Astoria, Queens, New York

Astoria
Neighborhood of Queens
36th Street between 30th Avenue and 31st Avenue in Astoria
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Coordinates: 40°46′28″N 73°54′15″W / 40.774444°N 73.904167°W / 40.774444; -73.904167Coordinates: 40°46′28″N 73°54′15″W / 40.774444°N 73.904167°W / 40.774444; -73.904167
Country	United States
State	New York
City	New York City
County/Borough	Queens
European settlement	1659
Named for	John Jacob Astor
Population (2010)
• Total	78,793
Ethnicity
• White	49.2%
• Hispanic	26.5%
• Asian	16.2%
• Black	4.5%
• Other	3.4%
ZIP codes	11101–11106
Area code(s)	718, 347, 917

Astoria is a middle-class and commercial neighborhood with a population of 78,793 in the northwestern corner of the New York City borough of Queens. Located in Community Board 1, Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Sunnyside (bordering at Northern Boulevard), and Woodside (bordering at 50th Street). Astoria is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 114th Precinct.

The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallett's Cove, after its first landowner William Hallett, who settled there in 1652 with his wife, Elizabeth Fones. Beginning in the early 19th century, affluent New Yorkers constructed large residences around 12th and 14th streets, an area that later became known as Astoria Village (now Old Astoria). Hallett's Cove, incorporated on April 12, 1839 and previously founded by fur merchant Stephen A. Halsey, was a noted recreational destination and resort for Manhattan's wealthy.

The area was renamed for John Jacob Astor, then the wealthiest man in America with a net worth of over $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village finally was won by Astor's supporters and friends. From Astor's summer home in Hell Gate, Manhattan—on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue—he could see across the East River the new Long Island village named in his honor. Astor, however, never actually set foot in Astoria.