College Point

By Patrick Verel | Special to amNewYork

June 7, 2007

To live in College Point, Queens, you've got to deal with some pretty noisy neighbors.

There's the Pepsi plant, the Con Edison facility, the NYPD impound lot, the Sanitation Department depot and The New York Times printing plant. And, oh yes, busy La Guardia Airport across the bay. Indeed, College Point, which is cut off from the rest of Queens by the Whitestone Expressway, cannot be accused of not pulling its weight in accommodating industry.

And yet, to walk around the triangle at College Point Boulevard, College Place and 11th Avenue is to experience a quaint, blue-collar town where the roar of jets is barely audible. College Point residents savor the area's isolation from the rest of the city.

"It still, in many ways, has a small-town atmosphere because we are on a peninsula," said Susan Brustman, director of the Poppenhusen Institute, named after the area's founder, Conrad Poppenhusen, a German industrialist who built a fortune in the 19th century making hard rubber combs.

"Poppenhusen came here when it was being promoted as an affordable place for the working man to live, and we'd like it to stay that way," Brustman said. "Now prices of houses and apartments have sky rocketed. It seems like the working man is going to have a hard time living here unless you've already been here."

FIND IT
College Point is bounded by Whitestone Expressway to the south, Flushing Bay to the west, the East River to the north and 138th Street to the west.

THE BASICS
Transportation
Bus: QBX 1, Q20A, 20B, 25, 65, 76

Crime
The 109th precinct, which also includes downtown Flushing, East Flushing and Whitestone, has had two murders, nine rapes and 76 robberies this year, compared to three murders, six rapes and 91 robberies at this time last year. There were a total of six murders, 19 rapes and 261 robberies last year.

Schools
P.S. 29, 125-10 23rd Ave., P.S. 129, 128-02 7th Ave.

Post Office
120-07 15th Ave.

Banks
Bank of America, 1415 College Point Blvd., Chase, 132-07 14th Ave., North Fork, 122-03 14th Ave., Queens County Savings Bank, 15-01 College Point Blvd.

REAL ESTATE
Plenty of housing in College Point borders industrial areas, so bargains can be found as long as you're not looking for waterfront property, which is drawing interest.