Nestled between old Newtown (today's Elmhurst) and the village of Flushing in the borough of Queens lies Corona. Blessed with an enchanting landscape, the area attracted development as early as 1854, when the West Flushing Land Company sought to create a suburban residential neighborhood in its midst. For Corona's cherished way of life, represented by Colonial-era farms, dirt roads, and gaslight streetlamps, this marked a distinct break from the past. Developer Benjamin Hitchcock's novel installment-plan system had helped place Corona on the map for good by 1870, laying down a historical...

Rising among the factories and body shops off Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, Shea Stadium became the home of the New York Mets in 1964. Named after William A. Shea, the New York attorney responsible for bringing baseball back to the Big Apple after the departure of the Giants and the Dodgers, Shea Stadium has been the setting for many of the game's greatest moments. Able to be converted from a baseball diamond into a football fi eld, the ballpark was home to the New York Jets from 1964 until 1983. From its opening in 1964 for the world's fair to the unforgettable Beatles concert to the 1969...