Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's East New York neighborhood. Physically, East New York Avenue connects westbound to New York Avenue, where East New York Avenue changes names another time to Lincoln Road; Lincoln Road continues to Ocean Avenue in the west, where it ends. Its eastern end is at the city line in Bellerose, Queens, where it becomes Jericho Turnpike to serve the rest of Long Island. The section of Jamaica Avenue designated as New York State Route 25 runs from Braddock Avenue to the city line, where Jamaica Avenue becomes Jericho Turnpike.
 | |
|---|---|
| New York State Route 25 | |
 Jamaica Avenue at Guy R. Brewer Boulevard | |
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
| Length | 10.8 mi (17.4 km)[1] |
| Component highways | NY 25 in Bellerose Manor |
| West end | Fulton Street / East New York Avenue in East New York |
| Major junctions |  Jackie Robinson Parkway in Cypress Hills I-678 in Jamaica Cross Island Parkway / NY 25 in Queens Village |
| East end | NY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) in Floral Park |
History
Jamaica Avenue was part of a pre-Columbian trail for tribes from as far away as the Ohio River and the Great Lakes, coming to trade skins and furs for wampum. It was in 1655 that the first settlers paid the Native Americans with two guns, a coat, and some powder and lead, for the land lying between the old trail and "Beaver Pond", later Baisley Pond. Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant dubbed the area "Rustdorp" in granting the 1656 land patent. The English, who took control of the colony in 1664, renamed the little settlement "Jameco", for the Jameco (or Yamecah) Native Americans.
During the early 19th century, the old road through Jamaica Pass was the Brooklyn Ferry Road; at mid-century this became the Brooklyn and Jamaica Plank Road, with toll booths.[2] Late in the century the portion west of Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street, and the eastern portion Jamaica Avenue.
Commerce
The part of Jamaica Avenue that runs through Jamaica, Queens is an important shopping street, and is on par with Brooklyn's Fulton Street. Prices are said to be low, in an exciting market place atmosphere. It is also the historic center of the former village with several city landmarks including the King Manor.
Jamaica Avenue is also the main shopping street for many other neighborhoods it runs through as well, including Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, and Queens Village.
Transportation
Jamaica Avenue is the starting point of many newer streets in Queens, such as Hempstead Avenue, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard, and Queens Boulevard. Many bus lines run down Jamaica Avenue, most notably the Q56,[3] Q110,[4] and Q36.[5] The New York City Subway's BMT Jamaica Line (J and Z trains) runs above Jamaica Avenue through the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn along with Woodhaven and Richmond Hill. The Jamaica Bus Depot and East New York Bus Depot are located near the avenue.
In June 2020, mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would test out busways on Jamaica Avenue from Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, a distance of about 0.9 miles (1.4 km), in downtown Jamaica.[6][7] Despite a deadline of October 2020, the Jamaica Avenue busway was not in place at that time.[8][9] Furthermore, transportation advocates did support a bus lane in downtown Jamaica, but they preferred a bus lane on the busier Archer Avenue corridor, which parallels Jamaica Avenue to the south.[10]
Jamaica Avenue intersects with other former country roads in Queens which have become important urban streets, including Woodhaven Boulevard, Myrtle Avenue, Lefferts Boulevard, Metropolitan Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard, Francis Lewis Boulevard, and Springfield Boulevard. Jamaica Avenue, from Alabama Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn to the Nassau County line, is 10.9 miles (17.5 km) long.[1]
The Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station (E, J, and Z trains) with its associated bus station is a major transport hub, a rival to the nearby Jamaica–179th Street station (F and <F> trains) on Hillside Avenue.
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | East New York | 0.0 | 0.0 | Fulton Street / Broadway / East New York Avenue west | Continues west |
| 0.2 | 0.32 | Pennsylvania Avenue /  Jackie Robinson Parkway east – Eastern Long Island | Western terminus of J. Robinson Parkway | ||
| Queens | Woodhaven | 2.8 | 4.5 | Woodhaven Boulevard | |
| Richmond Hill | 4.0 | 6.4 | Hillside Avenue east / Myrtle Avenue west / Lefferts Boulevard | Hillside Avenue access via 117th Street or Lefferts Boulevard | |
| 4.7 | 7.6 | Metropolitan Avenue west | |||
| 4.8 | 7.7 |  To I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) | Access via service roads; exit 6 on I-678 | ||
| Jamaica | 4.9 | 7.9 | Queens Boulevard west | To NY 25 | |
| 6.1 | 9.8 | Merrick Boulevard | |||
| Hollis–Queens Village line | 8.3 | 13.4 | Francis Lewis Boulevard | ||
| Queens–Nassau borough line | Bellerose Manor– Bellerose Terrace line | 10.0 | 16.1 | Cross Island Parkway – Verrazano Bridge, Whitestone Bridge | Exit 27 on Cross Island Parkway |
| 10.1 | 16.3 |  NY 25 west (Braddock Avenue) | NY 25 continues west | ||
| Bellerose Manor– Floral Park line | 10.8 | 17.4 | NY 25 east (Jericho Turnpike) / Little Neck Parkway | NY 25 continues east | |
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
References
- Google (May 23, 2019). "Jamaica Avenue" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
- "History of Jamaica Avenue: Richmond Hill Historical Society". www.richmondhillhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Q56 bus schedule".
- MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Q110 bus schedule".
- MTA Regional Bus Operations. "Q36 bus schedule".
- Gartland, Michael (June 8, 2020). "De Blasio announces 20 miles of new express MTA busways as NYC begins to reopen". nydailynews.com. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- "Better Buses Restart: Mayor de Blasio Announces Major Projects to Speed Buses During City's Phased Reopening". The official website of the City of New York. June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
- Guse, Clayton (December 7, 2020). "De Blasio's plan to add new 'busways' in NYC for essential workers falls short". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
- Maisel, Todd (2020-10-22). "Finish the job! Transit advocates rally in Queens for bus lane completion". amNewYork. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
- Cuba, Julianne (2020-09-03). "Queens Pols Want a Jamaica Busway - Just Not Where de Blasio Put It". Streetsblog New York City. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
External links
- A Walk down Jamaica Avenue Photoessay
- Jamaica Plank Road - Jamaica Avenue (Richmond Hill Historical Society) Archived 2020-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
