Parsons Boulevard is a road 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 ...

, New York. The north-south street’s northern end is at Malba Drive in the Malba neighborhood while the southern end is at Archer Avenue in the central-downtown area of the

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 ...

neighborhood.

Route

The road stretches for nearly six miles, divided into four segments: * Malba Drive to Whitestone Expressway: * Whitestone Expressway to Rose Avenue at Kissena Park: * Booth Memorial Avenue to Horace Harding Expressway: * Horace Harding Expressway to Archer Avenue:

History

Parsons Boulevard takes its name from Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr. (1819–1906). His father was Samuel Parsons (1774–1841) who moved to Flushing from

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

around 1800 and married Mary Bowne, a descendant of prominent local settler John Bowne. Samuel Bowne Parsons Sr. was an accomplished and well noted horticulturist, who was the first to import Japanese Maples and propagate

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

s. Parsons' nursery was located within present-day Kissena Park. The oldest section of Parsons Boulevard is between Kissena Boulevard in Kew Gardens Hills and Archer Avenue in

. Dating to the colonial period, this segment, together with Kissena Boulevard, connected the early settlements of Jamaica and Flushing. The most recent section of Parsons Boulevard was completed in 1951, during the construction of the Pomonok apartments. In contrast to most boulevards in Queens, Parsons is not regarded as a major transportation route because it is broken into four segments, with the section through Kissena Park having never been built, along with the Whitestone Expressway and Long Island Expressway interrupting its route.

Transportation

Parsons Boulevard is served by the following bus routes: * The Q20B, Q44, and select buses run between Willets Point Boulevard and 14th Avenue, along with the Q20A south of, and the north of, 20th Avenue. ** The Union Street local stop is on Willets Point. * All Q25 and some Q34 buses run between Kissena Boulevard and either Jamaica Avenue (Jamaica), or Archer Avenue (opposite terminals). They are joined with the at Hillside Avenue. * After terminating in Jamaica, the Q111, Q113, and Q114 buses run from Hillside Avenue to Archer Avenue for their opposite terminals. The follows suit but its Jamaica terminus is at 89th Avenue and it leaves at Jamaica Avenue, along with most buses from 88th Avenue. * The Electchester-bound runs from Jewel Avenue to 71st Avenue. * The peak hour runs between Sanford & 46th Avenues. Parsons Boulevard is also the name of the following

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

stations in Queens: * Parsons Boulevard, on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, served by the * Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, on the IND and BMT Archer Avenue Lines, served by the

References

Streets in Queens, New York Flushing, Queens Jamaica, Queens {{NYC-road-stub