Main Street (Queens)

Main Street is a major north–south street in the borough of Queens in New York City, extending from Queens Boulevard in Briarwood to Northern Boulevard in Flushing. Created in the 17th century as one of Flushing's main roads, Main Street has been lengthened at various points in its existence.

Main Street runs relatively north to south with two to three lanes in either direction, and serves as the major road for Flushing, Queens. From the north, it begins at Northern Boulevard in Downtown Flushing, also known as Flushing Chinatown, one of New York City's largest Asian enclaves. Just south of Roosevelt Avenue and the Long Island Rail Road overpass, Kissena Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Road) branches off from Main Street at a triangle, before traveling on a parallel course. After passing through Kissena Park, Main Street intersects with the Long Island Expressway north of Queens College.

South of Queens College, it intersects with Jewel Avenue near the neighborhood of Pomonok. The stretch of Main Street in Kew Gardens Hills south of the Long Island Expressway is home to a large Jewish community, including many Orthodox, Ashkenazi, and Bukharan Jews. At the south end of Kew Gardens Hills near Jamaica, Main Street intersects with Union Turnpike and the Grand Central Parkway service road. Westbound Union Turnpike feeds into the Kew Gardens Interchange, connecting to the Grand Central, the Van Wyck Expressway, the Jackie Robinson Parkway, and Queens Boulevard. Near its southern end, two entrance ramps branch off from the center of Main Street, feeding into the southbound Van Wyck. The two one-way spurs of Main Street run for three more blocks before ending in Briarwood, at adjacent intersections with Queens Boulevard.

The most congested area of Main Street is at its northern end in Downtown Flushing, between Sanford Avenue and Northern Boulevard. Other congestion points include the intersections with the Long Island Expressway; the Union Turnpike/Grand Central Parkway (GCP) interchange, from 73rd Avenue south to the GCP; and its southern terminus, at Queens Boulevard. The growth of the business activity at the core of Downtown Flushing, dominated by the Flushing Chinatown, has continued to flourish despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

For much of its early history Main Street was a quiet, small-town street. In the beginning, it did not extend south of the Port Washington Branch of the Long Island Rail Road. The intersection of Main Street and Northern Boulevard, built in the 17th century, is one of the oldest modern intersections in the United States. As of 1891, it continued four blocks south to Franklin Avenue, as another street called Jaggar Avenue.

The street was extended to Cedar Grove Cemetery in 1920. By 1932, Main Street's south end was Reeves Avenue, at the former Spring Hill Golf Club. In 1938, an extension opened to the Grand Central Parkway. By 1940, the areas around Main Street's northern end, near Flushing, were largely developed. Kew Gardens Hills was built around Main Street after World War II. On November 23, 1954, the extension south to Queens Boulevard and the Van Wyck Expressway was opened.

In the 1970s, in the wake of the 1976 fiscal crisis, more real estate became available. The area was quickly settled by Chinese and Koreans. By the late 2000s, the area around Main Street was considered a very diverse community. The New York Times compared it to the classical Main Street and contrasted its character against Wall Street in Manhattan. In the 2020s, Downtown Flushing is undergoing rapid gentrification by Chinese transnational entities.

The primary public transportation on Main Street is the Q44 bus route, running from the Jamaica Center area through the entire length of Main Street before continuing to the Bronx. In 1999, the Q44 was converted into a limited-stop service, supplemented by Q20 local bus running from Jamaica to College Point. Prior to 2010, the now-defunct Q74 bus served the southern portion of the street between 73rd and Reeves Avenues. The route, which ran between Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike station and Queens College, was eliminated in 2010 due to budget cuts within the MTA. The X51 express bus served a portion of the street between Elder Avenue near Kissena Park and Horace Harding Expressway, before being discontinued in the 2010 cuts due to low ridership.