⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Walking NYC: Kew Gardens, Queens neighborhood tour

September 7, 2025 - 2:00 PM
66°F / 19°C

Walking tour (without narration) of the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York, via the following route: westbound on Metropolitan Avenue → northbound on Lefferts Boulevard → westbound on Kew Gardens Road → eastbound on Queens Boulevard. Filmed with GoPro Hero 12.

Highlights:
00:00 - Walking westbound on Metropolitan Avenue
08:45 - Walking northbound on Lefferts Boulevard
09:57 - Kew Gardens Synagogue
13:38 - Kew Gardens Cinemas
17:04 - Kew Gardens Sung Shin Reformed Church
17:26 - Walking westbound on Kew Gardens Road
22:01 - Kew Gardens-Union Turnpike (E, F lines) subway station
22:14 - Walking eastbound on Queens Boulevard
23:21 - Queens Borough Hall
25:52 - Queens County Criminal Court

From Wikipedia:
"Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway, to the east by the Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to the south by Hillside Avenue, and to the west by Park Lane, Abingdon Road, and 118th Street. Forest Park is to the west and the neighborhood of Forest Hills to the northwest, Flushing Meadows–Corona Park north, Richmond Hill south, Briarwood southeast, and Kew Gardens Hills east.

Kew Gardens remains a densely populated residential community, with a mix of one-family homes, apartments, co-ops and others converted and on the way or being converted as condominiums. A new hotel has been completed on 82nd Avenue, reflecting a modernization of the area. However, it is filled mainly with apartment buildings between four and ten stories high; while many are rentals, some are Housing cooperatives (co-ops). Although there are no New York City Housing Authority complexes in Kew Gardens, Mitchell-Lama buildings provide stabilized rental prices for families or individuals who may need help paying rent. On 83rd Avenue there is a 32-story Mitchell-Lama building. Along the borders of Richmond Hill, Briarwood, and Jamaica, smaller attached houses exist. Many of these are two or three family homes. Expensive single family homes are located around the Forest Park area. However, many owners are selling out their detached homes to developers who teardown and convert them into apartment housing or more expensive, lavish mini-estate houses. This has brought demographic change.

The neighborhood also has many airline personnel because of its proximity to the MTA's Q10 bus line to John F. Kennedy International Airport, as well as to Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and other airlines' special shuttles that serve pilots and flight attendants staying in Kew Gardens.

Kew Gardens's commercial center is Lefferts Boulevard between Austin Street and Metropolitan Avenue. Major attractions include the Kew Gardens Cinemas, a 1930s art deco movie theater that has been converted into a six-screen multiplex and shows a mix of commercial, independent, and foreign films. Lefferts is also home to the only bookstore in central Queens, Kew & Willow Books."