Queens Plaza

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Lore & Background

The area was originally known as West Flushing. One theory holds that it was renamed by music producer Benjamin W. Hitchcock, a developer who renamed the area in 1872 and sold off land for residential development. Another theory is that real estate developer Thomas Waite Howard, who became the first postmaster in 1872, petitioned to have the post office name changed to Corona in 1870, suggesting that it was the 'crown of Queens County'. A third theory is that the name Corona derives from the crown used as an emblem by the Crown Building Company, which is said to have developed the area. The Italian immigrants who moved into the new housing stock referred to the neighborhood by the Italian or Spanish word for 'crown', or corona. Corona was a late-19th-century residential development in the northeastern corner of the old Town of Newtown. Real estate speculators from New York started the community in 1854, the same year that the New York and Flushing Railroad began service to the area largely to serve a newly opened race course. It was at the Fashion Course in 1858 that the first games of baseball to charge admission took place. The games, which took place between the All Stars of Brooklyn and the All Stars of New York, are commonly believed to be the first all-star baseball games and in essence the birthplace of professional baseball. A trophy baseball from this tournament sold in 2005 for nearly $500,000.

In Their Own Story

During the second half of the 1940s through the 1960s, many legendary African-American musicians, civil rights leaders and athletes moved to the neighborhood. In the last half of the 20th century, Corona saw dramatic ethnic successions. In the 1950s, what was predominantly an Italian-American and African-American neighborhood began to give way to an influx of Dominicans. In the late 1990s, Corona saw a new wave of immigrants from Latin America. The area north of Roosevelt Avenue contained the heart of the historic African-American community. The intersection of 108th Street and Corona Avenue is the historic center of the Italian-American community, sometimes referred to as Corona Heights. The majority Hispanic community now consists of Dominicans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Bolivians, Peruvians, Mexicans, Venezuelans, and Chileans. There are also Asian Americans (Chinese, Indians, Koreans, Filipinos, and Japanese) as well as Italian Americans and African Americans. The Dorie Miller Residential Cooperative, built in 1952, comprises six buildings, containing 300 apartments, with 1,300 rooms in total. The cooperative is named after Doris 'Dorie' Miller, a U.S. Naval hero at Pearl Harbor and the first African-American recipient of the Navy Cross. Among its original residents were jazz greats Nat Adderley & Jimmy Heath; Kenneth and Corien Drew, publishers of Queens' first African-American newspaper, The Corona East Elmhurst News, Thelma E. Harris founder of Aburi Press and prominent Queens Judge Henry A. Slaughter. Corona was also the childhood home of Marie Maynard Daly, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.

Reader's Guide

The Louis Armstrong House attracts visitors to the neighborhood and preserves the legacy of musician Louis Armstrong, one of Corona's most prominent historical residents. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The Lemon Ice King of Corona, an ices shop, is located at 52nd Avenue, Corona Avenue, and 108th Street. Founded in 1944 by Peter Benfaremo, it is a neighborhood point of interest. The shop attracts international tourists due to having been featured in the opening credits of the TV show The King of Queens. Corona used to have three kettle ponds. One of them, Linden Pond, was located a block south of 103rd Street–Corona Plaza station and was the centerpiece of Park of the Americas, located near the original center of Corona. The pond had become a public health hazard by the early 20th century, and was renovated in 1912; it was removed altogether when the park was renovated in 1947. The second was Shady Lake, located at what is now the intersection of 53rd Avenue, Corona Avenue, and 108th Street. The pond, originally used to harvest ice, was drained in the 20th century; the Lemon Ice King of Corona and William F. Moore Park are now located near the site. A third, Backus Lake at 98th Street and 31st Avenue, was also considered a nuisance by the 1900s, and was drained in 1917. Corona Plaza, located at Roosevelt Avenue and National Street, was previously an underutilized lot and truck route that was transformed over the course of several years into a pedestrian plaza. The space was first transformed in 2012 as a temporary plaza with chairs and tables that prohibited through traffic. It was later made permanent by the Department of Design and Construction, which filled in the lot with concrete, added built-in seating and a performance space, new pedestrian lighting, and plants. The plaza was fully implemented in early 2018 at a cost of around $5.6 million.

Did You Know?

• At the Fashion Course in Corona in 1858, the first games of baseball to charge admission took place, commonly believed to be the first all-star baseball games and the birthplace of professional baseball.
• A trophy baseball from the 1858 tournament sold in 2005 for nearly $500,000.
• The Lemon Ice King of Corona, founded in 1944 by Peter Benfaremo, attracts international tourists due to being featured in the opening credits of the TV show The King of Queens.
• Corona was the childhood home of Marie Maynard Daly, the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry.
• The Dorie Miller Residential Cooperative, built in 1952, is named after Doris 'Dorie' Miller, the first African-American recipient of the Navy Cross.