Queens

The Queens, on Long Island in eastern New York state, is the largest and the second most peopled of the five boroughs of New York City, with an area of 178.28 square miles (461.7 km²). It is located in the east of the city, to the north of Brooklyn, and east of the island of Manhattan. The borough of Queens is coterminous with Queens County and is highly ethnically diverse. Queens is primarily a residential suburb with many "straphangers" (commuters) into Manhattan, but also houses major industries. Filmmaking, once an important part of the borough's trade, fell into decline but began making a comeback late in the 20th Century.

Queens is internationally known as home to New York's two major airports, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and LaGuardia. The borough is also home to Flushing Meadows Park, site of the 1964 World's Fair, the Queens Museum of Art and the New York Hall of Science Museum, as well as two major sports venues, the USTA National Tennis Center, where the US Open Grand Slam tennis tournament is played every year, and Shea Stadium, host to the games of the New York Mets, one of the two main baseball teams of the city. The Queens Botanical Garden is a public garden and educational center, and also a popular venue for wedding photography.

Queens has an extensive public school system as well as many private and parochial schools. Its major four year colleges are Queens College in Flushing and York College in Jamaica, both part of the City University of New York, and St. John's University, a Roman Catholic institution.

Among many popular entertainers who are or were natives of Queens, New York are: Ethel Merman, Michael Landon, Art Garfunkel and Ray Romano. See Catalog of people from Queens, New York.