Ramblersville Queens

Ramblersville is a small neighborhood in greater Howard Beach, located between Hawtree Creek and JFK Airport. It is nearly surrounded by waterways leading into nearby Jamaica Bay. The neighborhood’s borders are defined by 160th Avenue to the north, Hawtree Creek to the west (with Old Howard Beach on the other side), the New York City Subway’s Rockaway Line (A train) to the east (beyond which lies Bergen Basin and the airport), and 102nd Street Creek to the south, which connects to Hamilton Beach at Russell Street. Ramblersville is approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) on each side and lacks the rectangular street grid typical of the surrounding areas.

Ramblersville, which once saw itself as independent when New York City was first unified, is purportedly the oldest neighborhood in what became known as Howard Beach. According to a 1905 article from The Washington Post, all the houses were built on stilts, with a population that swelled to one thousand in the summer but dwindled to a dozen in the winter. In 1962, the city replaced the neighborhood’s private water mains; at that time, there were 130 families living there.

A 2001 report in The New York Times described Ramblersville as resembling a cozy fishing village, with pebbled streets and wooden bungalows on pilings, surrounded by tall grass in its marshy fields. Fishing was a significant industry in this small neighborhood. Ramblersville still retains streets named Broadway, Church, and Bridge. Just north of Ramblersville is 159th Drive, also known as Remsen Place, named after Jeromus Remsen, a Revolutionary War officer. This area, near the current subway station, was known as “Remsen’s Landing” at the time. Before Howard Beach was officially named in 1916, the entire area, including Hamilton Beach and Old Howard Beach, was commonly known as “Ramblersville.” The Howard Beach – JFK Airport subway stop was originally the “Ramblersville Station” on the Long Island Rail Road.