Ozone Park Queens

Early years

An area predating Ozone Park, known as “Centreville,” was established in the 1840s and was centered around Centreville Street and the Centreville Community Church. Even today, a part of Ozone Park retains the name “Centreville.”

In the 1870s, two French immigrants, Charles Lalance and Florian Grosjean, set up a factory in Woodhaven, manufacturing cooking materials and porcelain enamelware. Unfortunately, the factory burned down in 1876. Undeterred, Lalance and Grosjean constructed a second factory and a hundred houses for workers at Atlantic Avenue and 92nd Street in what is now Ozone Park.

During the economic depression of the 1870s, New York City residents sought more affordable housing options in the suburbs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. In response, the New York, Woodhaven & Rockaway Railroad commenced service on the Montauk Branch and Rockaway Beach Branch from Long Island City to Howard Beach, Queens, in 1880. Two years later, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, affluent partners, acquired plots of land around what would later become the Woodhaven Junction station. The Ozone Park station along the Rockaway Beach Branch opened in 1883.

Advertisements for Ozone Park touted its “pure air” and “no malaria.” The area earned the nickname “the Harlem of Brooklyn” because, like Harlem, it was a thriving neighborhood, particularly among Jewish and Italian residents. Hitchcock and Denton chose the name “Ozone Park” because, in the 1880s, ozone was associated with refreshing sea breezes, and the Atlantic Ocean was nearby.

Development

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company’s Fulton Street elevated railroad line above Liberty Avenue commenced operations in 1915, featuring a station at Lefferts Avenue (now Lefferts Boulevard). The introduction of a 5-cent fare for the elevated train system played a significant role in Ozone Park’s development, as it allowed residents to traverse the entire elevated and subway network for a nominal fee. Subsequently, real estate developers began acquiring lots along Liberty Avenue, anticipating an influx of residents drawn to Ozone Park by the new station.

The 1920s witnessed extensive housing construction in the area, characterized by houses with enclosed front porches, open back porches, and stained-glass windows in the living rooms. Most of these residences were single-family detached or semi-detached, following a standardized layout with the living room, dining room, and kitchen on the main floor and three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. Woodhaven Avenue, the primary north-south thoroughfare, was extended to the Rockaway Peninsula and widened to 150 feet, becoming Woodhaven Boulevard.

The extension of Woodhaven Avenue facilitated easier access to Ozone Park by car, thereby increasing the value of the land and triggering a construction boom. Between 1921 and 1930, the population of Ozone Park surged by over 180%, from 40,000 to 112,950 residents.

This population surge necessitated the establishment of schools and entertainment venues. John Adams High School was constructed in 1930 to meet this demand, coinciding with the slowdown of the construction boom and preceding the Great Depression. Additionally, the Cross-Bay Movie Theatre, boasting 1,800 seats, opened in December 1924, while a 2,000-seat theater was built at 102nd Street and Liberty Avenue during the same period.

A distinct area of Ozone Park known as “The Hole,” bounded by 75th (Ruby) Street, South Conduit Avenue, 78th Street, and Linden Boulevard, earned its name due to the houses being built below grade, with ground levels situated 30 feet lower than the surrounding area. “The Hole” experienced frequent flooding, prompting the city of New York to install sewers and sewer lines in the 1930s. Consequently, homeowners received incentives to raise their homes, although some opted not to do so, resulting in their first floors becoming basements. In 2004, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection devised plans to connect the neighborhood to the city’s sewer system, aimed at alleviating the flooding by raising the land level.

Later years

The Centreville Community Church merged with the United Methodist Church of Ozone Park in 1957, leading to the construction of a new church, the Community Methodist Church of Ozone Park, at the Southeast corner of Sutter Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard. Completed in time for Christmas 1958, the old church and its surrounding property were sold to Aqueduct Racetrack, with the historic church being demolished in mid-1959.

The closure of the Lalance and Grosjean factory in the 1960s resulted in its gradual deterioration over the following decades. In 1981, the factory complex was designated a New York City Landmark. Today, the remaining structure has been adaptively reused as a medical clinic, with only the factory’s old clock tower still standing.

A scandal emerged in 1996 involving two Jewish cemeteries in Ozone Park, Mokom Sholom Cemetery and Bayside Cemetery, which share a tract bounded by 80th and 84th Streets and Liberty and Pitkin Avenues. Allegations surfaced of the re-use of graves, particularly those of infants and small children from the mid-to-late 19th century, for resale to recent Russian Jewish immigrants. Both cemeteries had also suffered damage from vandals, grave-robbers, and individuals practicing necromancy, although Mokom Sholom was impacted to a greater extent. WABC-TV reported on the damage to Mokom Sholom, while restoration efforts for Bayside Cemetery were led by the late city councilman Al C. Stabile.