Whitestone is a residential neighborhood in the northernmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood proper is located between the East River to the north; College Point and Whitestone Expressway to the west; Flushing and 25th Avenue to the south; and Bayside and Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east.
Whitestone contains the subsection of Malba, which is bounded to the north by the East River, to the east by the Whitestone Expressway, to the south by 14th Avenue, and to the west by 138th Street. Malba was cited in a New York Times article as one of the few "elite enclaves" of Queens.
Whitestone is located in Queens Community District 7 and its ZIP Code is 11357. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 109th Precinct. Politically, Whitestone is represented by the New York City Council's 19th District.Current City Council Districts for Queens County, New York City. Accessed May 5, 2017.
History
Whitestone Dutch settlers derived the name of the town from limestone that used to lie on the shore of the river according to a popular tradition. This tradition is supported by 17th century wills and deeds, which may be found in The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, that refer to "the white stone" as a local landmark and survey reference point.
The area was, in large part, the estate of Francis Lewis, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The estate was the site of a British raid during the Revolutionary War. Lewis was not present but his wife was taken prisoner and his house was burned to the ground. For a period of time Whitestone was called Clintonville after Dewitt Clinton, the former governor of New York; this etymology is present in the name of Clintonville Street, located in the neighborhood. In the late 19th century, many wealthy New Yorkers began building mansions in the area, on what had once been farmland or woodland. Rapid development of the area ensued in the 1920s, however, as trolley and Long Island Rail Road train service on the Whitestone Branch was expanded into the neighborhood. Although this rail service ended during the Great Depression, part of the right-of-way was later used by Robert Moses to help construct the Belt Parkway, which includes the Whitestone Expressway which runs along the southeast edge of the former Flushing Airport and through Whitestone. Flushing Airport has been abandoned since 1985.
Further development came with the completion of the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge in 1939. The bridge measures at its center span and was the fourth-longest bridge in the world at the time of its construction.Chan, Sewell. "70th Birthday of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge", The New York Times, April 29, 2009. Accessed January 4, 2024. "After just 22 months of construction, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge opened to traffic 70 years ago today, rushed into completion for the start of the New York World’s Fair a day later.... Costing about $18,000,000, it is exceeded in length only by three other suspension bridges, the George Washington Bridge and the two over San Francisco Bay. The bridge’s freedom from heavy structural lines and ornamentation gives a breathtaking grace to the 2,300-foot center span and 3,770-foot overall length."
Malba subsection
The name of the subsection of Malba in northern Whitestone is derived from the first letters of the surnames of its five founders of the Malba Land Company: Maycock, Alling, Lewis, Bishop, and Avis. Malba is considered part of Whitestone, and is one of the more affluent communities in Queens."Northeastern Queens: Malba", QNS Made. Accessed January 4, 2024. "Malba is an upperclass sub neighborhood of Whitestone Queens. Its name is derived from the 1st five letters of the surnames of the five founders of the Malba Land Company: Maycock, Alling, Lewis, Bishop & Avis." Demographically, the population is mostly white and of European descent (Greek, Italian, Irish), as well as Jewish, with a small minority of Asian Americans. Most of the residential properties in Malba are large expensive homes.
The first known resident of the area known as present-day Malba was David Roe, who arrived from England in the 1640s. According to Clarence Almon Torrey's book, David Roe Of Flushing And Some Of His Descendants, Roe became a resident of Flushing circa 1666. In 1683, Roe was taxed upon owning and thereafter increased his holdings substantially, ultimately acquiring the upland around what was to become Malba. Roe's farm was on the east side of the bay, which was then known as "Roe's Cove". He was among the most well-to-do citizens of Flushing, owning lands, farm stock, carpenter's tools and two slaves.
In 1786, John Powell purchased Roe's parcel for 1,685 pounds, 6 shillings, and 8 pence. It has been reported that Roe lost his lands for his allegiance to the crown during the American War of Independence. Powell thereafter built a home and the cove was renamed "Powell's Cove", the name it bears today. During the 19th century, some of Powell's land passed into the hands of Harry Genet, a member of the Tammany Hall, New York City's infamous political machine. Powell's house was destroyed by fire in the 1890s.
During the second half of the 19th century, the Roe/Powell land passed to a succession of owners. A map dating from 1873 lists the Smiths, Biningers and Nostrands as landowners in the area. The Nostrand and Smith farms represented a large portion of what is Malba today. The area around Hill Court and 14th Avenue was known as "Whitestone Heights". In 1883 railroad service to Manhattan was extended on the "Whitestone and Westchester Railroad", later the Long Island Rail Road. The terminus of the Whitestone line was at "Whitestone Landing" (154th Street), a popular summer resort area during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
William Ziegler, a self-made industrialist and president of the Royal Baking Powder Company bought all these parcels in or about 1883 and his holdings became known as the "Ziegler Tract". Ziegler died on May 24, 1905, leaving his wife, Electa Matilda Ziegler (a philanthropist for the blind, among other things) and son, William Jr., then 14 years of age.
William S. Champ (Ziegler's former secretary) and W.C. Demarest (Mrs. Ziegler's nephew) (both to become among the first families residing in Malba) formed a Realty Trust to purchase the Ziegler tract from his estate for development purposes. Champ was vice president of the Realty Trust, and also one of the executors of Ziegler's estate. The Ziegler Tract had been appraised for $100,000 shortly after Ziegler's death. In the spring of 1906, the Realty Trust secured over 100 investors from New Haven, Guilford, Bridgeport, and other Connecticut towns, to the planned purchase of the Ziegler Tract. Based on a review of early maps of the area, the developers, at one point, planned a very densely populated community; with homes on lots no bigger than wide. This plan was modified and much larger properties were developed. The trust represented to the investors that the property could be purchased from the Ziegler estate for $640,000. In fact, the which ultimately became Malba, had been earlier purchased from the Ziegler estate for $350,000. Thereafter such Connecticut residents as Samuel R. Avis, Noble P. Bishop, George W. Lewis, David R. Alling and George Maycock were elected trustees (altogether these were the five names that combined to form the MALBA name) of the Malba Land Company. The true, lesser, amount paid to Ziegler's estate was not uncovered until 1912. (For a complete discussion of the Realty Trust's acquisition of the land and its subsequent defense of a lawsuit from the Malba Land Company, see Crowe v. Malba Land Co., 135 N.Y.S. 454, 76 Misc. 676 (Sup. Ct. Queens Co. 1912)).
Development slowly began in 1908. A railroad station on the Whitestone line was added where 11th Avenue sits today. The Champs and Demarests were among Malba's first families to own homes in Malba. There were thirteen houses by the time of World War I and more than a hundred were built in the 1920s. The railroad station closed in 1932. The triangle by Malba Drive and 11th Avenue was dedicated as "Jane Champ Park" on November 16, 1969, and was renovated by the Malba Field and Marine Club in 2005.
Demographics
Based on data from the 2010 United States census, the population of Whitestone was 30,773, a decrease of 583 (1.9%) from the 31,356 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of .Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.
The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 68.1% (20,956) White, 0.8% (242) African American, 0.1% (18) Native American, 17.4% (5,362) Asian, 0.0% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.3% (90) from other races, and 1.1% (351) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 12.2% (3,752) of the population.Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin - New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.
The entirety of Community Board 7, which comprises Flushing, College Point, and Whitestone, had 263,039 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 84.3 years. This is longer than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are middle-aged and elderly: 22% are between the ages of between 25 and 44, 30% between 45 and 64, and 18% over 65. The ratio of youth and college-aged residents was lower, at 17% and 7% respectively.
As of 2017, the median household income in Community Board 7 was $51,284. In 2018, an estimated 25% of Whitestone and Flushing residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City. One in seventeen residents (6%) 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 57% in Whitestone and Flushing, higher than the boroughwide and citywide rates of 53% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, , Whitestone and Flushing are considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.
Points of interest
Notable buildings in the community include St. Luke's Roman Catholic Church and Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church. The Grace Episcopal Church, on Clintonville street, was built in 1858 on land donated by the family of Francis Lewis.About Us, Grace Episcopal Church. Accessed December 22, 2016. The Whitestone Hebrew Centre consists of two buildings on Clintonville Street and was founded in 1929. The Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, with its distinctive great blue onion dome (added in 1991 after the Cold War, previous building from 1916), was built in 1968.St. Nicholas Church; Whitestone, New York, Orthodox Church in America. Jason Antos book on Whitestone (2006, p.68) claims this church was gut rehabbed in 1965, not rebuilt from scratch. Accessed December 22, 2016. The Greek Orthodox Church, Holy Cross, or "Timios Stavros", is located on 150th Street.
Economy The following companies currently operate or have operated out of Whitestone: Kinemacolor Company of America Fairchild Recording Equipment Corporation founded by Sherman Fairchild Lee Kum Kee International Holdings Ltd."Contact Information ." Lee Kum Kee. Retrieved on October 3, 2014. "30-56 Whitestone Expressway, Suite #350, Whitestone, NY 11354 USA" Glacéau White Rock Beverages World Journal"Contact Us (Page in Chinese ) World Journal. Retrieved on 2014-03-28. "New York Headquarters 141-07 20th Ave. Whitestone, NY 11357" Queens Tribune
Police and crime