Main Street (Queens)

in 1891. Main Street runs relatively north to south with two to three lanes in either direction, and serves as the major road for Flushing, Queens. From the north, it begins at Northern Boulevard in Downtown Flushing, also known as Flushing Chinatown, one of New York City's largest Asian enclaves. Just south of Roosevelt Avenue and the Long Island Rail Road overpass, Kissena Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Road) branches off from Main Street at a triangle, before traveling on a parallel course. After passing through Kissena Park, Main Street intersects with the Long Island Expressway north of Queens College. South of Queens College, it intersects with Jewel Avenue near the neighborhood of Pomonok. At the south end of Kew Gardens Hills near Jamaica, Main Street intersects with Union Turnpike and the Grand Central Parkway service road. Westbound Union Turnpike feeds into the Kew Gardens Interchange, connecting to the Grand Central, the Van Wyck Expressway, the Jackie Robinson Parkway, and Queens Boulevard. , 2015. ==History==

For much of its early history Main Street was a quiet, small-town street. In the beginning, it did not extend south of the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The street was extended to Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1920. By 1940, the areas around Main Street's northern end, near Flushing, were largely developed. Kew Gardens Hills was built around Main Street after World War II. In the 1970s, in the wake of the 1976 fiscal crisis, more real estate became available. The area was quickly settled by Chinese and Koreans. ==Transportation==

Bus service The primary public transportation on Main Street is the Q44 bus route, running from the Jamaica Center area through the entire length of Main Street before continuing to the Bronx. Prior to 2010, the now-defunct Q74 bus served the southern portion of the street between 73rd and Reeves Avenues. The route, which ran between Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike station and Queens College, was eliminated in 2010 due to budget cuts within the MTA. The X51 express bus served a portion of the street between Elder Avenue near Kissena Park and Horace Harding Expressway, before being discontinued in the 2010 cuts due to low ridership. Many buses travel through or terminate on the section of Main Street located in Flushing. These buses travel through: • The and serve the corridor between Kissena Boulevard and Northern Boulevard. Only the Q26 heads west on Northern Boulevard. Southbound, they are joined by the N20G and N20X starting at Roosevelt Avenue. These buses terminate on Main Street: • The Q50 goes north to Northern Boulevard and heads east. It then continues to Pelham Bay Park, with rush hour service to Co-op City, Bronx. Bus lanes The Main Street corridor, along with the parallel Kissena/Parsons Boulevard corridor and the 164th Street corridor, was studied by the NYC Department of Transportation in 2015 for the implementation of Select Bus Service (SBS) between Flushing and Jamaica. This would convert the Q44 route into a bus rapid transit line. As part of the proposal, a bus only lane was proposed for installation on Main Street between Reeves Avenue and Northern Boulevard, as well as on parts of Hillside Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. After backlash from local businesses, the bus lanes in the Queensboro Hill section of Flushing and in Kew Gardens Hills were dropped from the SBS proposal. However, the Q44 route was approved for SBS conversion in June 2015, and was implemented on November 29, 2015. The busway was implemented in 2017, resulted in a 23 percent increase in bus speeds. The southbound traffic restriction was made permanent in 2018. In June 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would test out a northbound busway on Main Street in Downtown Flushing. Almost all Main Street business owners expressed opposition to the busway in a survey, leading a New York Supreme Court judge to place an injunction in November 2020. In January 2021, the busway was introduced on the northbound lanes of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard between Sanford Avenue and Northern Boulevard. Subway and rail On the New York City Subway, the of the IND Queens Boulevard Line serve the street at the Briarwood station, where the street intersects with Queens Boulevard and the Van Wyck Expressway. The Long Island Rail Road serves the area at its elevated station one block south. ==Education==

Schools Flushing High School is located a few blocks away from the northern terminus. Libraries Several branches of Queens Library are located on Main Street, including the large Flushing branch at Kissena Boulevard which was rebuilt in the 1990s. The Kew Gardens Hills branch is near the south end of Main Street. ==Points of interest==

Notable points of interest include: • St. George's Church near Roosevelt Avenue • Flushing Main Post Office, between Sanford and Maple Avenues • Queens Botanical Garden and Kissena Corridor Park between Dahlia and 56th Avenues • NewYork–Presbyterian/Queens (formerly Booth Memorial Hospital and New York Hospital Queens), part of the NewYork–Presbyterian Healthcare System, at Booth Memorial Avenue. Several additional buildings are located farther south. • Cedar Grove Cemetery, between Reeves Avenue and 68th Drive, north of Jewel Avenue ==Other Main Streets in New York City==

There are four other Main Streets in the four other boroughs of New York City: • In Edgewater Park, the Bronx, Main Street is so obscure that it is not notated on street signs. It is a short road in a 675-unit co-op. This Main Street is rarely referred to by its name. • In Dumbo, Brooklyn, Main Street is a two-block cobblestone street that still has old pieces of railroad track embedded into the cobblestones. • On Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, Main Street is the sole north–south artery on the island, and is lined mainly with apartment buildings, hospitals, and a small town center consisting of several businesses. ==See also==