78th Street & 37th Avenue, Queens On July 2, 1990, Julio Rivera, a 29-year-old Jackson Heights resident, was attacked by three gang members in the playground of P.S. 69 because of his sexual orientation. He died from his wounds at Elmhurst Hospital, and his death sparked a surge in LGBTQ activism in Queens. While there had been many more hate crimes toward gay people in Queens over the previous few decades, the vigil for Rivera on August 18, 1990, was considered to be Queens’ first successful LGBTQ public demonstration. The vigil, organized by Rivera’s family and friends and a coalition of LGBTQ activists and organizations, led to other advocacy efforts, including the formation of Queens Gays and Lesbians United, the Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club of Queens, Queens Pride House and the organization of two more demonstrations to pressure then-Mayor David Dinkins to publicly acknowledge Rivera’s death. As a result of that advocacy, Rivera’s death became the first gay hate crime to be tried in New York State. Since 1993, this corner has been included on the route of the Queens Pride Parade, and in 2000, a street sign was installed in honor of Julio Rivera. Photo by Christopher D. Brazee/NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project.

Jackson Heights Golf Club, 1922. When the Queensboro Corporation began building garden apartment complexes in Jackson Heights in the late 1910s, they included a golf course for their new residents. To attract Manhattanites, the development company, founded by Edward A. MacDougall, offered a "charmed, aristocratic world of golf and tennis clubs, skating rinks and quaint shops." The course was popular in the 1920s, but the land was valuable. In the mid to late 1930s, at the height of the rough years of the Depressions, the developers decided the neighborhood was better served by additional apartments and not the luxury, community spaces like a golf course.

Hampton Court 35–16 to 35–56 79th Street and 35–15 to 35–55 78th Street Designed by George H. Wells 1921 Hampton Court is one of Jackson Heights’ earlier garden-apartment complexes. The 11 buildings occupy almost the entire block and enclose a garden at the center. Additionally, there was a garden at each end of the block originally. These buildings, like many of George H. Wells’s designs, are Neo-Georgian in style and are red brick laid in Flemish bond with white trim. The facades and entries differ between 78th and 79th Streets.

Hawthrone Court 35–13 to 35–55 76th Street and 35–14 to 35–56 77th Street Designed by George H. Wells 1922 Hawthorne Court is an extensive complex made up of 14 five-story buildings set back-to-back. The buildings have red brick façades set in Flemish bond with white stone trim and lintels with keystones. The architect George H. Wells incorporated projecting entrances in the design of these apartments, a hallmark of his work. The entries have short stoops and alternate between Doric column details or flat pilasters with wooden doors surrounded by leaded-glass transoms and sidelights. Each entry is topped with an iron ballustrade.

Homes in Woodside A woman stands in the shade of a windblown tree in front of the attached brick homes at 35-13 (on left) and 35-15 (on right) Rowan Street (now 65th Street).

Victor Moore Arcade, ca. 1942. The Victor Moore Arcade was a bus terminal and entrance to the above subway stations above and below. The arcade was long home to retails shops as well. Opened in 1941, the two-story structure was described variously as Art Deco and Modern and was named for the actor, director, and long-time Jackson Heights resident Victor Moore. Five lines of the Triboro Bus Company converged here. The terminal was featured prominently in the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock film The Wrong Man. By the turn of the 21st century, the Victor Moore Building had grown gritty and out of date. The MTA demolished the structure in 2003 for a new state-of-the-art building with four elevators, an expanded depot for gas-powered buses, and handicapped-accessible platforms. The new terminal opened in 2006 and allowed for a smoother transfer from the elevated 7 train to the E, F, G and R lines for the 100,000 commuters who use this station every day.

Elm Court, 1922. A neo-Georgian garden apartment, Elm Court was designed for the Queensboro Corporation by one of their regular architects, George H. Wells. Completed between 1921 and 1922, the complex includes eight four-story buildings and a large landscaped common garden.

View from the garden of The Chateau looking towards Elm Court, ca. 1923.

The Queensboro Corporation was the real estate company responsible for giving the Jackson Heights neighborhood its name. The marshy area had previously been called "Trains Meadow," and, led by Edward A. MacDougall and a group of New York investors, it was developed to become a neighborhood for the middle-class and upper middle-class who were looking to escape the overcrowding of Manhattan. The corporation had purchased about 350 acres of undeveloped land and farms by 1915, and MacDougall erected the infrastructure necessary to maintain a rising middle-class who would soon move in. The Flushing Line reached Trains Meadow, now christened "Jackson Heights," in 1917. The "heights" in the name does not denote any elevation change, but instead was meant to make the area seem exclusive.