Jamaica, Queens

Beaver Pond was a pond located in the Jamaica section of Queens, New York. Water flowed out of the pond through Baisley Creek towards Baisley Pond. From there, it flowed through Cornell Creek into Jamaica Bay.The stream was formed by beavers prior to human settlement. The local Lenape native word for beaver, Jameco, became the namesake of the English settlement to the north of the pond, which became known as Jamaica. Beaver Pond's namesake animal was a vital component in the colonial economy. Beaver fur attracted Dutch colonists to the region and the animal appears on the seal of New York City. English settlers arrived in the area in 1656, with permission from the New Netherlands government to build Rustdorp. Following the English takeover of the colony in 1664, the popular name Jamaica became official and the town became the seat of Queens County in 1683.The pond's oldest neighbor is Prospect Cemetery, which accepted its first interment in 1668 and continued to perform burials until 1988.Later, the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line and Atlantic Branch were built in Jamaica. By 1834, when the railroad was constructed, the pond was considered the town's center.In the last decade of the 19th century, the pond was used by the American Ice Company as an ice harvesting site. City authorities considered the industrial use of Beaver Pond a health hazard as its outflow contributed to the Brooklyn Water Works. In April 1906, a grand jury in Queens recommended that the city fill in this "menace to the community and a drawback to the material progress of that section of Jamaica." Although Beaver Pond was filled, land atop the site remained undeveloped for another couple of decades. It is zoned for manufacturing with auto repair shops, slaughterhouses and undeveloped lots used to store car parts. Beaver Road, which follows the former pond's northern shore is the only physical reminder of this body of water.

Prospect Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in the Jamaica section of the New York City borough of Queens. It was established in 1668 and known as the "burring plas." The cemetery's original main gate was on Beaver Road which led from Sutphin Boulevard to Jamaica Avenue. The cemetery was generally known as the Presbyterian burial ground and is one of the few remaining Colonial cemeteries in Queens. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has designated the cemetery as an official city landmark, stating that Prospect Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in New York and that it is regarded as a place of great historical and aesthetic interest, as well as one of the city's important cultural locations. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station (formerly Jamaica Center–Parsons Boulevard station and sometimes shortened as Jamaica Center station) is the northern terminal station of the IND and BMT Archer Avenue Lines of the New York City Subway, located at Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. It is served by E and J trains at all times, as well as Z trains during rush hours in the peak direction. This station opened on December 11, 1988, as Jamaica Center–Parsons Boulevard, and was renamed in 2004. The station is a major transfer point for buses from eastern Queens, and replaces the old 160th Street and 168th Street stations of the BMT Jamaica Line; the Jamaica Center station is located near the site of the former. It is also near the site of the Long Island Rail Road's now-demolished Union Hall Street station.

St. Monica's Church is a historic former Roman Catholic parish church in the Diocese of Brooklyn, located in Jamaica, Queens, New York. It was built in 1856 and is a brick basilica-type building in the Romanesque style. It features a four-story entrance tower in the center of its three-bay-wide front facade. Saint Monica's Church has been refurbished on the Campus of York College as a child care center.

Queens High School for the Sciences at York College (commonly called QHSSYC or QHSS) is a New York City public specialized high school operated by the New York City Department of Education specializing in mathematics and science. It admits students based only on their scores on the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (commonly referred to as the SHSAT). The school was founded in 2002 along with the High School for Math, Science and Engineering at City College and the High School of American Studies at Lehman College. QHSSYC is a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology (NCSSSMST).In 2012, the U.S. News & World Report ranked QHSSYC as the 52nd best "Gold Medal" high school in the United States, and the 8th best "Gold Medal" high school in New York. In 2015, Queens High School for the Sciences at York College was named 3rd in the state and 25th overall in the country for best high schools statewide and nationally. The school is operated by the New York City Department of Education. In 2010, according to the Department of Education annual school reports, QHSSYC had one of the highest graduation rates, test scores, and attendance statistics in New York City, and was assigned the highest possible grade of 'A'.

The First Reformed Church is a historic Reformed church in the Jamaica neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. The church was built in 1859. The church has an early romanesque structure that was designed by Sidney J. Young and built by Anders Peterson. The First Reformed Church has been refurbished as part of the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning. The asymmetrical towers, round-arched openings, and corbel tables are examples of an architectural style known as Rundbogenstil.The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, and a New York City Landmark in 1996.

The 160th Street station was a station on the demolished section of the BMT Jamaica Line in Queens, New York City.

On October 23, 2014, a hatchet-wielding man, Zale H. Thompson, attacked four New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers on a crowded sidewalk in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City. Officer Kenneth Healey was struck in the head, while Officer Joseph Meeker was injured in the arm. Also injured was a female civilian, who was struck by a stray bullet when two other officers shot and killed the perpetrator. Investigators discovered that Thompson was a recent Muslim convert. His attack was classified as an act of terrorism.

The Jamaica Savings Bank was a bank incorporated in 1866 in the Jamaica section of the borough of Queens in New York City. It had four branches across Queens before it was acquired by North Fork Bank in 1999, which itself was acquired by Capital One Bank in 2008. The bank's original building was built between 1897 and 1898 in the Beaux-Arts style. It is a slender four story brick building with a limestone facade. It features a deeply rusticated ground floor with windows protected by elegant metal grilles. The facade is framed by double-story pilasters and covered with elaborate carved brackets, swags and other elements.

Union Hall Street was a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line at Union Hall Street, near York College, in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, United States.

The Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning in Jamaica, Queens, New York is a performing and visual arts center that was founded in 1972 in an effort to revitalize the surrounding business district. As of 2012, it serves more than 28,000 people annually via a 1,650 square foot gallery, a 99-seat proscenium theater, and art & music studios. The building that houses the center is the former Queens Register of Titles and Deeds Building, a New York City landmark that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Outside the building is one of only two remaining cast-iron sidewalk clocks in New York City, as well as a late-Victorian era headquarters of the Jamaica Savings Bank next door.

Grace Episcopal Church Complex is a historic Episcopal church complex at 155-15 Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, in U.S. state of New York. The complex includes the church, parish house, and cemetery. The church was built between 1861 and 1862. It is constructed of rough-cut sandstone and features a steeply pitched roof and tall, sharp spire in the Gothic Revival style. A chancel, designed by Cady, Berg & See, was added at the rear of the church in 1901-1902. The parish house, known as Grace Memorial House, was built in 1912. It is three-story brick building in the Tudor Revival style. The surrounding cemetery includes burials dating to 1734, when the church located at this site. Notable interments include Rufus King (1755–1827), Charles King (1789–1867) and William Duer (1743–1799).