Boulevard Of Borough-wide Dreams

Northern Boulevard isn't merely a thoroughfare for Little Neck residents — rather, it seems more of a naturally-occurring feature, much like the bay by which the neighborhood gets its name.

So it's strange to think back to a time when Northern Boulevard wasn't so... well, "northern."

Commuters taking the Port Washington line regularly to Manhattan through Broadway Station at Northern Boulevard and 162nd Street may already have guessed the early moniker for Little Neck's major artery.

And they'd be right: what is now Northern Boulevard was originally named "Broadway" by Dutch colonists who settled Long Island along an east-west Indian trail from today's Flushing, Queens to North Hempstead Town.

"It was the first main artery of its kind along the north shore," said Jason Antos, local historian and author of the book, "Flushing Then and Now."

And according to Antos, over the past few centuries what became to be known as Northern Boulevard saw some historic traffic.

"It was a foot path used by General Howe to move his troops around during the Revolutionary war," Antos said. "And the site of a welcoming party for President George Washington on a visit to Flushing during his inaugural year in office."

Yet perhaps the most interesting fact about Northern Boulevard's past for many residents is that a portion of the old road in Little Neck sits atop land used by the Matinecock tribe as their .

"That's incredible," said Christine Yi of Little Neck, upon hearing the story as she waited for a bus to Great Neck Thursday. "Who knew that Northern Boulevard has such a sordid past?"

For Queens historians like Jack Eichenbaum, who works at Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, one of the most noteworthy facts about Northern Boulevard is the contribution it made to the development of Queens.

"The expansion of Northern to the Queens-Nassau border in Little Neck was an integral part of Queens history that paved the way for transforming the area from a rural outpost to a borough," Eichenbaum said.  

According to Eichenbaum, once the Queensborough Bridge was complete in 1909, city officials envisioned building several main roads running west-to-east through Queens, converging at the foot of the newly-completed span.

"There was Route 25, or Queens Boulevard to the south and 25A, or Northern Boulevard in the north." Eichenbaum said. "Once the foundation for these streets were laid, the population of Queens grew at an incredible pace and by 1930, over 1 million people called Queens their home."

Today, many residents take Northern Boulevard for granted as just another route to take to work or to run errands.

But still there are some who gaze on the Boulevard of today and envision the Broadway that once was.

"It's something we take for granted," Yi said. "But I'm sure there are many stories behind a lot of things out here in Little Neck."