Kew Gardens NY Real Estate | Find Homes for Sale

Kew Gardens NY Homes for Sale

Kew Gardens is a compact, almost triangular-shaped neighborhood in the heart of Queens borough in New York City. It is bounded by the adjacent neighborhoods of Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, and Briarwood. To its west and north are Forest Park and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, respectively.

Much of the original area was acquired by an Englishman named Albon P. Man and it was one of the seven planned garden communities developed in Queens. His two heirs laid out a new community and named it Kew Gardens after a botanical garden in London, England of the same name. Many of the homes’ architecture had English themes and featured neo-Tudor styles, which are still predominant in several parts of the neighborhood and are defined by their large porches, round windows, and spacious yards. Elegant single-family houses were also built along with many apartment buildings in the early stages of the area’s urbanization. Unfortunately, Kew Gardens lacked any landmark protection and many older buildings were demolished to make way for new development

Local Area Information

Kew Gardens’ densely populated residential community is a combination of winding, park-like streets and a grid of newer alphabetical streets, and consists of apartment complexes, co-ops, and converted or soon-to-be converted condos mixed with high-priced single-family homes and smaller, attached multi-family houses. Though it lacked landmark protection, it did have protocols which restricted overdevelopment and limited certain areas for one-family homes and assigned large apartment buildings to the outskirts of the neighborhood. In many areas, it may be a common sight to see the old mixed in with the new and one may find a single, older Tudor house dwarfed between 21st century brick condo boxes

Kew Gardens is home to many airline personnel due to its midway location between John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. There is also the Q10 bus line going to and from JFK Airport as well as special shuttles serving pilots and flight attendants going to and from Delta Air Lines and other aviation companies.

Some of Kew Gardens’ major attractions include Austin’s Ale House, a large sports bar, Dani’s Pizza, Kew & Willow Books, the only bookstore in central Queens, Kew Gardens Cinemas, an art deco movie theater converted into a six-screen multiplex showing commercial, foreign, and independent films, and the Village Diner. All of them, along with many other retail establishments, are located along Lefferts Boulevard, Kew Gardens’ commercial center. The local food scene includes, among others, Indian, Italian, Pakistani, Russian, and Uzbek cuisines, and reflects the ethnical diversity of Kew Gardens. The place was ranked #21 in Most Diverse Neighborhoods in New York City by Niche.

Many famous people have been said to have called Kew Gardens home including Anaïs Nin, Burt Bacharach, George Gershwin, Jerry Springer, rock band Kiss’s Paul Stanley, Will Rogers, Sr. and Will Rogers, Jr., to name a few.