Queens Village is a mostly residential

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...

neighborhood in the eastern part of the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. It is bound by Hollis to the west,

Cambria Heights Cambria Heights is a residential neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Springfield Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the west, the Elmont, Nassau County border on the east, Qu ...

to the south, Bellerose to the east, and

Oakland Gardens Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meadows ...

to the north. Shopping in the community is located along Braddock Avenue,

Hillside Avenue Hillside may refer to the side of a hill. Places Australia * Hillside mine, a proposed mine on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia * Hillside, New South Wales *Hillside, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne Canada * Hillside, Nova Scotia United Ki ...

Hempstead Avenue New York State Route 24 (NY 24) is a east–west state highway on Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. The highway is split into two segments, with the longest and westernmost of the two extending from an interchange with ...

, and

Jamaica Avenue Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...

( NY 25), as well as on

Springfield Boulevard Springfield Boulevard is a major north/south roadway that runs through the eastern section of Queens, New York (state), New York. It is long and goes from New York State Route 25A, Northern Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, Bayside, to 147th Avenue ...

. Located just east of Queens Village, in Nassau County, is the Belmont Park race track. Close to the neighborhood are

Cunningham Park Cunningham Park is a park in the New York City borough of Queens. The park lies between the Grand Central Parkway to the south and the Long Island Expressway, and is bifurcated by the Clearview Expressway. The park is operated by the New York Ci ...

and

Alley Pond Park Alley Pond Park is the second-largest public park in Queens, New York City, occupying . The park is bordered to the east by Douglaston, to the west by Bayside, to the north by Little Neck Bay, and to the south by Union Turnpike. The Cross ...

, as well as the historic Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP), home of the turn of the century racing competition, the Vanderbilt Cup. The LIMP was built by

William Kissam Vanderbilt William Kissam "Willie" Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and horsebreeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments. Early life William Kiss ...

, a descendant of the family that presided over the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

and

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company cha ...

; it is now part of the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway. Queens Village is located in Queens Community District 13 and its ZIP Codes are 11427, 11428, and 11429. It is patrolled by the

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

's 105th Precinct. Politically, Queens Village is represented by the New York City Council's 23rd District.

History

Queens Village was founded as Little Plains in the 1640s. Homage to this part of Queens Village history is found on the sign above the Long Island Railroad Station there. In 1824, Thomas Brush established a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop in the area. He prospered and built several other shops and a factory, and the area soon became known as Brushville. On March 1, 1837, the railroad arrived. The first station in the area was called Flushing Avenue in 1837, Delancy Avenue by June 20, 1837, and Brushville by November 27, 1837, likely about a mile west of the present station. In 1856, residents voted to change the name from Brushville to Queens. Votes on names are often about the name of the post office, which may serve several smaller surrounding communities as well. The name "Inglewood" also was used for both the village and the train station in the 1860s and 1870s. The name ''Brushville'' was still used in an 1860 ''New York Times'' article, but both "Queens" and "Brushville" are used in an 1870 article. Maps from 1873 show portions of Queens Village (then called Inglewood and Queens) in the town of Hempstead, but 1891 maps show it entirely in the town of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. After the Borough of Queens became incorporated as part of the City of Greater New York in 1898, and the new county of Nassau was created in 1899, the border between the city and Nassau County was set directly east of Queens Village. A 1901 article in the Brooklyn Eagle already uses the full name ''Queens Village'', a name that had been used as late as the 1880s for Lloyd's Neck in present-day Suffolk County. In 1923, the Long Island Railroad added "Village" to its station's name to avoid confusion with the county of the same name, and thus the neighborhood became known as Queens Village. Queens Village was part of an overall housing boom that was spreading east through Queens from New York as people from the city sought the bucolic life afforded by the less-crowded atmosphere of the area. Today, many of those charming and well-maintained Dutch Colonial and Tudor homes built in Queens Village during the 1920s and 1930s continue to attract a diverse population.

Other Queens Village on Long Island

Lloyd Harbor, New York Lloyd Harbor is a village in the Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village's population was 3,660. History In 1654, the Matinecock Native Americ ...

, which was formerly in Queens County but now in Suffolk County, was known as Queens Village from 1685 until as late as 1883. In 1885, known then as Lloyd Neck, it seceded from Queens County and became part of the town of Huntington in Suffolk County.

Subsections

Bellaire

Bellaire is in western Queens Village next to Hollis and covers the area surrounding Jamaica Avenue and 211th Street. Bellaire is the largest section of Queens Village. The area considered Bellaire usually falls under the general title of Queens Village. There was once a Long Island Rail Road station named Bellaire. 211th Street, formerly known as Belleaire Boulevard has traffic medians on it indicating its history as the main route through this section of Queens Village.

Hollis Hills

Hollis Hills is an affluent subsection, generally bounded by

to the east,

Grand Central Parkway The Grand Central Parkway (GCP) is a 14.61-mile (23.51 km) long parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens–Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, ...

the south, Hollis Hills Terrace to the west, and Kingsbury Avenue and Richland Avenue the north. It is slightly above sea level due to a retreating glacier from the last Ice Age. A small pond called Potamogeton Pond exists at Bell Boulevard on the north side of Grand Central Parkway. Most homes in Hollis Hills are of the Colonial, Tudor, and Ranch styles. Houses here attract predominantly the upper-middle class as some houses in the area can fetch prices of $1,500,000 or higher. This neighborhood, similar to Douglaston, is a quasi-suburb, with detached homes sitting on large tree-lined lots. Surrey Estates, a section of Hollis Hills, is a smaller triangle of architecturally notable homes surrounded by old, large trees and is bound by Union Turnpike, Springfield Boulevard, and Hartland Avenue within Hollis Hills. Notable institutions in Hollis Hills are The Chapel of the Redeemer Lutheran, Hollis Hills Jewish Center (founded in 1948), American Martyrs Catholic Church, the Windsor Park Branch of the

Queens Public Library The Queens Public Library (QPL), also known as the Queens Borough Public Library and Queens Library (QL), is the public library for the borough of Queens, and one of three public library systems serving New York City. It is one of the largest li ...

, the John Hamburg Community Center, Kingsbury Elementary School (P.S. 188), Hollis Hills Civic Association, and Surrey Estates Homeowners Association.

Demographics

Queens Village, like many parts of

, is diverse. The neighborhood is mainly

Caribbean American Caribbean Americans or West Indian Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. Caribbean Americans are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the ...

, Guyanese,

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

, and Jamaican people also have significant populations among the 48,670 people living within the area. Formerly, a very large

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community existed. However, many Jewish families have left for other parts of Queens and parts of Long Island. Still, there is a small Jewish presence in Queens Village that has recently been augmented by an increase of Middle Eastern Jews. There has also been an increase in the number of Asian American residents. Based on data from the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, the population of Queens Village was 52,504, a decrease of 5,200 (9.0%) from the 57,704 counted in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -

Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 50.2% (26,376)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 16.0% (8,424) Asian, 6.3% (3,304)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.5% (279) Native American, 0.1% (64)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 3.9% (2,066) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

and 4.4% (2,320) from two or more races.

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 18.4% (9,671) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010
Population Division -

Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016. The entirety of Community Board 13, which mainly comprises Queens Village but also includes other areas, had 193,787 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 82.9 years. This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are youth and middle-aged adults: 20% are between the ages of between 0–17, 26% between 25–44, and 29% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 16% respectively. As of 2017, the median

household income Household income is a measure of the combined incomes of all people sharing a particular household or place of residence. It includes every form of income, e.g., salaries and wages, retirement income, near cash government transfers like food stamp ...

in Community Board 13 was $85,857. In 2018, an estimated 13% of Queens Village residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 50% in Queens Village, lower than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Queens Village are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not

gentrifying Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

Police and crime

Queens Village is patrolled by the 105th Precinct of the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

, located at 92-08 222nd Street. The 105th Precinct ranked 17th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. , with a non-fatal assault rate of 29 per 100,000 people, Queens Village's rate of

violent crime A violent crime, violent felony, crime of violence or crime of a violent nature is a crime in which an offender or perpetrator uses or threatens to use harmful force upon a victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objecti ...

s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 378 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole. The 105th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 79.4% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct reported 9 murders, 24 rapes, 197 robberies, 405 felony assaults, 266 burglaries, 589 grand larcenies, and 164 grand larcenies auto in 2018.

Fire safety

Queens Village contains a

New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...

(FDNY) fire station, Engine Co. 304/Ladder Co. 162, at 218-44 97th Avenue.

Health

preterm birth Preterm birth, also known as premature birth, is the birth of a baby at fewer than 37 weeks gestational age, as opposed to full-term delivery at approximately 40 weeks. Extreme preterm is less than 28 weeks, very early preterm birth is between 2 ...

s are more common in Queens Village than in other places citywide, though births to teenage mothers are less common. In Queens Village, there were 111 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 8.8 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide). Queens Village has an about-average population of residents who are

uninsured Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to Hedge ( ...

. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 11%, about the same as the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of

air pollutant Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

, in Queens Village is , less than the city average. Twelve percent of Queens Village residents are smokers, which is lower than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers. In Queens Village, 27% of residents are

obese Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

, 14% are

diabetic Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

, and 37% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 22%, 8%, and 23% respectively. In addition, 20% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Eighty-six percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly less than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 74% of residents described their health as "good," "very good," or "excellent," lower than the city's average of 78%. For every supermarket in Queens Village, there are 14 bodegas. The nearest major hospitals are Jamaica Hospital and

Queens Hospital Center Queens Hospital Center (QHC), also known as NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens and originally called Queens General Hospital, is a large public hospital campus in the Jamaica Hills and Hillcrest neighborhoods of Queens in New York City. It is operat ...

, both located in Jamaica.

Post offices and ZIP Codes

Queens Village is covered by 3 ZIP Codes. From north to south they are 11427 north of 90th Avenue, 11428 between 90th and 99th Avenues, and 11429 between 99th and 114th Avenues. The

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the ...

operates one post office nearby: the Queens Village Station at 209-20 Jamaica Avenue.

Education

Queens Village generally has a similar rate of college-educated residents to the rest of the city . While 38% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 13% have less than a high school education and 49% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher. The percentage of Queens Village students excelling in math rose from 42% in 2000 to 59% in 2011, and reading achievement decreased slightly from 52% to 50% during the same time period. Queens Village's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Queens Village, 15% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per

school year A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compul ...

, lower than the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 83% of high school students in Queens Village graduate on time, higher than the citywide average of 75%.

Schools

Public schools in Queens Village are operated by the

New York City Department of Education The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

and include the following: * P.S. 018 The Winchester School * P.S./I.S. 295 * P.S. 33 Edward M Funk School * P.S. 95 Eastwood School * I.S. 109 Jean Nuzzi Intermediate School * M.S 172 Irwin Altman * Queens Gateway to Health Sciences Secondary School * P.S. 034 John Harvard School * P.S. 135 The Bellaire School * P.S.188 *

Martin Van Buren High School Martin Van Buren High School (MVBHS) is a public high school in Queens Village, New York. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. Academics The high school is accredited by the New York State Board of Regents.

Private schools include: * Saints Joachim and Anne School * Grace Lutheran Day School * St. Joseph's Episcopal Day School * Incarnation R.C. School

Library

The

operates the Queens Village branch at 94-11 217th Street.

Transportation

Queens Village Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the north ...

station, located at Amboy Lane (on the corner of Springfield Boulevard and Jamaica Avenue), offers service on the Long Island Rail Road's

Hempstead Branch The Hempstead Branch is an electrified rail line and service owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. The branch begins at the Main Line at Queens Interlocking, just east of Queens Village station. It pa ...

. Though no New York City Subway stations serve Queens Village, there are several bus routes that connect to the subway, including

MTA Regional Bus Operations MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...

' , and

Nassau Inter-County Express The Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) is the local bus system serving Nassau County, New York. It also serves parts of western Suffolk County, New York as well as eastern portions of the New York City borough of Queens. It was formerly operated ...

' routes. In addition, the MTA's express bus runs directly to Manhattan. Queens Village is served by intercity buses operated by

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

, Short Line, and

Adirondack Trailways Trailways of New York is one of the largest privately held transportation companies based in New York State. It employs over 450 people and carries passengers more than 80 million miles annually. TrailwaysNY, as it is known, operates over 150 tr ...

. These buses stop near the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Springfield Boulevard.

Notable residents

Chy Davidson Chy Davidson (born May 9, 1959) is a former American football wide receiver who played two seasons with the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the eleventh round of the 1981 NFL Su ...

(born 1959), former NFL wide receiver who played two seasons with the New York Jets. * George Gately (1928–2001), creator of the '' Heathcliff'' comic stripHernandez, Cava
"George Gately : Creador del gato Heathcliff"
''

El Mundo (Spain) ''El Mundo'' (; ), before ''El Mundo del Siglo Veintiuno'', is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. The paper is considered one of the country's newspapers of record along with ''El País and ABC.'' History and profile ''El M ...

'', October 6, 2001. Accessed November 20, 2007. "George Gately Gallagher nació en Queens Village, Nueva York, en 1928, meses antes de que estallase la Gran Depresión. Pero, a todos los efectos, hay que considerarle un habitante de New Jersey, en cuya localidad de Bergenfield es donde transcurrieron su infancia y su adolescencia." *

Nancy Malone __NOTOC__ Nancy Malone (born Anne Josefa Maloney March 19, 1935 – May 8, 2014) was an American television actress from the 1950s to 1970s, who later moved into producing and directing in the 1980s and 1990s. Television Malone appeared in a nu ...

(1935-2014), actor, director, producer, television executive * Charles Henry Miller (1842–1922), landscape painter * Paul Newman (1925-2008), actor, from 1953-54 * The Rockin' Chairs, a doo-wop group in the 1950s *

Tevi Troy Tevi David Troy is a best-selling presidential historian and the former United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (August 2007 - January 2009) during the Presidency of George W. Bush. He also served as a senior White House aide ...

, Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services *

Melvyn Weiss Melvyn I. Weiss (August 1, 1935 – February 2, 2018) was an American attorney who co-founded plaintiff class action law firm Milberg Weiss. Early life and education Born in The Bronx, Weiss grew up in Hollis Hills, Queens and attended Jamaic ...

(1935-2018), attorney who co-founded the plaintiff class action law firm

Milberg Weiss Milberg LLP (formerly known as Milberg Weiss LLP and Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP) is a US plaintiffs' law firm, established in 1965 and based in New York City. It has mounted many class action cases on behalf of investors, and has been rec ...

. Roberts, Sam
"Melvyn Weiss, Lawyer Who Fought Corporate Fraud, Dies at 82"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', February 5, 2018. Accessed February 5, 2018. "He was raised in the Hollis Hills section of Queens and graduated from Jamaica High School. He helped his father keep the books for small businesses while earning a bachelor’s degree from City College of New York in 1956. He graduated from New York University Law School in 1959 and served in the Army."