Queens County City Map Poster

About Queens County

The western section of Queens is dominated by the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line (), which runs through the borough from its northeastern tip to Manhattan, with major transfer stations at Jamaica and Times Square. The eastern section of Queens features a diverse collection of neighborhoods, many with a definable history and character to call their own. Queens was home to some of first European settlements in North America; however, they were located south (and in some cases east) of what is now Brooklyn due west across Long Island Sound from Manhattan. The first known visit by Europeans was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano who sailed his ship "La Dauphine" into New York Harbor but did not land because he found it inhabited by Native Americans whom he considered hostile; that report was an exaggeration as there are no native tribes on Long Island or anywhere nearby (the Lenape lived much further north).