Middle Village is in the heart of the Queens Cemetery. This working-class New York neighborhood was until recently mostly Italian. But the relatively cheap rents and the central location have attracted immigrants from Latin America, Poland and Ireland. This quiet and bustling neighborhood is home to many of New York’s best. Public transportation options are limited, so most residents drive (and park). And everyone walks to shop and eat on Metropolitan Avenue. You’ll find interesting shop windows, especially specialty stores and Italian butchers, in Metropolitan.
Limits and main streets
The main obstacle that defines Middle Village is Metropolitan Avenue. It’s full of small chain and family-owned stores, but it’s appropriately quiet on the stretches through the St. John and Lutheran Cemeteries. To the east is broad Woodhaven Boulevard and then Forest Hills. Eliot Avenue separates Middle Village from Rego Park to the north and Maspeth to the west. The Long Island Rail Road and Cooper Avenue tracks divide it from kindred spirits in Ridgewood and Glendale to the south.
Mass transit and highways
The M subway begins at the Metropolitan, near 69th Street, for its long journey through Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan. It’s at least a 40-minute drive to the Lower East Side. Change to the L train at Bushwick to reach Union Square in 50-60 minutes.
The QM 24 and 24W express buses stop at Eliot Avenue before heading to Manhattan.
Middle Village is close enough to the Long Island Expressway and Jackie Robinson Parkway that driving is easy enough. It is 20 minutes from La Guardia Airport or John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Middle Village Housing Scene
The dead have the best land high above the streets. The struggle lives on with basement flooding, especially around Juniper Valley Park. Townhomes and multi-family homes are the most common homes, but the waves of development have not left a distinctive appearance. The rarest apartment buildings and condominiums are found along Metropolitan and 69th Street.
Story
Named for its location midway between Williamsburg and Jamaica, Middle Village began in 1816 as part of the larger Newtown community. It didn’t take off until burials were banned in Manhattan, and churches bought farmland in the area for new cemeteries. The Germans dominated the area and the businesses of the cemetery until Italian immigrants supplanted them in the 20th century. In 1915, the juniper swamp was filled in, becoming Juniper Park and allowing the surrounding area to develop.
The famous dead
The San Juan Cemetery is home to many well-known mobsters, including John Gotti and Lucky Luciano. Fitness guru Charles Atlas and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were also buried there. The General Slocum Steamboat Fire Mass Memorial, commemorating one of the worst disasters in New York City history, is located in the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery.
Restaurants
For neighborhood pizza, people promise loyalty to Rosa’s or Carlo’s, which are far better than the average Queens pizzeria. Rosa’s has found fame as the setting for the fictional Capparello’s Pizza, Bobby Axelrod’s favorite hangout on the Showtime Billions series. Otherwise, try the European Deli for cheap hot Polish food.
Crime and safety
Middle Village is a safe neighborhood. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was said that the mob made sure nothing happened. These days robbery and car theft are not uncommon, but violent crime is rarer.
Parque Juniper Valley
Juniper Valley Park is a gem with 55 acres of baseball and soccer fields; a track; roller hockey rink; children’s parks; and tennis, handball and bocce courts. The track and some courses are new and some of the best in Queens. Visit any day, even a cold Monday morning in October, to see how the fighters play the pros. Or go in September for the Annual New York Bocce Ball Tournament.
