Where you were born

[Rye]

Where were you born? Post a few excerpts from Wiki about the city you were born in. If you were born on the border of two, post a little of both.

I was born right near the border of Astoria and Maspeth, Queens, so here:

The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallet's Cove, after its first landowner William Hallet, who settled there in 1659 with his wife Elizabeth Fones. It was renamed after John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest man in America, with a net worth of over $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest $2,000 in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village was finally won by Astor's supporters and friends. From Astor's summer home in Hell Gate, Manhattan – on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue – he could see across the East River the new Long Island village named in his honor; however, Astor never actually set foot in Astoria...

Astoria was first settled by the Dutch and Germans in the 17th century. Many Irish settled in the area during the waves of Irish immigration into New York City during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Italians were the next significant immigrants in Astoria. Numerous Italian restaurants, delis, bakeries and pizza shops are found throughout Astoria, particularly in the Ditmars Blvd area.

The 1960s saw a large number of ethnic Greeks from Greece, Albania and Cyprus, giving Astoria the largest Greek population in New York City.[citation needed] The Greek cultural imprint can be seen in the numerous Greek restaurants, bakeries, tavernas and cafes, as well as several Greek Orthodox churches. With perhaps 30,000 residents claiming Greek heritage, Astoria has one of the largest concentrations of Greeks outside Greece.

The area known today as Maspeth was chartered by Dutch and English settlers in the mid-17th century. The Dutch had purchased land in the area known today as Queens in 1635, and within a few years began chartering towns. In 1642 they settled Maspat, under a charter granted to Rev. Francis Doughty. [1] Maspat became the first European settlement in Queens. [2] The settlement was leveled the following year in an attack by Native Indians, and the surviving settlers returned to Manhattan... The name "Maspeth" is derived from the name of Mespeatches Indians, one of the 13 main Indian tribes that inhabited Long Island. It is translated to mean "at the bad waterplace" relating to the many stagnant swamps that existed in the area.

Most people who live in Maspeth are of Polish, Slavic, Italian, Irish, German, Hispanic or Chinese descent. Maspeth also has a significant Lithuanian population, one of the densest populations of Lithuanian-Americans outside of the Chicago Area. Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church still is the focal point of Maspeth Lithuanian culture, and during the 60's, 70's, and 80's there was a thriving Lithuanian-American club on Grand Avenue. Even today Transfiguration conducts some masses in Lithuanian, and runs a Knights of Lithuania chapter out of the church hall. The Maironis Lithuanian School of New York also conducts its classes in Maspeth.

Where I went to school when I was a child, I was one of the only children who didn't speak Polish. In Astoria, most of the people are Greek and Italian, it's where my Dad grew up. Queens is weird because each neighborhood is real close to another, but each has its own very unique vibe. One area in Queens is literally only a few blocks in each direction, but the population is almost exclusively Jewish. It's kind of odd how each is so distinct when they're so close.