 Jamaica Avenue at Guy R. Brewer Boulevard | |
 Interactive map of Jamaica Avenue | |
| Maintained by | NYCDOT |
|---|---|
| Length | 10.1 mi (16.3 km) |
| West end | Fulton Street /Broadway / East New York Avenue inEast New York |
| Major junctions |  Jackie Robinson Parkway /Pennsylvania Avenue / Bushwick Avenue inCypress Hills I-678 inJamaica |
| East end |   NY 25 /Cross Island Parkway at theBellerose–Bellerose Terrace line |
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in theNew York Cityboroughs ofBrooklyn andQueens,New York, in theUnited States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is atFulton Street andBroadway, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn'sEast New York neighborhood. Physically, East New York Avenue connects westbound to New York Avenue, where East New York Avenue changes names another time to Lincoln Road; Lincoln Road continues toOcean Avenue in the west, where it ends. Its eastern end is at the city line inBellerose, Queens, where it merges intoNY 25 (Jericho Turnpike) to serve the rest ofLong Island.
Jamaica Avenue was part of apre-Columbian trail for tribes from as far away as theOhio River and theGreat Lakes, coming to trade skins and furs forwampum. It was in 1655 that the first settlers paid theNative Americans with two guns, a coat, and some powder and lead, for the land lying between the old trail and "Beaver Pond", later Baisley Pond.Dutch Director-GeneralPeter Stuyvesant dubbed the area "Rustdorp" in granting the 1656land patent. The English, who took control of the colony in 1664, renamed the little settlement "Jameco", for the Jameco (or Yamecah) Native Americans.
During the early 19th century, the old road throughJamaica Pass was the Brooklyn Ferry Road; at mid-century this became the Brooklyn and JamaicaPlank Road, withtoll booths.[1] Late in the century the portion west of Jamaica Pass becameFulton Street, and the eastern portion Jamaica Avenue.
The part of Jamaica Avenue that runs throughJamaica, Queens is an important shopping street, and is on par with Brooklyn'sFulton Street. Prices are said to be low, in an exciting market place atmosphere. It is also the historic center of the former village with severalcity landmarks including theKing Manor.
Jamaica Avenue is also the main shopping street for many other neighborhoods it runs through as well, includingWoodhaven,Richmond Hill, andQueens Village.
Jamaica Avenue is the starting point of many newer streets in Queens, such asHempstead Avenue, Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Farmers Boulevard, andQueens Boulevard.
Jamaica Avenue is served by the following:
In June 2020, mayorBill de Blasio announced that the city would test out busways on Jamaica Avenue from Sutphin Boulevard to 168th Street, a distance of about 0.9 miles (1.4 km), in downtown Jamaica.[5][6] Despite a deadline of October 2020, the Jamaica Avenue busway was not in place at that time.[7][8] Furthermore, transportation advocates did support a bus lane in downtown Jamaica, but they preferred a bus lane on the busier Archer Avenue corridor, which parallels Jamaica Avenue to the south.[9]
Jamaica Avenue intersects with other former country roads in Queens which have become important urban streets, includingWoodhaven Boulevard,Myrtle Avenue, Lefferts Boulevard,Metropolitan Avenue, Sutphin Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard,Francis Lewis Boulevard, andSpringfield Boulevard. Jamaica Avenue, from Alabama Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn to the Nassau County line, is 10.9 miles (17.5 km) long.[10]
TheJamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station (E, J, and Z trains) with its associated bus station is a major transport hub, a rival to the nearbyJamaica–179th Street station (F and <F> trains) on Hillside Avenue.
| County | Location | mi[10] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn | East New York | 0.0 | 0.0 | Fulton Street /Broadway / East New York Avenue | Western terminus |
| 0.2 | 0.32 |  Jackie Robinson Parkway east /Pennsylvania Avenue / Bushwick Avenue –Eastern Long Island | Western terminus of Jackie Robinson Parkway | ||
| Queens | Woodhaven | 2.8 | 4.5 | Woodhaven Boulevard | |
| Richmond Hill | 4.0 | 6.4 | Hillside Avenue /Myrtle Avenue /Lefferts Boulevard | ||
| 4.7 | 7.6 | Metropolitan Avenue | |||
| 4.8 | 7.7 | I-678 (Van Wyck Expressway) | Exit 6 on I-678 | ||
| Jamaica | 4.9 | 7.9 | Queens Boulevard | ToNY 25 | |
| 6.1 | 9.8 | Merrick Boulevard | |||
| Hollis–Queens Village line | 8.3 | 13.4 | Francis Lewis Boulevard | ||
| Queens–Nassau county line | Bellerose–Bellerose Terrace line | 10.0 | 16.1 | Cross Island Parkway –Verrazzano Bridge,Whitestone Bridge | Exit 27W on Cross Island Parkway |
| 10.1 | 16.3 | NY 25 (Braddock Avenue / Jericho Turnpike) | Eastern terminus | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
