 * Benjamin Cardozo High School
 * Sacred Heart School Catholic School
 * St. Francis Prep Catholic School
 * The Lutheran School of Flushing & Bayside Lutheran school
 * St. Robert Bellarmine School Catholic School
 * Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament School Catholic School
 * Bell Academy Public Middle School

Bayside is also home to Queensborough Community College, a branch of the City University of New York (CUNY) system.

Libraries
Queens Borough Public Library operates the Bayside and Bay Terrace Branches.

Parks

 * Alley Pond Park
 * Crocheron Park
 * Cunningham Park
 * Throggs Neck Park
 * John Golden Park
 * Raymond O'Connor Field

Claims to fame

 * Bayside was the site of alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary to a housewife named Veronica Lueken. The apparitions began in 1970 at St. Robert Bellarmine Church. Lueken died in 1995.
 * The movie Sally of the Sawdust (1925) was filmed in Bayside.
 * Bayside has been included in CNN Money's list of Most Expensive Housing Markets, and was also a contender for CNN Money's ranking of Best Places to Live 2005, and Best Places to Retire 2005.
 * Crocheron Park, in Bayside, once had a hotel, where Boss Tweed hid after his escape from prison in 1875.
 * The character played by Robin Williams in "Good Morning Vietnam" was from Bayside (even though the real life Adrian Cronauer wasn't).
 * The movie The Nanny Diaries was filmed in Bayside(Oakland Gardens), about 2 blocks away from P.S 213.
 * The primary robbery scene in the film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was filmed at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Bayside.
 * Bayside is featured on a 1997 episode of NYPD Blue titled "Taillight's last Gleaming." NYPD Lieutenant Arthur Fancy is pulled over driving through Bayside with his wife by two NYPD officers assigned to a Bayside Precinct for reasons that appear to be racially motivated. Fancy then has the senior officer transferred out of his predominantly white precinct in Bayside to a predominantly black precinct in Brooklyn North as punishment.
 * The movie Frequency is set in Bayside Queens. Dennis Quaid's character brags that he is from "Bayside Queens, born and bred!"
 * The band Bayside is an American punk rock band signed to Victory Records from Bayside, Queens, from which their named is derived.
 * A scene for the movie Pride and Glory was shot on 212th Street in Bayside.
 * The starring characters of the HBO series "Entourage" are originally from Bayside.
 * The character George Costanza from the hit TV series "Seinfeld" was from Bayside (until his family was "driven from Bayside" because of their belief in Festivus).

Landmarks

 * Lawrence Cemetery - 216th Street & 42nd Avenue.
 * Fort Totten, New York - A fort built during the Civil War to guard the north entrance to New York Harbor, along with Fort Schuyler in the Bronx, in 1862.
 * Straiton-Storm Cigar Factory - Built c. 1872, The factory was the largest cigar manufacturer in America. The three story, wood frame building was of the French Second Empire style. After a large warehouse fire in late 1976, this factory has been refurbished to its original state.
 * All Saints Episcopal Church - The first church in Bayside, built in 1892, contains examples of Louis Comfort Tiffany's work.
 * Cornell-Appleton house at 214-33 33rd Road. Archibald Cornell's wife inherited the 100 acre farm from her father more than 160 years ago. This twelve-room house is thought to be one of the oldest in Bayside. With past and continuing research, it has been traced back to 1852. In 1905, the house was sold to Edward Dale Appleton, of the Appleton Publishing Company. Mrs. Appleton and her sister were passengers aboard the RMS Titanic when it hit an iceberg and sank. Both women were rescued by the ship Carpathia. This is the second-oldest home in Queens.
 * Corbett House, 221-04 Corbett Rd., the home of world champion boxer "Gentlemen Jim" Corbett from 1902 until his death in 1933, and of his widow Vera until her death in 1959.
 * 38-39 214th Place, home of Charles Johnson Post (1873–1956), government official, artist, and political cartoonist whose posthumously published The Little War of Private Post (1960) is one of the classic accounts of the Spanish-American War of 1898.
 * 35-25 223rd Street, home of actor W. C. Fields.
 * "Authors House", the attached two family house with the double addresses of 46-02 215th Street and 214-30  46th Avenue, that has been the home of more authors than any other building in Bayside.
 * Gloria Swanson's home, 216-07 40th Ave, Home of famed silent film actress Gloria Swanson.
 * Rudolph Valentino's Home, 201-10 Cross Island Parkway, The last standing residence of Rudolph Valentino, an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon. It was also once home to Fiorello Henry La Guardia, Mayor of New York 1934-1945. In 1993, The building was converted into a two floor restaurant/banquet hall named Cafe on the Green. The popular eatery shut down in January 2009 when the city Parks Department forced out the former operators amid reports of mob ties and sloppy finances. The site’s new concessionaire, Friendship Restaurant Group, began a $4 million dollar renovation project February 1, 2009. The new restaurant, Valentino's on the Green, is set to open September 8, 2010.

Notable people
Throughout its history, Bayside has been home to several notable people, including:


 * Rolf Armstrong, painter.
 * John Barrymore, actor.
 * Bayside (band), the rock group
 * Anthony Raneri, frontman of Bayside (band)
 * Irving Berlin, composer and lyricist
 * Patti Ann Browne, anchor and reporter
 * Michael Chang, tennis player
 * Charlie Chaplin, actor.
 * Jim Corbett (1866–1933), boxer, lived here from 1902 until his death in 1933.
 * Joseph Cornell (1903–1972), artist.
 * Frank Costello (1891–1973), prominent gangster, known as the "prime minister of the underworld."
 * Marie Dressler (1868–1934), Academy Award winning actress who played "Tugboat Annie."
 * Howard R. Driggs (1873–1963) historian of the Pony Express and the Oregon Trail.
 * Perry Farrell, frontman of Jane's Addiction
 * Jim Gilligan, Lamar University baseball coach with over 1140 career wins.
 * W.C. Fields, comedian / actor.
 * John T. Flynn (1882–1964), author, journalist, and leader of the America First Committee.
 * Charles Ghigna, poet and children's author known as "Father Goose," born in Bayside, 1946.
 * Alison Leslie Gold, author of books on Anne Frank and others
 * John Golden (1874–1955), playwright and Broadway producer (John Golden Theatre named for him).
 * Edward Grazda (1947-), photographer known for his depictions of Afghanistan and of NY Muslim places of worship.
 * George Grosz (1893–1959), German-American artist.
 * Stephen Jay Gould, evolutionary biologist
 * Judge Thomas Jones
 * Scott Ian, musician
 * Dan Lilker, musician
 * Ron Jeremy, pornographic actor, director
 * Buster Keaton, comedian / actor
 * Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, popular singers.
 * Patrick Lynch, NYPD PBA President
 * Tony Marden, Football Coach
 * Paul Newman, actor
 * David Nolan, historian and author of Fifty Feet in Paradise
 * Frankie Palmeri, vocalist for deathcore band Emmure
 * Alma Power-Waters, author of young-adult books and biographer of John Barrymore.
 * Matthew Robert Silverstein, New York State Young Democrats President
 * Donald L. Pilling, Former Vice Chief of Naval Operations
 * Charles Johnson Post (1873–1956), artist and author of The Little War of Private Post.
 * José Reyes, shortstop for the New York Mets.
 * Nolan Ryan (1947-), lived here wile playing for the New York Mets.
 * Tom Seaver (1944-), pitcher, member of Baseball Hall of Fame
 * Abe Simon (1913–1969), boxer who twice fought Joe Louis for the heavyweight crown and later appeared in the movie "On The Waterfront" (1954).
 * Steve Behar, New York City politician known as the Voice of the People and one of the true Reformists in New York City.
 * Matt Striker, WWE wrestler
 * Fred Stone (1873–1959), actor
 * Gloria Swanson (1899–1983), actress.
 * Norma Talmadge (1893–1957), actress.
 * Clark Terry, Hall of Fame musician
 * Rudolph Valentino (1895–1926), actor.
 * Dave Valle (1960-), MLB player for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Texas Rangers
 * Edward Villella (1936), ballet dancer
 * Pearl White (1889–1938), actress, star of "The Perils of Pauline"