Queens County, New York

Queens County is a county located in the U.S. State of New York. It is coterminous with the borough of Queens in New York City. It was named for the queen consort at the time counties were established in New York, Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II. As of 2000, the population is 2,229,379. Its county seat is Jamaica[?]⁶.

Table of contents 1 History 2 Law and Government 3 Geography 4 Economy 5 Demographics

History Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. By 1870 Queens County consisted of six towns: Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, North Hempstead, Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. In 1870, the city of Long Island City was incorporated, consisting of what had been the Village of Astoria and some unincorporated areas in the Town of Newtown. When Greater New York was formed in 1898, Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and the Rockaway Peninsula of the Town of Hempstead became the borough of Queens in that new city. The part of Queens County that was not annexed to New York City, consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and all of the Town of Hempstead except the Rockaway Peninsula, was constituted as the new Nassau County in 1899.

Law and Government Like the other counties which are contained within New York City, there is no county government, but county courts and some other officials such as the district attorney (public prosecutor) do exist.

Geography Queens County consists of the northwestern part of Long Island and a few smaller islands, including Rikers Island[?], the location of a city jail.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 461.7 km² (178.3 mi²). 282.9 km² (109.2 mi²) of it is land and 178.8 km² (69.0 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 38.73% water.

Economy The economy of Queens is based on tourism, industry, trade, and a growing outside population. Queens has two of the busiest airports in the world, John F. Kennedy International Airport, located in southeast Queens, and La Guardia Airport, in Flushing. Queens is increasingly attracting film studios--a return of an industry that had departed decades earlier--notably the Kaufman Studios in Astoria, where a number of television shows are made. Western Queens is becoming an artistic hub, including the Noguchi Museum[?], Socrates Sculpture Park, Museum of African Art, and (temporarily) the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA QNS).

The Queens Museum[?] is further east, in Flushing Meadow Park. Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets baseball team, is just north of the park.

Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 2,229,379 people, 782,664 households, and 537,690 families residing in the county. The population density is 7,879.6/km² (20,409.0/mi²). There are 817,250 housing units at an average density of 2,888.5/km² (7,481.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 44.08% White, 20.01% African American, 0.50% Native American, 17.56% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 11.68% from other races, and 6.11% from two or more races. 24.97% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 782,664 households out of which 31.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% are married couples living together, 16.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.3% are non-families. 25.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.81 and the average family size is 3.39.

In the county the population is spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 33.1% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 92.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.6 males.

The median income for a household in the county is $42,439, and the median income for a family is $48,608. Males have a median income of $35,576 versus $31,628 for females. The per capita income for the county is $19,222. 14.6% of the population and 11.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 18.8% are under the age of 18 and 13.0% are 65 or older.