HUNTERS POINT, LONG ISLAND

Hunters Point, Long Island

Hunters Point is a neighborhood located on the south side of Long Island, in the New York City borough of Queens and a part of Queens Community Board 2. It was bounded by the commercial waterways of Newton Creek and the East River and became a highly industrialized area in the 19th century.

To the west is Manhattan with the UN and Chrysler Building at spitting distance. South is Newtown Creek and Green point. To the east are the rail yards and Sunnyside, and north is Queens Plaza and Dutch Kills. The neighborhood peers into the mouth of the Midtown Tunnel, which brings the LIE to Manhattan. Hunters Point is known a safe neighborhood, though the more desolate areas, especially toward Queens Plaza are best avoided at night.

The neighborhood has a Long Island Rail Road station at the intersection of Hunters Point Avenue and Skillman Avenue. Hunters Point has been about transportation since 1861, when the LIRR moved its main terminus here from Brooklyn. Train travelers disembarked and boarded ferries to Manhattan and a community developed serving this trade. In the summer months, the New York Water Taxi Company operates Water Taxi Beach, a public beach artificially created on a wharf along the East River, accessible at the corner of Second Street and Borden Avenue. From nearby Queens Plaza, the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge is a free way to Manhattan that opened in 1909.

The Hunters Point is defined by the East River waterfront through its many factories with brilliant views of the Manhattan skyline and now its ads for future condos. The Brownstones in Hunters Point in 45th Avenue between 21st and 23rd Streets is one of the best attractions and now as historic district that appears to be the only brownstones in Long Island City. There are also new schools, businesses, playgrounds and high rise apartments in the area. Main drag Vernon Boulevard is all restaurants, bars, and shops until about 47th Ave, where warehouses take over. Wide Jackson Avenue is a major thoroughfare with a more industrial-commercial mix, leading to Court Square. Houses in Hunters Point are very much expensive and it usually ranges from $500k+. Some local spokesmen claim the presence of high-rent apartments at Hunters Point will enhance demand for homes in and near the site, encouraging owners of nearby small buildings to charge rents that their present tenants cannot afford. They insist that 20 percent of the new apartments be available to those who cannot pay market rents. The Queens West's Citylights (condos) and Avalon Riverside (apartments) are Hunters Point's premier housing.