Jamaica Avenue

Jamaica Avenue was part of a pre-Columbian trail for tribes from as far away as the Ohio River and the Great Lakes, coming to trade skins and furs for wampum. It was in 1655 that the first settlers paid the Native Americans with two guns, a coat, and some powder and lead, for the land lying between the old trail and "Beaver Pond", later Baisley Pond. Dutch Director-General Peter Stuyvesant dubbed the area "Rustdorp" in granting the 1656 land patent. The English, who took control of the colony in 1664, renamed the little settlement "Jameco", for the Jameco (or Yamecah) Native Americans.

During the early 19th century, the old road through Jamaica Pass was the Brooklyn Ferry Road; at mid-century this became the Brooklyn and Jamaica Plank Road, with toll booths.^[2] Late in the century the portion west of Jamaica Pass became Fulton Street, and the eastern portion Jamaica Avenue.

The part of Jamaica Avenue that runs through Jamaica, Queens is an important shopping street, and is on par with Brooklyn's Fulton Street. Prices are said to be low, in an exciting market place atmosphere. It is also the historic center of the former village with several city landmarks including the King Manor.

Jamaica Avenue is also the main shopping street for many other neighborhoods it runs through as well, including Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, and Queens Village.

Jamaica Avenue is the starting point of many newer streets in Queens, such as Hempstead Avenue, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard, and Queens Boulevard.

Jamaica Avenue is served by the following:

• The Q56 is designated “Jamaica Avenue (West)”, and serves the corridor west of 170th Street (Jamaica), where it terminates, or 171st Street (Broadway Junction).^[3]
• The Q110 is designated “Jamaica Avenue (East)”, and serves the corridor between Hempstead Avenue and either 153rd Street (Parsons Boulevard station), Parsons Boulevard (Belmont Park), or 179th Place (179th Street station), using 187th Place to return to the avenue for Belmont Park.^[4]
• The Q36 serves the rest of the corridor east of 212th Street (Jamaica), or 212th Place (Floral Park/Little Neck).^[5]
• The New York City Subway's BMT Jamaica Line (J and ​Z trains) runs above Jamaica Avenue through the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn along with Woodhaven and Richmond Hill.
• The Q54 runs on the avenue between the Q56’s Jamaica terminus, and either 132nd Street (Jamaica), or 131st Street (Williamsburg).
• Late night Q1 service runs west on the corridor from Cross Island Parkway to Springfield Boulevard, due to serving both eastern terminals.
• Bushwick-bound Q24 buses run west from Merrick Boulevard to Van Wyck Expressway, and in both directions west of Pennsylvania Avenue, sharing Bushwick service with the northbound B20 and B83 buses.
• From Sutphin Boulevard, the Q60 and Sutphin/JFK station-bound Q43 run west, respectively to Queens Boulevard and 146th Street, and the Q6, Q8, Q9, and Q41 run east, either to 168th Street (165th Street Terminal), or from Merrick Boulevard (opposite terminals).
• Jamaica-bound Q30 and Q31 buses run west from 169th Street to 146th Street, and east from 168th Street to 170th Street in their opposite directions.
• Jamaica-bound Q25, Q34, and Q65 buses run west from Parsons Boulevard to Sutphin Boulevard.
• Jamaica-bound Q20A, Q20B, and Q44 SBS buses run west from 168th Street to Merrick Boulevard.
• Ozone Park-bound Q112 buses run east from Parsons Boulevard to Guy R. Brewer Boulevard.
• The B13 runs between Cypress Hills Street and either Crescent Street (Wyckoff Hts Hosp) or Hemlock Street (Gateway Mall).
• From Francis Lewis Boulevard, the N1’s Jamaica trips and the N6/N6X serve the corridor east until Hempstead Avenue, with N24 service extended to the avenue’s eastern end.
• The Q55 uses the avenue from 117th Street to Myrtle Avenue to change its direction from Richmond Hill to Ridgewood.
• The Jamaica Bus Depot and East New York Bus Depot are located near the avenue.

In June 2020, mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would test out busways on Jamaica Avenue from Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, a distance of about 0.9 miles (1.4 km), in downtown Jamaica.^[6][7] Despite a deadline of October 2020, the Jamaica Avenue busway was not in place at that time.^[8][9] Furthermore, transportation advocates did support a bus lane in downtown Jamaica, but they preferred a bus lane on the busier Archer Avenue corridor, which parallels Jamaica Avenue to the south.^[10]

Jamaica Avenue intersects with other former country roads in Queens which have become important urban streets, including Woodhaven Boulevard, Myrtle Avenue, Lefferts Boulevard, Metropolitan Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard, Francis Lewis Boulevard, and Springfield Boulevard. Jamaica Avenue, from Alabama Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn to the Nassau County line, is 10.9 miles (17.5 km) long.^[1]

The Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station (E​, ​J, and ​Z trains) with its associated bus station is a major transport hub, a rival to the nearby Jamaica–179th Street station (F and <F>​ trains) on Hillside Avenue.

• A Walk down Jamaica Avenue Photoessay
• Jamaica Plank Road - Jamaica Avenue (Richmond Hill Historical Society) Archived 2020-03-22 at the Wayback Machine

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jamaica Avenue.