JACKSON HEIGHTS
Geographic Setting
Bounded by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE) to the west, Northern Boulevard to the north, Junction Boulevard to the east, and Roosevelt Avenue to the south, Jackson Heights occupies a central plateau in northwestern Queens—a neighborhood at once historic, diverse, and architecturally distinctive. Perched just east of Woodside and north of Corona, it stands as one of New York City’s most influential planned communities and one of its most enduring multicultural centers.
The physical landscape of Jackson Heights reveals its origins as a carefully designed “garden city”: wide, tree-lined avenues such as 82nd Street, 34th Avenue, and 37th Avenue are lined with prewar co-op buildings, graceful courtyards, and elegant brick façades. South of Roosevelt Avenue, the elevated 7 train bisects the neighborhood, threading through bustling commercial blocks alive with street vendors, restaurants, and global languages. To the north, beyond Northern Boulevard, the grid relaxes into residential calm—low-rise apartments, Tudor-style co-ops, and shaded green spaces that give the district its celebrated livability.
Jackson Heights’ dual character—tranquil residential “gardens” to the north and vibrant commercial corridors to the south—makes it both an urban sanctuary and a global crossroads. Few places in New York better capture the coexistence of early 20th-century suburban idealism and 21st-century cosmopolitan energy.
Etymology and Origins
The name “Jackson Heights” originated in the 1910s when Edward A. MacDougall and his Queensboro Corporation began developing this section of the former Town of Newtown into a model suburban community. “Jackson” referred to John C. Jackson, a 19th-century entrepreneur whose toll road (now Northern Boulevard) linked the area to the Queensboro Bridge, while “Heights” alluded to the district’s slight elevation above the surrounding lowlands.
Before development, the land consisted of open farmland, meadows, and small woodlots owned by families such as the Leveriches and Moorehouses. With the 1909 completion of the Queensboro Bridge and the 1917 extension of the IRT Flushing Line (7 train) to the area, MacDougall’s vision of a commuter suburb within city limits became feasible. His Queensboro Corporation purchased over 300 acres and set out to build one of America’s earliest and most ambitious planned communities—complete with co-op housing, private gardens, and strict design covenants ensuring aesthetic harmony.
The Neighborhood
Early 20th Century: The Garden City Ideal
Between 1914 and 1939, Jackson Heights emerged as a living experiment in modern urban planning. Influenced by the Garden City movement of Ebenezer Howard, MacDougall designed the neighborhood to balance density with greenery—courtyard-centered co-ops surrounded by landscaped gardens, with ample sunlight and ventilation. Streets were arranged on a rational grid but softened by broad setbacks, low-rise construction, and abundant trees.
Architectural firms such as Buchman & Kahn, Rouse & Goldstone, and Kelly & Gruzen designed stately apartment complexes—The Chateau, The Towers, The Linden Court, and The Spanish Gardens—that blended Georgian, Tudor, and Spanish Revival styles. The interiors featured parquet floors, fireplaces, and service elevators; courtyards were adorned with fountains and brick colonnades. Cooperative ownership, then a novel concept, fostered both affordability and community cohesion.
In 1916, Jackson Heights became one of the first communities in the United States to adopt restrictive zoning—limiting building heights and land use to preserve light, air, and open space. This commitment to planning and design earned the neighborhood international recognition as a model of humane urban living. By the 1920s, promotional materials proudly described it as “a garden in the city—15 minutes from everywhere.”
Mid-20th Century: Stability and Suburban Prestige
During the mid-20th century, Jackson Heights flourished as a stable, middle-class enclave. Its population consisted primarily of white-collar professionals, teachers, and civil servants—largely of European descent. The neighborhood’s cooperative apartments, civic clubs, and parochial schools contributed to a cohesive social fabric. Northern Boulevard and 37th Avenue served as commercial spines, offering department stores, theaters, and specialty shops that catered to the area’s well-heeled residents.
The postwar years brought gradual change. As automobile culture grew, the neighborhood expanded eastward toward Junction Boulevard, where newer apartment buildings and rowhouses appeared. Yet the heart of Jackson Heights—the prewar co-op district north of Roosevelt Avenue—remained remarkably intact. In the 1960s, residents began organizing to protect their community’s architectural heritage, laying the groundwork for future preservation efforts.
At the same time, Jackson Heights was beginning to evolve demographically. As immigration restrictions eased after 1965, new arrivals from Latin America, South Asia, and East Asia began settling in Queens, drawn by affordable housing and proximity to Manhattan. By the 1970s, these newcomers had begun reshaping the neighborhood’s cultural and commercial identity.
Late 20th Century: The Global Neighborhood
By the 1980s and 1990s, Jackson Heights had transformed into one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world. Immigrants from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Tibet settled alongside older European-American families, creating a unique mosaic of languages, cuisines, and traditions. The commercial corridors along Roosevelt Avenue, 37th Avenue, and 82nd Street became microcosms of global Queens: sari shops beside taquerías, halal butchers beside Colombian bakeries, and travel agencies serving every continent.
This era also saw the rise of Jackson Heights as a cultural and political hub. The neighborhood became home to one of New York’s largest LGBTQ+ communities outside Manhattan, centered around 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue. The first Queens Pride Parade was held here in 1993 in response to violence against local activist Julio Rivera, marking a turning point in the borough’s social history.
Meanwhile, preservationists successfully secured Historic District designation for the original Garden City core in 1993—ensuring that its distinctive prewar co-ops and green courtyards would remain protected from high-rise development. This 325-acre landmarked zone remains one of the largest such residential districts in New York City.
21st Century: Diversity, Preservation, and Urban Vitality
Today, Jackson Heights embodies the global city at its most human scale. More than 150 languages are spoken within its borders, and its culinary landscape is world-renowned—from Himalayan momo carts and Indian chaat stalls to Colombian areperías and Ecuadorian seafood cafés. Travers Park and the Open Streets on 34th Avenue, now transformed into a linear promenade, serve as the neighborhood’s civic heart, hosting farmers’ markets, cultural festivals, and community gatherings that reflect its pluralism.
The area’s infrastructure and housing have also undergone gradual renewal, balancing modernization with preservation. Longtime co-op residents coexist with newer renters, artists, and professionals seeking affordable proximity to Manhattan. The 7 train, E, F, M, and R lines connect Jackson Heights seamlessly to every part of the city, ensuring its continued vitality as both home and hub.
Community organizations—such as the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and Queens Pride Alliance—have strengthened local participation, advocating for environmental sustainability, historic stewardship, and social equity. While gentrification pressures are mounting along Roosevelt Avenue, the neighborhood’s deep-rooted civic infrastructure has thus far preserved its inclusive character.
Spirit and Legacy
Jackson Heights’ legacy is one of design and diversity—of how a neighborhood built on early 20th-century ideals of planning and beauty evolved into a 21st-century microcosm of the world. Its red-brick co-ops and hidden gardens still whisper of Edward MacDougall’s Garden City dream, even as its streets pulse with the languages, aromas, and music of five continents.
At sunset, when the 7 train glides above Roosevelt Avenue and the air fills with the scent of empanadas, incense, and roasted corn, Jackson Heights feels like a living intersection of past and present—a neighborhood that proves New York’s greatest experiment is not just vertical, but communal. It is a place where the idea of the city itself continues to be reimagined, one block, one garden, and one family at a time.
New York City
Use this custom Google map to explore where every neighborhood in all five boroughs of New York City is located.
The Five Boroughs
One of New York City’s unique qualities is its organization in to 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. These boroughs are part pragmatic administrative districts, and part vestiges of the region’s past. Each borough is an entire county in New York State - in fact, Brooklyn is, officially, Kings County, while Staten Island is, officially Richmond County. But that’s not the whole story …
Initially, New York City was located on the southern tip of Manhattan (now the Financial District) that was once the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Across the East River, another city was rising: Brooklyn. In time, the city planners realized that unification between the rapidly rising cities would create commercial and industrial opportunities - through streamlined administration of the region.
So powerful was the pull of unification between New York and Brooklyn that three more counties were pulled into the unification: The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. And on January 1, 1898, the City of New York unified two cities and three counties into one Greater City of New York - containing the five boroughs we know today.
But because each borough developed differently and distinctly until unification, their neighborhoods likewise uniquely developed. Today, there are nearly 390 neighborhoods, each with their own histories, cultures, cuisines, and personalities - and each with residents who are fiercely proud of their corner of The Big Apple.
