Queens is home to both of New York City's airports, LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Queens is connected to the Bronx by three bridges: the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge and the Triborough Bridge. It is connected to Manhattan by two bridges and one tunnel: the Triborough Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel.
Many controlled-access highways cross Queens, including I-495 (the Long Island Expressway), I-278 (the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), and I-678 (the Van Wyck Expressway, pronounced Van Wike). Important state highways in Queens include the Grand Central Parkway, which becomes the Northern State Parkway when it crosses the Queens border into Nassau County.
Many New York City Subway lines go through Queens. The most famous is the Flushing Line, the 7 Train, which has the nickname "International Express" because it goes through many neighborhoods where many immigrants live. Other subway lines in Queens include the A Train, C Train, E Train, F Train, G Train, J Train, M Train, N Train, R Train, V Train, W Train, and Z Train.
Queens has a very large bus system that goes to all parts of the borough. Some bus routes go to Brooklyn, Manhattan, or the Bronx.
The Long Island Rail Road also has many stations in Queens. The Port Washington Line crosses northern Queens. There are busy stations at Woodside, Queens, Forest Hills, and Flushing. The central depot and main station for the railroad is in the neighborhood of Jamaica.
The New York Mets of the National League of Major League Baseball play in Citi Field in Queens. The U.S. Open, a famous and important tennis tournament, is played in Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows Park south of the baseball stadium.
Queens has dozens of neighborhoods and named areas. These include:
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Toller Cranston
Toller Cranston (April 20, 1949 – January 24, 2015) was a Canadian figure skater.
Cranston was born in Hamilton, Ontario. He grew up in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. He was Canadian champion six times, and, despite never coming higher than third at a world championship, he came first in the free skate four times. He was well-respected for his artistic ability, and is recognized as someone who brought a new level of artistry to men's figure skating.
He skated as a professional for many years, choreographed (designed movement patterns for) skating routines, and was a commentator (talked about events) on T.V. during skating events. Many people don't realize that Toller was also an extremely successful and talented fine art painter. He funded his career off the sale of his artworks, and continued to paint ferociously until the end of his days.
After his retirement, Cranston lived in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He was found dead at his home in San Miguel de Allende on the morning of January 24, 2015. He was 65 years old. His cause of death was later said to be a heart attack.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are an ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their nickname is the "Habs" (short for the French "Habitants", early settlers in Quebec from France). They have won the Stanley Cup championship 24 times, more than any other team.
The Canadiens (who use the French spelling of "Canadian") were formed in 1909, as part of the National Hockey Association.
They won their first Stanley Cup in 1916, with star players such as Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde and goaltender Georges Vezina. The Canadiens joined the NHL in 1917; Canadien Joe Malone won the first NHL scoring title (Art Ross Trophy). They won the Cup again in 1924, with players such as Billy Boucher. Howie Morenz was a big star in the early years of the NHL. He was a great skater. Morenz won the Hart Trophy, as the league's top player, three times. Goalie George Hainsworth played at the same time, and along with others such as Aurel Joliat, they won the Stanley Cup in 1930 and 1931.
It took 13 years before they won the Cup again. A young Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, star goalie Bill Durnan,Hector "Toe" Blake, and Elmer Lach led the Canadiens to the cup again in 1944, as well as 1946. Richard scored 50 goals in a 50-game season in 1944-45. No one did that again for 36 years. He led the NHL in goals five times.
The Canadiens became a very powerful team in the 1950s. Led by legendary center Jean Beliveau, Doug Harvey (who won seven Norris Trophies as best defence, six on Montreal), Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, Dickie Moore, Jacques Plante (who won seven Vezina Trophies for goalies), and Richard (along with his younger brother, Henri, the "Pocket Rocket"), the team won the Cup in 1953, and five times in a row, 1956 through 1960. They won again in 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969.
New players led the team in the 1970s: Guy Lafleur, Ken Dryden, Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson, and Yvon Cournoyer led them to the cup in 1971, 1973, and four times in a row, 1976 through 1979. By 1979, they had won the Stanley Cup 16 times in 27 years.
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Hockey
Hockey is a type of sport in which players try to get points by hitting an object into the other team's goal with a stick. Others believe hockey came from the French word “hoquet” which means shepherd's stick. James Creighton, an engineer who learned how to play the game of hockey while living in Nova Scotia, is credited for bringing the game to a new level. He taught his friends at McGill University in Montreal how to play the game. There are three main ways that hockey is played.
Evidence exists that shows ancient Aztecs, Greeks and Romans played similar forms of the game. The modern game of field hockey came to fruition in the mid-19th century in Great Britain. The British army brought the game to its colonies, and the first international competition took place in 1895.
Tyresta National Park
Tyresta National Park is a small national park in Sweden. It only has about 50 square kilometers (or 19 square miles) of land. It is located near the capital city of Stockholm. A large fire burned almost 10 percent of the park in 1999, but the animals and plants have come back and are now doing fine.
St. Basil's Cathedral
St. Basil's Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Intercession, is a very famous cathedral in Moscow, Russia. It was commissioned by Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible), for Saint Basil the Blessed. It is in the area called Red Square. It was built in 1555-1561.
The cathedral is very magnificent. It has 8 distinctive onion-shaped towers. The building itself is made up of separate chapels. There is a ninth spire in the middle, forming an eight-point star. The Cathedral should not be mistaken for the Moscow Kremlin.
The cathedral has escaped destruction many times. Napoleon Bonaparte decided to take it to Paris, but such an undertaking would have been impossible. Instead, he ordered it to be demolished. Explosives were lit, but torrential rain suddenly started, extinguishing the fuses.
Joseph Stalin also ordered it to be destroyed, since it interfered with parades. Pyotr Baranovsky, who was the architect in charge, objected and was sent to the GULAG but the demolition was cancelled. The city of Moscow also caught fire numerous times, and the cathedral wasn't spared. Even so, it still stands to this very day.
Newport, Wales
Newport is a city in the southeast of Wales, Great Britain. It is in the county of Monmouthshire, and in the historic Welsh kingdom of Gwent. Its name in Welsh is Casnewydd. It is the third biggest city in Wales. Newport became a city in 2002. About 140,000 people live in Newport.
A few years ago, Newport had lots of people working in the steel factory and other heavy industries. This has changed, now many people work in electronics, such as making computers, phones and microchips.
Monmouthshire