Complex sentence: Percy Crosby was born in Brooklyn, New York, prior to the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs of New York City, and raised in Richmond Hill, in what would be the borough of Queens but at the time was considered part of Long Island.
Split into simpler sentences: Percy Crosby was born in Brooklyn, New York, prior to the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs of New York City. He grew up in Richmond Hill, in what would be the borough of Queens but at the time was considered part of Long Island.