Queens Plaza, Queens

Queens Plaza is a plaza straddling the western end of Queens Boulevard in Long Island City, Queens, between 21st Street and Jackson Avenue/Northern Boulevard (NY 25A). The plaza is overlapped by elevated subway tracks (which were constructed in 1914). The Queensboro Bridge starts near the middle of the plaza. It has a New York City Subway stop for the E M R trains at the Queens Plaza station below ground along the eastern edge, and the 7 <7> N W trains at the Queensboro Plaza station above the west central part of the plaza on elevated tracks.

The location was the center of the 18th century village of Dutch Kills; two millstones were preserved as relics of that time, to be displayed in a green space. The plaza itself was built to accommodate the connection of the Queensboro Bridge to Queens Boulevard; it opened in 1909 to a celebration involving the mayor of New York City, the governor of New York, the United States Secretary of War, and a crowd of 50,000 people. A street, named Jane Street, was widened by 90 feet (27 m) and was renamed Bridge Plaza North and South. Grassy medians, cut off at each intersection, divided the main and service lanes of the plaza. Sculptures made out of flowers and trees, including a 75 feet (23 m) "crescent with a Japanese cherry tree at its center", were prevalent. At the time, it was spacious, with only a few buildings on the sides and a solitary flagpole in the center of the plaza.

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