Richmond Hill Queens

Practice Areas

Bankruptcy Solutions

The purpose of federal bankruptcy legislation, sometimes known as Title 11 of the United States Code or the “Bankruptcy Code,” is to provide an opportunity for financial reorganization or a fresh start for legitimate debtors who are unable to fulfill their obligations.

Foreclosure Solutions

As you are undoubtedly aware, many homeowners are in arrears on their mortgages as a result of the 2020 recession brought on by the coronavirus. At first, most lenders had been understanding and would have granted a brief suspension of the late payments.

Debt Negotiations & Settlements

Clients regularly hire the Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C. to represent them in negotiations with banks, mortgage holders, credit card issuers, auto financing providers, landlords, tax authorities, and other creditors.

Mortgage Loan Modifications

The most common strategy used by our firm to prevent a house in severe mortgage arrears from going into foreclosure is a mortgage modification. Mortgage modification and other potential Retention Options are the potential goals of most homeowners in foreclosure because most people experiencing serious hardships with their mortgages are looking for “Retention Options

Credit Card Solutions

For consumers, credit card debt and other unsecured personal loans are the most common types of debt. There are a few legal options for handling credit card debt, including the following: Litigation, bankruptcy, and/or negotiated settlements are the three options.

Debtor Litigation Defense

Many of The Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C.’s clients face the possibility of litigation or collection activities from their creditors because they are accused of having debt that they are unable to pay or because they contest the existence, amount, or obligation of the debt.

Landlord Tenant Solutions

Landlord-Tenant Law is one of our firm’s areas of expertise; we defend landlords and tenants in a variety of legal proceedings before the Landlord-Tenant Court and the New York Supreme Court. When it comes to eviction and/or collecting large amounts of past due rent.

Distressed Real Estate

A. Pre-Contract When a seller (the “Seller”) sells real estate to a buyer (the “Buyer”), there are usually a number of important steps involved. A seller will first list their property on the market for sale. A real estate broker is frequently hired by the seller to help locate possible buyers for their property.

Student Loan Solutions

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” as Benjamin Franklin famously said. This phrase has recently been amended by popular opinion to include student loans. Since most jobs these days require a bachelor’s degree, the amount of debt that Americans owe on their student loans

Tax Debt Solutions

Many people have trouble keeping up with their tax payments to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (“NYS”), which includes sales taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, and other state taxes, as well as the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”), which includes individual income taxes.

Richmond Hill, situated in the southeastern section of Queens, New York City, is a vibrant commercial and residential neighborhood. Its borders include Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozone Park to the south, and Woodhaven and Ozone Park to the west. The neighborhood is divided between Queens Community Board 9 and 10.

Richmond Hill earned the nickname “Little Guyana” due to its substantial Indo-Caribbean American population, particularly Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Trinidadian communities. Additionally, it is referred to as “Little Punjab” because of its sizable Punjabi American population. The area boasts a diverse array of religious institutions, including Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim places of worship.

Key commercial thoroughfares in Richmond Hill include Jamaica Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, and Liberty Avenue. The southern portion of the neighborhood, known as South Richmond Hill, also serves as a bustling commercial hub. The Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk Branch provides freight access, running diagonally through the neighborhood from northwest to southeast. While many residents own homes, there are also options for renting within small apartment buildings.

Richmond Hill falls within Queens Community District 9, with ZIP Codes 11418 and 11419. Policing is carried out by the New York City Police Department’s 102nd Precinct. In terms of representation, Richmond Hill is part of the New York City Council’s 28th, 30th, and 32nd Districts.

Richmond Hill is nestled between several neighborhoods: Kew Gardens and Forest Park to the north, Jamaica and South Jamaica to the east, South Ozone Park to the south, and Woodhaven and Ozone Park to the west. Hillside Avenue delineates its northern border with Kew Gardens east of Lefferts Boulevard, while west of Lefferts, Forest Park and the Long Island Rail Road’s Montauk Branch mark its northern boundary. To the west, the abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch of the LIRR serves as the western border north of Atlantic Avenue, with the boundary shifting to lie between 104th and 107th Streets south of Atlantic. The southern border extends to approximately 103rd Avenue or Liberty Avenue. Along its eastern edge, the Van Wyck Expressway runs adjacent to the community. The southern portion of the neighborhood is also referred to as South Richmond Hill.

Richmond Hill is renowned for its large-frame single-family homes, many of which have stood since the early 20th century. The area is characterized by its well-preserved Queen Anne Victorian houses, which continue to dot the landscape, contributing to the neighborhood’s distinctive charm and architectural heritage.

The hill known as Richmond Hill was formed by debris and rocks left behind by glaciers during the Wisconsin glaciation. Before European colonization, the land was inhabited by the Rockaway Native American group, from whom the Rockaways derived their name. In 1660, the Welling family purchased land in what was then part of the colonial town of Rustdorp, which was later renamed Jamaica under British rule in 1664. The Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War was fought in 1776 along the ridge in present-day Forest Park, where American riflemen utilized guerrilla warfare tactics to defeat the advancing Hessians.

One of the sites that would eventually become part of modern Richmond Hill was Lefferts Farm, believed to be the site of a Revolutionary War battle. Clarenceville, a farming community, was established in 1853 on the south side of Jamaica Avenue. Richmond Hill’s name is said to have been inspired either by a suburban town near London or by Edward Richmond, a landscape architect who designed much of the neighborhood in the mid-19th century. In 1868, Albon Platt Man purchased several farms and hired Richmond to lay out the community, which extended as far north as White Pot Road (now Kew Gardens Road).

Streets, schools, a church, and a railroad were built in Richmond Hill over the next decade, making it one of the earliest residential communities on Long Island. The development was facilitated by the opening of two railroad stations: the Clarenceville station on the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad, and the Richmond Hill station on the Montauk railroad line. By 1872, a post office was established, and Richmond Hill was incorporated as an independent village in 1894, later consolidating with the rest of Queens county into the City of Greater New York in 1898.

The area saw further development with the extension of the New York City Subway’s BMT Fulton Street Line and the BMT Jamaica Line elevated into the neighborhood in the early 20th century. As the population continued to grow, smaller houses and apartment buildings began to replace the larger private houses of earlier years.

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, Richmond Hill had a population of 62,982, showing a negligible decrease from the 2000 count. Covering an area of 1,171.55 acres, the neighborhood boasted a population density of 53.8 inhabitants per acre.

The racial composition of Richmond Hill was diverse, with notable percentages including 11.2% White, 11.1% African American, 27.4% Asian, and 36.0% Hispanic or Latino. Community Board 9, which includes Richmond Hill along with Kew Gardens and Woodhaven, had a substantial population of 148,465 residents as of 2018, with an average life expectancy of 84.3 years.

Regarding demographics, a significant portion of residents fell within the youth and middle-aged adult categories, with smaller proportions of college-aged and elderly individuals. In terms of income, the median household income in Community Board 9 was $69,916 as of 2017. However, approximately 22% of residents in Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens were living in poverty, with a notable unemployment rate of 8%. Rent burden was also relatively high in these areas compared to boroughwide and citywide rates.

Despite these economic challenges, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens were considered high-income relative to the rest of the city and were not undergoing gentrification as of 2018.

Demographic changes

Originally, Richmond Hill was home to diverse European and Jewish families, including Italian, Dutch, English, Irish, Scots, Danish, and German communities. However, by the 1970s, the neighborhood had undergone a demographic shift, becoming predominantly Hispanic. Today, the south side of Richmond Hill is characterized by a significant population of South Asian Americans, including Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis, as well as Indo-Caribbean Americans such as Indo-Guyanese, Indo-Trinidadians, Indo-Surinamese, and Indo-Jamaicans. This demographic transformation has been ongoing since the 1960s. Notably, a portion of Liberty Avenue has been officially designated as Little Guyana. Moreover, Richmond Hill boasts the largest Sikh population in the city, and 101st Avenue has been dubbed “Little Punjab” or Punjab Avenue, reflecting the growing presence of Punjabi Americans in the neighborhood.

The Triangle Hofbrau, which initially opened as a hotel in 1893 and later transitioned into a restaurant, was a popular spot frequented by celebrities like Mae West during the 1920s and 1930s. Situated on the triangular plot of land bordered by Hillside Avenue, Jamaica Avenue, and Myrtle Avenue, the building has now been repurposed into medical offices. Adjacent to the northwest corner of Hillside Avenue and Myrtle Avenue stood the nostalgic ice cream parlor, Jahn’s, which sadly closed its doors in late 2007. Further between Myrtle Avenue and the Montauk Line railroad lies the former RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill Theater, originally opened in 1929 and later transformed into a bingo hall in 1968. These landmarks, along with others, are clustered in the vicinity of the “Richmond Hill Triangle,” delimited by Jamaica Avenue, Myrtle Avenue, and 117th Street, historically serving as the commercial heart of Richmond Hill. Additionally, the intersection of Jamaica and Myrtle Avenues is recognized as James J. Creegan Square.

Towards the northern border of Richmond Hill sits the Church of the Resurrection, an Episcopalian church dating back to 1874, making it the oldest place of worship in the area. This historic church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2003. Notably, Public School 66 and Saint Benedict Joseph Labre Parish are also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, further adding to the cultural and architectural significance of Richmond Hill.

Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven fall under the jurisdiction of the 102nd Precinct of the NYPD, situated at 87-34 118th Street. The precinct ranked 22nd safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. As of 2018, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens boast a lower rate of violent crimes per capita compared to the city as a whole, with a non-fatal assault rate of 43 per 100,000 people. Additionally, their incarceration rate of 345 per 100,000 people is lower than the citywide average.

The 102nd Precinct has seen a significant decline in crime rates since the 1990s, with crimes across all categories decreasing by 90.2% between 1990 and 2018. In 2018, the precinct reported 2 murders, 24 rapes, 101 robberies, 184 felony assaults, 104 burglaries, 285 grand larcenies, and 99 grand larcenies auto, reflecting a continued trend of decreasing crime rates.

As of 2018, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens exhibit higher rates of preterm births compared to other areas citywide, with 92 preterm births per 1,000 live births, slightly above the citywide average of 87 per 1,000. However, births to teenage mothers are less common in these neighborhoods, with 15.7 births per 1,000 live births compared to the citywide rate of 19.3 per 1,000.

Additionally, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens have a higher proportion of uninsured residents, estimated at 14% in 2018, slightly above the citywide rate of 12%. The concentration of fine particulate matter, a hazardous air pollutant, is lower in Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens compared to the city average.

Regarding lifestyle factors, 11% of residents in these neighborhoods are smokers, lower than the city average of 14%. However, rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure are slightly higher than the citywide averages. Moreover, 22% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.

Despite these health challenges, a majority of residents in Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens consume fruits and vegetables daily, and 78% rate their health as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent.” However, there is a higher density of bodegas compared to supermarkets in these neighborhoods.

For medical services, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills and Jamaica Hospital serve as the nearest major hospitals.

As of 2018, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens have a lower proportion of college-educated residents compared to the rest of the city. While 34% of residents aged 25 and older have a college education or higher, 22% have less than a high school education, and 43% are high school graduates or have some college education. In contrast, 39% of Queens residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.

Despite lower rates of college-educated residents, there has been significant improvement in student achievement over time. The percentage of students excelling in math increased from 34% in 2000 to 61% in 2011, and reading achievement rose from 39% to 48% during the same period.

Moreover, elementary school student absenteeism in Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens is lower than the citywide average, with 17% of elementary school students missing twenty or more days per school year, compared to the citywide average of 20%. Additionally, 79% of high school students in these neighborhoods graduate on time, exceeding the citywide average of 75%.

Richmond Hill benefits from several New York City Subway stations for convenient transportation. The J and Z trains stop at 121st Street and Jamaica Avenue, while the J train also services 111th Street and Jamaica Avenue. Additionally, the Jamaica–Van Wyck station on the E train and the 111th Street and Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard stations on the A train are located within Richmond Hill.

Although there was once a Long Island Rail Road station named Richmond Hill on Hillside Avenue and Babbage Street along the Montauk Branch, it was closed in 1998 due to low ridership. Presently, access to the station and platform is gated off, with Kew Gardens and Jamaica stations serving the area instead.

Richmond Hill is also well-served by MTA Regional Bus Operations routes, including local buses like the Q8, Q9, Q10, Q24, Q37, Q41, Q55, Q56, and Q112, as well as the QM18 express bus to Manhattan.

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