Springfield Gardens, Queens

Springfield Gardens
Neighborhood of Queens
Telephone exchange for southeastern Queens
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Queens
Population (2000)
• Total	39,827
Ethnicity
• White	2.7%
• Black	91.5%
• Hispanic	4.4%
• Asian	0.6%
• Other	1.3%
Economics
• Median income	$56,726
ZIP code	11413, 11434
Area code(s)	718, 347, 917

Springfield Gardens is a working-class neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the west by Farmers Boulevard. The neighborhood is served by Queens Community Board 12. The area, particularly east of Springfield Boulevard, is sometimes also referred to as Brookville.

The area was first settled by Europeans in 1660, and was subsequently farmed until the mid nineteenth-century.

Major residential development came in the 1920s as Long Island Rail Road service was expanded to the area at the Springfield Gardens station (closed in 1979). Between 1920 and 1930 the population increased from 3,046 to 13,089, with a lot of the newcomers being people from Brooklyn seeking out suburban homes. In 1927, the name of the community was changed to the more elegant Springfield Gardens.

Farmers Boulevard, Merrick Boulevard, Springfield Boulevard, Rockaway Boulevard, and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard all are major streets in the area.

Today the area maintains its low-rise suburban nature, and is home to many Caribbean immigrants including Jamaicans, Haitians, and Guyanese. It also is home to a majority African-American population. Many homes have been torn down and remade for more families as more people move into the neighborhood. Part is in a Registered historic District. Springfield Gardens is located within zip codes 11434 (western part) and 11413 (eastern part).