Editing Queens (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Colonial and post-colonial history===
[[File:CatherineofBraganza1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1|[[Catherine of Braganza]], Queen of England]]
[[File:Queens Boulevard, New York City (1920).jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[Queens Boulevard]], looking east from Van Dam Street, in 1920. The newly built [[IRT Flushing Line]] is in the boulevard's median.]]
The first [[European colonization of the Americas|European settlement]] in the region was the [[Dutch colonization of the Americas|Dutch]], who established the colony of [[New Netherland]]. The first settlements were established in 1635 followed by further settlement at [[Maspeth, Queens|Maspeth]] in 1642 (ultimately unsuccessful),<ref name="Shorto-Funk 2004" /> and Vlissingen (now [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]]) in 1645.<ref name="ellis-p54">{{cite book |title=The Epic of New York City |last=Ellis |first=Edward Robb |publisher=Old Town Books |year=1966 |page=54}}</ref> Other early settlements included Newtown (now [[Elmhurst, Queens|Elmhurst]]) in 1652 and [[Jamaica, Queens|Jamaica]] in 1655. However, these towns were mostly inhabited by English settlers from [[New England]] via eastern [[Long Island]] ([[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]]) who were subject to Dutch law.<ref name="Scheltema-Westerhuijs 2011" /> After the capture of the colony by the English and its subsequent renaming as ''New York'' in 1664, the area (and all of Long Island) became known as [[Yorkshire County, Province of New York|Yorkshire]].<ref name="Colonial-Laws 1894–96" />{{Rp|pp=xi–xii}}

The [[Flushing Remonstrance]] signed by colonists in 1657 is considered a precursor to the [[United States Constitution]]'s provision on [[freedom of religion]] in the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]]. The signers protested the Dutch colonial authorities' persecution of [[Quakers]] in what is today the borough of Queens.
{{Long Island}}
Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]]. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created on November 1, 1683.<ref name="Colonial-Laws 1894–96" />{{Rp|pp=121–122}} The county is presumed to have been named after [[Catherine of Braganza]], since she was queen of England at the time (she was Portugal's royal princess Catarina, daughter of King [[John IV of Portugal]]).<ref name="NY.com 1999 May 8" /> The county was founded alongside [[Brooklyn|Kings County]] ([[Brooklyn]], which was named after her husband, King Charles II), and [[Staten Island|Richmond County]] ([[Staten Island]], named after his illegitimate son, [[Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond|the 1st Duke of Richmond]]).<ref name="Room 1997–2006" /><ref name="Antos 2009" /><ref name="Mushabac-Wigan 1997" /> However, the namesake is disputed. While Catherine's title seems the most likely namesake, no historical evidence of official declaration has been found.<ref name="NYTs 2002 Jan 27" /> On October 7, 1691, all counties in the [[Colony of New York]] were redefined. Queens gained [[North and South Brother Islands, New York City|North and South Brother Islands]] as well as Huletts Island (today known as [[Rikers Island]]).<ref name="Colonial-Laws 1894–96" />{{Rp|p=268}} On December 3, 1768, Queens gained other islands in Long Island Sound that were not already assigned to a county but that did not abut on [[Westchester County]] (today's [[The Bronx|Bronx County]]).<ref name="Colonial-Laws 1894–96" />{{Rp|pp=1062–1063}}

Queens played a minor role in the [[American Revolution]], as compared to Brooklyn, where the [[Battle of Long Island]] was largely fought. Queens, like the rest of what became New York City and Long Island, remained under British occupation after the Battle of Long Island in 1776 and was occupied throughout most of the rest of the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]]. Under the [[Quartering Act]], British soldiers used, as [[barracks]], the public inns and uninhabited buildings belonging to Queens residents. Even though many residents opposed unannounced quartering, they supported the British crown. The quartering of soldiers in private homes, except in times of war, was banned by the [[Third Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. [[Nathan Hale]] was captured by the British on the shore of [[Flushing Bay]] and [[Hanging|hanged]] in [[Manhattan]].

From 1683 until 1784, Queens County consisted of five towns: Flushing, [[Town of Hempstead, New York|Hempstead]], [[Jamaica, Queens|Jamaica]], [[Elmhurst, Queens|Newtown]], and [[Town of Oyster Bay, New York|Oyster Bay]]. On April 6, 1784, a sixth town, the [[Town of North Hempstead, New York|Town of North Hempstead]], was formed through secession by the northern portions of the Town of Hempstead.<ref name="Greenspan" /><ref name="French 1860" /> The seat of the county government was located first in Jamaica,<ref name="5-boro-history" /> but the courthouse was torn down by the British during the American Revolution to use the materials to build barracks.<ref name="McCurdy 2019" /> After the war, various buildings in Jamaica temporarily served as courthouse and jail until a new building was erected about 1787 (and later completed) in an area near [[Mineola, New York|Mineola]] (now in Nassau County) known then as Clowesville.<ref name="Seyfried-Peterson" /><ref name="Peterson-Seyfried 1983–1987" /><ref name="NY-Local-Government-Handbook" />

The [[1850 United States census]] was the first in which the population of the three western towns exceeded that of the three eastern towns that are now part of Nassau County. Concerns were raised about the condition and distance of the old courthouse, and several sites were in contention for the construction of a new one.<ref name="NYTs 1872 Feb 25" />

In 1870, [[Long Island City]] split from the Town of Newtown, incorporating itself as a city, consisting of what had been the [[Astoria, Queens|village of Astoria]] and some unincorporated areas within the town of Newtown. Around 1874, the seat of county government was moved to Long Island City from Mineola.<ref name="Newsday 1998 Feb 22" /><ref name="Queens-Tribune 2004" /><ref name="Newsday 2007 Mar 29" /><ref name="NYTs 1874 Feb 9" />

On March 1, 1860, the eastern border between Queens County (later Nassau County) and [[Suffolk County, New York|Suffolk County]] was redefined with no discernible change.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1860" /> On June 8, 1881, [[North Brother Island, East River|North Brother Island]] was transferred to [[Manhattan|New York County]].<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1881" /> On May 8, 1884, [[Rikers Island]] was transferred to New York County.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1884" />

In 1886, Lloyd's Neck, which was then part of the town of Oyster Bay and had earlier been known as Queens Village, was set off and separated from Queens County and annexed to the town of Huntington in Suffolk County.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1886" /><ref name="Beers-maps 1873" /><ref name="Lloyd-Harbor-Brief-History" /> On April 16, 1964, [[South Brother Island, East River|South Brother Island]] was transferred to Bronx County.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1964 Vol 2" />

===Incorporation as borough===
{{See also|History of New York City|List of former municipalities in New York City|List of streetcar lines in Queens}}
The New York City borough of Queens was authorized on May 4, 1897, by a vote of the [[New York State Legislature]] after an 1894 referendum on consolidation.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1897" /> The eastern {{convert|280|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} of Queens that became [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]] was partitioned on January 1, 1899.<ref name="Laws-of-NY 1898 Vol 2" /> Queens Borough was established on January 1, 1898.<ref name="Inventing-Gotham 2007" /><ref name="NYTs 1894 Dec 15" /><ref name="Sullivan 1927 p342"/>

"The city of [[Long Island City]], the towns of [[Newtown, Queens County, New York|Newtown]], [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]] and [[Jamaica, Queens|Jamaica]], and that part of the town of [[Hempstead, New York|Hempstead]], in the county of Queens, which is westerly of a straight line drawn through the middle of the channel between [[Rockaway, Queens|Rockaway Beach]] and [[Long Beach, New York#Long Beach Barrier Island|Shelter Island]], in the county of Queens, to the Atlantic Ocean" was annexed to New York City,<ref name="Greater-NY-Charter Weed-Parsons 1897" /> dissolving all former municipal governments ([[Long Island City]], the county government, all towns, and all villages) within the new borough.<ref name="NYG&B-Newsletter 1998 Winter" /> The areas of Queens County that were not part of the consolidation plan,<!-- \\ BEGIN new refs that Nassau never voted on consolidation --><ref name="Newsday 2007 Mar 29" /><ref name="NYTs 1894 Sep 13" /><ref name="NYTs 1894 Oct 16" /><ref name="NYTs 1894 Nov 4" /><!-- Again, no mention of Town of Oyster Bay, nor Town of North Hempstead, nor any plan for ALL of Town of Hempstead, indeed only part of Hempstead was ever planned to become part of Queens --><ref name="NYTs 1894 Nov 8" /><!--no mention of Town of Oyster Bay, nor Town of North Hempstead, nor any plan for ALL of Town of Hempstead, indeed only part of Hempstead was ever planned to become part of Queens--><ref name="NYTs 1896 Feb 22" /><ref name="NYTs 1899 Feb 12" /><!-- \\ END refs that Nassau never voted --> consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay, and the major remaining portion of the Town of Hempstead, remained part of Queens County <!-- but not were part of the borough--> until they seceded to form the new [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]] on January 1, 1899. At this point, the boundaries of Queens County and the Borough of Queens became [[wikt:coterminous|coterminous]]. With consolidation, Jamaica once again became the county seat, though county offices now extend to nearby [[Kew Gardens, Queens|Kew Gardens]] also.<ref name="NYTs 1896 Jun 7" />

In 1899, New York City conducted a [[surveying|land survey]] to determine the exact border of Queens between [[the Rockaways]] and [[Lawrence, Nassau County, New York|Lawrence]]. This proved difficult because the border was defined as "middle of the channel between Rockaway Beach and Shelter Island" (now called Long Beach Island), and that particular channel had closed up by 1899. The surveyors had to determine where the channel had been when the consolidation law was written in 1894. The surveyors did so in part by speaking with local fishermen and oystermen who knew the area well.<ref name="NYTs 1899 Feb 12" />

From 1905 to 1908, the [[Long Island Rail Road]] in Queens became electrified. Transportation to and from [[Manhattan]], previously by ferry or via bridges in Brooklyn, opened up with the [[Queensboro Bridge]] finished in 1909, and with railway tunnels under the [[East River]] in 1910. From 1915 onward, much of Queens was connected to the [[New York City Subway]] system.<ref name="Seyfried-Peterson" /><ref name="Seyfried 2004" /> With the 1915 construction of the [[Steinway Tunnel]] carrying the [[IRT Flushing Line]] between Queens and Manhattan, and the robust expansion of the use of the [[automobile]], the population of Queens more than doubled in the 1920s, from 469,042 in 1920 to 1,079,129 in 1930.<ref name="Gibson 1998 Jun" />

In later years, Queens was the site of the [[1939 New York World's Fair]] and the [[1964 New York World's Fair]].<ref>[https://www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/fmcp-worlds-fairs Flushing Meadows Corona Park World's Fair Legacy; Celebrating the Enduring Legacy of the 1939 and 1964 Fairs], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]], Accessed January 17, 2024. "In 1939, and again in 1964, Flushing Meadows Corona Park hosted two of the largest international exhibitions ever held in the United States."</ref> [[LaGuardia Airport]], established on a site in northern Queens that had been a seaplane base, opened in 1939, named for mayor [[Fiorello La Guardia]], who pushed for the development of a modern airport in New York City.<ref>Cross, Lee. [https://airwaysmag.com/laguardia-airport-begins-ops/ "12/02/1939: New York's LaGuardia Airport Begins Operations"], ''[[Airways Magazine]]'', December 2, 2023. "In 1939, New York City's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) opened for business in East Elmhurst, Queens. The aviation history of the site in Queens can be traced back to June 1929, when New York Air Terminal Inc. established a seaplane base. The facility underwent several developments and name changes, including being renamed Glenn H. Curtiss Airport in September 1930 and later North Beach Airport in 1935. However, it was Fiorello LaGuardia, the newly elected mayor, who played a significant role in transforming the airport."</ref> Idlewild Airport, in southern Queens, opened in 1948 on the site of a former golf course and was renamed [[John F. Kennedy International Airport]] in 1963.<ref>[https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/idlewild-park/history Idlewild Park], [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]. Accessed January 17, 2024. "Construction on Idlewild Airport began in 1942 on the former site of Idlewild Golf Course in Queens.... After six years of construction, the airport opened on July 1, 1948 and was dedicated by President Truman on July 31, 1948.... Although it continued to be known popularly as "Idlewild," New York International Airport was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport on December 24, 1963, following resolutions by Mayor Robert F. Wagner, the City Council, and the Commissioners of the Port Authority."</ref> In one of several notable incidents, [[TWA Flight 800]] took off from the airport on July 17, 1996, and exploded in midair off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 on board the [[Boeing 747]].<ref>[https://www.faa.gov/lessons_learned/transport_airplane/accidents/N93119 Trans World Airways Flight 800, N93119], [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. Accessed January 17, 1996. Accessed January 17, 2024. "On July 17, 1996, at 2031 EDT, a Boeing 747-131, N93119, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about eight miles south of East Moriches, New York after taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The airplane was being operated on a regularly scheduled flight to Charles De Gaulle International Airport (CDG), Paris, France, as Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 800.... On board the airplane were 212 passengers and 18 crewmembers. The airplane was destroyed by explosion, fire, and impact forces with the ocean. All 230 people aboard were killed."</ref> [[American Airlines Flight 587]] took off from the latter airport on November 12, 2001, but ended up crashing in [[Belle Harbor, Queens|Belle Harbor]], killing all 260 on board and five people on the ground.<ref>[https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/disasters/aircrafts-american_2001.html Disasters New York City (NYC) American Airlines Flight 587 Crash - 2001], [[Baruch College]]. Accessed January 17, 2024. " Two months following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, a plane crashed in Belle Harbor, Queens and reignited the fear and broken hearts of Americans. On November 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587 (Airbus A300) made its ascent into a clear blue sky and was bound for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic with 260 people on board. At approximately 9:17 a.m., the plane spiraled out of control and crashed in Belle Harbor, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground."</ref> In late October 2012, much of [[Breezy Point, Queens|Breezy Point]] was damaged by a massive six-alarm fire caused by [[Hurricane Sandy]], the largest fire of residential homes in FDNY history, destroying 126 homes in an area where every building was damaged by either water, wind or the resulting fires.<ref>[https://www.fireengineering.com/firefighting/conflagration-in-breezy-point-queens/#gref "Conflagration in Breezy Point Queens; Superstorm Sandy illustrates the full spectrum of Fire Department of New York (FDNY) preparedness and response capabilities along with its commitment to community recovery."], ''[[Fire Engineering (magazine)|Fire Engineering]]'', May 1, 2013. Accessed July 17, 2024. "Hurricane Sandy's high winds coupled with the storm surge that created an electrical short in one home. The short then triggered the conflagration in Breezy Point, which destroyed 126 homes and damaged 22 others, making it the largest private-residential fire in the department's history. The fires combined with the storm surge accounted for the complete destruction of more than 10 percent of the 2,837 homes in Breezy Point. Overall, every structure in this small beach community received significant damage from fire, water, or wind."</ref>
{{wide image|Queens, New York City, looking south from Queensboro Bridge.jpg|1000px|Looking south from the [[Queensboro Bridge]] in [[Long Island City]]}}