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ARTS & culture

King Manor Museum, today the centerpiece of an 11-acre park in Jamaica, Queens, was the home and farm of Founding Father Rufus King from 1805 to 1827. Rufus King was an author of the U.S. Constitution, as well as one of New York's first United States Senators, Ambassador to Great Britain and an early, and outspoken, opponent of slavery. King Manor later became the estate of King's son, John Alsop King, who served as New York's Governor. King Manor has been a museum since 1900. 

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL) is a non-profit organization that offers visual, performing and literary arts, arts education and artist programs to encourage participation in the arts and to contribute to the cultural enrichment of Queens and the Greater Metropolitan area.

The Afrikan Poetry Theatre is a non-profit organization that provides a range of cultural, education, recreational, and social programs that celebrate African-based culture and heritage.

The Jamaica Center YMCA promotes positive values through programs that build spirit, mind and body, welcoming all people, with a focus on youth. The YMCA offers a full-service gym and special programming for children and older adults.

PARKS

King Rufus Park is an 11.5 acre park, and named after Founding Father Rufus King, whose residence is now home to the King Manor Museum, located in the center of the park. Facilities include a playground, handball courts and bathrooms.

UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES

York College is a senior college of The City University of New York (CUNY). The College offers baccalaureate degrees in the liberal arts and the sciences, as well as in a variety of professional programs such as accounting, business, computer studies, education, health, and social work, as well as a graduate program in occupational therapy. York College is located one block from Jamaica Avenue in the heart of Jamaica Center.

Founded in 1870, St. John's University is a private Catholic university that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in health, business, and education, as well as a graduate law degree program.

CHURCHES & CEMETERIES

For nearly 350 years, the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica has worshiped and served in the same community of Jamaica, Queens. Organized in 1662, the first stone church built in 1699, is said to have been used as British prison in Revolutionary times. The present church was originally built on Jamaica Avenue in 1813, and was moved to its current location by mules in 1920.

Founded in 1702, Grace Church served as the official church of the British colonial government by those who split from the Presbyterian Church. The congregation moved to its current location in 1734, and built the Gothic Revival church that stands there today in 1862. Among those buried in the adjacent graveyard is Rufus King, whose house still stands 1 block away. The church offers church services, a soup kitchen, youth programs, music & arts workshops and more.

The Tabernacle of Prayer, located at 165-11 Jamaica Avenue, was once home to the Loew's Valencia Theater. The spectacular and ornate movie theater, built in 1929, was designed in the Baroque Spanish style, with a facade constructed of terra-cotta and brick. The church is open to visitors on Sundays.