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102-650: The Flushing River , also known as Flushing Creek , is a waterway that flows northward through the borough of Queens in New York City , mostly within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park , emptying into the Flushing Bay and the East River . The river runs through a valley that may have been a larger riverbed before the last Ice Age , and it divides Queens into western and eastern halves. Until

204-737: A 1989 ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court ), the borough presidents have minimal executive powers, and there is no legislative function within a borough. Executive functions in New York City are the responsibility of the Mayor of New York City , while legislative functions reside with the New York City Council . The borough presidents primarily act as spokesmen, advocates, and ceremonial leaders for their boroughs, have budgets from which they can allocate relatively modest sums of money to community organizations and projects, and appoint

306-469: A referendum in 1894 (towns of Westchester , Williamsbridge , and the southern portion of Eastchester ). Ultimately in 1914, the present-day separate Bronx County became the most recent county to be created in the State of New York. The borough of Queens consists of what formerly was only the western part of a then-larger Queens County. In 1899, the three eastern towns of Queens County that had not joined

408-454: A drainage basin, and there are different ways to interpret that data. In the unlikely event that the gauges are many and evenly distributed over an area of uniform precipitation, using the arithmetic mean method will give good results. In the Thiessen polygon method, the drainage basin is divided into polygons with the rain gauge in the middle of each polygon assumed to be representative for

510-540: A drainage boundary is referred to as watershed delineation . Finding the area and extent of a drainage basin is an important step in many areas of science and engineering. Most of the water that discharges from the basin outlet originated as precipitation falling on the basin. A portion of the water that enters the groundwater system beneath the drainage basin may flow towards the outlet of another drainage basin because groundwater flow directions do not always match those of their overlying drainage network. Measurement of

612-522: A fleet of over a dozen 14.5-foot (4.4 m) sloop-rigged sailboats, used for teaching, racing, and recreation by the club's members. Bicycling paths extend around Meadow Lake and connect to the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway . For the 1939 fair, Meadow Lake was temporarily renamed "Fountain Lake" and "Liberty Lake". During the fairs, the land on the north shore and part of the eastern shore of the lake

714-683: A house near Horse Brook (now the site of the Long Island Expressway) on the creek's western bank. The earliest fixed crossing of the Flushing Creek was the Northern Boulevard bridge, built in 1801 and rebuilt six times through 1980. Prior to the bridge's construction, a ferry had carried passengers between the two banks of the creek. In the 1850s, the New York and Flushing Railroad built a railroad line across

816-549: A nature trail around Willow Lake, was reopened in 2013 and is part of the Willow Lake Preserve. During at least three glacial periods , including the Wisconsin glaciation around 20,000 years ago, ice sheets advanced south across North America carving moraines , valleys, and hills. In particular, bays and estuaries were formed along the north shore of Long Island . During glaciation, the meadows surrounding

918-567: A navigable stream in the future. With the 1939 New York World's Fair, the creek was dammed to the south, and the Roosevelt Avenue bridge ceased to be a usable drawbridge. When the Van Wyck Expressway was being built in the early 1960s, it went directly under the Roosevelt Avenue bridge. The LIRR's former Whitestone Branch was carried by a single-tracked wooden trestle north of the Roosevelt Avenue bridge, which contained

1020-426: A point where surface water is lost underground . Drainage basins are similar but not identical to hydrologic units , which are drainage areas delineated so as to nest into a multi-level hierarchical drainage system . Hydrologic units are defined to allow multiple inlets, outlets, or sinks. In a strict sense, all drainage basins are hydrologic units but not all hydrologic units are drainage basins. About 48.71% of

1122-540: A small drawbridge span. When the branch was abandoned in 1932, the trestle was torn down. The Northern Boulevard crossing, also called the "Flushing Bridge", is located north of the Roosevelt Avenue bridge and the former Whitestone Branch trestle. Several bridges have existed at the site, the first of which was built c. 1800–1801, making it the oldest crossing of the Flushing River. Five additional drawbridges were built at this location. A replacement drawbridge

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1224-614: A spur leading to Flushing Bay just southwest of the Flushing River delta. All lines were acquired by the Long Island Rail Road, and most were later abandoned, except for the former NY&F main line, which became the LIRR's Port Washington Branch. In the early 20th century, the northern part of the Flushing River was home to a regatta club, the Wahnetah Boat Club. Its clubhouse was located on its right bank near

1326-501: A tidal marsh, with Flushing Creek receiving south-flowing waters from the tides of Flushing Bay. The northernmost portion of the river, near its mouth, is still a saltwater wetland area. The wetlands consist of invasive phragmites , a genus of wild grasses, as well as cordgrass . However, the addition of fill on the riverfront has raised the wetland habitat to about the same elevation as the upland habitats, thus endangering wetland plant species that cannot grow at such elevations. North of

1428-484: Is Kings County, Manhattan is New York County, Queens is Queens County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. All five boroughs of New York came into existence with the creation of modern New York City in 1898, when New York County (then including the Bronx), Kings County, Richmond County, and part of Queens County were consolidated within one municipal government under a new city charter . All former municipalities within

1530-694: Is a left-bank tributary of the Flushing River, which begins to the west in Elmhurst . The creek then ran close to the path of what is now the Long Island Expressway. Horse Brook was gradually covered in phases through the 20th century. It is now entirely buried, but its path can be traced by the existence of large superblocks , such as those that contain Queens Center Mall , Rego Center 's extension, Newtown High School 's athletic field, and LeFrak City . The Jewel Avenue crossing,

1632-481: Is along the Brooklyn–Queens border. All five boroughs were created in 1898 during consolidation, when the city's modern boundaries were established. The Bronx originally included parts of New York County outside of Manhattan that had previously been ceded by neighboring Westchester County in two stages; in 1874 ( southern Yonkers , and the towns of Kingsbridge , West Farms , and Morrisania ) and then following

1734-419: Is named for the many species of willow plants which inhabit the area. Phragmites are also abundant, but attempts to kill the phragmites with pesticides have led to further fish kill. Numerous berry-producing trees and shrubs near Willow Lake attract several migratory bird species. The biodiversity of the lakes has been found to be much lower than other water bodies of comparable size. Recreational uses on

1836-691: Is now Pomonok /Kew Gardens Hills. The creek is now largely buried, running through Kissena Park , Kissena Corridor Park , and Queens Botanical Garden . It empties into the Flushing Bay Combined Sewer Outfall Retention Facility, which lies on the right bank of the Flushing River, below the Al Oerter Recreation Center. The facility, completed in 2007, can hold up to 43.4 million US gallons (164,000,000 L) of water from combined sewer overflows during storms, before pumping

1938-487: Is referred to as " watershed management ". In Brazil , the National Policy of Water Resources, regulated by Act n° 9.433 of 1997, establishes the drainage basin as the territorial division of Brazilian water management. When a river basin crosses at least one political border, either a border within a nation or an international boundary, it is identified as a transboundary river . Management of such basins becomes

2040-642: Is represented by a borough president . Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island each have a Borough Hall with limited administrative functions. The Manhattan Borough President's office is situated in the Manhattan Municipal Building . The Bronx Borough President's office used to be in its own Bronx Borough Hall but has been in the Bronx County Courthouse for decades. Since the abolition of the Board of Estimate in 1990 (due to

2142-614: Is the Dead Sea . Drainage basins have been historically important for determining territorial boundaries, particularly in regions where trade by water has been important. For example, the English crown gave the Hudson's Bay Company a monopoly on the fur trade in the entire Hudson Bay basin, an area called Rupert's Land . Bioregional political organization today includes agreements of states (e.g., international treaties and, within

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2244-404: Is used only in its original sense, that of the drainage divide line. A drainage basin's boundaries are determined by watershed delineation , a common task in environmental engineering and science. In a closed drainage basin, or endorheic basin , rather than flowing to the ocean, water converges toward the interior of the basin, known as a sink , which may be a permanent lake, a dry lake , or

2346-490: The 1939 New York World's Fair , the southern portion of the river was expanded into the Meadow and Willow Lakes. A part of the Flushing River was buried prior to the 1964 New York World's Fair . Following accumulations of pollution in the 20th century, cleanup of the Flushing River started in the 1970s, though some portions of the river have yet to be restored. The modern-day river is 4 miles (6.4 km) long, originating near

2448-713: The African Great Lakes , the interiors of Australia and the Arabian Peninsula , and parts in Mexico and the Andes . Some of these, such as the Great Basin, are not single drainage basins but collections of separate, adjacent closed basins. In endorheic bodies of water where evaporation is the primary means of water loss, the water is typically more saline than the oceans. An extreme example of this

2550-828: The Continental Divide , northern Alaska and parts of North Dakota , South Dakota , Minnesota , and Montana in the United States, the north shore of the Scandinavian peninsula in Europe, central and northern Russia, and parts of Kazakhstan and Mongolia in Asia , which totals to about 17% of the world's land. Just over 13% of the land in the world drains to the Pacific Ocean . Its basin includes much of China, eastern and southeastern Russia, Japan,

2652-635: The George Washington Bridge , has also been called the sixth borough. Yonkers , in Westchester County, is often referred to as the sixth borough as well. Drainage basin Other terms for a drainage basin are catchment area , catchment basin , drainage area , river basin , water basin , and impluvium . In North America, they are commonly called a watershed , though in other English-speaking places, "watershed"

2754-773: The Jamaica Yard in Kew Gardens Hills . The river flows through Willow and Meadow Lakes before entering a tunnel north of the Long Island Expressway . The Flushing River runs for 2,000 feet (610 m) underground before resurfacing at the Tidal Gate Bridge at the northern end of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The rest of the river separates the industrial portions of the Willets Point and Flushing neighborhoods before emptying into

2856-714: The Korean Peninsula , most of Indochina, Indonesia and Malaysia, the Philippines, all of the Pacific Islands , the northeast coast of Australia , and Canada and the United States west of the Continental Divide (including most of Alaska), as well as western Central America and South America west of the Andes. The Indian Ocean 's drainage basin also comprises about 13% of Earth's land. It drains

2958-564: The Long Island Rail Road 's Port Washington Branch trestle, at the north end of the Flushing Meadows Golf Center. The dam only permits northward flows toward Flushing Bay to pass, while blocking south-flowing waters. As its name implies, the dam also acts as a bridge, carrying pedestrian and vehicular traffic over the creek. It measures 37 feet (11 m) wide and 370 feet (110 m) long. In 2024,

3060-477: The New York metropolitan area as well as in other states, U.S. territories , and foreign countries. In 2011, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg referred to the city's waterfront and waterways as a composite sixth borough during presentations of planned rehabilitation projects along the city's shoreline , including Governor's Island in the Upper New York Bay . The Hudson Waterfront , in

3162-691: The U.S. state of New Jersey , lies opposite Manhattan on the Hudson River , and during the Dutch colonial era , it was under the jurisdiction of New Amsterdam and known as Bergen . Jersey City and Hoboken , in New Jersey's Hudson County , are sometimes referred to as the sixth borough, given their proximity and connections by rapid transit PATH trains to the city. Fort Lee , in Bergen County , opposite Upper Manhattan and connected by

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3264-420: The 20th century, the Flushing Creek was fed by three tributaries: Mill Creek and Kissena Creek on the eastern bank, and Horse Brook on the western bank. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it divided the towns of Flushing on its right bank, to the east, and Newtown (now part of Corona ) on its left bank, to the west. Several bridges were built across the Flushing River in the 19th and 20th centuries. Prior to

3366-540: The Borough of the Bronx, though still part of New York County. In 1914, Bronx County was split off from New York County so that each borough was then coterminous with a county. When the western part of Queens County was consolidated with New York City in 1898, that area became the Borough of Queens. In 1899, the remaining eastern section of Queens County was split off to form Nassau County on Long Island , thereafter making

3468-545: The Canarsee and Rockaway Lenape groups, which inhabited coastal wetlands across Queens and Brooklyn. The town of Flushing was settled in 1645 under charter of the Dutch West India Company . Both the town and the creek were thus named after the port of Vlissingen , in the southwestern Netherlands. The first European settler to move to the vicinity of Flushing Creek was Robert Coe, an Englishman who built

3570-567: The Flushing Bay's cleanup. The tank was to be located in the park next to the Flushing River, some 70 feet (21 m) underground. The Flushing Bay CSO Retention Facility, also called the Flushing Creek CSO Plant, was completed by 2007. The Al Oerter Recreation Center, located above the facility, opened two years later. Additionally, the northern part of the river (near the mouth) was restored as wetlands in 2008 as part of

3672-650: The Flushing Bay. The 4-mile-long (6.4 km) Flushing Creek once rose in the present-day neighborhood of Kew Gardens Hills , where Vleigh Place (old Dutch for Valley) traces the valley of the headwaters. The river's original source is now occupied by the Kew Gardens Interchange , while the reconstructed source is located near Jamaica Yard , emptying from a pipe there. The headwaters, fed by groundwater , empty north into Willow Lake and then Meadow Lake, two artificial freshwater lakes, which are respectively 40 and 100 acres (16 and 40 ha) and comprise

3774-465: The Flushing River and Bay to their natural conditions and extend Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to the river banks. Both men argued that if these conditions were corrected and made, all of New York City would benefit from it. Furthermore, under the intervention and proposal of both Morton Povman and Peter Vallone , a group of high city officials agreed to begin immediate work on the long-term task of cleaning up this waterway. The late Abe Wolfson , founder of

3876-400: The Flushing River are limited mostly to its southern portion, since its northern portion is heavily industrial, and the central portion is not navigable. The land around Meadow Lake contains open grass, picnic and grilling areas, and baseball and cricket fields as part of Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Meadow Lake contains a boat house, one of two structures that remain from the 1939 World's Fair,

3978-514: The Flushing River became navigable only north of Roosevelt Avenue. At its southern end, the Jamaica subway yard reduced some of the flow coming from the headwaters. The central portion of the Flushing River was repurposed as part of the World's Fair's Court of States. In 1961, in advance of the 1964 New York World's Fair, the creek's middle section was diverted underground. Flowing out of Meadow Lake,

4080-584: The Flushing River runs for about 2,500 feet (760 m) underneath the ramps between the Van Wyck Expressway (Interstate 678) and Long Island Expressway (Interstate 495) . The river then feeds into the Pool of Industry and Fountain of the Planets, built during the 1964 New York World's Fair , running for about 2,000 feet (610 m) under the fountains. Afterward, the Flushing River re-emerges from

4182-489: The Flushing River valley was used by the Hudson River to drain southward into the Atlantic Ocean . Through the 19th century, wetlands continued to straddle Flushing River. Species inhabiting the site included waterfowl and fiddler crab , with fish using water pools for spawning. The area was first settled by Algonquian Native Americans of Long Island (referred to erroneously as " Mantinecocks "). They consisted of

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4284-400: The Flushing River was diverted into underground culverts . The Tidal Gate Bridge was built at the park's northern end to prevent tidal flow from flooding the lakes. In addition to recreation, the lakes would serve as repositories for excess storm runoff. By then, Horse Brook had already been covered over, while Kissena Creek was in the process of being covered over. Dammed and reduced in size,

4386-402: The Flushing River were formed just north of the terminal moraine that runs across Long Island, which consisted of sand, gravel, clay and boulders. The moraine created a drainage divide , with rivers north of the moraine such as the future Flushing River emptying into the north shore. The Flushing Meadows site became a glacial lake, and then a salt marsh after the ice melted. Prior to glaciation,

4488-537: The LIRR embankment, the left-bank wetland on the Flushing River contains plants such as common reed, field horsetail , chicory , common plantain , and native marsh elder and cordgrass. The birds observed on the northern portion of the river include both waterfowl and wading egrets . Although Willow and Meadow Lakes were built as freshwater lakes and dammed to mitigate tidal effects, flooding continues to affect Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The lakes are also highly eutrophic , due to nutrients such as phosphorus from

4590-482: The New York City government began replacing the bridge for $ 41 million. The LIRR trestle, located directly to the north of Tide Gate Bridge, contains a small opening for water to pass through. It was built in the late 1930s and early 1940s as an embankment. Slightly downstream, to the north, the Roosevelt Avenue bridge is a double-deck viaduct completed in 1927. It was originally built as a drawbridge, and

4692-532: The New York state government approved a $ 9.5 million project to widen part of Whitestone Parkway from Northern Boulevard to the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, including constructing a new Flushing River bridge. The new bridge opened in 1963 and included a modernization of the existing draw span. The current fixed span was built in 2008. Prior to human development, Flushing Meadows was originally

4794-465: The Northern Boulevard (formerly Jackson Avenue) bridge. The club was founded in 1900, replacing the disbanded Nereus Boat Club, and in 1905 was described as one of the first such clubs on the East Coast . By 1917, the boat club appeared to have been repurposed as a veterans' association. Around 1907, contractor Michael Degnon purchased large tracts of marsh near Flushing Creek. At the time, the land

4896-732: The Queens Historical Society, became active in the fight to restore the river to its original condition. The cleanup involved dredging and rebuilding manholes in the Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park sewer systems, which hid the underground Kissena Creek, as well as cleaning up part of the Queens Boulevard sewer system. In the late 1980s, there were disputes over whether to build a sewage treatment plant in Flushing Meadows Park as part of

4998-623: The US, interstate compacts ) or other political entities in a particular drainage basin to manage the body or bodies of water into which it drains. Examples of such interstate compacts are the Great Lakes Commission and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency . In hydrology , the drainage basin is a logical unit of focus for studying the movement of water within the hydrological cycle . The process of finding

5100-406: The basin, it can form tributaries that change the structure of the land. There are three different main types, which are affected by the rocks and ground underneath. Rock that is quick to erode forms dendritic patterns, and these are seen most often. The two other types of patterns that form are trellis patterns and rectangular patterns. Rain gauge data is used to measure total precipitation over

5202-524: The borough and county of Queens coextensive with each other. The term borough was adopted in 1898 to describe a form of governmental administration for each of the five fundamental constituent parts of the newly consolidated city . Under the 1898 City Charter adopted by the New York State Legislature, a borough is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with populated areas within it. The limited powers of

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5304-570: The boroughs are inferior to the authority of the government of New York City , contrasting significantly with the powers of boroughs as that term is used in Connecticut , New Jersey , and Pennsylvania , where a borough is an independent level of government, as well as with borough forms used in other states and in Greater London . New York City is often referred to collectively as the five boroughs , which can unambiguously refer to

5406-400: The channel through Flushing Bay into Flushing River. The next year, surveys were made for the construction of a 5.4-mile (8.7 km) canal to connect Flushing River and Newtown Creek , plans for which dated back at least a century. To create the port, Degnon proceeded to fill the Flushing River wetlands using household coal refuse ashes and street sweepings from Brooklyn. The northern end of

5508-466: The city proper as a whole, avoiding confusion with any particular borough or with the Greater New York metropolitan area . The term is also used by politicians to counter a frequent focus on Manhattan and thereby to place all five boroughs on equal footing. In the same vein, the term outer boroughs refers to all of the boroughs excluding Manhattan, even though the geographic center of the city

5610-557: The city proposed to rezone the plot bounded by the Flushing River, College Point Boulevard, and the LIRR Port Washington Branch on the right bank of the river. Along this stretch of the river, the most prominent building was the former Serval Zipper Factory, which was later used as a U-Haul storage center. While much of this area remained underdeveloped through the 2010s, the Sky View Parc apartment complex

5712-440: The city the year before—the towns of Hempstead , North Hempstead , and Oyster Bay —formally seceded from Queens County to form the new Nassau County . The borough of Staten Island, coextensive with Richmond County, was officially the borough of Richmond until the name was changed in 1975 to reflect its common appellation, while leaving the name of the county unchanged. There are hundreds of distinct neighborhoods throughout

5814-403: The city, including a Flushing River Park. Five years later, Flushing Meadows was selected as the site for the 1939 World's Fair . Work on the World's Fair site began the next year. The project primarily involved leveling the ash mounds, with the leftover material used to fill other areas of the meadow. Two parts of the river were excavated to create Meadow and Willow Lake, while much of the rest of

5916-555: The city. In some document collections the boroughs used to be designated with a one-letter abbreviation: K for Brooklyn, M for Manhattan, Q for Queens, R for Staten Island (Richmond County), and X for the Bronx. The term "sixth borough" is used to describe any of a number of places that have been metaphorically called a part of New York City because of their geographic location, demographics (they include large numbers of former New Yorkers), special affiliation, or cosmopolitan character. They have included adjacent cities and counties in

6018-415: The confluence of Horse Brook and Flushing Creek, extended Corona Avenue on its zigzag route toward Flushing. For most of the 19th century it was a narrow bridge, 18 feet (5.5 m) wide. By the 1890s, there were plans to replace Strong's Causeway because it sank every year, though taxpayers protested against the proposal. In February 1896, the causeway collapsed into the Flushing Creek. A new bridge opened at

6120-519: The counties are considered to be arms of the state government), rather than officials of the city government, they are not subject to the term limitations that govern other New York City officials such as the mayor, the New York City Public Advocate , members of the city council, or the borough presidents. Some civil court judges also are elected on a borough-wide basis, although they generally are eligible to serve throughout

6222-436: The creek then flowed north. The northern branch, which still exists in truncated form, originated at the site of the George U. Harvey Playground, near the intersection of 20th Avenue and the Whitestone Expressway in Whitestone , and flowed south through the present sites of College Point Fields , Flushing Airport , and College Point Corporate Park. The two branches merged at Linden Place and 28th Avenue. Following development of

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6324-424: The creek was reduced to a canal beneath the Van Wyck Expressway , narrowing into pipes going into the Fountain of the Planets, a circular pool used for fountain displays. From there, the pipes took the water toward the tidal bridge, reemerging as a creek. The Flushing River was once a clear waterway, but during the 1920s, the river was polluted by various industrial wastes, especially along its northern section. Over

6426-430: The discharge of water from a basin may be made by a stream gauge located at the basin's outlet. Depending on the conditions of the drainage basin, as rainfall occurs some of it seeps directly into the ground. This water will either remain underground, slowly making its way downhill and eventually reaching the basin, or it will permeate deeper into the soil and consolidate into groundwater aquifers. As water flows through

6528-441: The drainage area is dependent on the soil type. Certain soil types such as sandy soils are very free-draining, and rainfall on sandy soil is likely to be absorbed by the ground. However, soils containing clay can be almost impermeable and therefore rainfall on clay soils will run off and contribute to flood volumes. After prolonged rainfall even free-draining soils can become saturated , meaning that any further rainfall will reach

6630-642: The drainage basin to the mouth, and may accumulate there, disturbing the natural mineral balance. This can cause eutrophication where plant growth is accelerated by the additional material. Because drainage basins are coherent entities in a hydrological sense, it has become common to manage water resources on the basis of individual basins. In the U.S. state of Minnesota , governmental entities that perform this function are called " watershed districts ". In New Zealand, they are called catchment boards. Comparable community groups based in Ontario, Canada, are called conservation authorities . In North America, this function

6732-432: The eastern coast of Africa, the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf , the Indian subcontinent , Burma, and most parts of Australia . The five largest river basins (by area), from largest to smallest, are those of the Amazon (7 million km ), the Congo (4 million km ), the Nile (3.4 million km ), the Mississippi (3.22 million km ), and the Río de la Plata (3.17 million km ). The three rivers that drain

6834-424: The five boroughs of New York City, many with a definable history and character to call their own. Since 1914, each of New York City's five boroughs has been coextensive with a county of New York State – unlike most U.S. cities , which lie within a single county or extend partially into another county, constitute a county in themselves, or are completely separate and independent of any county. Each borough

6936-543: The former marshland seeping into the water, leading to the death of fish in the lakes. The regular tidal action that would filter the lakes is prevented by the dam. In addition, the lakes are subject to pollution and storm runoff from the nearby highways, via pipes which feed into the lakes. Several fish species native to marine habitats regularly swim into Meadow and Willow Lakes. Fish species native to Meadow Lake include American eel , largemouth bass , northern snakehead (an invasive species), and white mullet . Willow Lake

7038-412: The greatest portion of western Sub-Saharan Africa , as well as Western Sahara and part of Morocco . The two major mediterranean seas of the world also flow to the Atlantic. The Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico basin includes most of the U.S. interior between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains , a small part of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan , eastern Central America ,

7140-435: The ground and along rivers it can pick up nutrients , sediment , and pollutants . With the water, they are transported towards the outlet of the basin, and can affect the ecological processes along the way as well as in the receiving water body . Modern use of artificial fertilizers , containing nitrogen (as nitrates ), phosphorus , and potassium , has affected the mouths of drainage basins. The minerals are carried by

7242-422: The ground at its terminus, the area can go by several names, such playa, salt flat, dry lake , or alkali sink . The largest endorheic basins are in Central Asia , including the Caspian Sea , the Aral Sea , and numerous smaller lakes. Other endorheic regions include the Great Basin in the United States, much of the Sahara Desert , the drainage basin of the Okavango River ( Kalahari Basin ), highlands near

7344-506: The ground, where it partially divides a 19-acre (7.7 ha) plot of land occupied by the park’s pitch and putt golf course. It then flows underneath the Tide Gate Bridge, where the fresh water river mixes with the saltwater from Flushing Bay. The channel widens, running between Willets Point to the west and Flushing to the east, finally emptying into Flushing Bay. The northernmost portion of the creek mostly contains bulkheads on

7446-639: The islands of the Caribbean and the Gulf, and a small part of northern South America. The Mediterranean Sea basin, with the Black Sea , includes much of North Africa , east-central Africa (through the Nile River ), Southern , Central, and Eastern Europe , Turkey , and the coastal areas of Israel , Lebanon , and Syria . The Arctic Ocean drains most of Western Canada and Northern Canada east of

7548-405: The media, they are technically and legally the district attorneys of New York County and Kings County, respectively. The same goes for Staten Island. There is no such distinction made for the district attorneys of the other two counties, Queens and the Bronx, since these boroughs share the respective counties' names. Because the five district attorneys are, technically speaking, state officials (since

7650-522: The members of the 59 largely advisory community boards in the city's various neighborhoods. The Brooklyn and Queens borough presidents also appoint trustees to the local public library systems in those boroughs. Being coextensive with an individual county, each borough also elects a district attorney , as does every other county of New York State. While the district attorneys of Manhattan and Brooklyn are popularly referred to as "Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. ", or "Brooklyn D.A. Kenneth P. Thompson " by

7752-514: The most water, from most to least, are the Amazon, Ganges , and Congo rivers. Endorheic basin are inland basins that do not drain to an ocean. Endorheic basins cover around 18% of the Earth's land. Some endorheic basins drain to an Endorheic lake or Inland sea . Many of these lakes are ephemeral or vary dramatically in size depending on climate and inflow. If water evaporates or infiltrates into

7854-415: The newly consolidated city were dissolved. New York City was originally confined to Manhattan Island and the smaller surrounding islands that formed New York County. As the city grew northward, it began annexing areas on the mainland, absorbing territory from Westchester County into New York County in 1874 ( West Bronx ) and 1895 ( East Bronx ). During the 1898 consolidation, this territory was organized as

7956-576: The other being the Queens Museum . Rental boats are available at the boathouse for rowing and paddleboating, and Meadow Lake is also the site of rowing activities for non-profit Row New York , with teams practicing on the lake for much of the year. Meadow Lake also hosts the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival in New York , and teams from New York practice in Meadow Lake during the summer months. The American Small Craft Association also houses

8058-418: The rainfall on the area of land included in its polygon. These polygons are made by drawing lines between gauges, then making perpendicular bisectors of those lines form the polygons. The isohyetal method involves contours of equal precipitation are drawn over the gauges on a map. Calculating the area between these curves and adding up the volume of water is time-consuming. Isochrone maps can be used to show

8160-587: The reconstruction of the Whitestone Expressway bridge over the river. Plans to combine Meadow and Willow Lakes were proposed in 2005 as part of the failed New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics . Following the failure of the bid, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection sought a scaled-back restoration plan for the lakes. In Flushing, the right (east) bank of the Flushing River remains unrestored. In 1993,

8262-631: The responsibility of the countries sharing it. Nile Basin Initiative , OMVS for Senegal River , Mekong River Commission are a few examples of arrangements involving management of shared river basins. Management of shared drainage basins is also seen as a way to build lasting peaceful relationships among countries. The catchment is the most significant factor determining the amount or likelihood of flooding . Catchment factors are: topography , shape, size, soil type, and land use (paved or roofed areas). Catchment topography and shape determine

8364-648: The river leading to what was then a railroad terminal on the east side of the river in Flushing. The railroad was acquired by the Flushing and North Side Railroad in 1868, and built junctions with the Flushing and Woodside Railroad , the Whitestone and Westchester Railroad , and the Central Railroad of Long Island on the west side of the river throughout the 1870s. The Flushing and North Side also built

8466-461: The river rather than being absorbed by the ground. If the surface is impermeable the precipitation will create surface run-off which will lead to higher risk of flooding; if the ground is permeable, the precipitation will infiltrate the soil. Land use can contribute to the volume of water reaching the river, in a similar way to clay soils. For example, rainfall on roofs, pavements , and roads will be collected by rivers with almost no absorption into

8568-429: The river still regularly overflows into surrounding areas, especially during heavy rain. Meadow Lake, which also overflows during rains, collects sewage from several surrounding neighborhoods. The raw sewage collected in the Flushing River has contributed to the heavy pollution in Flushing Bay. Kissena Creek , known historically as Ireland Mill Creek, is a right-bank tributary of the Flushing River, which begins in what

8670-448: The shoreline, with industrial uses on the eastern bank and marshes on the western bank. The total distance between Meadow Lake's outlet and the river's mouth is about 7,000 feet (2,100 m). The watershed of the Flushing River is primarily residential, though there are also significant recreational and open spaces, with industrial usages near the mouth of the river. Even though the Flushing River now largely follows an artificial route,

8772-418: The site on September 2 of that year. The causeway was replaced in 1937 by a bridge carrying the then-newly built Horace Harding Boulevard, and was rebuilt into the present Long Island Expressway in the late 1950s. Meadow and Willow Lakes and the freshwater section of the Flushing River are separated from Flushing Bay by a flood gate or dam called the "Porpoise Bridge" or "Tide Gate Bridge", located just south of

8874-609: The site was filled via dredging. The filling for the north meadow was complete in 1916, but the prospect of creating a port was halted in 1917 by material restrictions caused by World War I , and a lack of federal support for the project. Dumping of ash into the meadows continued, however, fueled by the increased use of garbage incinerators in the city. The pollution was chronicled by F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby . In 1930, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses released plans for numerous parks and highways in

8976-466: The southern half of present-day Flushing Meadows–Corona Park . Prior to the lakes' construction, the creek meandered through tidal marshes in the larger valley within the present-day park; its mouth was at Flushing Bay , a 6,200-acre (2,500 ha) water body on the East River. The two lakes are connected via a narrow channel under Jewel Avenue. After following a channel north from Meadow Lake,

9078-410: The southernmost crossing of the Flushing River, was built prior to the 1939 World's Fair. It was rebuilt and expanded in 1961 to also pass over the Van Wyck Expressway. The present-day Long Island Expressway crosses the river to the north, slightly east of the site of Strong's Causeway. The causeway may have been first built in 1801, but definitely dates to at least the 1850s. This crossing, located near

9180-418: The speed with which the runoff reaches a river. A long thin catchment will take longer to drain than a circular catchment. Size will help determine the amount of water reaching the river, as the larger the catchment the greater the potential for flooding. It is also determined on the basis of length and width of the drainage basin. Soil type will help determine how much water reaches the river. The runoff from

9282-543: The surrounding area, the northern branch begins in the wetlands around Flushing Airport and runs through the former airport site. Several underground pipes, as well as man-made drainage ditches on the New York City Police Academy campus and north of 28th Avenue, carry the creek from the airport to the Flushing River. College Point was a peninsula until the mid-20th century, separated from the rest of Queens by Mill Creek's northern branch. Horse Brook

9384-415: The time taken for rain to reach the river, while catchment size, soil type, and development determine the amount of water to reach the river. Generally, topography plays a big part in how fast runoff will reach a river. Rain that falls in steep mountainous areas will reach the primary river in the drainage basin faster than flat or lightly sloping areas (e.g., > 1% gradient). Shape will contribute to

9486-477: The time taken for runoff water within a drainage basin to reach a lake, reservoir or outlet, assuming constant and uniform effective rainfall. Drainage basins are the principal hydrologic unit considered in fluvial geomorphology . A drainage basin is the source for water and sediment that moves from higher elevation through the river system to lower elevations as they reshape the channel forms. Drainage basins are important in ecology . As water flows over

9588-617: The water to the Tallman Island Waste Water Treatment Plant in College Point . Mill Creek is a right-bank tributary of the Flushing River that empties into the river just east of Flushing Bay. Mill Creek was fed by two branches. The southern branch, which has been infilled, originated at Town Pond at the modern-day intersection of Northern Boulevard and Main Street, which was filled in 1843;

9690-666: The world's land drains to the Atlantic Ocean . In North America , surface water drains to the Atlantic via the Saint Lawrence River and Great Lakes basins, the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Canadian Maritimes , and most of Newfoundland and Labrador . Nearly all of South America east of the Andes also drains to the Atlantic, as does most of Western and Central Europe and

9792-629: The years, pollution from the Willets Point industrial area, surrounding highways, and dumping made the river a health hazard. By the 1970s, Flushing River and Flushing Bay had become neglected and polluted. In 1971, a hundred Flushing residents protested in support of a cleanup of the Flushing River, and state assemblyman Leonard P. Stavisky showed federal, state, and city officials the evidence of pollution in Flushing River. The next year, Councilman Morton Povman , and Flushing Meadow Park Action Committee president Albert Mauro sought to rehabilitate

9894-534: Was completed between Roosevelt Avenue and the LIRR in 2011, and the rest of the site was proposed as the Flushing West development area in 2018. In addition, the redevelopment of the industrial Willets Point neighborhood on the left bank of the river was announced in 2007, and after several delays, was restarted in 2018. Following news of these redevelopments, an organization called the Friends of Flushing Creek

9996-777: Was considered "all but worthless", as an archaeological assessment later described the land. Degnon envisioned using the site to create a large industrial port around Flushing Bay, similar to a terminal he developed in Long Island City . By 1911, Degnon had created a plan along with the United States Department of War and the Queens Topographical Bureau. The plan envisioned widening Flushing River and creating docks for ships, with numerous factories and freight facilities. The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1913 appropriated funding for deepening

10098-469: Was created in mid-2014 to advocate for a greater cleanup of the river and bay. Boroughs of New York City The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that compose New York City . They are the Bronx , Brooklyn , Manhattan , Queens , and Staten Island . Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New York : The Bronx is Bronx County, Brooklyn

10200-471: Was erected in the mid-19th century, followed by swing bridges in 1866 and 1890, an elaborate bascule bridge in 1906, and a simpler bascule bridge in 1939. It was replaced by the current viaduct structure in 1980. The northernmost crossing of the Flushing River is that of the Whitestone Expressway. A drawbridge opened in 1939 along what was then known as the Whitestone Parkway. In December 1957,

10302-510: Was the world's largest fixed-trunnion bascule bridge at its completion, though it is no longer functional. The bridge carries Roosevelt Avenue, as well as the New York City Subway 's IRT Flushing Line ( 7 and <7> ​ trains), which were extended to Flushing–Main Street in 1928, a year after the bridge's completion. This bridge was built with the expectation that Flushing River might be converted into

10404-439: Was used as an amusement area, and for the 1964 fair, large parking lots were added on the east and west shores. The lots were removed and converted to parkland after the 1964 fair. The Willow Lake area of the park is a nature reserve called the Willow Lake Preserve. The area around Willow Lake originally also contained sports fields and park trails, until it was fenced off and turned into a preserve in 1976. The Willow Lake Trail,

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