Linden Boulevard

Description

New York City section

Linden Boulevard runs through both Brooklyn and Queens, but is interrupted by Aqueduct Racetrack and the street grid in Ozone Park, Queens. The street's character is very different in each borough. Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn, between Flatbush Avenue and Sapphire Street, is 6.0 mi long. The five Queens stretches are a combined 6.4 mi long.[[File:LindenBlvd.jpg|thumb|Linden Boulevard in East New York|left]]In Brooklyn, between the intersection with Kings Highway and Remsen Avenue, and the intersection with 79th Street and South Conduit Avenue one block east of the Brooklyn–Queens border, it is one of the widest boulevards in the entire city, being a multi-median divided, 8-lane wide boulevard, similar to Queens' Woodhaven Boulevard and Queens Boulevard. While the speed limit on the rest of Linden Boulevard was set at 25 miles per hour in 2015, in line with the city speed limit, this section of Linden Boulevard was lowered over time. The speed limit was lowered to 30 MPH as part of the city's Vision Zero program in 2015, and was subsequently further lowered to 25 MPH in 2019. It is also one of Brooklyn's busiest streets, carrying many trucks, as it is the only direct route for commercial vehicles between Long Island and the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge since commercial traffic is banned from the Belt Parkway, which runs between the same points. The stretch of Linden Boulevard from Caton Avenue to Conduit Avenue is part of New York State Route 27.

In Queens, it is mostly a simple two-lane, two-way residential street, no wider than the numbered avenues it parallels, and hardly busier until it reaches Cambria Heights, where it serves as a main commercial strip. Between Aqueduct Racetrack and Cross Bay Boulevard, there is a seven-block section of the boulevard that is mostly residential but is the only road between Rockaway Boulevard and Conduit Avenue on which traffic can flow east of the elevated railroad. One block west of Cross Bay Boulevard, contained within one block, are two short sections (each less than half a block), that are dead ends. One is off Desarc Road, and the other is located at the intersection of Sitka Street and Pitkin Avenue.

Conduit Avenue in Queens interrupts Linden Boulevard. The majority of its traffic merges into the Nassau Expressway, which starts just east of the Linden Boulevard/Conduit Avenue intersection. Linden Boulevard becomes a dead-end street at Pitkin Avenue; another dead-end stretch of the boulevard is at Desarc Road, one block east of Pitkin Avenue. Linden Boulevard then resumes at Cross Bay Boulevard one block east of the dead-end stretches, is interrupted by Aqueduct Racetrack, resumes at Rockaway Boulevard in South Ozone Park, and continues into Nassau County from there.

Nassau County section

Upon entering Nassau County, Linden Boulevard assumes the Nassau County Route C36 designation, and runs 2.48 miles (3.99 km) between Valley Stream and North Valley Stream.

Route description

CR C36 begins as Central Avenue at Sunrise Highway (NY 27) in Valley Stream. From there, it travels north-northwest, soon intersecting Merrick Road (CR 27). It then continues north-northwest, intersecting Remson Avenue, thence meanders its way north-northwest to the Valley Stream–North Valley Stream border, at which point it enters the latter community. It then continues northwest, passing Margaret Drive and thence Fernwood Drive, at which point CR C36 curves towards the north-northwest and then crosses underneath the Southern State Parkway at Exit 13 N-S. At this point Central Avenue veers towards the west-northwest, becoming Linden Boulevard. CR C36 then continues west-northwest along Linden Boulevard, soon intersecting Elmont Road (CR C71). It then continues west-northwest to the Queens–Nassau County border, where the CR C36 designation ends; Linden Boulevard continues west of this location through Queens and thence Brooklyn. CR C36 was formerly designated as part of CR 20, prior to the route numbers in Nassau County being altered.

Transportation

• West from Eldert Lane in East New York, the goes to Euclid Avenue, the goes to Ashford Street, and Crown Heights-bound buses go to Lincoln Avenue.
• The Gateway Mall-bound runs from Euclid Avenue to Fountain Avenue.
• Bay Ridge-bound B8 buses run from Rockaway Avenue to Church Avenue.
• West from the Linden Boulevard entrance/exit at Conduit Avenue, the goes to Fountain Avenue, while the express goes to Ashford Street.
• West from 235th Street at the Nassau border, the goes to Merrick Boulevard, while the goes to Farmers Boulevard.
• After Merrick, the takes over, followed by the at Guy R. Brewer Boulevard. All three routes head to Van Wyck Expressway North.
• Until 2010, the Q89 also served a small stretch of Linden Boulevard in Richmond Hill. As of 2025, it is now taken over by the , supplementing Q4 service west of Francis Lewis Boulevard and providing new service towards Rockaway Boulevard.

In popular culture

Rappers Q-Tip and Phife Dawg, the founding members of the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, both grew up on Linden Boulevard in the neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens in the 1970s and 80s. They later referred to Linden Boulevard in their songs "Check the Rhime" and "Jazz (We've Got)" (from the album The Low End Theory), "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" (from Midnight Marauders) and "1nce Again", "Mind Power" and "Get A Hold" (from Beats, Rhymes and Life). The music video for "Check the Rhime" was mostly filmed on Linden Boulevard, and showed Q-Tip and Phife Dawg rapping above a crowd on the rooftop of a dry-cleaning store on Linden and 192nd Street. In July 2016, several months after Phife Dawg's death, a mural honoring A Tribe Called Quest was put up on the side of that dry cleaning store.

The 1998 film Belly features Linden Boulevard.

Major intersections

county line North Valley Stream line

References

References

1. {{google maps. link
2. {{google maps. link
3. "current, pre-vision zero speed limit maps".
4. Miller, Stephen. (10 June 2015). "DOT’s Linden Boulevard Plan Improves the Basics and Not Much Else".
5. Ricciulli, Valeria. (24 October 2019). "The city’s "Green Wave" inches forward with more protected bike lanes and signal-timing measures".
6. (18 April 2013). "Familiar roads in unfamiliar scenes".
7. "CR C36". NYSDOT Local Highway Inventory.
8. New York State Department of Transportation. (2021). "County Roads Listing: Nassau County". [[New York State Department of Transportation]].
9. "My Roads". Nassau County, NY.
10. "Lynbrook quadrangle, New York - Map Collections".
11. Diep, Eric. (September 23, 2016). "Here's How A Tribe Called Quest's Latest Mural Was Created in Queens".
12. Kim, Michelle. (November 19, 2016). "NYC Street Is Now Officially Named After A Tribe Called Quest’s Phife Dawg".