Ditmars is a neighborhood located in the borough of Queens, part of the Metropolitan area of New York City. It is part of Queens Community Board 1. The neighborhood is surrounded by Bowery Bay to the north, La Guardia Airport to the east, 23rd Avenue to the south and the East River on the west.
Ditmars is often considered to be within Astoria and is also called Steinway, or Ditmars-Steinway. It is mostly a residential area with individual single and small group family homes, tantalizingly close to the green and huge open spaces of Astoria Park. Ditmars Boulevard is about more than dining. It has friendly bars to pass the hours after dark with pleasure and friendship and shops to keep you happily engaged for hours by day. It is the last stop on the N and W subway lines which run into Queens above ground following 31st Street. The neighborhood also has two Municipal Parking Fields which both casual visitors and regular commuters find a blessing in the crowded and jam-packed ways of much of Queens.
The intersection of Ditmars Boulevard and Hazen Street.
Hazen Street is also known as the Avenue of the Boldest. It leads to Rikers Island Bridge and continues as Hazen Street on Rikers Island, a 413 acre island and jail complex which is home to one of the world’s largest correctional institutions.
The area is named after a former mayor; Ditmars is also a major center of power generation, with a number of major power plants. La Guardia and the East River are significant landmarks that border Ditmars. The Hell Gate Bridge is an important architectural landmark in Ditmars, apart from the essential role it plays in keeping Astoria connected with the rest of Queens and Manhattan. Today, the bridge has the 17th longest main steel arch span in the world, continues to play a central role in rail transportation in the Northeast. Ditmars today is a renter’s market, long on apartments but short on houses to buy. What co-op apartments are to be found in Ditmars are usually one-bedrooms in converted rental buildings.
Ditmars Deli and Food Market, just about the only this photographer could find some deli prepared tuna salad in Queens.
Saint Irene of Chaysovalantou, 4211 Ditmars Boulevard, Long Island City, NY 11105.
There are large numbers of immigrants from Greece who have chosen Ditmars for their home. This has evolved during the past six decades and continues even now. It is to the credit of Queens and indeed New York State, that communities can have the freedom to preserve the best parts of their culture, even as they integrate flawlessly with national values. Another plus residents often cite is security. It is a very safe place to live with crime rates of the area being relatively low.
Looking west at the intersection of Ditmars Boulevard and Steinway Street.
Steinway Street, Ditmars-Steinway, Queens.
