Merrick Road is an east–west urban arterial in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, Nassau, and

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

counties in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is known as Merrick Boulevard or Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in Queens, within

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Merrick Road runs east from the Queens neighborhood of

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

through Merrick past the county line between Nassau and

into Amityville, where it becomes

Montauk Highway Montauk Highway is an east–west road extending for across the southern shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, in the United States. It extends from the Amityville, New York, Amityville–Copiague, New York, Copiague line, where ...

at the Amityville– Copiague village/hamlet line. The easternmost portion of Merrick Road, from Carman Mill Road to its eastern terminus, is signed as part of New York State Route 27A (NY 27A). At one time, the entire length of Merrick Road east of Baisley Boulevard was signed as NY 27A; currently, the entire portion within Nassau County is currently designated as the unsigned County Route 27 (CR 27). Merrick Road travels along an old right-of-way that was one of the original paths across southern

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, stretching from Queens to Montauk Point. Merrick Road's name comes from the Algonquin word ''"Meroke"'', meaning "oyster bed". The section of Merrick Boulevard in Queens was renamed Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in October 2020, in honor of

Floyd Flake Floyd Harold Flake (born January 30, 1945) is an American businessman, minister, and former politician who was the senior pastor of the 23,000-member Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens, New York, and the 18th ...

, senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica.

Route description

Merrick Road Historic Marker 20240919 135437

Merrick Boulevard, also known as Floyd H. Flake Boulevard, begins at NY 25 (Hillside Avenue) as a two-lane, one-way street heading eastbound (compass south at this point), which continues north of Hillside Avenue as 166th Street. Two blocks to the south of Hillside Avenue, Merrick Boulevard passes by the Central Branch of the

Queens 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 ...

and the

165th Street Bus Terminal The 165th Street Bus Terminal, also known as Jamaica Bus Terminal, the Long Island Bus Terminal (the name emblazoned on the entranceway's red tiles), Jamaica−165th Street Terminal (as signed on buses towards the terminal), or simply 165th Stre ...

. A block to its east, 168th Street provides for westbound traffic. Just south of Liberty Avenue, the two directions join together to form a four-lane,

divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. What is being divided is called the ''dividend'', which is divided by the ''divisor'', and the result is called the ...

Merrick Boulevard. Among the parks that the road passes are Proctor-Hopson Circle, St. Albans Park, and Roy Wilkins Park. Merrick Boulevard gradually turns southeast and east, passing through

Springfield Gardens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to th ...

, Laurelton and crossing the

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of controlled-access highway, controlled-access Parkways in New York, parkways that form a belt-like circle around the Borough (New York City), New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt ...

before leaving

into Nassau County, where it becomes Merrick Road. The section of Merrick Boulevard in Queens was renamed Floyd H. Flake Boulevard in October 2020, in honor of

, senior pastor of the Greater Allen A. M. E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica. Merrick Road is one of the old roads along the southern side of

; it has since been replaced by

Sunrise Highway New York State Route 27 (NY 27) is a long state highway that runs east–west from Interstate 278 (I-278) in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Montauk Point State Park on Long Island, New York. Its two most prominent co ...

( NY 27) for most through traffic. At

Rockville Centre Rockville Centre, commonly abbreviated as RVC, is an incorporated village located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 26,016 at the time of the 2020 cen ...

, bridges take it over NY 27, with four directional ramps forming a partial

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

. Farther east, it serves as the southern end for state roads such as NY 107, NY 110, and the Seaford–Oyster Bay Expressway ( NY 135). NY 27A begins as a split from NY 27 in East Massapequa, where NY 27 leaves the original Sunrise Gold Circle, which is now Old Sunrise Highway (unsigned NY 900D) east of the split. NY 27A quickly turns south off Old Sunrise Highway onto Carman Mill Road, which ends at Merrick Road. Merrick Road from that point east continues through Massapequa over the Nassau/Suffolk border into Amityville, Suffolk County, where it becomes

at the Amityville/Copiague village/hamlet line. Amityville is the only town in Suffolk County where southernmost major road is known as Merrick Road (it is known as

in every other settlement along the South Shore of Suffolk County. Both the Meadowbrook State Parkway and the Wantagh State Parkway have interchanges with Merrick Road. A truck needing to make a delivery to the barrier beaches along Ocean Parkway may enter the Meadowbrook southbound at this road and at no point farther north.

Transportation

The Q5 is the main option for public transportation in

, running on Merrick Boulevard between Archer Avenue and Hook Creek Boulevard. The Q84 and the Q85 both serve Merrick Boulevard between Archer Avenue and Baisley Boulevard, and the Q4 serves it between Archer Avenue and

Linden Boulevard Linden Boulevard is a boulevard in New York City and Nassau County. Its western end is at Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, where Linden Boulevard travels as an eastbound-only street to Caton Avenue, where it becomes a two-way street. The boule ...

. Other routes serving the boulevard include the , n1, n6/n6x, n22/n22x, n24, and n26. The n4/n4x is the main mode of public transportation on Merrick Road in Nassau County, serving it between Jamaica Center Bus Terminal and Freeport LIRR, running closed door service in Queens, with the n19 serving Merrick Road between Freeport LIRR and Unqua Road. A portion of the road is also served by the n1.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Queens Streets Streets in Queens, New York Transportation in Nassau County, New York County routes in Nassau County, New York

Route description

Transportation

Major intersections

See also

References

External links