Note: Sorry, I had to break this up into 2 threads because I didn’t want to sacrifice too much photo quality (file size) and they were taking quite a while to load when I tested it. Part 2 is here.
Forest Hills is a neighborhood in the center of Queens. I have been pretty familiar with it for most of my life since both my parents grew up here and we would visit grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc in the neighborhood frequently when I lived in Connecticut as a kid. I hadn’t been back since 2003, but I was able to take a vacation in NY (mostly upstate) this summer and got to stay with family in FH while we were in the city.
The neighborhood is a mostly upper-middle class area, with some very expensive tudor-style homes in Forest Hills Gardens, one of the first planned communities in the country, established in the early 1900s. There are also highrise apartment buildings along Queens Blvd., 3 to 6-story apartment blocks in several areas, rowhouses, duplexes, etc, etc. There is very little retail in the center of the neighborhood, but streets along the fringes have plenty of it (Metropolitan Ave on the south side, Yellowstone Blvd on the west, and especially Austin St on the north side of the neighborhood). Forest Park is a pretty large city park on the east edge of Forest Hills (I didn’t have time to get in there to take pics).
Queens Blvd has something like 12 lanes and runs along the northern edge of Forest Hills. The Jackie Robinson (aka Interborough) Pkwy is at the eastern edge. Forest Hills is served by three subway stations along Queens Blvd. The E and F trains run express through Queens and will get you to Manhattan in about 20 minutes. The V, R, and G trains also terminate in FH at the 71st Ave station. There is a Long Island Railroad station here as well.
Here’s a map…
And here’s the ‘hood…
My cousins’/aunt & uncle’s street, where we stayed
Metropolitan Avenue on the south side of Forest Hills
Handball court at PS 144
As far as I know this is the only retail in the interior of the neighborhood. My cousin used to deliver pizza for Lilian’s
Yellowstone Blvd.
Dartmouth St. – This is where my dad grew up
West Side Tennis Club is on the right. The US Open was held here before it was moved to Flushing Meadows in 1978. My dad used to park cars on the streets around here for people going to see the tennis matches.
Austin St
Continued in Part 2 (more Austin St., Queens Blvd, Forest Hills Gardens, etc).
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