Hollis, Queens

Hollis
Neighborhoods of Queens
Intersection of Jamaica Avenue and Hollis Avenue
Country	United States of America
State	New York
City	New York City
County/Borough	Queens
Population (2011)
• Total	29,987
Ethnicity
• Black	42%
• Asian	19%
• White	15%
• Native American	1%
• Others	23%
ZIP code	11412, 11423
Area code(s)	718, 347, 917

Residential area at 191st Street and Woodhull Avenue.

Hollis is a middle-class neighborhood within the southeastern section of the New York City borough of Queens. A predominantly African-American community, the boundaries are considered to be the Atlantic Branch of the Long Island Rail Road to the west, Hillside Avenue to the north, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east (although parts of Queens Village are addressed as Hollis on water bills), and Murdock Avenue to the south. Much of this area is considered to be within the St. Albans postal district. Hollis is close to Jamaica and Queens Village, Queens. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 12. Hollis is patrolled by the NYPD's 113th Precinct. Public schools in the area are operated by the New York City Department of Education.

History

The first European settlers were Dutch homesteaders in the 17th century. A century later, early in the American Revolutionary War, it was the site of part of the Battle of Long Island, a battle in which the rebel Brigadier General Nathaniel Woodhull was captured at a tavern on what is now Jamaica Avenue. Woodhull Avenue in Hollis is named after him. The area remained rural until 1885, when developers turned 136 acres (55 ha) into houses, and the area is still developed primarily with single-family houses. In 1898, it became a part of New York City with the rest of the borough of Queens.

Since the end of the Korean War, the neighborhood has been settled primarily by African-American families. In recent years, the area has seen a large influx of South Asians and West Indians. The area has a majority of working parents with many early childhood schools in Hollis. Hollis is mainly within zip codes 11423 and 11412.

On May 2, 2015, police officer Brian Moore was shot and killed in the neighborhood.

Holliswood subsection

Holliswood, previously known as Terrace Heights, is an upper middle class subsection of Hollis bounded by the Hillside Avenue to the south, Francis Lewis Boulevard to the east, Grand Central Parkway to the north, and 188th Street to the west. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 8.

A notable local facility was Holliswood Hospital. The hospital provided psychiatric care with 127 beds. On August 16, 2013 the facility was closed.

Transportation

Long Island Rail Road service is available at the Hollis station, located at 193rd Street and Woodhull Avenue. The station is served mostly by the Hempstead Branch. West of Hollis station is the LIRR's Holban Yard, a freight yard that has been shared with St. Albans for over a century, and has included the Hillside Maintenance Facility since 1991. The Q2, Q77, Q110 buses pass from Jamaica into Hollis and out to Queens Village. On Hillside Ave., we have many more NYC buses. Such as the Q1, Q36, Q43, Q76 and the Q77. ON Hillside, you may also pick up a Nassau bound bus.

The E J Z trains stop nearby at Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer. The Archer Avenue Lines were supposed to be extended to Hollis as part of a never-completed New York City Subway expansion in 1988.

Notable residents

Since the beginning of hip-hop, the neighborhood has been a hotbed of talent, sparked primarily by the fact that hip-hop producer and icon Russell Simmons is from this community, as is his brother Joseph, who along with his friends Darryl McDaniels and Jason Mizell formed the rap group Run-D.M.C. (who had a hit with the seasonal song "Christmas in Hollis").

Other notable residents include:

• Apani B – hip-hop artist
• Black, Rock and Ron
• Byron Brown (b. 1958), mayor of Buffalo, New York
• Art Buchwald (1925–2007), political humorist
• Lord Burgess (b. 1924), song writer
• Jaki Byard (1922–1999), jazz musician
• Gloster B. Current (1913–1997), former deputy executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also the National Director of Branches and Field Administration of the N.A.A.C.P. during the Civil Rights Movement
• Roy Eldridge (1911-1989), jazz trumpeter
• Lani Guinier (b. 1950), civil rights legal scholar
• Brian Hardgroove, bass player, Public Enemy
• Roy Haynes (b. 1925), jazz drummer
• DJ Hurricane
• Royal Ivey, NBA Basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers
• Ja Rule (b. 1976), rapper
• Milt Jackson (1923-1999), jazz vibraphonist and drummer
• Daymond John (b. 1969), founder and CEO of FUBU
• LL Cool J (b. 1968), rapper
• Ed Lover (b. 1963), actor, radio and television personality
• Gregory Weldon Meeks (b. 1953) U.S. Representative for New York's 6th congressional district
• Lee Q. O'Denat, founder of World Star Hip Hop
• Garrett Oliver
• Run DMC, Hip-Hop group
  • Reverend Run
  • DMC
  • Jam Master Jay
• Rev. Al Sharpton (b. 1954), civil rights activist
• Russell Simmons
• Stephen A. Smith (b. 1967), ESPN sports personality
• Young, Andrew, civil rights activist and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• Young MC, rapper
• Eugene Holman (b. 1945), linguist, translator, Movie star in Finland, [2]

Hollis was also home to many notable jazz musicians, especially from the 1930s and 1940s on, according to local resident and jazz historian Phil Schaap.