27
Quintessential Queens Communities
Queens is the most diverse county in the country, with almost 50 percent foreign-born residents, representing more than 100 nations, and speaking roughly 150 different languages. This sweeping central Queens tour hugs the edge of the borough’s extensive cemetery belt and leads through multiple central Queens’ communities, where you’ll catch glimpses of an array of cultures and lifestyles.
Start: The north side of Queens Plaza, at the junction of Queens Plaza North and 27th Street
Length: 19.4-mile loop
Approximate riding time: 2.5 hours
Best bike: Hybrid, road, or mountain bike
Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout. There are a few short hills along the way, but no major climbs.
Traffic and hazards: Most of the route follows city streets. Aside from one major bike lane along 34th Avenue and the greenway surrounding Queens Plaza, you’ll be sharing the road with motorists, so considerable urban cycling comfort is required. Traffic along the way is moderate. The route leads mainly along neighborhood streets, but a few short stretches follow or cross major traffic arteries. Queens Boulevard, Cooper Avenue, and Woodhaven Boulevard are the busiest. Also, 63rd Drive is a narrow, commercial strip where cars and buses vie for space. Go slowly and keep an eye out for parked car doors opening unexpectedly.
Things to see: Sunnyside, Maspeth, Middle Village, Rego Park, Corona, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside Gardens, Woodside, Louis Armstrong House, Scrabble Avenue, Juniper Valley Park
Map: New York City Bike Map
Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 7, N, or Q subway to the Queensboro Plaza station and exit the station onto Queens Plaza North. Your starting point is on the north side of Queens Plaza at 27th Street. Or take the F subway to the 21st Street-Queensbridge station. Cycle south on 21st Street 1 block to reach Queens Plaza. Access the greenway along Queens Plaza North and cycle east to 27th Street. GPS coordinates: N40 45.046’ / W73 56.386’
THE RIDE
Heading east from Queens Plaza, you’ll soon leave the hectic frenzy of this busy traffic junction behind you as you veer left alongside the tracks of the Long Island Railroad and then right to go east toward Sunnyside. This western Queens neighborhood was farmland into the early 1900s, when the Queensboro Bridge opened and connected the borough to Manhattan, giving residents easy access to the city. Today, 1920s-era six-story apartment buildings mark the multiethnic neighborhood.
Heading south from here toward Maspeth, you’ll soon hit upon the first of the journey’s burial grounds on the south side of Queens Boulevard—New Calvary Cemetery. Queens Boulevard is a busy traffic artery, so stay alert here. New Calvary Cemetery, together with its western progenitor Calvary Cemetery, covers more than 360 acres of sloping terrain. Like many Queens burial grounds, the graveyard’s earliest interment took place in the mid-nineteenth century.
Go uphill along 58th Street, hugging the east edge of New Calvary Cemetery. A short portion of the journey here is lined by car depots and industrial facilities on the left. Then, continuing south, Mount Zion Cemetery soon flanks your journey on the left. This 80-acre cemetery has served the area’s Jewish community for more than a century, with its first burial in 1893. Sitting at the top of a hill, views from here reach far.
New Calvary Cemetery, one of five cemeteries you’ll pass en route, which form part of Queens’s extensive cemetery belt.
At the end of 58th Street, veer slightly left, taking the central of three roads to head east and go deeper into Maspeth along Maspeth Avenue. The slight uphill trek leads along one of the neighborhood’s pleasant residential strips, with family homes surrounded by well-kept yards. Eastern European immigrants mix with Caribbean, Irish, Italian, and innumerable other nationalities throughout this suburban-feeling middle class community. Along Eliot Avenue your path borders two additional resting spots—Mount Olivet Cemetery on your left and Lutheran All Faith’s Cemetery on your right. They, too, have both served the Queens community for more than 150 years. Farther east, you’ll soon reach Middle Village’s cherished Juniper Valley Park, a popular gathering spot for locals where long-standing residents catch up with friends on tree-covered benches that line the park’s paths. It’s a great spot for a short break.
Heading onward, you’ll come to the last of the ride’s cemeteries, Saint John’s Cemetery, also in Middle Village. Stay alert as you cycle counterclockwise around the grounds as traffic along 80th Street and Cooper Avenue can be heavy. At the end of Cooper Avenue, traverse the wide intersection with Woodhaven Boulevard by veering slightly left to then veer right onto Yellowstone Boulevard on the other side. From here, Alderton Avenue leads you through the community of Rego Park, another residential community with single-family homes, where Asian immigrants are taking root alongside earlier Eastern European immigrants. Then, as you head north along the short commercial strip on 63rd Drive, stay alert. The road is narrow and cars and buses are often bumper-to-bumper, vying for space. Cyclists are left with a small sliver of a corridor between parked and passing cars. After crossing Queens Boulevard up ahead, traffic decreases again as you head through the northern portion of Forest Hills, an upper-middle class community that borders Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the east.
After ducking underneath the Queens Midtown Expressway along 108th Street, catch the narrow Westside Avenue uphill into Corona, a strongly Ecuadorian neighborhood that abuts Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Heading east on 55th Avenue, the towers from the park’s 1964 World’s Fair New York State Pavilion suddenly loom large up ahead in the park. The park marks the eastern point of this route. (It’s also a nice spot for a rest.)
Proceeding en route, you’ll hug the edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park to soon catch the on-road bike lane on 34th Avenue for your return journey westward. At 106th Street, you can turn left to reach the former Corona home of Louis Armstrong, which now serves as a museum. Continuing west thereafter, you’ll then reach the neighborhood of Jackson Heights. This vibrant, residential community is marked by large garden apartment buildings that boast small, private “parks.” The “parks” are enclosed by the co-ops that surround them and are accessible only to the residents who live there. Much of the neighborhood, primarily along 35th and 37th Avenues between 88th and 76th Streets is now a national historic district. This part of Jackson Heights was developed as one of the first garden city communities, beginning around 1916. At 35th Avenue and 81st Street, you can spot the Community United Methodist Church, where a local architect, Alfred Mosher Butts, invented the word game that eventually became known as Scrabble. A quirky street sign at the corner pays homage to the man and game. Continuing westward, your journey returns to the on-road bike lane on 34th Avenue, travels through Astoria, down to the East River waterfront, and back to your starting point.
MILES AND DIRECTIONS
0.0Head east on the Queensboro Bridge Greenway along Queens Plaza North.
0.1Veer slightly right to follow the greenway across Queens Plaza North, using the traffic signal. Follow the greenway along the north sidewalk of Queens Boulevard.
0.4Turn left onto Skillman Avenue.
0.6Veer right onto 43rd Avenue.
1.6Turn right onto 52nd Street.
1.7Cross Queens Boulevard and turn left, hugging the edge of the cemetery.
2.0Turn right onto 58th Street.
3.3Turn left onto Maspeth Avenue.
3.7Turn right onto 61st Street.
4.1Continue straight as 61st Street becomes Fresh Pond Road.
4.3Turn left onto Eliot Avenue.
5.0Turn right onto 69th Street.
5.3Turn left onto Juniper Boulevard.
5.5Juniper Valley Park is at 71st Street. Dismount your bike, enter the park, and explore. (Biking is prohibited on park paths.) Then head south on 71st Street.
5.7Turn left onto Juniper Valley Road.
6.3Turn right onto 80th Street.
6.8Turn left onto Cooper Avenue.
7.4Veer left across Woodhaven Boulevard. Then make a slight right onto Yellowstone Boulevard.
7.6Turn left onto Alderton Street.
8.5 Turn right onto 63rd Drive.
8.8Cross Queens Boulevard.
9.1Turn right onto 98th Street.
9.2Turn left onto 64th Avenue.
9.7Turn left onto 110th Street.
9.9Turn left onto 62nd Drive.
10.1Turn right onto 108th Street.
10.4Veer right onto Westside Avenue.
10.5Cross Corona Avenue and turn left on the avenue. Make a quick right onto 55th Avenue.
10.6Turn left onto 111th Street.
11.2Turn right onto 43rd Avenue.
11.4Turn left onto 114th Street.
11.7Turn left onto 37th Avenue.
11.8Turn right onto 113th Street.
11.9Turn left onto 34th Avenue.
12.3To cycle past Louis Armstrong House, turn left onto 106th Street.
12.4Turn left onto 37th Avenue, followed by a left onto 107th Street.
12.5Louis Armstrong House is on your left on 107th Street.
12.6Turn left onto 34th Avenue.
13.8To check out Scrabble Avenue, turn left onto 84th Street.
13.9Turn right onto 35th Avenue.
14.1Scrabble Avenue is on the corner of 81st Street. Turn right onto 81st Street followed by a left onto 34th Avenue.
15.1Turn left onto 59th Street.
15.4Turn right onto 39th Avenue.
15.7Turn left onto Woodside Avenue, followed by a right onto 39th Avenue.
16.0Turn right onto 48th Street.
16.4Turn left onto 34th Avenue.
17.9Turn left onto Vernon Boulevard.
18.8At the end of Queensbridge Park, turn left to catch the Queensboro Bridge Greenway.
19.1Follow the greenway across 21st Street and across Queens Plaza North to continue east along the greenway.
19.4Arrive at your starting point.
RIDE INFORMATION
Local Events/Attractions
Louis Armstrong House Museum: The former home of Louis and Lucille Armstrong in Corona is now a National Historic Landmark that preserves and exhibits materials related to Armstrong’s life. 34-56 107th St., Corona; (718) 478-8274; www.louisarmstronghouse.org
Scrabble Avenue: A creative street sign at the corner of 35th Avenue and 81st Street in Jackson Heights honors the legacy of former Jackson Heights resident Alfred Mosher Butts, who invented the games of Lexiko and Criss-Cross Words, which eventually became Scrabble. Eighty-first Street and 35th Avenue, Jackson Heights
Restrooms
Mile 5.5: There are restrooms in Juniper Valley Park in the park building along the west edge of the park along 71st Street.
Mile 11.8: There are restrooms in Louis Armstrong Playground on your left on 113th Street.
Mile 18.7: There are restrooms in Queensbridge Park along Vernon Boulevard at 41st Avenue.