| Middle Village |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT MIDDLE VILLAGE, QUEENS | |
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ABOUT MIDDLE VILLAGE The area was named in the early nineteenth-century for its location as the mid-point between Williamsburg, Brooklyn , and the Jamaica Turnpike. Middle Village is served by Juniper Valley Park , which is a large public park built on what was once called Juniper Swamp (filled in 1915). Today the neighborhood is ethnically diverse with Germans , Slavs , Italians , India ns, Latinos , Irish , Greeks , and Jews coexisting with one another. THE FAMOUS DEAD St. John's Cemetery, Queens is a cemetery located in Middle Village, holds many famed mobsters, including John Gotti and Lucky Luciano . Somehow fitness guru Charles Atlas and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe are also interred there. The General Slocum Steamboat Fire Mass Memorial, commemorating one of the worst disasters in NYC's history, is at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery (67-29 Metropolitan Avenue). CRIME AND SAFETY Middle Village is a safe neighborhood. In the 1970s and 1980s it was said that the Mafia made sure nothing happened. These days burglary and car theft are not uncommon, but violent crime is rarer. For the year-to-date (9/26/04), the 104th Precinct (including Middle Village, plus Glendale, Ridgewood, and Maspeth) reported: 0 murders (2 in 2003), 18 rapes (9 in 2003), 197 robberies (281 in 2003), 118 felonious assaults (108 in 2003), 450 burglaries (461 in 2003). SCHOOLS PS 49 and PS 128 are elementary schools in Middle Village with grades K to 5. PS 87 is an elementary and junior high school with grades K to 8. Our Lady of Hope is a Catholic school with grades K to 8. St. Margaret is also a Cathoilic elementary school grades K-8. Christ the King Regional High School is a private school located on Metropolitan Ave, next to the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery and the Metro Mall. METRO MALL The Metro Mall is a mall in Middle Village. It is located on Metropolitan Ave. The mall contains BJ's Wholesale Club , Toys R Us , K-Mart , Petland Discount , Sam Goody , Burger King , Funtopia USA (Formerly Ooba Dooba Funhouse), Levitz , Conway , etc. Toys R Us and K-Mart are located on the ground floor. BJ's Wholesale Club , Petland Discount , Sam Goody , Burger King , Funtopia USA (Formerly Ooba Dooba Funhouse), Levitz , Conway , and the other stores are located below ground level. Initially, the building was occupied by Robert Hall Department Store , Times Square Stores and Waldbaum's supermarket on the ground floor and Macy's Wholesale Outlet on the lower level. After TSS went out of business, their space became occupied by Caldor . After the lower level converted to Metro Mall, Waldbuam's moved downstairs, their space reoccupied by Toys R Us. Eventually Caldor went out of business and K-Mart moved in. Additionally, Queens' famed Rosa's Pizza , a cornerstone of Middle Village dining, once had a location on the lower level. SEE ALSO |