Bayside, Queens Bayside is an upper middle class neighborhood in the 1.1 Organized crime New York City borough of Queens. CNN Money ranked Bayside as one of the most expensive housing markets Bayside remains one of the safest and wealthiest neigh- nationally when analyzing comparable detached homes borhoods in the borough of Queens. However, Bayside throughout the United States.[1] Despite its large housing has been the setting to several organized crime incidents. stock of free-standing homes, it nationally ranks high to Michael Pappadio, of Bayside, was a mobster who very high in population density.[2][3][4] These homes give worked for the Lucchese crime family in secrecy from the neighborhood a similar feel to other wealthy Queens his wife. He managed the Lucchese family’s interests neighborhoods such as Douglaston and Little Neck. The in the Garment District of Manhattan. In 1989, upon a neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 11.[5] falling out with his superiors, he was murdered at a bagel shop called the Crown Bagel, on Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park.[8] His wife subsequently reported Michael as missing. Three years later the FBI presented her with information about his death and his life in orga- 1 History nized crime.[9][10] In April 2002, Gambino crime family associate Darren Bayside’s history dates back to 2000 B.C., when the D’Amico was shot in the leg outside of the Café on the Matinecock Native American tribe first settled there. In Green restaurant in Bayside. It is speculated that Bonanno the late 17th century, the area was settled by English crime family associate Randolph Pizzolo was responsible colonists. By the middle of the 18th century, early set- for the crime. He was subsequently murdered on a hit tlers left their homes in Flushing and developed a farm- called by Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano. Basciano ing community, Bay Side. During the Revolutionary is now serving life in prison without parole.[11][12][13][14] War, the Bayside-Little Neck area suffered from raids by whaleboatmen from the Connecticut shores. In the 19th century Bayside was still mostly farmland. Middle 20th century urban sprawl in New York City, with the help of 2 Location and boundaries more convenient and accessible transportation, led to its development. During the 1920s, many actors and actresses, such as Rudolph Valentino, lived in Bayside. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century Bayside saw an influx of people associated with the theater and movie industries. The town was then established as a colony for stage and screen stars. When rumors ran rampant through the acting community that Bayside would be the location of a new movie and production studio, many ac- tors, of both sexes, purchased homes in anticipation of an easy commute to the studio. However, this rumored studio never materialized. When Hollywood emerged as the capital of the movie industry during the 1920s, many actors left Bayside to pursue careers in California.[6] Bayside was the site of a murder by Peter Hains, a promi- nent army officer, abetted by his brother, sea novelist Throgs Neck Bridge between the Bronx and Queens Thornton Jenkins Hains, who gunned down prominent editor William Annis at his yacht club in 1908. The so- Bayside is bordered by the Bronx to the north across called “Regatta Murder” led to a widely publicized trial at the Long Island Sound and Douglaston Manor across the the Flushing County Courthouse. Peter Hains was con- Little Neck Bay. The eastern land border is the Cross victed of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years at Island Parkway and Douglaston; the western is Francis Sing Sing, while Thornton Hains was acquitted.[7] Lewis Boulevard/Utopia Parkway and Auburndale; the 1 2 2 LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES southern is Long Island Expressway and Oakland Gar- Other cooperative/condominium developments include dens. The neighborhood of Bayside Hills is itself a newer the Towers at Waters Edge, the Kennedy Street Quad, the subdivision within Bayside. Bayside Townhouse Condominiums, Bay Country Own- ers, Bell Owners and others. The gated estate community of the “Bayside Gables” is also located within the Bay 2.1 Bayside Gables Terrace neighborhood, being the site of some of the only single family homes in the area.[19] Bay Terrace overlooks Bayside Gables is a privately owned gated community lo- the East River and the approaches to the Throgs Neck cated near the Bay Terrace shopping center and the Lit- Bridge from the Clearview Expressway and Cross Island tle Neck Bay. Arguably one of the wealthiest areas in Parkway. The neighborhood is part of Queens Commu- Queens (along with Malba, Holliswood, Jamaica Estates, nity Board 7 and Queens Community Board 11,[20] and is and Douglaston Manor), homes in this community can located within ZIP code 11360, bounded on the west by sell for as high as 4 million dollars. the Clearview Expressway, on the south by 26th Avenue and 28th Avenue, and to the east and north by the Little 2.2 Bayside Hills Neck Bay and Little Bay (which are a cove of the East River and a neighborhood, respectively).[21] The civic or- ganization serving Bay Terrace is the Bay Terrace Com- Bayside Hills is a subdivision of Bayside’s south side, bor- munity Alliance (BTCA).[22] dered by 48th Ave to the north, the Long Island Express- way to the south, 211th Street to the west, and Springfield In 1639, Dutch Governor Willem Kieft (1597–1647) Boulevard on the east. The homes in Bayside Hills have purchased the land that today encompasses Queens more value and are more upscale, many of which were County from the Matinecock. William Lawrence (1622– built by Gross Morton.[15] 1680), who served as a magistrate under Dutch and En- glish administrations, was granted a parcel of land by Bayside Hills is known for its thirty-three street malls King Charles II in 1645 that included a large portion and accents, especially the gatehouse (Bell Boulevard at of what is today Bayside, in addition to College Point, 48th street), gateposts (48th Avenue from 216th Street) Whitestone, and Fort Totten. Bayside began its course of and Bayside Hills Street Clock (Bell Boulevard and 214th development from an agricultural community to a suburb Street).[16] The Victorian style street clock sits upon the when the North Shore Railroad was extended in 1866. Leo Green Clock Mall, dedicated to the local civic ac- During the following several decades, the Bayside Land tivist. Further east, Captain William C Dermody Trian- Association purchased farms for development. Bay Ter- gle Park (48 Avenue and 216 Street) memorializes Der- race, originally included within the bounds of Bayside, mody’s abolitionism and service in the Civil War, leading remained composed of farms and large estates until the him to be mortally wounded at the Battle of Spotsylvania 1950s, when Cord and Charles Meyer sold their 225-acre Court House.[17] Much of the public green space is main- (0.91 km2) farm for development.[23] By 1952, residen- tained by the NYC Parks Department and the Bayside tial development of Bay Terrace Sections 1-12 began and Hills Civic Association. continued into the mid-1960s. The Bay Terrace at Bay- The zip code 11364 is shared with Oakland Gardens. side Shopping Center was bui;t in the 1950s.[24] The New York City Department of City Planning con- 2.3 Bay Terrace ducted a transportation study of Bay Terrace in 2004.[25] Findings included parking and intersection issues, includ- ing poor access to the Cross Island Parkway. Eventually, a median will be constructed along the length of 212th street, with increased access to the Cross Island Parkway near the Baybridge Commons Shopping Center and re- construction of the existing entrance and exit ramps.[25] The Bay Terrace at Bayside Shopping Center plans on adding new storefronts to their plaza. including World Kitchen; Aéropostale; and PM Pediatrics, a state-of-the- art pediatric emergency care facility.[26] Bay Terrace has the ZIP code 11360. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated 2012 median Aerial view of Bay Terrace, with the Throgs Neck Bridge crossing family income for the census tracts encompassing the the East River to the north Bay Terrace area of New York City (997.03, 997.04, [18] Bay Terrace is an affluent neighborhood[18] often con- and 997.05), exclusively, is $103, 263. The current sidered part of the larger area of Bayside. The area population of Bay Terrace, Queens, New York City is [18] encompasses gated cooperative/condominium develop- 13,392 while the population density is 14,683.8 per [27] ments such as the Bay Club and Baybridge Condos. square mile. The median home value of the area is 3 $1,253,000.[27][27] The median age of individuals resid- After the MTA began extending the 7 <7> trains of the ing in 11360 is 48.9 years.[27] IRT Flushing Line westward into Manhattan in 2007, the 2012 fiscal year Community District Needs of Queens report suggests extending the line eastward in order to 2.4 Oakland Gardens relieve congestion in Downtown Flushing. The report states: “It’s time for residents and businesses of East Flushing, Bayside, and maybe some parts of Douglaston to share in freeing Downtown Flushing from this growing problem.”[32] It should be noted the original plan for the line in 1935 was to have it end, not in Flushing, but Bell Boulevard near Northern Boulevard. 4 Demographics Local data from the Census Bureau’s American Commu- nity Survey (based on samples from 2005 to 2009) shows that the demographics of Bayside changes significantly from area to area.