South Jamaica Houses

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 Store Front Museum was a community museum in Queens, New York that served as a cultural center and exhibition space for the black community of the borough. Established in 1971 by artist Tom Lloyd, it was originally located on Liberty Avenue, in a former retail tire dealer building. Lloyd was an artist that had made numerous showings around the country before coming to Queens. The museum was established in February 1971 and was devoted to the promotion and dissemination of African-American culture. Lloyd chose the name because "it implies community." The gallery was used for several exhibits, concert plays, karate classes, dance instructions, and festivals over the years. Lloyd acquired many of the museum’s materials from donations.

York College is a public senior college in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. It is a senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 1966, York was the first senior college founded under the newly formed CUNY system, which united several previously independent public colleges into a single public university system in 1961. The college is a member-school of Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The college enrolls more than 8,000 students. 35% of undergraduate students graduate within six years.

The CUNY Aviation Institute (AI) at York College, City University of New York, United States was established in 2003 by a grant from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to promote education and research for the aviation industry. The institute's headquarters is in Jamaica, Queens. In cooperation with local, national, and international partners, the institute aims to develop and disseminate instructional materials relevant to airlines, airports, aviation service providers, civil aviation authorities and related industries. AI aims to continuously develop quality programs of study at all academic levels, including credit and non-credit courses.

Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is mainly composed of a large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis to the east; St. Albans, Springfield Gardens, Rochdale Village to the southeast; South Jamaica to the south; Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park to the west; Briarwood to the northwest; and Kew Gardens Hills, Jamaica Hills, and Jamaica Estates to the north. Jamaica, originally a designation for an area greater than the current neighborhood, was settled under Dutch rule in 1656. It was originally called Rustdorp before it took its current name. Subsequently, under English rule Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica". It was the first county seat of Queens County, holding that title from 1683 to 1788, and was also the first incorporated village on Long Island. When Queens was incorporated into the City of Greater New York in 1898, both the Town of Jamaica and the Village of Jamaica were dissolved, but the neighborhood of Jamaica regained its role as county seat. Today, some locals group Jamaica's surrounding neighborhoods into an unofficial Greater Jamaica area encompassing most or all of the extent of the former town.Jamaica is the location of several government buildings such as Queens Civil Court, the civil branch of the Queens County Supreme Court, the Queens County Family Court and the Joseph P. Addabbo Federal Building, home to the Social Security Administration's Northeastern Program Service Center. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Northeast Regional Laboratory as well as the New York District Office are also located in Jamaica. Jamaica Center, the area around Jamaica Avenue, is a major commercial center. The New York Racing Association, based at Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, lists its official address as Jamaica (Central Jamaica once housed NYRA's Jamaica Racetrack, now the massive Rochdale Village housing development). John F. Kennedy International Airport and the hotels nearby are also located in Jamaica. The neighborhood is located in Queens Community District 12. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 103rd and 113th Precincts.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.