Queens
Introduction
Queens County is a county of New York State, coterminous with the borough of Queens in New York City. It was named for the queen consort at the time counties were established in New York, Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II.
Geography
Queens County consists of the northwestern part of Long Island and a few smaller islands, including Rikers Island, the location of a city jail.
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, Queens was the most ethnically diverse county in the United States.
Economy
The economic of queens is based on tourism,industry and a wide growing outside population. Queens has two of the most busiest airports in the world John F. Kennedy International Airport located in south queens and LA Guardia Airport located by flushing. Queens is increasly attracting a number of flim industries like the one in austoria that flims a number of t.v. shows like cosby.
Law/Government
Like the other counties which are contained within New York City, there is no county government, but county courts and some others such as the district attorney (public prosecutor) do exist.
History
Originally, Queens County included the adjacent area now comprising Nassau County. It was an original county of New York State, one of twelve created in 1683. By 1870 Queens County consisted of six towns: Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, North Hempstead, Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. In 1870, the city of Long Island City was incorporated, consisting of what had been the Village of Astoria and some unincorporated areas in the Town of Newtown. When Greater New York was formed in 1898, Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica, and the Rockaway Peninsula of the Town of Hempstead became the borough of Queens in that new city. The part of Queens County that was not annexed to New York City, consisting of the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay and all of the Town of Hempstead except the Rockaway Peninsula, was constituted as the new Nassau County in 1899. For more information about queens check out http://www.qnz.cjb.net.