Consider this a waterway flowing north through Queens. It’s called Flushing Creek. It flows mostly within Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Ultimately it empties into Flushing Bay and the East River.
Flushing Creek’s path divides Queens into two halves. The river flows through a valley. Experts think this valley might have been a larger riverbed before the last Ice Age.
Once upon a time, Flushing Creek had three tributaries. Mill Creek and Kissena Creek flowed from the east. Horse Brook flowed from the west.
In the 1700s and 1800s Flushing Creek divided two towns. Flushing sat to the east and Newtown to the west.
Bridges crossed Flushing Creek in the 1800s and 1900s. Before the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the southern part of the creek grew. It became Meadow and Willow Lakes. Part of Flushing Creek was even buried before the 1964 World’s Fair.
Pollution built up in the 20th century. Cleanup efforts started in the 1970s. Yet some parts of the creek still need restoration.
Today Flushing Creek is 4 miles long. Its source starts near the Jamaica Yard in Kew Gardens Hills. It runs through Willow and Meadow Lakes. Then it goes through a tunnel under the Long Island Expressway. The creek runs underground for 2000 feet. It reappears at the Tidal Gate Bridge in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The Flushing River separates Willets Point and Flushing. Then it empties into Flushing Bay.
Kissena Creek is a right-bank tributary of the Flushing River. It runs through Kissena Park, Kissena Corridor Park and Queens Botanical Garden. It empties into the Flushing Bay Combined Sewer Outfall Retention Facility. This facility holds 43.4 million gallons of water during storms. Then it pumps the water to the Tallman Island Waste Water Treatment Plant.
Mill Creek is another right-bank tributary. It empties into the river east of Flushing Bay. Horse Brook is a left-bank tributary. It begins in Elmhurst and runs close to the Long Island Expressway.
Several bridges cross the Flushing River. The Jewel Avenue crossing is the southernmost. The Long Island Expressway crosses the river to the north. Meadow and Willow Lakes are separated from Flushing Bay by the Tide Gate Bridge. The Roosevelt Avenue bridge is a double deck viaduct. The Whitestone Expressway also crosses the Flushing River. A drawbridge opened there in 1939.
Before development Flushing Meadows was a tidal marsh. The northern part of the river is still a saltwater wetland. Common reeds and cordgrass grow there. Waterfowl and egrets live there.
Willow and Meadow Lakes were built as freshwater lakes. But flooding still affects Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The lakes are also eutrophic. Nutrients from the former marshland seep into the water. This leads to fish deaths. Pollution and storm runoff from highways also affect the lakes.
American eel, largemouth bass and white mullet live in Meadow Lake. Willow Lake has many willow plants.
Recreational uses on Flushing Creek are limited. The land around Meadow Lake has grass, picnic areas and baseball fields. Meadow Lake has a boat house. You can rent boats for rowing and paddleboating. Meadow Lake hosts the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival.
The area around Willow Lake is a nature reserve. The Willow Lake Trail is part of the Willow Lake Preserve.
The town of Flushing was settled in 1645. Both the town and the creek were named after Vlissingen in the Netherlands.
In the early 1900s, the Wahnetah Boat Club was located on the creek.
Around 1907, Michael Degnon bought land near Flushing Creek. He planned to create a large industrial port. To create the port, Degnon filled the Flushing River wetlands with household coal refuse.
In 1930, Robert Moses planned a Flushing River Park. In 1935, Flushing Meadows was chosen for the 1939 World’s Fair. The project involved leveling ash mounds. Two parts of the river were excavated to create Meadow and Willow Lake. The rest of the Flushing River was diverted into underground culverts.
In 1961, the creek’s middle section was diverted underground for the 1964 World’s Fair.
In the 1970s, Flushing River and Flushing Bay became polluted. Residents protested and sought a cleanup. In the late 1980s, there were disputes over building a sewage treatment plant in Flushing Meadows Park.
The Flushing Bay CSO Retention Facility was completed by 2007. In 2008, the northern part of the river was restored as wetlands.
Today the Flushing River faces ongoing challenges. The Friends of Flushing Creek advocate for a greater cleanup of the river and bay.