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How many Main Streets do you suppose exist in the USA? Even
that evil, satanic, den of iniquity, New York City has that ultimate
symbol of apple pie All-Americanism, Main Street, USA. It crosses
the LIE just east of the Van Wyck interchange, in Flushing. Although many Americans like to think of NYC as a toilet, the neighborhood Flushing is not named for that familiar lavatorial function. It is an English corruption of the Dutch "Vlassingen". Flushing is one of three main townships that made up Queens County before the 1898 consolidation of NYC. Today, most parts of Flushing are known to locals by their even localler names, such as Rego Park, Fresh Meadows, Bayside, etc. One part of Flushing, however, is just known as Flushing, and this overpass is in it. Unseen to the right, in the eastbound view above us, is the sprawling Mount Hebron Cemetary, which covers most of the land between the LIE, Van Wyck Expwy, Main St and 68th Rd. Assorted local businesses and the former Booth Memorial Hospital inhabit the immediate environs unseen to the left. Even further unseen to the left, deep in the heart of Old Flushing, is the heart of New York's Korean community, vying for precious real estate with one of the top three NYC Chinese communities. If Flushing, in it's original borders, comprising all it's myriad neighborhoods, was an independent city, it would probably be among the top 6 or 7 cities in terms of population. The next major stop on the eastbound LIE is Kissena Blvd, home of Queens College and Kissena Park. |
| The view above is westbound. Shortly after this, those headed for Kennedy Airport must pick their poison for getting past Kew Gardens, either via the more direct but truck infested Van Wyck extension, or the somewhat more placid Grand Central Pkwy. Either way, they'll end up on the Van Wyck eventually. |
