BAY TERRACE, LONG ISLAND

Bay Terrace, Long Island

Bay Terrace is a neighborhood located in the borough of Queens and is often considered part of Bayside, Long Island, New York. It is part of Queens Community Board 7. The neighborhood overlooks the East River and the approaches to the Throgs Neck Bridge from the Clearview Expressway and Cross Island Parkway.

Bay Terrace is also a shortened name for the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, a center of activity for many locals. It is to the eternal credit of modern US society and enterprise to have made such a recreation form out of the everyday urban necessity of shopping.

It was started when the Bell family (after whom Bell Boulevard is named) had a farm in Bay Terrace, at the site of the Towers at Water’s Edge near 18th Ave which was constructed in the late 1960s in between Bell Blvd. and the Cross Island Parkway. In 1950s, several housing projects made Bay Terrace a place in its own right. It was believed as a residential quarter. The idea was to use its excellent location for people to live in the lap of nature. But before the construction of apartment houses on the overlooking hill, the hill behind the shopping center was the favored sledding hill in the neighborhood. In the long field below the hill, there was a large (2-4 meter diameter) free-standing rounded boulder which named it "Godzilla's Eyeball" by Robert Kanzaki and Paul Lieberman.

Bay Terrace has been a chaotic place in the last five decades but substantially different today from the quiet neighborhood that it was meant to be. The neighborhood holds lessons for peers and successors and is not beyond repair itself. Time allocation and zoning for parking are examples of how communities can live well with constraints.

The New York City Department of Education operates Bay Terrace public schools. There is one elementary school in the area which is PS 169 Bay Terrace School. Most students in Bay Terrace attend IS 25 Adrien Block Intermediate School. The area is also served by Queens Borough Public Library. The Bay Terrace Jewish Center and Hebrew and Sunday school along with a large Jewish community center with programs for toddlers through seniors including a pool and tennis center, provide opportunities for individuals and families to participate in an active Jewish life. Bay Terrace is also known for its shopping centers. Parking and access are major concerns, especially when the place is scenic, close to nature and meant for residence and for essential services. The Bay Terrace Shopping Center is the most famous attraction in town. It is big enough to stretch beyond the strictly original limits of the area after which it is named. Heavily advertised brands such as The Gap, Ann Taylor Loft, Express, Aldo, Victoria’s Secret, and many more are laid with individually owned stores and outlets with specialty goods and services. It is also an ideal place for a quick stop, a days shopping or a night on the town.