161-07 85th Street

Quick Profile

Jackson Heights has one of the most diverse populations in the city, and over 100 languages are spoken here. With this cultural diversity comes supporting restaurants, bars, shops and cultural opportunities. It is a mix of commercial and residential properties. There is a wide range of shops and service businesses, so that anything you would need, from a barber, to a pharmacy, to clothing, and food is available right in the neighborhood, no matter which culture or language you might need these services provided in. 

Jackson Heights has three nicknames, based on micro-neighborhoods with the neighborhood as a whole. Little India occupies an area on 74th Street, while parts of 73rd Street are known as Little Pakistan. Little Columbia is along 37th Avenue.

A large portion of Jackson Heights has been designated as an historic district, from Roosevelt Avenue to Northern Boulevard, between the east side of 76th Street to the west side of 88th Street.

Jackson Heights was a planned community, where the first “garden apartments” were created in buildings constructed around central gardens and green spaces that gave neighbors a place to meet and socialize with one another, created places for children to play, allowing light to come into the apartments and air to flow freely through them. These gardens are private and only residents have access to them. Passing by the buildings, you might not even guess the gardens were there, as they are not generally visible from the street. 

Additionally, there are some mid-rise apartment buildings. Some of these are rentals, some are co-ops, and some are condos. There are a few attached row houses that provide housing for one to three families. 

As much as Jackson Heights might be full of noise and mix of cultures, it also has a quieter side, where the various cultures mix and mingle and learn about each other against a backdrop of beautiful architecture and a culinary landscape that brings the world to Queens.