Corona, NYC

 

Corona is a highly dense neighborhood in the borough of

Queens, New York City.


Over the last 50 years the neighborhood has seen dramatic ethnic demographic turnovers. Today, Corona remains a vibrant neighborhood with over 60% Hispanic population: around 25% of Dominican background, 19% Ecuadorian, 13% Mexican, 6% Colombian, and some from Peruvian, Guatemalan and Salvadorian backgrounds. Around 21% of the Corona population is under the age of 18, and about 12% under the age of 9. Most of these children come from integrated families, but one third of Corona’s families have a single female householder.  More than a third of these families live below the line of poverty.  Almost half of all adults over 25 years old didn’t finish high school, and about 20% live below the line of poverty.


Corona’s P.S. 19Q, the Marino P. Jeantet School, has been know as the most populated elementary school school in the United States.  Although there’s no current data to prove this, for the 2011-2012 school year, P.S. 19Q had one of the longest waiting lists in the nation to enter kindergarden.  Many other schools in Corona provide for education to this new generation of New Yorkers, who are destined to change the face of the city in the coming 10 years.


The neighborhood doesn’t have any large community music program oriented to its youth population. However, several arts and cultural initiatives have been implemented in the neighborhood, including national festivities (like a Dominican or an Ecuadorian parades), and projects to help define the local identity. These programs usually target families and sometimes exclusively children.

 

Visit Corona

Known as the “International Express” the 7 train, part of the NYC’s MTA system will take you to Corona, at the 103th Street-Corona Plaza station.  From there you can walk in any direction to explore one of the most fascinating neighborhoods in the city.


Corona was jazz legend Louis Armstrong’s neighborhood.  His house is now a museum and future home of the Louis Armstrong Archives.  Corona is bordered on the east by Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, one of the largest parks in New York City and the site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs. Located within the park are the Queens Museum of Art, the New York Hall of Science, as well as Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and the USTA National Tennis Center, where the U.S. Open in tennis is held annually.