View source for Jackson Heights

{{short description|Neighborhood in New York City}}
{{otheruses}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Jackson Heights
| settlement_type          = [[Neighborhoods of Queens|Neighborhood of Queens]]
| image_skyline            = 74th St shopping Jax Hts jeh.jpg
| imagesize                = 300px
| image_alt                =
| image_caption            = [[Indians in the New York City metropolitan region|Little India]] on 74th Street in Jackson Heights
| image                    = <!-- other image (specify File: or Image: namespace) -->
| nickname                 =
| motto                    =
| anthem                   =
| image_map                = {{maplink|frame=y|plain=y|frame-align=center|zoom=12|type=shape|from=Neighbourhoods/New York City/Jackson Heights Queens.map}}<!--{{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-lat=40.705|frame-long=-73.975|zoom=9|type=point|coord={{coord|40.755|-73.885}}}}-->
| mapsize                  = <!-- If used, px must be specified; default is 250px. -->
| map_caption              = Location within New York City<br />Note: red area overlaps with East Elmhurst.

<!-- location ------------------>
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{flag|United States}}
| subdivision_type1        = State
| subdivision_name1        = {{flag|New York}}
| subdivision_type2        = City
| subdivision_name2        = [[New York City]]
| subdivision_type3        = [[Borough (New York City)|Borough]]
| subdivision_name3        = [[Queens]]
| subdivision_type4        = [[Community boards of Queens|Community District]]
| subdivision_name4        = [[Queens Community Board 3|Queens 3]]<ref name="NYCPlanning">{{cite web|title=NYC Planning {{!}} Community Profiles|url=https://communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov/queens/3|website=communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov|publisher=New York City Department of City Planning|access-date=April 7, 2018}}</ref>

<!-- established --------------->
| established_title        = <!-- Settled -->
| established_date         =
| established_title1       = <!-- Incorporated (town) -->
| established_date1        =
| founder                  =
| named_for                = <!-- population ---------------->
| population_footnotes     = <ref name=PLP5/>
| population_total         = 108,152
| population_as_of         = 2010
| population_density_km2   = <!-- for automatic calculation of any density field, use: auto -->
| population_density_sq_mi =
| population_demonym       = <!-- demonym, ie. Liverpudlian for someone from Liverpool -->
| population_note          = <!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1       = Ethnicity
| demographics1_footnotes  = <ref name=PLP3A/>
| demographics1_title1     = Hispanic
| demographics1_info1      = 49.2%
| demographics1_title2     = Asian
| demographics1_info2      = 26.5%
| demographics1_title3     = White
| demographics1_info3      = 16.4%
| demographics1_title4     = Black
| demographics1_info4      = 4.5%
| demographics1_title5     = Other/Multiracial
| demographics1_info5      = 3.4%

<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2       =
| demographics2_footnotes  = <!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| demographics2_title1     =
| demographics2_info1      = <!-- postal codes, area code, website --->
| timezone                 = [[Eastern Time Zone (North America)|EST]]
| utc_offset               = −5
| timezone_DST             = [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]]
| utc_offset_DST           = −4
| postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]
| postal_code              = 11372 (primary) & 11370 (though often regarded more as part of [[East Elmhurst]])
| area_code_type           = [[Telephone numbering plan|Area code]]s
| area_code                = [[Area codes 718, 347, and 929|718, 347, 929]], and [[Area code 917|917]]
| website                  = {{URL|www.jacksonheights.nyc}} [ [[link broken]] ]
}}

'''Jackson Heights''' is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the [[Borough (New York City)|borough]] of [[Queens]] in [[New York City]]. Jackson Heights is neighbored by [[North Corona, Queens|North Corona]] to the east, [[Elmhurst, Queens|Elmhurst]] to the south, [[Woodside, Queens|Woodside]] to the west, and today northern [[Astoria, Queens|Astoria]] ([[Astoria, Queens#Ditmars|Ditmars-Steinway]]) to the northwest, and [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]] to the north and northeast. Jackson Heights has an ethnically diverse community, with half the population having been foreign-born since the 2000s. ''[[The New York Times]]'' has called it "the most culturally diverse neighborhood in New York, if not on the planet."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kimmelman |first1=Michael |title=Jackson Heights, Queens: Walk Where the World Finds a Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/27/arts/design/jackson-heights-queens-virtual-walk-tour.html |work=The New York Times |date=August 28, 2020}}</ref> According to the [[2010 United States census]], the neighborhood has a population of 108,152.<ref name="PLP5" />

The site of Jackson Heights was a vast marsh named Trains Meadow until 1909 when Edward A. MacDougall's [[Queensboro Corporation]] bought {{convert|325|acre}} of undeveloped land and farms. The Queensboro Corporation named the land Jackson Heights after Jackson Avenue, which was in turn named after John C. Jackson, a descendant of one of the original Queens families. He was a respected Queens entrepreneur. Jackson Avenue was the northern border of the ambitious Garden City development of the Queensboro Corporation. Further development arose through the development of transit and "garden apartments". "Garden homes" soon became prevalent in Jackson Heights. During the 1960s, Jackson Heights's white middle-class families began moving to the suburbs, and nonwhite residents began moving in.

Jackson Heights retains much of its residential character. It also has numerous commercial establishments clustered along 37th Avenue, as well as on several side streets served by subway stations. Most of the surviving garden city neighborhood is part of a national [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]] called the '''Jackson Heights Historic District''', which was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1999. A smaller part of the original garden city neighborhood was placed in a [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|New York City historic district]] of the same name in 1993.

Jackson Heights is in [[Queens Community Board 3|Queens Community District 3]] and its ZIP Code is 11372. The zip code 11370 is co-named with East Elmhurst.<ref name="NYCPlanning"/> It is patrolled by the [[New York City Police Department]]'s 115th Precinct.<ref name="NYPD 115th Precinct"/> Politically, Jackson Heights is represented by the [[New York City Council]]'s 21st and 25th districts.<ref>[http://www.nyc.gov/html/dc/downloads/pdf/queens.pdf Current City Council Districts for Queens County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222003335/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dc/downloads/pdf/queens.pdf |date=December 22, 2016 }}, New York City. Accessed May 5, 2017.</ref>

{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==

===Early history===
From colonial times to the 1900s, the area now known as Jackson Heights was a vast marsh named Trains Meadow.<ref name="forgotten ny2" /> Urbanization at the turn of the century was creating a New York City housing shortage and [[urban sprawl]]. [[File:Jackson Heights Advertisement by The Queensboro Corporation.jpg|thumb|Jackson Heights Advertisement by The Queensboro Corporation]] In 1909, Edward A. MacDougall's [[Queensboro Corporation]] bought {{convert|325|acre}} of undeveloped land and farms and christened them Jackson Heights after John C. Jackson, a descendant of one of the original Queens families and a respected Queens County [[entrepreneur]].<ref>Marzlock, Ron. [http://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/jackson-ave-and-its-namesake/article_42f46894-9278-5dc2-8fd9-4b50187633dd.html "Jackson Ave. and its namesake"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220100913/https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/jackson-ave-and-its-namesake/article_42f46894-9278-5dc2-8fd9-4b50187633dd.html |date=December 20, 2019 }}. ''Queens Chronicle''.  November 21, 2013.</ref><ref name="Miyares-2010">{{Cite journal|last=Miyares |first=Ines M.  |date=April 21, 2010|title=From Exclusionary Covenant to Ethnic Hyperdiversity in Jackson Heights, Queens |journal=Geographical Review|volume=94|issue=4|pages=462–483|doi=10.1111/j.1931-0846.2004.tb00183.x|s2cid=129884321 |issn=0016-7428}}</ref><ref name="huduser">{{harvnb|Kasinitz|Bazzi|Doane|1998|pp=161–177}}</ref>

[[Northern Boulevard]], a main east–west road in the neighborhood, was also originally named Jackson Avenue; that name is retained in a short stretch in [[Long Island City]].<ref name="forgotten ny">{{cite web |url=http://forgotten-ny.com/2006/04/jackson-heights-and-east-elmhurst-queens-4/ |title=JACKSON HEIGHTS and EAST ELMHURST, Queens |publisher=Forgotten NY |date=April 2006 |access-date=May 14, 2015 |author=Walsh, Kevin}}</ref> Though the land was not known for its elevation, after the land was filled to raise the terrain above the marshes of the Trains Meadow, Jackson Heights attained the highest elevation in the vicinity. The addition of the term "Heights" echoed the prestige of the neighborhood of [[Brooklyn Heights]] and indicated that Jackson Heights was meant to be an exclusive neighborhood.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /><ref name="huduser" /><ref name="hood 173"/> At that time the area could most easily be reached by ferry from Manhattan or the [[Brooklyn Bridge]].<ref name="hood 173">{{harvnb|Hood|2004|p=173}}</ref> More direct access came with the [[Queensboro Bridge]] in 1909,{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=3100}} This was followed by the elevated [[IRT Flushing Line]]—the present-day {{NYCS trains|Flushing local}}, just 20 minutes from [[Midtown Manhattan]]—in 1917,{{sfn|Maly|2005|p=105}}<ref name=p130916844>{{cite news |title=Jackson Heights Built Since 1909: Queensboro Bridge Transformed Farm Land Beyond-- New Projects in Sight |date=March 16, 1931 |page=22 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|130916844}}}}</ref> and the [[Fifth Avenue Coach Company]] double-decker coaches in 1922.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|p=3100}}

===Development===
Jackson Heights was conceived as a [[planned development]] for middle- to upper-middle-income workers looking to escape an overcrowded Manhattan. Inspired by Sir [[Ebenezer Howard]]'s [[garden city movement]],<ref name="huduser" /><ref name="karatzas">Karatzas, Daniel (1990). Jackson Heights: A Garden in the City. Privately printed</ref><ref name="Nevius-2017" /> it was laid out by Edward MacDougall's [[Queensboro Corporation]] in 1916 and began attracting residents after the arrival of the Flushing Line in 1917. The Queensboro Corporation coined the name "[[garden apartment]]" to convey the concept of apartments built around [[private park]]s. Although land for churches was provided, the apartments were limited to [[White Anglo-Saxon Protestant]]s,{{sfn|Maly|2005|p=105}} excluding Jews, Blacks, and perhaps Greeks and Italians.{{sfn|Shukla|2003|p=89}}

Several Jackson Heights buildings were built by the Queensboro Corporation as part of a planned community a few blocks from the Flushing Line between Northern Boulevard (then Jackson Avenue) and 37th Avenue, the main commercial corridor of the new development.<ref name="timeoutny 2008">{{cite web |first=Maggie |last=Samways |url=http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/features/60591/new-yorks-most-diverse-neighborhood |title=New York's Most Diverse Neighborhood |work=Time Out New York|date=March 29, 2024 }}</ref> Targeted at the middle class,{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=131}} these multi-story apartment buildings designed in the [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]] and [[neo-Tudor]] styles were based on similar ones in [[Berlin]].{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=138}} They were to share garden spaces,{{sfn|Shukla|2003|p=88}} have ornate exteriors and features such as fireplaces, parquet floors, sun rooms, and built-in bathtubs with showers;{{sfn|Hood|2004|p=176}} and be cooperatively owned.{{sfn|Shukla|2003|p=88}} In addition, the corporation divided the land into blocks and building lots, as well as installed streets, sidewalks, and power, water, and sewage lines.{{sfn|Hood|2004|p=175}}{{anchor|Linden Court}}<!--[[Linden Court]] redirects here-->

The Laurel apartment building on 82nd Street at Northern Boulevard was the first of Jackson Heights's Queensboro Corporation buildings, completed in 1914 with a small courtyard. The Greystones on either side of 80th Street between 37th and 35th avenues were completed in 1918 with a design by architect [[George H. Wells (architect)|George H. Wells]]. Leftover unused space was converted to parks, gardens, and recreational areas, including a golf course; much of this space, including the golf course, no longer exists.{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=139}} This was followed by the 1919 construction of the [[Andrew J. Thomas]]–designed Linden Court, a 10-building complex between 84th Street, 85th Street, 37th Avenue, and Roosevelt Avenue.{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=141}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jacksonheightsgardens.com/linden-court/ |title=Linden Court coop buildings one of the earliest cooperatives built in 1919 in the Historic District of Jackson Heights, NY |work=JACKSON HEIGHTS GARDENS • Real Estate Resource|date=January 27, 2024 }}</ref> The two sets of five buildings, separated by a gated garden with [[linden tree]]s and two pathways, included parking spaces with single-story garages accessed via narrow driveways, the first Jackson Heights development to do so; gaps at regular intervals in the perimeter wall; a layout that provided light and ventilation to the apartments and fostered a sense of belonging to a community;{{sfn|Urbanelli|Robins|1993|p=3}} the area's first [[co-op]];{{sfn|Urbanelli|Robins|1993|p=4}} and now-prevalent private gardens surrounded by the building blocks.{{sfn|New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|Dolkart|Postal|2009|p=300}}

The Hampton Gardens, the Château, and the Towers followed in the 1920s.<ref name="mpcprop2">[http://www.mpcproperties.com/jacksonheightshistory.php "History of Jackson Heights – A Garden City"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150516215627/http://www.mpcproperties.com/jacksonheightshistory.php |date=May 16, 2015 }}; originally from Jeffrey A. Saunders's ''The Jackson Heights Garden City Trail'', published by The Jackson Heights Garden City Society, Inc.</ref> The Château and the Towers, both co-ops on 34th Avenue, had large, airy apartments and elevators.{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=141}} Until 1922, elevators were required to have attendants and more modest buildings were constructed as walk-ups not exceeding five floors. The elegant Château cooperative apartment complex, with 12 buildings surrounding a shared garden, was built in the [[French Renaissance]] style and has slate mansard roofs pierced by dormer windows, and diaperwork brick walls.{{sfn|New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|Dolkart|Postal|2009|p=299}} At first purely decorative, the shared gardens in later developments included paved spaces where people could meet or sit.{{sfn|Plunz|1990|p=146}} The Queensboro Corporation started the Ivy Court, Cedar Court, and Spanish Gardens projects, all designed by Thomas, in 1924.{{sfn|Urbanelli|Robins|1993|p=16}}

The Queensboro Corporation advertised their apartments from 1922 on.<ref name="mpcprop2"/> On August 28, 1922, the Queensboro Corporation paid $50 to radio station WEAF to broadcast a ten-minute sales pitch for apartments in Jackson Heights,{{sfn|Barnouw|1966|p=110}} in what may have been the first "[[infomercial]]", opening with a few words about [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]] before promoting the corporation's Nathaniel Hawthorne apartments.{{sfn|Lindsay|2005|p=339}} The ad wanted viewers to:

{{blockquote|seek the recreation and the daily comfort of the home removed from the congested part of the city, right at the boundaries of God's great outdoors, and within a few minutes by subway from the business section of Manhattan ... The cry of the heart is for more living room, more chance to unfold, more opportunity to get near Mother Earth, to play, to romp, to plant and to dig ... Let me enjoin upon you as you value your health and your hopes and your home happiness, get away from the solid masses of brick ... where your children grow up starved for a run over a patch of grass and the sight of a tree ...{{sfn|Barnouw|1966|p=111}}}}

Built in 1928, the English Gables line 82nd Street, the main shopping area of Jackson Heights's Hispanic community. There are two developments, English Gables I and II; they are meant to provide a gateway to the neighborhood for commercial traffic and for passengers from the [[82nd Street&nbsp;– Jackson Heights (IRT Flushing Line)|82nd Street–Jackson Heights]] station.<ref name="forgotten ny" /> A year later, the Robert Morris Apartments, on 37th Avenue between 79th and 80th streets, were constructed. Named after [[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]], a signer of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]], the apartments have ample green spaces, original high ceilings, and fireplaces, and are relatively expensive.<ref name="forgotten ny" /><ref name="macaulay.cuny.edu 201403">{{cite web |url=http://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/siegel2014/2014/03/13/jackson-heights/ |title=Jackson Heights |website=macaulay.cuny.edu |date=March 13, 2014 |access-date=May 15, 2015}}</ref>

During the Depression, two new buildings were built: Ravenna Court on 37th Avenue between 80th and 81st streets, built in 1929; and Georgian Court three blocks east, between 83rd and 84th streets, built in 1930.<ref name="forgotten ny2">{{cite web|url=http://forgotten-ny.com/2006/04/jackson-heights-and-east-elmhurst-queens-4/|title=JACKSON HEIGHTS and EAST ELMHURST, Queens|author=Walsh, Kevin|date=April 2006|publisher=Forgotten NY|access-date=May 14, 2015}}</ref> The Queensboro Corporation began to build on land that until then had been kept open for community use, including the tennis courts, community garden,{{sfn|Hood|2004|p=178}} and the former golf course—between 76th and 78th streets and 34th and 37th avenues—all of which were built upon during the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name="mpcprop2"/> The corporation also began erecting traditional six-story apartment buildings. Dunolly Gardens, the last garden apartment Thomas designed, was an exception, a modernistic group of six buildings completed in 1939.{{sfn|New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|Dolkart|Postal|2009|p=298}} The corner windows, considered innovative in the 1930s, gave the apartments a more spacious feel, and the landscaped interior courtyard is one of the historic district's largest.{{sfn|White|Willensky|Leadon|2010|p=768}} After the 1940s, Jackson Heights's real estate was diversified, with more apartment buildings and cooperatives built with elevators; some new transportation infrastructure was also built.<ref name="mpcprop2" />

In 1929, [[Holmes Airport]] opened in the northern section of Jackson Heights that is also considered part of East Elmhurst.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/18/archives/sunday-throngs-pack-new-holmes-airport-crowd-put-at-100000-views.html|title=SUNDAY THRONGS PACK NEW HOLMES AIRPORT; Crowd Put at 100,000 Views the Queens Flying Field—Many Planes Try Out Runways.|date=March 18, 1929|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 30, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Bordering St. Michaels Cemetery to the west, the airfield was also called the Grand Central Air Terminal and Grand Central Airport.<ref name="airfields">{{Cite web|url=https://www.airfieldsfreeman.com/NY/Airfields_NY_NY_Queens.htm|title=Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields: New York City, Queens|website=[[Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields]]|access-date=June 12, 2017}}</ref> Holmes Airport shut down in 1940, one year after [[LaGuardia Airport]] opened.<ref name="LIA">{{cite book|title=Long Island Airports|last=Stoff|first=Joshua|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2004|isbn=0-7385-3676-8|pages=85–86}}</ref>

=== Social and demographic shifts ===
The neighborhood grew steadily from the 1920s to the 1950s, with construction slowing during the Depression and booming back again after World War II.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mpcproperties.com/jackson-heights-history/|title=Jackson Heights History|website=MPC Properties|language=en-US|access-date=March 30, 2019}}</ref> [[Holmes Airport]] operated from 1929 to 1940 on {{convert|220|acre|ha}} adjacent to the community. Later, its land became veterans' housing and the [[Bulova]] watch factory site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://untappedcities.com/2013/10/15/untapped-mailbag-what-were-boundaries-holmes-airport-bulova-building-queens/ |title=Untapped Mailbag: What Were the Boundaries of Holmes Airport (now Bulova Building) in Queens? |work=Untapped Cities|date=October 15, 2013 }}</ref>

==== Ethnic tensions ====
By 1930, artists from the Manhattan theater district, many of whom were homosexual, had moved into the area, forming the beginnings of the second largest LGBTQ community in New York outside of Manhattan.<ref name="Maly-2011">Maly, Michael T. "Chapter 4: Jackson Heights." ''Beyond Segregation: Multiracial and Multiethnic Neighborhoods in the United States'', Temple University Press, 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/starting-point-of-the-first-queens-pride-parade/|title=Starting Point of First Queens Pride Parade|website=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|language=en-US|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref> Jews were allowed to move in by the 1940s. In the 1950s, middle-class businessmen from Colombia, escaping violence and repression in Latin America, brought their financial capital and their families to the community.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /> Following the development of [[Long Island]] in the 1960s, Jackson Heights' white middle-class families began moving further out into the suburbs.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /> At the same time the neighborhood experienced an influx of ethnically diverse professionals from Latin America and the [[Indian subcontinent]] taking advantage of the [[1965 Immigration Reform Act]], which allowed them to arrange the immigration of their families.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /><ref name="hibrow">{{cite web|url=http://www.highbrowmagazine.com/1756-jackson-heights-new-yorks-most-eclectic-neighborhood|title=Is Jackson Heights New York's Most Eclectic Neighborhood?|author=Cerquera, Yolian|date=November 2, 2012|work=Highbrow Magazine|access-date=May 14, 2015}}</ref> White residents' resistance to integration with African-Americans continued late into the decade, and Junction Boulevard came to be called the "Mason-Dixon Line", as it divided Jackson Heights from the black communities in East Elmhurst and Corona.<ref name="Maly-2011" />

==== Crime increases ====
By the mid-1970s, Roosevelt Avenue had become the neighborhood's commercial center and also gained national attention as a place for organized crime. A 1993 ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' article detailed how wire transfer services in Jackson Heights inadvertently enabled Colombian cartels to repatriate, and in the process launder, millions of dollars in drug money to South America alongside customers who used the service to transfer legally earned money.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/17/nyregion/window-immigrant-crime-jackson-heights-drugs-dirty-money-prostitution.html|title=A Window on Immigrant Crime; In Jackson Heights, Drugs, Dirty Money and Prostitution|last=Fisher|first=Ian|date=June 17, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 26, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The violence that ensued as a result of the growing Jackson Heights illegal drug trade is described in this excerpt from a 1978 [[New York (magazine)|''New York'' magazine]] article titled "Gunfights in the Cocaine Corral":

{{blockquote|Over the past three years, in this nice, quiet neighborhood, 27 people have been killed and dozens have been injured.... The violence spreads to surround neighborhoods as cops and prosecutors fight a losing battle. Double and triple homicides go unsolved.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kasinitz|first1=Philip|last2=Bazzi|first2=Mohamad|last3=Doane|first3=Randal|date=1999|title=Jackson Heights, New York|journal=SSRN Working Paper Series|doi=10.2139/ssrn.149448|s2cid=150549375|issn=1556-5068|doi-access=free}}</ref>|sign=|source=}}

By the late 1980s, Jackson Heights had rising real-estate values and a moderate amount of crime compared to other city neighborhoods.<ref name="nyt19871227">{{Cite news|last=Fullam|first=Anne|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/27/realestate/if-youre-thinking-of-living-in-jackson-heights.html|title=If You're Thinking of Living in:; Jackson Heights|date=December 2, 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Nevertheless, there were still high-profile crimes that reinforced perceptions of the neighborhood as dangerous. In 1990, Julio Rivera, a gay Puerto Rican man, was murdered in a hate crime. His death galvanized the LGBTQ community into protesting his death with a candlelight vigil, the formation of several LGBTQ activist groups, and the foundation of the [[Queens Pride Parade]].<ref>''The Lavender Line: Coming Out in Queens''. Eds. Stephen Petrus and Soraya Ciego-Lemur. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY, 2018.</ref> Two years later, journalist [[Manuel de Dios Unanue]] was murdered after authoring articles in ''[[El Diario La Prensa]]'' about the proliferation of Colombian cartels embedded within the business community along Roosevelt Avenue.<ref name="Fisher-1993">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/11/nyregion/jackson-heights-streets-familiar-to-drug-cartels.html|title=Jackson Heights Streets Familiar to Drug Cartels|last=Fisher|first=Ian|date=May 11, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 26, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Seeking to distance themselves from the portrayal of Jackson Heights as a crime-ridden neighborhood, some residents argued that de Dios had been murdered in Elmhurst, as the restaurant where he was attacked was on the south side of Roosevelt Avenue.<ref name="Maly-2011" />

Following the reduction of crime in New York City during the late 1990s, the market for illicit substances that fed the Colombian cocaine industry in Jackson Heights eventually decreased, leading to a reduction in cartels in the neighborhood.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Letwin|first=Michael|date=1990|title=Report from the Front Line: The Bennett Plan, Street-Level Drug Enforcement in New York City and the Legalization Debate|url=https://www.hofstralawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/29_18HofstraLRev7951989-1990.pdf|journal=Hofstra Law Review|volume=18|issue=795 |pages=795–830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nber.org/digest/jan03/w9061.html|title=What Reduced Crime in New York City|website=www.nber.org|access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>

=== Revitalization and 21st century ===
Community leaders responded to negative perceptions of Jackson Heights by seeking to have the neighborhood designated a historic district. In 1988, the Jackson Heights Beautification Group was formed; it organized walking tours as well as beautification activities and commissioned a neighborhood history.<ref name="huduser" /> Five years later, part of Jackson Heights was made a New York City historic district.<ref name="nyt19931030">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/20/nyregion/jackson-heights-tract-named-historic-area.html|title=Jackson Heights Tract Named Historic Area|date=October 2, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The designation, which set architectural guidelines for structures within the designated district, affected both existing buildings and planned new developments within the district.<ref name="nyt19940206">{{Cite news|last=Oser|first=Alan S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/06/realestate/perspectives-in-jackson-heights-a-new-building-evokes-the-past.html|title=PERSPECTIVES; In Jackson Heights, a New Building Evokes the Past|date=February 6, 1994|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Starting in the 2000s, Jackson Heights has become once again a desirable destination for professionals and middle-class families. Some of these residents moved to Jackson Heights for the unique architecture of its buildings, while others move for its cultural diversity.<ref name="Nevius-2017">{{Cite web|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/4/19/15328342/jackson-heights-queens-history|title=The transformation of Jackson Heights|last=Nevius|first=James|date=April 19, 2017|website=Curbed NY|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/woodside-jackson-heights-hot-neighborhoods-article-1.1605982|title=Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst become more desirable neighborhoods|last=Trapasso|first=Clare|website=nydailynews.com|date=February 7, 2014 |access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref>

== Land use ==

===Historic district===

{{Infobox NRHP
| name                     = Jackson Heights Historic District
| nrhp_type                = hd
| image                    = NYC Jackson Heights 3.jpg
| image_size               = 300
| caption                  = Residential street in Jackson Heights
| map_caption              = District position on New York City map
| location                 = Bounded by Roosevelt Ave., Broadway, Leverich St., 70 St., Northern Blvd., and Junction Blvd., [[Queens]], [[New York City|NYC]]
| coordinates              = {{coord|40|45|5|N|73|53|13|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| district_map             = {{maplink|from=Neighbourhoods/New York City/Jackson Heights Historic District.map |frame=yes |plain=yes |icon=no |type=shape |text=Jackson Heights Historic District|coord={{coord|40|45|5|N|73|53|13|W}}|zoom=14}}
| architect                =
| architecture             = Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals
| added                    = January 27, 1999
| area                     = {{convert|300|acre}}
| refnum                   = 99000059<ref name="nris">{{NRISref |refnum=99000059|version=2009a}}</ref>
| designated_other2_name   = NYC Landmark
| designated_other2_date   = October 19, 1993
| designated_other2_abbr   = NYCL
| designated_other2_link   = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
| designated_other2_number = 1831
| designated_other2_color  = #ffe978
}}

Most of the original neighborhood, comprising the garden city apartment buildings, was made a National Register Historic District and a New York State Historic Register District. The Jackson Heights New York State and National Register Districts range from 93rd Street through 69th Street between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue. Some property fronting on Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue, as well as some "cut-outs", are not inside the Register Districts. The national [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]] called the '''Jackson Heights Historic District''', includes 2,203 contributing buildings, 19 contributing sites, and three contributing objects. Among the landmarked buildings, over 200 original Queensboro Corporation apartment buildings still exist in Jackson Heights.<ref name="nrhpinv_ny">*{{cite web |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7450 |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Jackson Heights Historic District |date=April 1998 |access-date=January 16, 2011 |author=Kathleen LaFrank |publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018234717/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7450 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7453 |title=Accompanying 36 photos |access-date=January 27, 2011 |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018234743/http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=7453 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1999.<ref name="nris"/>

Almost 600 buildings in the neighborhood<ref name="nyt19940206" />—a rectangle stretching roughly from 76th to 88th Streets and from Roosevelt Avenue almost up to Northern Boulevard—were designated as a New York City Historic District by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] on October 19, 1993.<ref name="nyt19931030" />{{sfn|Braine|2009|p=2}} It comprises large apartment buildings with private communal gardens, as well as many groupings of private homes and many stores on the streets surrounding [[Roosevelt Avenue]].<ref>Myers, Steven Lee. [https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/27/nyregion/council-votes-historic-district-in-38-block-section-of-queens.html "Council Votes Historic District In 38-Block Section of Queens"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112132350/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/27/nyregion/council-votes-historic-district-in-38-block-section-of-queens.html |date=November 12, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 27, 1994. Accessed August 20, 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/maps/jackson_heights.pdf|title=Map of the District|website=Nyc.gov|access-date=November 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100302192004/http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/maps/jackson_heights.pdf|archive-date=March 2, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Unlike the State and National Districts, the local designation comes with aesthetic protections.

In addition to the Jackson Heights Historic District, the [[Lent Homestead and Cemetery]] and [[United States Post Office (Jackson Heights, Queens)|Jackson Heights post office]] are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name="nris"/>

=== Business district ===
The main retail thoroughfare is 37th Avenue from 72nd Street to Junction Boulevard, with more retail on 73rd, 74th, and 82nd streets between 37th and Roosevelt avenues.<ref>Daniel Maurer "[http://nymag.com/guides/cheap/12355/ Stretching $50 in Jackson Heights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416062001/http://nymag.com/guides/cheap/12355/ |date=April 16, 2009 }}." [[New York Magazine]]</ref> Stores and restaurants on and near 74th Street tend to cater to the large population from the [[Indian subcontinent]] in the neighborhood, with sari and jewelry stores, Indian and Bengali music and movie retailers and many restaurants.<ref name="Myers-1993">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/04/nyregion/bazaar-with-the-feel-of-bombay-right-in-queens.html|title=Bazaar With the Feel of Bombay, Right in Queens|last=Myers|first=Steven Lee|date=January 4, 1993|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 12, 2016|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> 37th Avenue contains a wide mix of retailers, including many grocery stores, and 82nd Street contains many national chain stores located in Tudor-style buildings in the Jackson Heights Historic District.<ref name="forgotten ny" /> South American retailers and eateries, predominantly from Colombia and Peru dominate Northern Boulevard from 80th Street east to the border of neighboring [[Corona, Queens|Corona]] at Junction Boulevard. Roosevelt Avenue is also lined with various mainly Hispanic retail stores.

==== Street food ====
[[File:Food vendor seller in Jackson Heights.jpg|thumb|left|Street vendor in Jackson Heights]]
Along Roosevelt Avenue from 74th to 108th Streets, street food from all over the world is made and sold at food carts "currently dominated by the Mexican community".<ref>Miyares, Ines M. "From Exclusionary Covenant to Ethnic Hyperdiversity in Jackson Heights, Queens." ''Geographical Review'', vol. 94, no. 4, Oct. 2004, pp. 462–483</ref> Typical cart food includes Bengali fuchka ([[Panipuri|phuchka]]), Middle Eastern lamb over rice, Nepalese [[Momo (food)|momo]], Colombian [[Pinchitos|chuzos]] and [[arepa]]s, Greek [[souvlaki]], Ecuadorian [[ceviche]], Thai steamed chicken over rice, and Mexican [[Corn on the cob|elotes (corn on a cob)]], [[taco]]s, homemade [[tamale]]s filled with meats, cheese, fruits or even chilies, fruit [[Licuado|batidos]] or [[aguas frescas]] (smoothies), and South American sweet [[churro]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fathomaway.com/street-food-tour-queens-nyc-culinary-backstreets/|title=These Street Food Tours Take You Places Others Don't, Like the Heart of Queens|last=Schwartz|first=Daniel|date=April 30, 2018|website=Fathomaway.com|language=en|access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ny.eater.com/2017/5/18/15658114/bourdain-queens-wonderland-street-food|title=Bourdain on Queens: 'This is a Wonderland' Because of Street Food|last=Dai|first=Serena|date=May 18, 2017|website=Eater NY|access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref>

In a 2017 episode of his show ''[[Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown|Parts Unknown]]'', American chef [[Anthony Bourdain]] visited several Queens eateries, profiling Evelia Coyotzi, who sells tamales in a street cart on Junction Boulevard, the border between Jackson Heights and Corona. Bourdain learned about Coyotzi, a Mexican immigrant who spoke no English, through the [[Street Vendor Project]], which advocates for New York City street vendors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ny.eater.com/2017/5/22/15671978/anthony-bourdain-queens-alternatives-restaurants|title=Eat Like Anthony Bourdain in Queens—Without the Lines|last=Sietsema|first=Robert|date=May 22, 2017|website=Eater NY|access-date=March 29, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/new-york/jackson-heights-elmhurst/queens-restaurateurs-remember-thank-anthony-bourdain|title=Queens Restaurateurs Remember, Thank Anthony Bourdain|date=June 8, 2018|website=Jackson Heights-Elmhurst, NY Patch|language=en|access-date=March 29, 2019}}</ref>

=== Other buildings ===
[[File:Eagle Theater JH jeh.jpg|thumb|Eagle Theater]]
Most housing units in Jackson Heights are apartments in multi-unit buildings, many of which are five or six stories. Many of these buildings are [[housing cooperative|co-ops]], some are rentals, and a few are [[condominium]]s. There are also a number of one- to three-family houses, most of which are attached [[row house]]s.<ref name="timeoutny 2008" /> 34th and 35th avenues, as well as most side streets between 37th Avenue and [[New York State Route 25A|Northern Boulevard]], are residential. A section of 90th Street between 30th Avenue and Northern Boulevard was privately developed separately from the Queensboro Corporation. The structures on that stretch of 90th Street are mostly [[Tudor architecture|Tudor]] buildings.<ref name="forgotten ny" />

There were five historic movie theaters in Jackson Heights, which have all been either repurposed or closed.<ref name="forgotten ny" /> The [[Art Deco]] Earle Theater, opened in 1936 on 37th Road between 73rd and 74th streets, was a neighborhood movie theater before becoming a [[porn theater]] and then, with the name changed to "Eagle", a [[Bollywood]] theater before a strike in the Bollywood industry caused the theater to close permanently in 2009;<ref name="forgotten ny" /> it is now a [[food court]] selling [[cuisine of the Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120727/jackson-heights/former-eagle-theater-jackson-heights-reopens-as-food-court|title=Former Eagle Theater in Jackson Heights Reopens As Food Court|work=DNAinfo New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518111706/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120727/jackson-heights/former-eagle-theater-jackson-heights-reopens-as-food-court|archive-date=May 18, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Fair Theatre, in the area that overlaps with East Elmhurst, opened in 1939 at Astoria Boulevard and 90th Street, became a porn theater.<ref name="forgotten ny" /> The Polk Theater, on 37th (formerly Polk) Avenue and 93rd Street, opened in 1938 and closed in 2006; it also was a porn theater during its later years, before it was demolished in 2008.<ref name="forgotten ny" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/polk-theatre-part-film-history-deco-delight-article-1.280961|title=The Polk Theatre is part of film history|website=Nydailynews.com|date=April 14, 2008 |access-date=November 11, 2017}}</ref> The Colony Theater, on 82nd Street north of Roosevelt Avenue, opened in 1935 and closed in 1991. The Jackson, later an Indian-owned theater called the Jackson Heights Cinema, on 82nd Street south of Roosevelt Avenue, was demolished in March 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140115/jackson-heights/jackson-heights-cinema-operators-evicted-for-owing-back-rent|title=Credits Roll for Jackson Heights Cinema After Rent Dispute|work=DNAinfo New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518111703/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140115/jackson-heights/jackson-heights-cinema-operators-evicted-for-owing-back-rent|archive-date=May 18, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Boulevard Theater, on Northern Boulevard and 83rd Street, is now a Latin-American restaurant of the same name.

==Demographics==
Based on data from the [[2010 United States census]], the population of Jackson Heights was 108,152, a decrease of 5,175 (4.6%) from the 113,327 counted in 2000. Covering an area of {{convert|1101.36|acres}}, the neighborhood had a population density of {{convert|98.2|PD/acre|PD/sqmi PD/sqkm}}.<ref name="PLP5">[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p5_nta.pdf Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610175331/http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p5_nta.pdf |date=June 10, 2016 }}, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.</ref> The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 17.2% (18,567) [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 2.0% (2,210) [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% (145) [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 22.0% (23,781) [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.0% (9) [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.5% (583) from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.6% (1,736) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 56.5% (61,121) of the population.<ref name="PLP3A">[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610170733/http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf |date=June 10, 2016 }}, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.</ref>

The entirety of [[Queens Community Board 3|Queens Community District 3]], which comprises Jackson Heights as well as East Elmhurst and North Corona, had 179,844 inhabitants as of [[New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene|NYC Health]]'s 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.7 years.<ref name="CHP2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2018chp-qn3.pdf|title=Jackson Heights (Including East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and North Corona)|date=2018|website=nyc.gov|publisher=NYC Health|access-date=March 2, 2019}}</ref>{{Rp|2, 20}} This is higher than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.<ref name="nyc.gov-2016">{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/tcny/community-health-assessment-plan.pdf|title=2016–2018 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan: Take Care New York 2020|date=2016|website=[[government of New York City|nyc.gov]]|publisher=[[New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene]]|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909004755/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/tcny/community-health-assessment-plan.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Rp|53 (PDF p. 84)}} Most inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 22% are between the ages of 0–17, 32% between 25 and 44, and 24% between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 9% and 12% respectively.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|2}}

As of 2017, the median [[household income]] in Community Board 3 was $56,601.<ref name="CB3PUMA">{{cite web|url=https://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US3604102-nyc-queens-community-district-3-jackson-heights-north-corona-puma-ny/|title=NYC-Queens Community District 3—Jackson Heights & North Corona PUMA, NY|publisher=Census Reporter|access-date=July 17, 2018|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327085820/https://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US3604102-nyc-queens-community-district-3-jackson-heights-north-corona-puma-ny/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018, an estimated 25% of Jackson Heights residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in fourteen residents (7%) were unemployed, compared to 8% in Queens and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 59% in Jackson Heights, slightly higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, {{as of|2018|lc=y}}, Jackson Heights is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not [[gentrification|gentrifying]].<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|7}}

As of 2017, nearly 11% of households in Jackson Heights were severely overcrowded—defined as households in which there are more than 1.5 household members for each room (excluding bathrooms) in the unit—making it the second most overcrowded neighborhood in the city, behind only Elmhurst.<ref>"Part 3: Indicators, Rankings, and Methods." ''State of New York City's Housing & Neighborhoods – 2017 Report''. NYU Furman Center, 2017, p.122 [https://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/SOC_2017_PART3_Indicator_Definitions_Rankings_Methods.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423191349/https://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/SOC_2017_PART3_Indicator_Definitions_Rankings_Methods.pdf|date=April 23, 2019}}</ref>

The 2020 census data from [[New York City Department of City Planning]] showed that there were 54,300 Hispanic residents, 27,600 Asian residents, there were between 10,000 to 19,999 White residents and less than 5000 Black residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2020/dcp_2020-census-briefing-booklet-1.pdf|title=Key Population & Housing Characteristics; 2020 Census Results for New York City|publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]]|date=August 2021|access-date=November 7, 2021|pages=21, 25, 29, 33}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Map: Race and ethnicity across the US | website=CNN | date=August 14, 2021 | url=https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/us/census-race-ethnicity-map/ | access-date=November 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Culture==
[[File:Chiva Queens Nueva york.jpg|thumb|left|[[Chiva Buses|Chiva Bus]] during [[History of Colombia|Colombian Independence celebration]]]]
Jackson Heights is among the most diverse neighborhoods in New York City and the nation. Half of the population was foreign-born by the 2000s.<ref name="huduser"/> It is home to large numbers of South Americans (particularly Colombian, Ecuadorian and Argentinian) and South Asians (Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Tibetans, Nepalese, and Indians). Because of its large and vibrant Tibetan community, it has been called "the second (if unofficial) capital of the exile Tibetan world, after [[Dharamsala]], India."<ref name="Himlaya2017">{{cite journal |last1=  Dorjee|first1=Tenzin |date=June 2017 |title=Obituary: Elliot Sperling (1951–2017) |url=https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss1/33 |journal=Himalaya: The Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies |volume=37 |issue=1 |access-date=July 5, 2020}}</ref> Most businesses are Asian and Latino-owned, and there are restaurants, bakeries, specialty shops, legal offices, bars, and beauty salons. There is a [[Little India (location)|Little India]] on 74th Street and a Little Pakistan and Little Bangladesh on 73rd Street.{{sfn|Braine|2009|p=1}} There is also a large concentration of South Americans east of 77th Street, especially a Little Colombia along 37th Avenue.{{sfn|Braine|2009|p=1}}

Jackson Heights was heavily Colombian during the 1980s, but other immigrant groups have settled in the area, notably Mexicans. Many of the displaced Colombians have moved to adjacent areas such as [[Elmhurst, Queens|Elmhurst]], [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]], [[Corona, Queens|Corona]], [[College Point, Queens|College Point]] and [[Flushing, Queens|Flushing]]. [[Queens County, New York|Queens County]] still has the largest concentration of Colombians in the United States of any county (roughly 135,000).

[[File:35 Av Scrabble street sign.jpg|thumb|right|Scrabble street sign]]

The 2015 documentary ''[[In Jackson Heights]]'' portrays Jackson Heights as a microcosm of the American [[melting pot]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Watch Full Episodes Online of In Jackson Heights on PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/show/jackson-heights/|website=Pbs.org|language=en-US|access-date=August 24, 2017}}</ref>

The word game [[Scrabble]] was co-invented by former architect [[Alfred Mosher Butts]], who lived in Jackson Heights.<ref>{{cite web |first=John |last=Roleke |url=http://queens.about.com/b/a/112059.htm |publisher=About.com |title=Scrabble Avenue: Scrabble Invented in Jackson Heights |access-date=August 23, 2005 |archive-date=September 17, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050917233838/http://queens.about.com/b/a/112059.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Kershaw, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/neighborhood-report-jackson-heights-rewriting-the-story-of-scrabble.html "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: JACKSON HEIGHTS;Rewriting The Story Of Scrabble"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227161828/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/neighborhood-report-jackson-heights-rewriting-the-story-of-scrabble.html |date=December 27, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 1, 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2009.</ref> There is a street sign at 35th Avenue and 81st Street that is stylized using letters, with their values in Scrabble as a subscript; it was originally erected in 1995,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kershaw|first=Sarah|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/neighborhood-report-jackson-heights-rewriting-the-story-of-scrabble.html|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: JACKSON HEIGHTS;Rewriting The Story Of Scrabble|date=October 1, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 25, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but after the sign disappeared in 2008,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/16/nyregion/sign-in-queens-marking-birthplace-of-scrabble-is-coming-back.html?_r=0 |title=For a Bereft Street Corner in Queens, a Red-Letter Day |work=The New York Times |date=July 15, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2014 |author=Ember, Sydney}}</ref> a replacement was put up in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-10-26/Front_Page/Historic_Scrabble_Sign_Makes_Triumphant_Return_To_.html |title=Historic Scrabble Sign Makes Triumphant Return To Jackson Heights |publisher=Queens Gazette |date=October 26, 2011 |access-date=November 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006182141/http://www.qgazette.com/news/2011-10-26/Front_Page/Historic_Scrabble_Sign_Makes_Triumphant_Return_To_.html |archive-date=October 6, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Community organizations===

The Jackson Heights Garden City Society is a historical society, whose founders include local historians, the Queens Borough Historian and local activists. They created and oversee the Jackson Heights Garden City Trail and publish a walking guidebook to Jackson Heights. They also collect artifacts of the community. Periodically, the Society testifies before the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] on issues of concern to the community.

The 82nd Street Partnership is responsible for the business improvement of the area.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Welcome to 82nd Street – Jackson Heights & Elmhurst, Queens|url=http://www.82ndstreet.org/|access-date=August 11, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref>

In addition, Colombian broadcaster [[RCN TV]] has its US-American headquarters in the neighborhood, reflecting the sizable Colombian population in the area.

There is a year-round [[greenmarket]] every Sunday morning at [[Travers Park]], as well as various family-oriented spring and summer concerts.

===LGBTQ community===
====Early history====
[[File:QueensPrideParade senior2018.jpg|thumb|left|Senior Citizens marching in the 2018 Queens Pride Parade |alt=]]

In the 1920s, LGBT actors working in the 42nd Street theater scene decided to make their homes in Jackson Heights due to the lack of affordability of Manhattan neighborhoods and the easy accessibility of the 7 train. That was the beginning of what is now the second largest gay community in New York City.<ref>Maly, Michael T. "Chapter 4: Jackson Heights." ''Beyond Segregation: Multiracial and Multiethnic Neighborhoods in the United States'', Temple University Press, 2011</ref>

Until the 1990s, LGBT activities in Jackson Heights were usually held surreptitiously and at night  due to a constant fear of backlash. As the neighborhood continued to grow, more spaces for the gay community were added. One of those was the Queens Center for Gay Seniors, which was created using grant money and is still the only senior center in Queens serving the LGBT community specifically.<ref name="Iceland2007">{{Cite journal|last=Iceland|first=J.|date=March 1, 2007|title=Beyond Segregation: Multiracial and Multiethnic Neighborhoods in the United States By Michael T. Maly Temple University Press, 2005. 278 pages. $68.50 (cloth), $22.95 (paper)<!--actual title-->|journal=Social Forces|volume=85|issue=3|pages=1444–1446|doi=10.1353/sof.2007.0041|s2cid=201742462|issn=0037-7732}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nyc18.nytimes-institute.com/2018/05/31/lgbt-seniors/,%20http://nyc18.nytimes-institute.com/2018/05/31/lgbt-seniors/|title=L.G.B.T. Senior Citizens Find Safe Haven at Jackson Heights Community Center {{!}} The New York Times Student Journalism Institute|date=May 31, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref>

====Murder of Julio Rivera====

The LGBT community became a movement after the 1990 murder of Julio Rivera, a 29-year-old bartender who worked at the Magic Touch gay bar. Rivera was raised in the Bronx, but tried to avoid the violence of the streets there, and moved to Jackson Heights as a young adult. On the night of July 2, three men cornered Rivera in a schoolyard that was known as a gay cruising area and beat him with a hammer and beer bottle, and then stabbed him.<ref>{{cite web | last=Stanley | first=Alessandra | title=The Symbols Spawned by a Killing | website=The New York Times | date=November 18, 1991 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/18/nyregion/the-symbols-spawned-by-a-killing.html | access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref> At the beginning of the case, the police department categorized the assault as drug-related, because Rivera had been a longtime cocaine user and they found traces of cocaine on his body. However, after Rivera's friends and relatives advocated for the case to be examined further, the NYPD concluded that Rivera's death had been an anti-gay crime, and the three men involved were charged with murder and manslaughter.<ref name="NYTimes-RiveraCorner-2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/nyregion/at-site-of-gay-mans-murder-a-queens-street-corner-acknowledges-its-past.html|title=At Site of Gay Man's Murder, a Street Corner Acknowledges Its Past|date=March 21, 2016|website=The New York Times|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref><ref name="NPR.org 2016">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/06/24/483397790/julio-rivera-and-the-making-of-a-hate-crime|title=Julio Rivera and the Making of a Hate Crime|date=June 24, 2016|website=NPR.org|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>

{{blockquote|If it wasn't for Julio the Queens LGBT movement would not have gotten as far as it has gotten. Julio did not die in vain. He changed people's lives.|City Councilmember Daniel Dromm, 2015<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/julio-rivera-corner/|title=Julio Rivera Corner|website=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-27}}</ref>|source=}}
[[File:June 3, 2018 Queens Pride Parade (46522353435).jpg|thumb|Julio Rivera]]
This was the first real standing for justice and honor for the LGBT community in Queens. The resulting activism led to the Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, a social services agency that helps monitor any type of criminal acts against the community citywide. Rivera's sister-in-law was elected as the AVP for the LGBT board. Union helped improve the relationship between the Police Department and Jackson Heights's LGBT community and helped with supervision against violence. In 2000, the corner of 78th Street and 37th Avenue, where Rivera was killed, was renamed in his memory<ref name="NYTimes-RiveraCorner-2016" /><ref>"Over 40,000 Attend Our Largest Pride Day Events Ever! ''Queens Pride Guide'' 2000. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/julio-rivera-corner/|title=Julio Rivera Corner|website=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|language=en-US|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref> and a documentary, ''Julio of Jackson Heights'', was made about his murder.<ref name="NPR.org 2016" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=30 Years Later: Reflections on Julio Rivera's Life and Death |url=https://www.latinxproject.nyu.edu/intervenxions/nbsp30-years-later-reflections-on-julio-riveras-life-and-death |access-date=December 4, 2022 |website=The Latinx Project at NYU |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== 1990s to present ====
Since the 1990s, the LGBTQ community in Jackson Heights has not only grown in number, but also expanded its diversity and cultures. [[Queens Pride Parade|The Inaugural Queens Lesbian and Gay Parade and Block Party Festival]], organized by Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez, took place on June 6, 1993, in Jackson Heights, marking a watershed in LGBTQ history. Some 1,000 marchers participated, and thousands of spectators attended. More than a dozen LGBTQ organizations sponsored the event. In 1994 Dromm and activist Wayne Mahlke organized the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, "the only LGBT independent Democratic club in the Borough of Queens."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lgdcq.nyc/|title=Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens|website=www.lgdcq.nyc|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> That same year, the Queens Pride Parade commemorated the 25th anniversary of the [[Stonewall riots]]. In 1995, Ed Sedarbaum established the SAGE/Queens Clubhouse, the first senior citizens program in Queens to provide outreach to LGBTQ elderly. In 1999, an estimated 40,000 people attend the Queens Pride Parade with some 70 community groups registered.<ref>From ''Out and About: LGTBQ Life in NYC''. 2019 Calendar. LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia Community College, Queens, New York, 2019.</ref>

Daniel Dromm and [[Jimmy Van Bramer]] were elected to the New York City Council on November 3, 2009, representing, respectively, the 25th and 26th districts in Queens.<ref>{{cite web | title=New York City Council – Election Results 2009 | website=The New York Times | date=November 9, 2009 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2009/results/city-council.html | access-date=September 29, 2019}}</ref> Both City Council members are openly gay.<ref>{{cite web | title=Van Bramer Hosts Drag Queen Story Hour in Jackson Heights, Celebrate Program's Funding | website=LIC Post | date=July 26, 2019 | url=https://licpost.com/van-bramer-hosts-drag-queen-story-hour-in-jackson-heights-celebrate-programs-funding | access-date=September 29, 2019}}</ref>

===== Incidents =====
On August 15, 2001, Edgar Garzon, a gay man, was murdered in an incident that the Queens district attorney characterized as a "possible [[hate crime]]." The murder quickly faded from public attention after the [[September 11 attacks]] a month later. In 2006, John L. McGhee was charged with Garzon's murder.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/30/nyregion/stepping-off-plane-man-is-arrested-in-01-queens-murder.html|title=Stepping Off Plane, Man Is Arrested in '01 Queens Murder|last=Fahim|first=Kareem|date=June 30, 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

On June 3, 2018, 25-year-old school teacher Brandon Soriano was attacked by two men following the 2018 Pride Parade in what has been deemed a hate crime.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jacksonheightspost.com/homophobic-attack-mars-otherwise-jubilant-queens-pride-parade|title=Homophobic Attack Mars Otherwise Jubilant Queens Pride Parade|date=June 4, 2018|website=Jackson Heights Post|language=en-US|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/06/04/queens-pride-parade-hate-crime/|title='Homophobia Is Real:' Man, 25, Attacked By Pair Of Strangers In Potential Hate Crime Following Queens Pride Parade|date=June 4, 2018|language=en|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> Five days later, a Latina transgender woman was allegedly stabbed repeatedly a few blocks away.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://gothamist.com/2018/06/13/jackson_heights_rally.php|title=LGBTQ Activists Rally In Jackson Heights Following Recent Attacks|last1=Hern|first1=Katherine|last2=ez|website=Gothamist|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404155822/http://gothamist.com/2018/06/13/jackson_heights_rally.php|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Economy==
[[US-Bangla Airlines]] formerly had its U.S. offices in the Bangladesh Plaza building in Jackson Heights.<ref>"[https://us-banglaairlines.com/get_help/contact_us Contact Us] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313101933/http://us-banglaairlines.com/get_help/contact_us |date=March 13, 2018 }}." [[US-Bangla Airlines]]. Retrieved on September 6, 2017. "USA Office Bangladesh Plaza 37-15 73ST Suite-202 Jackson Heights, NY-11372"</ref>

Between 2009 and 2018, Jackson Heights experienced a significant economic boom. In 2017, it was reported that taxable business sales increased to $473 million, a 72% increase from 2009. By 2018, there were approximately 3,300 businesses in the neighborhood, a 25% increase from 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 2019 |title=An Economic Snapshot of the Greater Jackson Heights Area. |url=https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/reports/osdc/pdf/report-8-2020.pdf#:~:text=Taxable%20business%20sales%20grew%20by%2072%20percent%20in,percent%20in%202010%20to%204.2%20percent%20in%202017. |access-date=September 27, 2023 |website=Office of the New York State Comptroller |page=3}}</ref>

==Parks and recreation==
[[Travers Park]] is the main local [[playground]]. It has a variety of sports, including [[basketball]], [[tennis]], [[baseball]], soccer, and [[American handball|handball]].<ref name="macaulay.cuny.edu 201403"/> In recent years, a [[farmers' market]] was expanded to a year-round presence.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Trapasso |first=Claire |date=December 3, 2010 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/jackson-heights-greenmarket-queens-year-round-farmers-market-article-1.469344 |title=Jackson Heights Greenmarket is boro's first year-round |work=Daily News |location=New York |language=en |access-date=February 19, 2018}}</ref> Renovations completed in October 2020 eliminated much of the space previously used for sports, and replaced it with lawn and seating space.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/planning-and-building/capital-project-tracker/project/8662 |title=Travers Park Tot Lot Reconstruction |publisher=nycgovparks.org |date=December 2, 2021 |access-date=December 2, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://jacksonheightspost.com/travers-park-overhaul-reaches-another-milestone-as-first-phase-of-work-wraps-up |title=Travers Park Overhaul Reaches Another Milestone as First Phase of Work Wraps up |publisher=jacksonheightspost.com |date=February 6, 2019 |access-date=December 2, 2021}}</ref>

Prior to expansion, the P.S. 69 school yard offered baseball fields, a [[stickball]] field, a handball court and three tennis courts. [[Con Edison]] sponsored several summer tennis camps at P.S. 69's school yard from 1982 to 1992. In 1998, P.S. 69 built an annex to compensate for the booming population of children in Jackson Heights and the public access to the school yard was removed. On November 30, 2011, then-Mayor [[Michael Bloomberg]] and other city officials opened the 200th "Schoolyard to Playground" at P.S. 69 as a part of the [[PlaNYC]] initiative to ensure all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park or playground; the program is turning schoolyards into playgrounds in neighborhoods across the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&wcproxyurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.nyc.gov%252Fhtml%252Fom%252Fhtml%252F2011b%252Fpr426-11.html&beanID=1173395690&viewID=proxy_view_secondary |title=NYC.gov |publisher=NYC.gov |date=November 30, 2011 |access-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-date=August 7, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807051102/http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&wcproxyurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.nyc.gov%252Fhtml%252Fom%252Fhtml%252F2011b%252Fpr426-11.html&beanID=1173395690&viewID=proxy_view_secondary |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since May 2020, a {{Convert|1.3|mi|adj=on}} stretch of 34th Avenue, much of which runs through Jackson Heights, is closed to vehicular traffic from 7am to 8pm, providing a space for the community to gather. This area is also known as Paseo Park.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 15, 2024 |title=This Street Was Clogged With Traffic. Now It Belongs to Ping-Pong. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/nyregion/open-streets-new-york.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240730030007/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/nyregion/open-streets-new-york.html |archive-date=July 30, 2024 |access-date=December 29, 2024 |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> By 2025, there were proposals to permanently convert 26 blocks of 34th Avenue into parkland, with a new Paseo Park designed by WXY.<ref>{{cite web | last=Gannon | first=Michael | title=Paseo Park roadmap looks to the future | website=Queens Chronicle | date=July 3, 2025 | url=https://www.qchron.com/editions/central/paseo-park-roadmap-looks-to-the-future/article_e56cb51b-6549-599a-abeb-383643450331.html | access-date=July 7, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Roche | first=Daniel Jonas | title=WXY envisions Paseo Park in Jackson Heights, Queens | website=The Architect’s Newspaper | date=June 12, 2025 | url=https://www.archpaper.com/2025/06/wxy-linear-park-jackson-heights-queens-34th-avenue/ | access-date=July 7, 2025}}</ref>

==Police and crime==
Jackson Heights is patrolled by the 115th Precinct of the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]], at 92–15 Northern Boulevard.<ref name="NYPD 115th Precinct">{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/115th-precinct.page|title=NYPD – 115th Precinct|website=www.nyc.gov|publisher=[[New York City Police Department]]|access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> The 115th Precinct was ranked 20th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. Crime has declined significantly since the late 20th century, when the area was known as the "cocaine capital" of New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/crime-safety-report/queens/jackson-heights/|title=Jackson Heights & East Elmhurst – DNAinfo.com Crime and Safety Report|website=www.dnainfo.com|access-date=October 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415062535/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/crime-safety-report/queens/jackson-heights|archive-date=April 15, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{As of|2018}}, with a non-fatal assault rate of 33 per 100,000 people, Jackson Heights's rate of [[violent crime]]s per capita is less than that of the city as a whole. The incarceration rate of 342 per 100,000 people is lower than that of the city as a whole.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|8}}

The 115th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories decreasing by 85% between 1990 and 2019. The precinct reported 11 murders, 42 rapes, 246 robberies, 344 felony assaults, 125 burglaries, 520 grand larcenies, and 128 grand larcenies auto in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-115pct.pdf|title=115th Precinct CompStat Report|website=www.nyc.gov|publisher=[[New York City Police Department]]|access-date=March 16, 2020}}</ref>

== Fire safety ==
Jackson Heights is served by two [[New York City Fire Department]] (FDNY) fire stations.<ref>{{Cite FDNY locations}}</ref> Engine Co. 307/Ladder Co. 154 is at 81–19 Northern Boulevard.<ref>{{cite web | title=Engine Company 307/Ladder Company 154 | website=FDNYtrucks.com | url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/queens/e307.htm | access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref> Another fire station, Engine Co. 316, is at 27–12 Kearney Street in East Elmhurst.<ref>{{cite web | title=Engine Company 316 | website=FDNYtrucks.com | url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/queens/e316.htm | access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

== Health ==
{{As of|2018}}, [[preterm birth]]s are about the same in Jackson Heights as in other places citywide, but births to teenage mothers are more common. In Jackson Heights, there were 86 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 27.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|11}} Jackson Heights has a high population of residents who are [[Health insurance coverage in the United States|uninsured]]. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 28%, which is higher than the citywide rate of 12%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|14}}

The concentration of [[particulates|fine particulate matter]], the deadliest type of [[air pollution|air pollutant]], in Jackson Heights is {{convert|0.0073|mg/m3|oz/ft3}}, lower than the city average.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|9}} Thirteen percent of Jackson Heights residents are [[Smoking|smokers]], which is slightly lower than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|13}} In Jackson Heights, 20% of residents are [[Obesity|obese]], 13% are [[Diabetes mellitus|diabetic]], and 29% have [[hypertension|high blood pressure]]—compared to the citywide averages of 20%, 14%, and 24% respectively.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|16}} In addition, 26% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|12}}

Eighty-six percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is slightly lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 72% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", lower than the city's average of 78%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|13}} For every supermarket in Jackson Heights, there are 17 [[convenience store|bodegas]]. Jackson Heights also has two farmer's markets.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|10}}

The nearest large hospital in the Jackson Heights area is the [[Elmhurst Hospital Center]] in Elmhurst.<ref>{{cite web | last=Finkel | first=Beth | title=Guide To Queens Hospitals | website=Queens Tribune | date=February 27, 2014 | url=http://queenstribune.com/guide-to-queens-hospitals/ | access-date=March 7, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204185507/http://queenstribune.com/guide-to-queens-hospitals/ | archive-date=February 4, 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Incidents===
In 2020, the neighborhoods of [[Corona, Queens|Corona]], [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]], [[Elmhurst, Queens|Elmhurst]], and Jackson Heights were most affected by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in New York City]].<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Correal|first1=Annie|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/nyregion/coronavirus-queens-corona-jackson-heights-elmhurst.html|title='A Tragedy Is Unfolding': Inside New York's Virus Epicenter|date=April 9, 2020|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2020|last2=Jacobs|first2=Andrew|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|last3=Jones|first3=Ryan Christopher}}</ref> {{As of|2020|August|10|alt=As of August 10}}, these communities, with a cumulative 303,494 residents, had recorded 12,954 COVID-19 cases and 1,178 deaths.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page|title=COVID-19 Data by ZIP Code of Residence|date=August 10, 2020|work=City of New York|access-date=August 10, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref> COVID-19 cases in ZIP Code 11372 were among the highest of any ZIP Code in New York City.<ref>{{cite web | last=Brand | first=David | title=COVID rates in six Queens zip codes reveal lethal impact on communities of color | website=Queens Daily Eagle | date=May 19, 2020 | url=https://queenseagle.com/all/covid-rates-in-six-queens-zip-codes-reveal-grim-impact-on-communities-of-color | access-date=June 14, 2020}}</ref>

==Post offices and ZIP Codes==
Jackson Heights is covered by multiple [[ZIP Code]]s. The area between Northern Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue is covered by 11372, while the areas north of Northern Boulevard, which are considered primarily part of [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]], are covered by 11370 west of 85th Street (an area stretching north to Astoria and [[Rikers Island]]) and 11369 east of 85th Street. ZIP Code 11371 is assigned to LaGuardia Airport.<ref>{{cite web | title=Jackson Heights, New York City-Queens, New York Zip Code Boundary Map (NY) | website=United States Zip Code Boundary Map (USA) | url=https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/Queens_County/Z_Jackson_Heights.htm | access-date=March 8, 2019 | archive-date=March 27, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327085826/https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/Queens_County/Z_Jackson_Heights.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[United States Post Office]] operates three locations in Jackson Heights:
* [[United States Post Office (Jackson Heights, Queens)|Jackson Heights Station]] – 78-02 37th Avenue<ref>{{cite web | title=Location Details: Jackson Heights | website=USPS.com | url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11372&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1368177&locationName=JACKSON+HEIGHTS&address2=&address1=7802+37TH+AVE | access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>
* Junction Boulevard Station – 33-23 Junction Boulevard<ref>{{cite web | title=Location Details: Arverne | website=USPS.com | url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11372&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1368598&locationName=JUNCTION+BOULEVARD&address2=&address1=3323+JUNCTION+BLVD+STE+1 | access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>
* Trainsmeadow Station – 75–77 31st Avenue<ref>{{cite web | title=Location Details: Trainsmeadow| website=USPS.com | url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=11372&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1384936&locationName=TRAINSMEADOW&address2=&address1=7577+31ST+AVE| access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

== Education ==
[[File:PS 212 34-25 82 St JH jeh.jpg|thumb|PS 212]]
Jackson Heights generally has a lower proportion of college-educated residents than the rest of the city {{as of|2018|lc=y}}. While 27% of residents age 25 and older have a college education or higher, 30% have less than a high school education and 47% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}} The percentage of Jackson Heights students excelling in math rose from 41% in 2000 to 65% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 46% to 49% during the same time period.<ref name="Furman-2011">{{Cite web|url=http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/QN_03_11.pdf|title=Jackson Heights – QN 03|date=2011|publisher=[[Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy]]|access-date=October 5, 2016}}</ref>

Jackson Heights's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City. In Jackson Heights, 12% of elementary school students missed 20 or more days per school year, lower than the citywide average of 20%.<ref name="nyc.gov-2016" />{{Rp|24 (PDF p. 55)}}<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}} Additionally, 78% of high school students in Jackson Heights graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}}

===Schools===

The [[New York City Department of Education]] operates public schools. Schools in Jackson Heights include P.S. 69 Jackson Heights School,<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=868 P.S. 69 Jackson Heights School School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129180018/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=868 |date=November 29, 2014 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref> P.S. 149 Christa McAuliffe School,<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=883 P.S. 148, Christa McAuliffe School School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129180138/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=883 |date=November 29, 2014 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref> P.S. 212,<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=890 P.S. 212 School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129180029/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=890 |date=November 29, 2014 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref> P.S 222 FF Christopher A. Santora School,<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=463 P.S 222 FF Christopher A. Santora School School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129180022/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=463 |date=November 29, 2014 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref> I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer School,<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=881 I.S. 145 Joseph Pulitzer School School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100813235238/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=881 |date=August 13, 2010 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref> P.S. 152, and I.S. 230.

Charter schools include the Pre-K–12 school [[Renaissance Charter School (Queens)|Renaissance Charter School]].<ref>"[http://insideschools.org/index12.php/?fs=1321 Renaissance Charter School School Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613011510/http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fs=1321 |date=June 13, 2010 }}". ''Inside Schools''. Retrieved on December 17, 2009.</ref>

Private schools in the neighborhood include Saint Joan of Arc School (Pre-K3 to 8th grade), Our Lady of Fatima School (Pre-K to 8th grade), and [[Monsignor McClancy Memorial High School]], a school in East Elmhurst that became co-ed after the 2012 school year. [[Garden School]], a private, nonprofit [[501(c)(3)]] independent school in Jackson Heights, enrolls 300 students from grades Nursery–Grade 12.

{{Vanchor|82nd Street Academics}}, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational institution, is housed at the Community United Methodist Church of Jackson Heights. Since 2003, it has been a community-based [[Universal Pre-Kindergarten]] provider under contract with the [[New York City Department of Education]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.privateschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/30652 |title=82nd Street Academics |work=privateschoolreview.com|date=October 30, 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=82nd Street Academics |url=http://www.82ndst.com/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804172810/http://www.82ndst.com/index.html |archive-date=August 4, 2012}}</ref>

===Library===
The [[Queens Public Library]]'s Jackson Heights branch is at 35–51 81st Street.<ref>{{cite web | title=Branch Detailed Info: Jackson Heights | website=Queens Public Library | url=https://www.queenslibrary.org/about-us/locations/Jackson-Heights/ | access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

==Houses of worship==
The community is home to various houses of worship from a wide array of religions.

The Community United Methodist Church, between 81st and 82nd streets on 35th Avenue,<ref name="macaulay.cuny.edu 201403" /> is the oldest church in Jackson Heights. Founded in 1919, it was dedicated in 1923<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://onechurchnyc.com/history/|title=History|website=Community United Methodist Church|language=en-US|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> as part of Queensboro Corporation's planned development.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /> Originally serving the spiritual needs of European-American Protestant residents, it is now the most diverse church in Queens with Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and English services.<ref name="Miyares-2010" /> Reverend Austin Armistead, who led the church from 1974 to 1995, is credited for the church's racial and cultural change. Prior to his arrival in 1974, the suggestion of the Spanish-speaking service had been rejected. Armistead made the decision to remake the church, with a vision of mirroring the neighborhood and so divided the church into four different ministries; the church also came to serve as "common ground" for a range of community groups, from ethnic associations to LGBTQ organizations to nonprofits like the Jackson Heights Beautification Group.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Zf1qeKu66sC&q=john+nicholson+jackson+heights+ny+resident+narrative&pg=PA100|title=Beyond Segregation: Multiracial And Multiethnic Neighborhoods|last=Maly|first=Michael|date=January 19, 2011|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=9781592131365|language=en}}</ref>

Satya Narayan Mandir, at the corner of 76 street and Woodside Avenue, is the oldest Hindu-Sikhism combination temple in the United States (and, it claims, the Americas). It was incorporated in 1987.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://satyanarayanmandir.org/aboutmandir.html|title=::About Mandir|website=satyanarayanmandir.org|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>

Saint Joan of Arc Catholic Church, between 82nd and 83rd Street on 35th Avenue, was the first Catholic church to be named in honor of a newly canonized French Saint.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/mcnamarasblog/2014/05/queens-parish-first-one-named-for-st-joan-of-arc-1920.html|title=Queens Parish First One Named for St. Joan of Arc, 1920|last=Blog|first=McNamara's|date=May 30, 2014|website=McNamara's Blog|language=en|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>

Muhammadi Community Center, at 37–46 72nd Street, has served Jackson Heights's Muslims since 1995. Its head and founder is Imam Qazi Qayyoom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/jacksonsights/religion/islam/|title=Islam {{!}} Exploring Diversity in Jackson Heights|website=eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, on 34th Avenue between 81st and 82nd streets within the Jackson Heights Historic District, offers bilingual worship. It was established in 1923 as part of Queensboro Corporation's planned development. In 1993, it was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nycago.org/Organs/Qns/html/StMarkEpis.html|title=St. Mark's Episcopal Church – Jackson Heights (Queens), NY|website=www.nycago.org|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>

Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Kehillah, on the lower level of the Jackson Heights Jewish Center at 77th Street and 37th Avenue, provides all manner of services for all residents of Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and western Queens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jhekehillah.org/index.html|title=Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Kehillah|website=www.jhekehillah.org|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404124014/http://www.jhekehillah.org/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" heights="150" mode="packed">
File:Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo.jpg|Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo
File:Bible Baptist church of Jackson Heights.jpg|Bible Baptist church of Jackson Heights
File:Blessed Sacrements Church.jpg|Blessed Sacrament Church
File:Orthodox American Church.jpg|Orthodox American Church
File:Iglesia Cristiana De Restauracion Jehova Nisi.jpg|Iglesia Cristiana De Restauracion Jehova Nisi
File:The Korean Church Of Queens.jpg|The Korean Church Of Queens
File:New York Hindu Sanatan Inc.jpg|New York Hindu Sanatan Inc
File:Grace Community Church.jpg|Grace Community Church
File:Atonement Lutheran Church & Pre School.jpg|Atonement Lutheran Church & Pre School
File:Our Lady of Fatima Church.jpg|Our Lady of Fatima Church (East Elmhurst)
File:Evangelistic Church - Our Lord.jpg|Evangelistic Church - Our Lord
File:Immanuel Baptist.jpg|Immanuel Baptist
File:Saint Mark's Espiscopal Church.jpg|Saint Mark's Episcopal Church
File:The Salvation Army Queens Temple Corps. Community Center.jpg|The Salvation Army Queens Temple Corps. Community Center
File:St Joan Of Arc Rc.jpg|St Joan Of Arc Rc
File:Community United Methodist.jpg|Community United Methodist
File:Ray Of Hope Church.jpg|Ray Of Hope Church
File:Saint Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church.jpg|Saint Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Church
File:Perfect Liberty Church.jpg|Perfect Liberty Church
</gallery>

==Transportation==
===Public transportation===
[[File:74 Street vc.jpg|thumb|right|The intersection of 75th Street and [[Roosevelt Avenue]], under the elevated [[IRT Flushing Line]] ({{NYCS trains|Flushing local}})]]
The following [[New York City Subway]] stations serve Jackson Heights:<ref>{{NYCS const|map}}</ref>
* {{stn|Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street}} ({{NYCS trains|Roosevelt}})
* {{stn|82nd Street–Jackson Heights}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing local}})
* {{stn|90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing local}})
* {{stn|Junction Boulevard}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing local}})
The following [[MTA Regional Bus Operations]] bus routes serve Jackson Heights:<ref name=busqns>{{cite NYC bus map|Q}}</ref>
* [[Q29 (New York City bus)|Q29]]: to [[Glendale, Queens|Glendale]] via Hampton Street
* [[Q32 (New York City bus)|Q32]]: to [[Pennsylvania Station (New York City)|Pennsylvania Station]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]] via Roosevelt Avenue and 81st/82nd Streets
* [[Q33 (New York City bus)|Q33]]: to [[Marine Air Terminal]] via 82nd/83rd Streets
* [[Q47 (New York City bus)|Q47]]: to [[East Elmhurst, Queens|East Elmhurst]] or [[Glendale, Queens|Glendale]] via 73rd/74th Streets
* [[Q49 (New York City bus)|Q49]]: to East Elmhurst via 35th Avenue and 89th/90th/92nd Streets
* [[Q53 (New York City bus)|Q53 SBS]]: to {{stn|61st Street–Woodside}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing}})/[[Woodside station (LIRR)|Woodside LIRR]] or {{stn|Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street}} ({{NYCS trains|Rockaway Park}}) via Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway
* [[Q63 (New York City bus)|Q63]] and [[Q66 (New York City bus)|Q66]]: to {{stn|Queensboro Plaza}} ({{NYCS trains|Queensboro}}) or {{stn|Flushing–Main Street||IRT Flushing Line}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing}}) via Northern Boulevard
* [[Q70 (New York City bus)|Q70 SBS]]: to {{stn|61st Street–Woodside}} ({{NYCS trains|Flushing}})/[[Woodside station (LIRR)|Woodside LIRR]] or [[LaGuardia Airport]] Terminals B/C/D via Roosevelt Avenue, Broadway, and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
* [[Q72 (New York City bus)|Q72]]: to {{stn|63rd Drive–Rego Park}} ({{NYCS trains|Queens local day}}) or [[LaGuardia Airport]] Terminals B/C/D via Junction Boulevard

The Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street station is a [[transportation hub]] where the subway's {{NYCS trains|Roosevelt|time=nolink}} and the Q32, Q33, Q47, Q49. Q53 SBS and Q70 SBS buses converge.<ref name=busqns/> The MTA spent over $100&nbsp;million on renovations to the Jackson Heights bus terminal, which were completed in 2005.<ref name="qgazette.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.qgazette.com/news/2005-07-20/features/045.html |title=Officials Applaud Opening Of Renovated Bus Terminal &#124; www.qgazette.com &#124; Queens Gazette |publisher=www.qgazette.com |date=July 20, 2005 |access-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322002411/http://www.qgazette.com/news/2005-07-20/features/045.html |archive-date=March 22, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It includes one of the first green buildings in the MTA system, the Victor A. Moore Bus Terminal, which is partially powered by solar panels built into the roof along the length of the sheds above the Flushing Line platforms.<ref name="qgazette.com"/><ref name="hibrow"/> The terminal, like the Victor Moore Arcade (which it replaced), is named after Jackson Heights resident [[Victor Moore]], a Broadway and film actor from the era of [[silent film]] to the 1950s.<ref name="qgazette.com"/>

===Roads===
[[Interstate 278]] (Brooklyn Queens Expressway), [[New York State Route 25A]] (Northern Boulevard), and the [[Grand Central Parkway]] (in the East Elmhurst area) are major roads in the area. LaGuardia Airport, in East Elmhurst, is nearby.<ref name=busqns/>

Eleven percent of roads in Jackson Heights have bike lanes, similar to the rate in the city overall.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|10}} These lanes, part of the city's [[Cycling in New York City|bikeway system]], exist on 34th Avenue, as well as on 74th and 75th streets between 34th Avenue and 37th Road. There is also a short one-block bike lane connector on 37th Road between 74th and 75th streets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikemaps.shtml|title=NYC DOT – Bicycle Maps|website=Nyc.gov|access-date=November 11, 2017}}</ref>

==Notable residents==
{{div col|colwidth=30em|small=yes}}
* [[Nadia Ali (singer)|Nadia Ali]] (born 1980), Pakistani-American singer-songwriter.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
* [[Alene S. Ammond]] (1933–2019), politician known as "The Terror of Trenton", who served in the [[New Jersey Senate]] from the [[6th Legislative District (New Jersey)|6th Legislative District]] from 1974 to 1978.<ref>Moran, Robert. [https://www.inquirer.com/news/alene-ammond-new-jersey-senator-obituary-20190614.html "Alene S. Ammond, 86, N.J. state senator during 1970s who fought for legislative accountability"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808184238/https://www.inquirer.com/news/alene-ammond-new-jersey-senator-obituary-20190614.html |date=August 8, 2019 }}, ''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'', June 14, 2019. "Sen. Ammond was born in Jackson Heights, Queens".</ref>
* [[Alfred Mosher Butts]] (1899–1993), invented [[Scrabble]] in 1938, and perfected it at Community Methodist Church.<ref>Kershaw, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/inside-queens-a-criss-crossed-quest.html "Inside Queens; A Criss-Crossed Quest"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808184242/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/01/nyregion/inside-queens-a-criss-crossed-quest.html |date=August 8, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 1, 1995. Accessed October 19, 2007. "Jeffrey A. Saunders knew that Scrabble was born on 79th Street in Jackson Heights. He knew that Alfred Mosher Butts lived there when he invented the game."</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/new-scrabble-street-sign-queens-commemorate-birthplace-board-game-article-1.160189 |title=Clare Trapasso, "New 'Scrabble' street sign will go up in Queens to commemorate birthplace of board game," ''New York Daily News'' (July 21, 2011). |website=[[New York Daily News]] |date=July 21, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2020 |archive-date=August 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801085950/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/new-scrabble-street-sign-queens-commemorate-birthplace-board-game-article-1.160189 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Chester Carlson]] (1906–1968), invented Xerox copy machine in his Jackson Heights kitchen.<ref>Abadjian, Nick. [http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature2003/052203/feature_story.html "Inventors of Queens"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220220648/http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/featurearchive/feature2003/052203/feature_story.html |date=December 20, 2007 }}, ''Queens Tribune'', May 22, 2003. Accessed December 17, 2007. "Carlson, a Jackson Heights resident, worked as a lab researcher for a year and got laid off."</ref>
* [[Robert P. Casey]] (1932–2000), [[Governor of Pennsylvania]] from 1987 to 1995.<ref>Molotsky, Irvin. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/us/former-gov-robert-p-casey-dies-at-68-pennsylvania-democrat-opposed-abortion.html "Former Gov. Robert P. Casey Dies at 68; Pennsylvania Democrat Opposed Abortion"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170321082703/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/31/us/former-gov-robert-p-casey-dies-at-68-pennsylvania-democrat-opposed-abortion.html |date=March 21, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 31, 2000. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Lady Catiria]], (1959–1999), drag performer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poz.com/article/Queen-of-Hearts-10189-6559|title=Queen of Hearts|last=Suggs|first=Donald|date=June 1, 1999|website=[[POZ (magazine)|POZ]]|access-date=April 30, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Charlie Chaplin]] (1899–1977), silent film actor<ref name="nyt19871227"/>
* [[Thom Christopher]] (born 1940), longtime actor on ''[[One Life to Live]]''.<ref>[http://www.soapoperadigest.com/soapstarstats/thomchristopherbio/ "Thom Christopher"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601001918/http://www.soapoperadigest.com/soapstarstats/thomchristopherbio/ |date=June 1, 2009 }}, ''[[Soap Opera Digest]]''. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Native New Yorker Thom Christopher hails from the Queens neighborhood of Jackson Heights."</ref>
* [[Eleanor Clift]] (born 1940), ''[[Newsweek]]'' contributing editor and regular panelist on ''[[The McLaughlin Group]]''.<ref>Solomon, Deborah. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/magazine/02wwln-Q4-t.html "Questions for Eleanor Clift: Grande Dame"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106010053/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/magazine/02wwln-Q4-t.html |date=January 6, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 2, 2008. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Where are you from? I grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, and my father had a deli, Roeloffs Deli, in Sunnyside."</ref>
* [[Montgomery Clift]] (1920–1966), actor, moved to Jackson Heights with his family in 1933 and lived in The Chateau apartments.<ref>Bosworth, Patricia. [https://books.google.com/books?id=rNi9ksSb92sC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47 "Montgomery Clift: A Biography"], p. 47. Hal Leonard Corporation, 2007. {{ISBN|0-87910-135-0}}.</ref>
* [[Ray Dalio]] (born 1949), founder of [[Bridgewater Associates]].<ref>Cassidy, John. [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/07/25/mastering-the-machine "Mastering the MachineHow Ray Dalio built the world's richest and strangest hedge fund"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622024544/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/07/25/mastering-the-machine |date=June 22, 2016 }}, ''[[The New Yorker]]'', July 25, 2011. Accessed June 16, 2016. "The only child of Italian-American parents, Ray Dalio was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1949."</ref>
* [[Alan M. Davis]] (born 1949), professor and author.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
* [[David Diosa]] (born 1992), [[Association football|footballer]] for the [[Richmond Kickers]] in [[USL League One]].<ref>Diaz, Cesar. [https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/cosmos-kick-off-with-queens-help/article_9488a3a1-5fa7-537c-a9b9-0527882bd514.html "Cosmos kick off, with Queens' help; Jackson Heights-born David Diosa is ready to begin the new season"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912181837/https://www.qchron.com/editions/queenswide/cosmos-kick-off-with-queens-help/article_9488a3a1-5fa7-537c-a9b9-0527882bd514.html |date=September 12, 2019 }}, ''[[Queens Chronicle]]'', April 16, 2015. Accessed December 3, 2020. "Come Saturday, New York Cosmos fans from the five boroughs and beyond can see Jackson Heights native David Diosa, 23, who enters his fifth year with the team, play at the club's home opener at Hofstra's James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, LI."</ref>
* [[Edward Djerejian]] (born 1939), diplomat, former United States Ambassador to Syria and Israel and Assistant Secretary of State.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
* [[Albert K. Dawson]] (1885–1967), photojournalist and cinematographer during the First World War, living at [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dawson_Letter_to_Lowell_Thomas_circa_1960.pdf 3564, 89th Street], Jackson Heights, between 1928–1967.
* [[Kevin Dobson]] (1943–2020), actor, known for his roles on ''[[Kojak]]'' and ''[[Knots Landing]]''.<ref>[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF60C9E8FE4F711&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM "Hollywood Freeway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019041531/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF60C9E8FE4F711&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |date=October 19, 2012 }}, ''[[Los Angeles Daily News]]'', July 17, 1990. Accessed May 28, 2009. "When you grow up in the projects in Jackson Heights, in the New York borough of Queens, you don't think about having a golf and tennis tournament named after you. You only think about getting out and surviving. Kevin Dobson got out."</ref>
* [[Alfred Eisenstaedt]] (1898–1995), photographer, lived in Jackson Heights for many years.<ref>Grundberg, Andy. [https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/12/arts/alfred-eisenstaedt-90-the-image-of-activity.html "Alfred Eisenstaedt, 90: The Image of Activity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210717221820/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/12/arts/alfred-eisenstaedt-90-the-image-of-activity.html |date=July 17, 2021 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 12, 1998. Accessed May 8, 2022. "Until a year ago, he would walk daily from his home in Jackson Heights, Queens, to his office on the Avenue of the Americas and 51st Street, he said."</ref>
* [[Douglas Fairbanks]] (1883–1939), actor, screenwriter, director, and producer<ref name="nyt19871227"/>
* [[Rima Fakih]] (born 1985), Miss USA 2010.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* [[Calvin Fixx]] (1906—1950), editor at ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/04/archives/calvin-fixx.html "Calvin Fixx"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212131331/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/03/04/archives/calvin-fixx.html |date=December 12, 2021 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 4, 1950. Accessed December 20, 2016. ""Calvin Fixx of 33–28 Eighty-first Street, Jackson Heights, Queens, a member of the special projects department of Time, Inc., and a former editor of Time, died yesterday of a heart ailment in the Atlantic City Hospital, according to word received here."</ref>
* [[Dave Fleming (baseball)|Dave Fleming]] (born 1969), MLB pitcher who spent most of his career with the [[Seattle Mariners]].<ref>Street, Jim. [http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030610&content_id=367449&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea "Where've you gone, Dave Fleming?"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090307061627/http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030610&content_id=367449&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea |date=March 7, 2009 }}, [[Seattle Mariners]], June 10, 2003. Accessed May 28, 2009. "The ace of the '92 staff was Dave Fleming, a quiet southpaw born in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, N.Y., who went from College World Series star at the University of Georgia to the Major Leagues in a blink of an eye."</ref>
* [[Arthur Googy]] (born 1961 as Joseph McGuckin), original drummer for the band [[Misfits (band)|The Misfits]].{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}
* [[Bobby Hackett]] (1915–1976), trumpet player who played with [[Henry Mancini]], [[Benny Goodman]], and [[Louis Armstrong]]
* [[Ed Hayes]] (born 1947), influential lawyer, journalist, and memoirist.<ref>McGrath, Charles. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/books/review/19mcgrath.html "The Fixer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121211112139/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/books/review/19mcgrath.html |date=December 11, 2012 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 19, 2006. Accessed October 22, 2009.</ref>
* [[Helen Kane]] (1904–1966), singer, known for her baby talk version of ''[[I Wanna Be Loved by You]]'' and model for [[Betty Boop]].<ref>via ''[[Associated Press]]''. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x2wUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7474,1423859&dq=helen-kane+jackson-heights "Obituary: Helen Kane"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308173325/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x2wUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dgEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7474,1423859&dq=helen-kane+jackson-heights |date=March 8, 2021 }}, ''[[The Blade (Toledo)|Toledo Blade]]'', September 27, 1966. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Evelyn Fox Keller]] (1936–2023), [[physicist]], author and [[feminism|feminist]], who is Professor Emerita of History and [[Philosophy of Science]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>Dean, Cornelia. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/science/theorist-drawn-into-debate-that-will-not-go-away.html "Theorist Drawn Into Debate 'That Will Not Go Away'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801205731/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/science/theorist-drawn-into-debate-that-will-not-go-away.html |date=August 1, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 12, 2005. Accessed November 27, 2017. "Dr. Keller, whose honors and fellowships include a MacArthur award in 1992 (she used the money to buy a house on Cape Cod), was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, in 1936, the daughter of Russian immigrants. She grew up in Woodside, graduated with a degree in physics from Brandeis and went on to Harvard."</ref>
* [[Richard Kline]] (born 1944), actor who played Jack's friend [[Larry Dallas|Larry]] on ''[[Three's Company]]''.<ref>[http://www.playbill.com/article/a-californian-teaches-ny-something-about-jewishness-com-100905 "A Californian Teaches NY Something About Jewishness"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809224859/http://www.playbill.com/article/a-californian-teaches-ny-something-about-jewishness-com-100905 |date=August 9, 2016 }}, ''[[Playbill (magazine)|Playbill]]'', February 26, 1997. Accessed June 16, 2016. "Once upon a time in Jackson Heights, N.Y., there lived an 11-year-old Little League baseball player named Richard Klein. This baseball player, when he grew up and became an actor, had to change his name to Richard Kline because there already was another actor named Richard Klein."</ref>
* [[John Leguizamo]] (born 1964), comedian, actor.<ref>Zook, Kristal Brent. [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/75528398.html?dids=75528398:75528398&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+19%2C+2001&author=Kristal+Brent+Zook&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Comedy+That+Hits+Close+to+Home%3B+Now+a+Father%2C+John+Leguizamo+Looks+Back+Without+Anger&pqatl=google "Comedy That Hits Close to Home; Now a Father, John Leguizamo Looks Back Without Anger"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025211448/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/75528398.html?dids=75528398:75528398&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+19,+2001&author=Kristal+Brent+Zook&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Comedy+That+Hits+Close+to+Home%3B+Now+a+Father,+John+Leguizamo+Looks+Back+Without+Anger&pqatl=google |date=October 25, 2012 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', July 19, 2001. Accessed June 11, 2009. "Born in Bogota, Colombia, to a Puerto Rican father and a Colombian mother of Indian ancestry, [John Leguizamo] was raised in the multiethnic Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens."</ref>
* [[Willy Ley]] (1906–1969), space writer and theorist.<ref>via ''[[United Press International]]''. [https://archive.today/20120715214811/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DsUVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hhEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6232,4976677&dq=willy-ley+jackson-heights "Space Scientist Willy Ley Dies"], ''[[Milwaukee Sentinel]]'', June 25, 1969. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Peter Anthony Libasci]] (born 1951), Tenth Bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester]].<ref>[https://bob.yerhot.org/2011/09/congratulations-diocese-of-manchester-new-hampshire/ "Congratulations, Diocese of Manchester, New Hampshire!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822073115/http://bob.yerhot.org/2011/09/congratulations-diocese-of-manchester-new-hampshire/ |date=August 22, 2017 }}, Catholic Faith and Reflections, September 21, 2011. Accessed May 8, 2022. "The Holy Father announced on September 19th that he accepted the resignation of Bishop John B. McCormack of the diocese of Manchester and has named Bishop Peter Libasci its new shepherd. Bishop Libasci was born in 1951 in Jackson Heights, New York."</ref>
* [[Lucy Liu]] (born 1968), actress.<ref>Ogunnaike, Lola. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E5D7133FF930A25753C1A9659C8B63 "The Perks and Pitfalls Of a Ruthless-Killer Role; Lucy Liu Boosts the Body Count in New Film"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221021452/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E5D7133FF930A25753C1A9659C8B63 |date=December 21, 2007 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 13, 2003. Accessed October 25, 2007. "Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, Ms. Liu, the daughter of working-class Chinese immigrants, recalled many an afternoon spent parked in front of a television set."</ref>
* [[Clive Lythgoe]] (1927–2006), classical pianist.<ref>Blumenthal, Ralph. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/09/arts/most-his-audience-homeless-clive-lythgoe-piano-virtuoso-now-likes-life-different.html "Most of His Audience Is Homeless; Clive Lythgoe, a Piano Virtuoso, Now Likes Life at a Different Tempo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522180628/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/09/arts/most-his-audience-homeless-clive-lythgoe-piano-virtuoso-now-likes-life-different.html |date=May 22, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 9, 2000. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Mr. Lythgoe's life these days is a far cry from his glamorous existence as a fast-rising star. Instead of a six-bedroom manor in Sussex, he lives alone in a simple one-bedroom co-op apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens."</ref>
* [[John McWhorter]] (born 1965), linguist and author.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Conversations with Tyler: John McWhorter on Linguistics, Music, and Race (Live at Mason)|url=https://cowenconvos.libsyn.com/john-mcwhorter|access-date=February 4, 2021|website=cowenconvos.libsyn.com|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Victor Moore]] (1876–1962), actor.<ref>Marzlock, Ron. [https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/victor-moore-arcade-74th-st-and-roosevelt-ave-jackson-heights/article_623b1920-f92e-584e-85cb-4001dc59f91d.html "Victor Moore Arcade, 74th St. and Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107221940/https://www.qchron.com/qboro/i_have_often_walked/victor-moore-arcade-74th-st-and-roosevelt-ave-jackson-heights/article_623b1920-f92e-584e-85cb-4001dc59f91d.html |date=January 7, 2023 }}, ''Queens Chronicle'', January 17, 2002. Accessed May 8, 2022. "He lived in Jackson Heights and commuted during this period to Manhattan. He eventually passed away in East Islip, Long Island in 1962. How the transfer point arcade exactly got his name is still a mystery."</ref>
* [[Billy Murcia]] (1954–1972), original drummer for the [[New York Dolls]].<ref>Jacobson, Mark. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/music2002/n_7736/ "The Icon: Doll Face"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119031611/http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/music2002/n_7736/ |date=November 19, 2018 }}, ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'', September 23, 2002. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Then came the sad pictures: Johnny and Jerry, RIP, and Billy Murcia too, their first drummer, a Colombian from Jackson Heights, dead in a London bathtub."</ref>
* [[Carroll O'Connor]] (1924—2001), actor, director, producer<ref name="nyt19871227"/>
* [[Colby O'Donis]] (born 1989), pop and R&B singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and actor.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
* [[Jakiw Palij]] (1923–2019), former [[Nazi concentration camp]] guard; emigrated to U.S. in 1949, deported in 2018 aged 95.<ref>{{cite web | title=Nazi collaborator Jakiw Palij is deported from U.S. to Germany | website=NBC News | date=August 21, 2018 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/nazi-collaborator-jakiw-palij-arrested-new-york-deported-germany-n902441 | access-date=September 10, 2018}}</ref>
* [[Les Paul]] (1915–2009), [[jazz guitar]]ist and guitar innovator.<ref>Buskin, Richard. [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan07/articles/classictracks_0107.htm "Classic Tracks: Les Paul & Mary Ford 'How High The Moon'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720032654/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan07/articles/classictracks_0107.htm |date=July 20, 2008 }}, ''[[Sound on Sound]]'', January 2007. "'How High the Moon' was recorded in Les Paul's home studio in Jackson Heights, using just the Ampex 300, a power supply unit, a small home-made mixer, a Bell & Howe amplifier, a Lansing Manufacturing Iconic speaker, and a single RCA 44BX ribbon mic."</ref>
* [[Duncan Penwarden]] (1880–1930), actor.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/14/archives/duncan-penwarden-broadway-actor-dies-succumbs-to-pneumonia-attack.html "Duncan Penwarden, Broadway Actor, Dies; Succumbs to Pneumonia Attack Following an Operation in Denver Two Weeks Ago"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723065529/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/14/archives/duncan-penwarden-broadway-actor-dies-succumbs-to-pneumonia-attack.html |date=July 23, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', September 14, 1930. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Joe Quesada]] (born 1962), Editor-in-Chief of [[Marvel Comics]].<ref>Jennings, Dana. [https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/23/nyregion/new-york-action-hero.html "New York Action Hero"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228235631/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/23/nyregion/new-york-action-hero.html |date=December 28, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 23, 2003. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Mr. Quesada also falls squarely in comics' up-by-your-bootstraps, Ellis Island lineage. He grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens (Spider-Man's home borough), the comics-seduced child of Cuban immigrants."</ref>
* [[Tommy Rettig]] (1941–1996), actor who appeared on the 1950s ''[[Lassie (1954 TV series)|Lassie]]'' television series.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121019190300/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-67773716.html "Tommy Rettig, Played Jeff In Original Cast Of Television's ''Lassie''"], ''[[Rocky Mountain News]]'', February 18, 1996. Accessed December 10, 2007.</ref>
* [[Don Rickles]] (1926–2017), comedian.<ref>Witchel, Alex. [https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/25/magazine/i-m-no-howard-stern-you-dummy.html "I'm No Howard Stern, You Dummy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190808184237/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/25/magazine/i-m-no-howard-stern-you-dummy.html |date=August 8, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]], ''August 25, 1996. Accessed October 8, 2007. "Donald Jay Rickles, Who Was Born in New York City on May 8, 1926, grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens."</ref>
* [[Robert Tripp Ross]] (1903–1981), Congressman and former Assistant Secretary of Defense from 1954 to 1957.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1955/02/26/archives/queens-man-gets-top-defense-post-robert-t-ross-once-gop.html "Queens Man Gets Top Defense Post; Robert T. Ross, Once G.O.P. Representative in Capital, Would Succeed Seaton"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425011016/https://www.nytimes.com/1955/02/26/archives/queens-man-gets-top-defense-post-robert-t-ross-once-gop.html |date=April 25, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 26, 1955. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Mercedes Ruehl]] (born 1948), actress.<ref>Trescott, Jacqueline. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025165701/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-997544.html "Mercedes Ruehl, Driven; The Manic Actress On the Road to Oscar"], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', March 26, 1992. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Zoe Saldana]] (born 1978), actress<ref>Alexander, Keira. [https://www.amny.com/entertainment/celebrities/zoe-saldana-talks-live-by-night-self-doubt-kids-and-nyc-1.12947398/ "Zoe Saldana talks ''Live By Night,'' self-doubt, kids and NYC"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016120244/https://www.amny.com/entertainment/celebrities/zoe-saldana-talks-live-by-night-self-doubt-kids-and-nyc-1.12947398/ |date=October 16, 2021 }}, ''[[AM New York Metro]]'', January 12, 2017. Accessed December 3, 2020. "While L.A.-based Saldana missed the New York premiere of ''Live By Night,'' the city is a place close to her heart — she spent a chunk of her childhood growing up in Jackson Heights."</ref>
* [[Susan Sarandon]] (born 1946), actress.<ref>Esther Zuckerman. [http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/08/susan_sarandon_1.php " Susan Sarandon Shares Her New York Favorites"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111019065942/http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/08/susan_sarandon_1.php |date=October 19, 2011 }}, ''[[The Village Voice]]'', August 30, 2011. Accessed September 23, 2011.</ref>
* [[Eddie August Schneider]] (1911–1940), record-setting early aviator.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/24/archives/2-die-as-planes-crash-at-field-eddie-schneider-who-flew-at-15-is.html "2 Die As Planes Crash At Field; Eddie Schneider, Who Flew at 15, Is Killed When His Craft and Navy Trainer Collide Passenger Also Victim U.S. Ship Is Landed Safely at Floyd Bennett Airport Despite Damaged Wings"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723065114/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/24/archives/2-die-as-planes-crash-at-field-eddie-schneider-who-flew-at-15-is.html |date=July 23, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', December 24, 2940. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Schneider lived at 32–50 Seventythird Street, Jackson Heights, Queens".</ref>
* [[Walter Sear]] (1930–2010), audio engineer.<ref>[[Ben Sisario|Sisario, Ben]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/arts/music/07sear.html "Walter Sear, an Audio Engineer With a Passion for Analog, Dies at 80"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205124817/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/arts/music/07sear.html |date=December 5, 2016 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'' May 6, 2010, Accessed May 7, 2010</ref>
* [[Gene Simmons]] (born 1949), of the rock group [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Van Riper|first=Tom|url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/05/20/gene-simmons-jobs_cx_tr_06work_0523simmons.html|title=First Job: Gene Simmons|website=[[forbes]].com|date=May 23, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111034755/http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/20/gene-simmons-jobs_cx_tr_06work_0523simmons.html|archive-date=November 11, 2007|url-status=dead|quote=I delivered the Long Island Star Journal in Jackson Heights, Queens, known as the Long Island Press on Sundays.}}</ref>
* [[Howard Stern]] (born 1954), host of ''[[The Howard Stern Show]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121025165551/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22214510.html "HOWARD STERN'S Private Jewish Parts"], ''[[The Jewish Week]]'', March 7, 1997. Accessed May 28, 2009.</ref>
* [[Bruce Sussman]] (born 1949), songwriter, best known for his work with [[Barry Manilow]].<ref>Grant, Jason. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/nyregion/thecity/after-129-years-a-dog-has-its-day.html "After 129 Years, a Dog Has Its Day"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028052530/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/nyregion/thecity/after-129-years-a-dog-has-its-day.html |date=October 28, 2019 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', February 13, 2005. Accessed October 27, 2019. "'They'll calm down in a minute,' explained their owner, Bruce Sussman, as he opened the door to a visitor.... What possessed a native New Yorker, raised in Jackson Heights, Queens, with German shepherds, to own terriers? 'I always liked the picture of the Scottie and the Westie on my father's scotch bottle,' Mr. Sussman said."</ref>
* [[Maria Terrone]], poet and writer.<ref>Maria Terrone, [http://www.queenstribune.com/leisure/PoetTurnsToQueensForInspir.html Poet Turns to Queens For Inspiration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210182023/http://www.queenstribune.com/leisure/PoetTurnsToQueensForInspir.html |date=February 10, 2007 }}.</ref><ref>Jennifer Manley, [http://www.qchron.com/qboro/stories/prepared-for-the-muse-in-jackson-heights/article_1e32562c-b60b-5140-8539-6e976d346644.html Prepared For The Muse In Jackson Heights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128134406/http://www.qchron.com/qboro/stories/prepared-for-the-muse-in-jackson-heights/article_1e32562c-b60b-5140-8539-6e976d346644.html |date=January 28, 2017 }}.</ref>
* [[Sada Thompson]] (1927–2011), award-winning actress.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=D0AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA69-IA2&lpg=PA69-IA2&dq=%22jackson%20heights%22%20%22sada%20thompson%22 "Parting Shots: Sada times four, Broadway's new one-woman triumph"], ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'', January 28, 1972. Accessed June 18, 2016. "They have a daughter, 20, and live in an unfashionable suburb, Jackson Heights."</ref>
* [[Johnny Thunders]] (1952–1991), of the [[New York Dolls]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
* [[Waddy Wachtel]] (born 1947), session guitarist.<ref>Whiteside, Jonny. [http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/entertainment/tn-blr-et-music-review-waddy-wachtel-20160226-story.html "Music Review: Rock 'n' roll stalwart Waddy Wachtel takes center stage"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160724154034/http://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/entertainment/tn-blr-et-music-review-waddy-wachtel-20160226-story.html |date=July 24, 2016 }}, ''[[Glendale News-Press]]'', February 26, 2016. {{"'}}I grew up in Jackson Heights, New York, started playing guitar when I was about nine, moved to L.A. at 20 in '68,' Wachtel said."</ref>
* [[Raees Warsi]] (born 1963), Urdu poet, writer and TV anchor.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}
* [[Helene White]] (born 1954), federal judge on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]].<ref>[http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/nGetInfo?jid=3178 White, Helene N.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223708/http://www.fjc.gov/servlet/nGetInfo?jid=3178 |date=March 3, 2016 }}, ''[[Biographical Directory of Federal Judges]]''. Accessed June 18, 2016. "Born 1954 in Jackson Heights, NY"</ref>
{{div col end}}

==In popular culture==
{{div col|colwidth=30em|small=yes}}
* Much of the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] film ''[[The Wrong Man]]'' (1956) takes place within a few blocks of the intersection of Broadway and 74th Street.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
* The theme song of the TV show ''[[Car 54 Where Are You?]]'' (1961–63) has a line that goes: "There's a traffic jam in [[Harlem]] that's backed up to Jackson Heights".<ref>Crouch, Gregory. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-04-19-fi-1220-story.html "Calling All Cars, Calling All Cars : There's a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn's broken out in fights, There's a traffic jam in Harlem, That's backed up to Jackson Heights, There's a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev's due at Idlewild-- CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', April 19, 1988. Accessed September 11, 2017.</ref>
* [[Ingrid Bergman]]'s character Stephanie Dickinson in the movie ''[[Cactus Flower (film)|Cactus Flower]]'' (1969) lives in Jackson Heights.
* In ''[[Cagney & Lacey]]'' (1988), the fictional character Mary Beth Lacey and her family live in an apartment in Jackson Heights.<ref>Terrace, Vincent. [https://books.google.com/books?id=XF8nDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA24 ''Television Series of the 1980s: Essential Facts and Quirky Details''], p. 24. [[Rowman & Littlefield]], 2017. {{ISBN|9781442278318}}. Accessed September 11, 2017. "MARY BETH LACEY ... For the remainder of the series, they live at 7132 West 46th Street in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York (although said to be living there for 15 years)."</ref>
* In ''[[Coming to America]]'' (1988), the fictional singer Randy Watson is referred to as "Jackson Heights' own".
* Jackson Heights is mentioned in ''[[Del Amitri]]'''s song "Surface of the Moon", from the 1992 album ''[[Change Everything]]''.
* Part of ''[[The Usual Suspects]]'' (1995) was filmed in Jackson Heights around 34th Avenue and 82nd Street.
* Portions of ''[[Random Hearts]]'' (1999) were filmed in Jackson Heights on 35th Avenue between 76th and 77th streets.
* Major portions of the [[Academy Award]]–nominated ''[[Maria Full of Grace]]'' (2004) were filmed on location in Jackson Heights.
* It is also the setting for the TV show ''[[Ugly Betty]]'' (2006–10), where Betty and her family live.<ref>Salamone, Gina. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/queens-house-ugly-betty-co-star-article-1.321423 "Queens house is an unlikely ''Ugly Betty'' co-star"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912011546/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/queens-house-ugly-betty-co-star-article-1.321423 |date=September 12, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', September 20, 2008. Accessed September 11, 2017. "The filming of "Ugly Betty" has switched from Los Angeles to New York this season, but the Suarez clan has always called Jackson Heights home. ... The mint-green, one-family detached Colonial sits on 92nd St., near Elmhurst Ave."</ref>
* Parts of director James Gray's ''[[We Own the Night (film)|We Own the Night]]'' (2007) were filmed between 32nd Avenue and 31st Avenue on 84th Street.
* The eponymous [[Pakistani]] drama ''[[Jackson Heights (TV series)|Jackson Heights]]'' is set in this neighborhood and deals with the lives of Pakistanis living in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mehreen Jabbar returns with new drama Jackson Heights |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1129232 |website=Dawn.com|date=September 2014 }}</ref>
* In [[Mad Men (season 5)|season 5]] of AMC's ''[[Mad Men]]'' (2012), Ken Cosgrove and his family reside in Jackson Heights
* The documentary film ''[[In Jackson Heights]]'' (2015) by [[Frederick Wiseman]] explores the diversity of people in the neighborhood.<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/show/jackson-heights/ ''In Jackson Heights''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825014422/http://www.pbs.org/show/jackson-heights/ |date=August 25, 2017 }}, [[PBS]]. Accessed September 11, 2017. "Frederick Wiseman's latest documentary IN JACKSON HEIGHTS shines a light on one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse communities in America, and the world."</ref>
* The HBO series ''[[The Night Of]]'' (2016) was partially filmed around 37th Avenue and 74th Street.<ref>Matua, Angela.
[http://qns.com/story/2016/07/19/hbos-the-night-of-was-shot-all-over-queens/ "HBO's ''The Night Of'' was shot all around Queens including Jackson Heights, Kew Gardens and LIC"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912011414/http://qns.com/story/2016/07/19/hbos-the-night-of-was-shot-all-over-queens/ |date=September 12, 2017 }}, QNS, July 19, 2016. Accessed September 11, 2017. "Naz and his family live in Jackson Heights and in the first episode we get a glimpse of the eclectic shops dotting 74th Street. Shane Haden, the location manager of the show, said that the creators wrote Jackson Heights into the show and that it was an ideal neighborhood to capture the flavor of Naz's Muslim community."</ref>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* {{Portal-inline|New York City}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Barnouw |first=Erik |title=A History of Broadcasting in the United States: 1. A Tower of Babel: to 1933 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nKFvnNl9vOEC&pg=PA110 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |date=December 29, 1966 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-500474-8}}
* {{cite journal |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/quaint-queens-jackson-heights-cutest-hood-borough-article-1.375122?pgno=1 |last=Braine |first=Theresa |title=Quaint in Queens: Jackson Heights is cutest 'hood in the borough |date=June 18, 2009 |journal=New York Daily News |access-date=January 8, 2013}}
* {{cite book |last=Hood |first=Clifton |title=722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YfdjUgMAscC&pg=PA173 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |date=July 13, 2004 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-8054-4 |page=173}}
* {{cite enc-nyc2 |page=3100}}
* {{cite web | url=https://www.huduser.gov/Periodicals/CITYSCPE/VOL4NUM2/ch8.pdf | title=Chapter 8: Jackson Heights, New York | access-date=May 22, 2015|ref={{harvid|Kasinitz|Bazzi|Doane|1998}}}} Part of:
** {{cite journal|title=Cityscape|publisher=United States. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development. Office of Policy Development and Research|volume=4|issue=2|year=1998 | author=Philip Kasinitz | author2=Mohamad Bazzi | author3=Randal Doane}}
* {{cite book |last=Lindsay |first=David |title=Madness in the Making: The Triumphant Rise & Untimely Fall of America's Show Inventors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxBEOLcnrIkC&pg=PA339 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |date=May 30, 2005 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0-595-34766-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Maly |first=Michael |title=Beyond Segregation: Multiracial And Multiethnic Neighborhoods |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Zf1qeKu66sC&pg=PA105 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |year=2005 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-59213-135-8}}
* {{cite nycland}}
* {{cite book |last=Plunz |first=Richard |title=A History of Housing in New York City: Dwelling Type and Social Change in the American Metropolis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AS1bGTRSggYC&pg=PA131 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |year=1990 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-06297-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Shukla |first=Sandhya Rajendra |title=India Abroad: Diasporic Cultures of Postwar America and England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7CgVnNG9J4C&pg=PA88 |access-date=January 8, 2013 |year=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-09267-6 |page=88}}
* {{cite web |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1831.pdf |last1=Urbanelli |last2=Robins |first1=Elisa |first2=Anthony W. |title=Jackson Heights Historic District |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |date=October 19, 1993 |access-date=January 8, 2013}}
* {{cite aia5 |page=768}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Bazzi, Mohamad. "Overlooked Treasures: Landmark Designations Are on the Rise in the 'Forgotten' Borough". ''Newsday'', March 26, 1995.
* Bazzi, Mohamad. "Civics Battle Local Legislator Over District Lines". ''Queens Tribune'', March 20, 1992.
* Cohen, Mark Francis. "Conformity and Commerce Collide". ''The New York Times'', September 3, 1995.
* Gans, Herbert. 1995 (1963). "Urbanism and Suburbanism as Ways of Life". In ''Metropolis''. Philip Kasinitz (ed.). New York: New York University Press.
* Goldberger, Paul. 1983. "Utopia by Bus and Subway". In ''On the Rise''. Paul Goldberger (ed.). New York: Times Books.
* Grecco, Rudolph, Jr. 1996. ''Jackson Heights: From Ice Age to Space Age: A Story for Children''. New York: The Jackson Heights Beautification Group.
* Jones-Correa, Michael. 1998. ''Between Two Worlds: The Political Predicament of Latinos in New York City''. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
* {{cite web |url=http://www.jhbg.org/history/history.html |last=Karatzas |first=Daniel |year=1998 |title=History of Jackson Heights |access-date=August 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130104353/http://www.jhbg.org/history/history.html |archive-date=November 30, 2012 |url-status=dead }}
* Kasinitz, Philip. 1988. "Neighborhood Change and Conflicts Over Definitions: The 'Gentrification' of 'Boerum Hill"{{-"}}, ''Qualitative Sociology'' '''11''' (3): 163–182.
* Khandewal, Madhulika S. 1994. "Spatial Dimensions of Indian Immigrants in New York City, 1965–1990", in ''Nation and Migration: The Politics of Space in the South Asian Diaspora''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
* Lowenhaupt, Tom. "Busing Can Sour Students on the Old Neighborhood". letter to the editor, ''The New York Times'', January 14, 1996.
* Massey, Douglas, and Nancy Denton. 1993. ''American Apartheid''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
* McKnight, Tom. "Mystery Group Calls for Jackson Hts. Biz Boycott". ''Queens Chronicle'', August 31, 1995.
* "Protests After Death in Queens". ''The New York Times''. December 4, 1995, City Section, p.&nbsp;9.
* Saunders, Jeffrey. 1995. "Why Landmarking Is Good for You". ''The Telegraph: The Newsletter of the Queensboro Preservation League'' '''1''' (2).
* Zukin, Sharon. 1995. ''The Cultures of Cities''. Cambridge, England: Basil Blackwell, Ltd.
* Zukin, Sharon. 1991. ''Landscapes of Power''. Berkeley: University of California Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jackson Heights, Queens}}
{{wikivoyage|Queens/Jackson Heights}}
* [http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov Community Board 3Q] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423061416/http://www.cb3qn.nyc.gov/ |date=April 23, 2009 }}
* [http://jacksonheights.nyc Jackson Heights Wiki] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160830084243/http://www.jacksonheights.nyc/ |date=August 30, 2016 }} – A neighborhood controlled, collaborative medium.
* [http://queens.about.com/od/photogalleries/ss/jh_coops.htm About.com:  Photos of Jackson Heights Historic District] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709203025/http://queens.about.com/od/photogalleries/ss/jh_coops.htm |date=July 9, 2011 }}
*[https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/jackson-heights Jackson Heights QN03] by NYU Furman Center

'''Alliances'''
* [http://www.jhbg.org Jackson Heights Beautification Group]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120207163013/http://www.communitygreens.org/jacksonheights Community Greens: Jackson Heights]
* [http://www.jhgreen.org Jackson Heights Green Alliance]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091229163357/http://iwantmorefood.com/the-jackson-heights-food-group/ The Jackson Heights Food Group]}}

{{Queens}}
{{New York City Historic Sites}}
{{National Register of Historic Places listings in Queens}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bangladeshi-American culture]]
[[Category:Colombian-American culture]]
[[Category:Jackson Heights, Queens| ]]
[[Category:Historic districts in Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Indian-American culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Queens, New York]]