Safety First: Is Glendale Safe?

There are a lot of Glendale’s in the U.S. Some might have a Glenn living there. Some might have a Dale living there. Some might have both a Glenn and a Dale amongst their ranks. Who knows? The internet, probably. 

There are cities named Glendale in California, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky…the list goes on and on. Thirty-six, to be exact. Some of them are safer than others. But what about Glendale in New York City? That’s the Glendale that will be addressed here. Is it safe? Read on to find out.

About Glendale

Glendale is a relatively small community in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. In general, the neighborhood has a charming reputation. If there’s any complaint you might hear about Glendale, it is that it is too quiet and needs more trash cans. 

Glendale is appealing in many ways. One of them is the close proximity to Manhattan, the main artery of New York City. You can work in the major metropolitan area during the day and come home to a peaceful atmosphere at night.

One other minor complaint is that there is nothing interesting to do. Not true. Besides the convenience of the commute, there are plenty of tempting restaurants and bars in Glendale. 

You might even recognize parts of Glendale from films and television. It’s featured in the opening credits of ‘All In The Family’ and on hit TV shows like ‘‘NYPD Blue”. 

The real-life Glendale bar ‘Assembly Room’ was used as the location for the Steve Buscemi film ‘Trees Lounge’ and ‘Yer Man’s Irish Pub’ was the local bar on ‘King Of Queens’, when the bar was known as Cooper’s Ale House.

That sounds like a pub crawl to remember!

Glendale itself is located in the West Central area of Queens and is bordered by Forest Hills to the east, Woodhaven on the south, Ridgewood to the west and Middle Village on the north.

A Historical Perspective

Fun Fact! Glendale was built on a region called ‘Fresh Ponds’, which is ironic because it was actually quite swampy. The fresh ponds that were its namesake were filled in during the early twentieth century.

Glendale was originally part of a settlement established by Dutch India Traders in 1642 and known as Newtown. Can’t go wrong with a name as straightforward as that. 

In 1847 a law passed banning new cemeteries in Manhattan. Thus, construction of new cemeteries was moved to Glendale and the surrounding areas, which became known as the ‘Cemetery Belt’. In 1860 a prominent businessman and landowner renamed Glendale after his hometown in Ohio.

Glendale became a thriving German farming community and until World War I was a vibrant and active place, home to a bowling alley and numerous saloons and family-run businesses. Glendale even had a trolley and a multitude of beloved picnicking spots!

After the war, the focus of the neighborhood economy evolved into factories and throughout the rest of the twentieth century, Glendale served as an industrial hub. Recently, the area has matured into more of a residential community dotted with major chains and a shopping plaza. 

Demographically Speaking

The population of Glendale is around 37,000 now, an increase from the 2010 census reporting of just over 32,000. Gender is evenly split male to female. The community is almost fully half white, half hispanic at 47%/46%. Asian make up an additional 3% of the population and the rest is mixed.

Nearly two-thirds of the population are in the 18-64 adult age group, while 14% are over the retirement age of 65 and another 21% are children under 18. Glendale has a roughly forty percent foreign-born population.

The median household income is 83,000 USD a year and 18% make over 150,000 a year. Just 11% of the population make less than 25,000 per year. In fact, the poverty rate in Glendale is below the average of all of New York City as a whole.

Glendale is considered to be high-income compared to the rest of the city. 

Making Your House A Home

In Glendale, there is an almost even split between those who rent their dwellings and those who own them. Fifty-five percent of the population rent their homes while forty-five percent own theirs.

The area is labeled as an ‘urban suburban mix’. Three districts within Glendale are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are Cooper Avenue Row, Central Ave and 61st-75th Streets. They received this distinction due to the unique architectural style of using yellow Kreischer brick. Most of them are from the early twentieth century.

The average cost of buying a house in Glendale is between close to 800,000 USD*, more than double the average amount in New York. Renting will cost you between 1500 USD a month to over 2000 a month. Only twenty percent of residents say that housing is affordable in Glendale.

On the other hand, eighty percent of residents say that both the interior and exterior quality of homes are excellent. Sixty percent say there is a good variety of homes in the area.

Getting To and Fro

The Long Island Railroad Montauk Station was closed in 1998 due to low ridership, but you can still get around via the MTA New York City subway system and by bus. Fun Fact! Only two people a day were using the Montauk station at the time of closing.

The average travel time to work for a Glendale resident is forty three minutes. Most residents use public transportation to get to work, followed closely by those who drive themselves to work. 

The main subway station is Fresh Pond Road, where you can catch the M train to a more major station for connections to other parts of the five boroughs. Buses offer more options, with eight different bus lines accessible in the area. 

Politically Speaking

Glendale is served by Community Board 5, which also serves Ridgewood and Middle Village, which is why many of the stats apply to all of the three districts grouped together. We’ve done our best to collect Glendale specific statistics from across the web for this article.

Community Board 5 is populated by members and committees. The members of the board are all volunteers appointed by the Queens Borough president and each must serve on at least two committees.

Committees include Education, Environmental Services, Library Services and Parks and Recreation.

Glendale falls in the 6th Congressional District and is represented by a Democrat, Grace Meng, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Meng is the first and only Asian-American representative from New York. Before entering public service, she was a public interest lawyer.

Joseph P. Addabbo jr. represents Glendale in the U.S. Senate. He is a lifelong resident of Queens. Residents tend to be liberal in Glendale. 

Glendale Schools

31% of residents in Glendale are identified as families with children. 38% of residents polled say that the one word they would use to describe the neighborhood is family-oriented, the largest percentage in the poll question. In second place at 25% was ‘friendly’. That’s good too. 

Glendale always had a good reputation for parks, many of them known for their beloved picnicking spots, as previously mentioned. Besides the parks, there are playgrounds and Little League fields. 

There are a number of highly rated schools in the area, including P.S. 68 Cambridge. Other top-rated schools in the area include Garden School, Kew Forest School, Bronx High School Of Science and Stuyvesant High School. 

If your kids still read, and you should encourage them to, there is also a public library branch and a library annex in The Atlas Shopping Plaza. Consumers, beware!

Like Parents, Like Kids 

In general, adult residents of Glendale are well-educated. Over 80% have high school diplomas and almost a third possess a bachelor’s degree or higher.

In addition, elementary school absenteeism in Glendale is less than that of the city as a whole. Kids are off to a great start in Glendale!

But Is Glendale Safe? 

Great for your kids to receive a great education and for the accessibility to Manhattan and the other boroughs, but what good is any of that if you’re not living in a safe environment? 

Crime is generally low in Glendale and crime rates are 25% lower than New York City as a whole. Total crime is lower than the national average. 

Statistic	Glendale/100k People	New York/100k People	New York/100k People	National/100k People
Total crime	1,596 (estimate)	2,136	1,775	2,346
Murder	n/a	5.6	4.2	6.5
Rape	n/a	27.1	28.3	38.4
Robbery	n/a	158.8	90.6	73.9
Assault	n/a	386.2	240.7	279.7
Violent crime	333 (estimate)	578	364	388
Burglary	n/a	167.5	165.5	314.2
Theft	n/a	1,279.4	1,143.6	1,398.0
Vehicle theft	n/a	111.5	101.7	246.0
Property crime	1,263 (estimate)	1,559	1,411	1,958

Nearly 80% of residents in a recent poll reported that the streets are well-lit and 75% percent say they would walk alone at night. In another poll, 67% of residents rate safety as excellent with virtually no crime in the area. 

Glendale is patrolled by the 104th Precinct of the New York Police Department. The precinct offers interaction with neighborhood coordination officers on their web page. According to their compstat figures, crime is mostly down across all categories, with the exception of robberies, which showed a slight uptick. 

The chances of being a victim of a violent crime in Glendale is 1 in 300 and the chances of being a victim of crime in general is 1 in 63. 

Hearing From The Residents

Residents mostly have good things to say about the neighborhood. Their major complaints are mostly about parking. Their prime piece of advice for new neighbors is to buy a spot in the car park or park your car early. 

Glendale seems to be mostly well-regarded for its family friendly atmosphere, friendly neighbors and sense of community. Residents call Glendale a clean, quiet neighborhood and a hidden gem. 

One last Fun Fact! Houdini is buried in one of the Glendale cemeteries. Go bring the magic back to your life in Glendale!

*Please Note: Some statistics may be from groupings with surrounding areas.