Where:Bayside is bordered to the north and the east by the Little Neck Bay (although it’s separated from the bay by the Cross Island Parkway). To the east, across the bay, is upscale Douglaston Manor, with its waterfront homes. The neighborhood of Douglaston is to the east, Auburndale is to the west, and Oakland Gardens borders Bayside to the south.
Housing:Known for its upscale gated communities of Baybridge, the Bay Club, Bayside Gables and Bayside Mews, the area’s real estate market is still growing. Single family homes are selling for upwards of $700,000 to over $1 million while two family homes are going for $800,000 and up. The aforementioned condo communities, passed down from previous generations, offer easy living and beautiful accommodations.
Overlooking the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges, Long Island Sound, and the Manhattan skyline is the Bay Club, a 1,037-unit condominium in Bayside. In the center of this two-building complex lies a reflecting pond filled with exotic Koi goldfish, surrounded by 13 acres of land. Around-the-clock security guards stand at the brick gatehouse and allow entrance onto the grounds. Each building is under 24-hour surveillance, with each floor inspected by a security patrol.
There are many recreational and physical fitness activities for residents. The Bay Club Swim & Fitness Center has a two-story Olympic-size swimming pool, a game room with table tennis, billiards and a card room. The Bay Club also has four outdoor tennis courts, indoor racquetball and handball courts, a golf course, and in-and-outdoor basketball courts. There is also a convenience store, hairdresser and dry cleaner on the grounds.
The Bayside Mews condominiums border the newly renovated Bay Terrace Shopping Center. It includes 175 units which include 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom and 3-bedroom apartments. The buildings include private underground parking. Since the Mews share the same property as The Bay Club, a Mews unit owner can join the all-year-round Bay Club Swim and Fitness Centers. They go from the low-$300,000’s for one bedroom to the mid-$500,000’s and up, for three bedroom homes. The Baybridge condos are a little pricier, starting at $400,000 and going up to $1 million. This 660-unit condominium complex has a townhouse feel, offering duplex, triplex and simplex units. Baybridge also offers a shopping center for its residents. That includes a convenience store, beauty parlor, Italian restaurant, bagel & sandwich shop, cleaners, and more.
Schools:Another highlight is the unquestioned standard set by schools in the area. School District 26 has been rated the highest in the city - and for good reason. Local public high schools Bayside and Benjamin Cardozo are popular choices, as is a Catholic high school, Holy Cross, located on Francis Lewis Boulevard and 26th Avenue. Then there are the seven highly-rated elementary schools in the area, such as P.S. 205, the Alexander Graham Bell School; P.S. 41, Crocheron School; and P.S. 203, the Oakland Gardens School, among others. Furthermore, there are three middle schools (Beacon Program, M.S. 158 Marie Curie, and M.S. 74, Nathaniel Hawthorne), four pre-schools and five private/parochial institutions. Bayside also is home to Queensborough Community College, located on 22nd Street and 56th Avenue.
“The schools are great, and that’s why I moved from Flushing to Bayside,” said Maria Carr, a real estate broker for Prudential Douglas Elliman Realty. “I like it here. That was my upgrade. The school district is very important to people even if they don’t have children. They know the real estate is going to be higher priced because they’re in the best school district.”
Commute: Although Bayside is not served by the subway, its public transportation is still a plus. The Long Island Railroad’s Port Washington line runs through the neighborhood, stopping at Bell Boulevard and 41st Avenue, and arriving in midtown Manhattan in less than a half hour, at Penn Station, with connections available to other towns on Long Island. In an hour, the Q31 bus travels through Southeast Queens to Jamaica, connecting with subway service for the E, J and F lines along the way and the Jamaica Long Island Railroad station on Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard. The Q13 goes to Flushing Main Street, stopping by the 7 train.
The Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges (to the Bronx) are close by. Nearby highways include the Grand Central Parkway, Long Island Expressway, Clearview Expressway, Cross Island Parkway, and Whitestone Expressway.
Recreation: Bayside also hosts the top-notch Bayside Little League, a 62-team, seven division organization for kids between the ages of 5-18. They play a majority of their games at nearby Crocheron Park, located from 33rd to 35th Ave, bordered by Little Neck Bay. During the spring, great little league action can be seen on a daily basis and all day long during the weekend. Furthermore, the Bayside Raiders youth football organization is a popular choice amongst many youngsters as is the Bayside YMCA.
Another popular locale is Fort Totten, built during the Civil War to protect New York Harbor from Confederate attacks. It sits by the Long Island Sound at the northern—most point of Bayside. The former U.S. Army fort was officially turned over to the Queens Parks Department this year. Fort Totten also is home to the Bayside Historical Society, and is still used by the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Army Reserve. Originally named the Fort at Willets Point, it’s a 136-acre site that was designated a historical landmark June 29, 1999. The Park is also home to an area reserved exclusively for bicyclers and pedestrians.
For the golf enthusiast, there is the Clearview Park and Golf Course, a public 18-hole hilly course lined with trees, located on 23rd Avenue, 202nd Street, and Bell Boulevard. It offers a spectacular view of the Long Island Sound and Throgs Neck Bridge. The facility includes such amenities as a pro shop, golf lessons, clinics, a clubhouse, lockers, a snack bar, a lounge/bar, and a snack cart roaming the course.
Neighborhood Life: When Lisa Springer, 27, moved out of her Stony Brook, Long Island home she was looking for a place to settle into that offered her a glimpse of the city life with the same relaxing privileges of a residential neighborhood. She got both in Bayside. “I love it,” she says, while taking a stroll through Crocheron Park. “I live right off Bell Boulevard. I like the different restaurants, bars; the railroad is so close to the city and you can walk right down to the park. I feel like it’s the city atmosphere without the chaos of New York. Now I can just walk out my front door and go to the store. It’s convenient.”
“It’s a small-town feel within a big city,” said Judy Limpert, president of the Bayside Business Association. “The restaurants, the community atmosphere; Bell Boulevard is pedestrian friendly, you can walk around and know people, it’s the most affluent area in Queens.”
For those Baysiders with no interest in heading to the city, Bell Boulevard offers a truly vibrant night life, with countless bar/restaurants, from the NoNo Cocktail Lounge, to the Irish Pub, Winnie Radigan’s - “The bartenders there are great,” Bayside resident Warren Soleau, 22, said - or the popular Donovan’s Bar and Bourbon Street, among many others.
Located on 26th Avenue and Bell Boulevard, the Bay Terrace Shopping Center is also a prominent destination, with a great Waldbaum’s and popular stores such as the Gap and Barnes & Nobles, and a multiplex movie theater, the AMC Loews Bay Terrace Theater.
Business: While Bayside has long been a consumer haven for restaurants and bars, more everyday stores such as boutiques, shopping and clothing stores, have created “walking traffic,” along Bell Boulevard as Dominick Bruccoleri, the owner of Papazzio Restaurant and Catering, put it, helping even more businesses flourish.
The Bayside Business Association, an organization whose sole purpose is to make sure area businesses run smoothly, helps the wide array of local stores greatly, trying to create something for everyone in Bayside. “That’s our goal, to get a diverse number of businesses here so that our residents will be able to walk on Bell Boulevard and get anything they want,” Limpert said.
There is no denying the upswing as of late. Limpert estimated rent is up for local stores 75% to 100%. Lately, it seems whenever a store closes or moves, another one is ready to move right in. Limpert recalled the days when a store would close or move, and there wouldn’t be a replacement lined up. Or a business would go six months without many customers. But now, as the area has developed and grown, so have the businesses.
