By The Times/Ledger
Corona gained its name for its position on the crown of a hill (the “crown” of villages on Long Island). It's a neighborhood in north central Queens adjoining Flushing Bay and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Early factories made china, portable houses, and from 1893 into the 1930s, Tiffany glass. From 1943 to 1971 the great jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong lived in the neighborhood at 34-56 107th St., 997-3670, which is now a national landmark. Among other Corona residents were Dizzy Gillespie, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Clark Terry, and the recently retired jazz professor at Queens College, Jimmy Heath, who still resides on 34th Ave.
A trip to Corona includes a visit to the Lemon Ice King at 52-02 108th St., then it's over to William E. Moore Park at 108th, Spaghetti Park as it is called by the locals, to watch the men play boccie from mid-afternoon until midnight or a card game called briscola. Italian restaurants and delicatessens can be found surrounding the park. Corona is also home to a Muslim community comprised of Pakistanis, Indians, Arabians, and African-Americans, among others.
The Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center at 100-01 Northern Blvd. 651-1100, has special programs and ongoing events to further the education and understanding of the role played by African-Americans in U.S. history. And Corona was the fictional home of Archie Bunker in the popular television series “All in the Family” (1971-83). North of Corona and alongside LaGuardia Airport is East Elmhurst, a neighborhood in north-central Queens. Before the Second World War the area was wholly residential, but proximity to the airport brought commercial development to Ditmars Blvd. Shopping can be found along Junction Blvd. between Roosevelt Ave. and the Long Island Expressway.
More info: Corona Community Development Corporation, 592-8300; Community Board 3, 458-2707; Community Board 4, 760-3141.
