Not to be confused with Jamaica the Caribbean island nation, Jamaica, New York is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens that was the first incorporated village on Long Island. Not only is John F. Kennedy Airport located in Greater Jamaica, but many notable personalities are from here, like former NY governor Mario Cuomo, rapper 50 Cent, actress Debi Mazar, and bandleader and jazz bassist Charles Mingus. All 217,000 residents can’t be wrong!
Speaking of jazz, Queens was the place to be in the ‘40s, as evidenced by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s presence (be sure to visit the Louis Armstrong House Museum), and later Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, and Nicki Minaj would bring cool back to Queens with their hip-hop success. If music is not your thing, take a trip to the Queens Borough Public Library—with a circulation of 16.8 million, it is one of the biggest library systems in the country. Check out a book or two and then head on over to the Queens Botanical Garden, 39 acres of rose, bee, herb, and perennial gardens.
Where do the Public Library and Botanical Garden store all those books and plants? In a climate-controlled self-storage unit, of course. (Okay, maybe not, but they could.)
Queens is also home to the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which is located in Flushing Meadows Park. Here you’ll also find Citi Field, home to baseball team the New York Mets, New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum of Art, and the Queens Zoo. And if after this long list of great things to do in and around Jamaica you still insist on visiting Manhattan, it’s easily accessible via subway.
The more affluent neighborhood of Jamaica Estates is a lovely place to live or visit, with its tree-lined streets and Tudor-style houses. Between this area, Jamaica Hills, and Jamaica you’ll find some great schools, like York College and St. John’s University. And you know what college students need more than anything, don’t you? No, not free beer—storage units for all their stuff that doesn’t fit into those miniscule 1’x1’ dorm rooms.
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