John F. Kennedy International Airport

Airport · Queens

John F. Kennedy International Airport spreads across about 5,200 acres of Queens bordering Jamaica Bay, built over marshland and the former Idlewild golf course.

  • 7.07 square miles
  • 101 street corners
  • 1 subway station
  • 12 bus routes

Construction began in the early 1940s, the Port Authority leased the site from the city in 1947, and commercial flights started on July 1, 1948. Long known as Idlewild, it was renamed for President Kennedy in December 1963. Today it is the nation's busiest airport for international travel, and its curving concrete TWA Flight Center, completed in 1962, is a designated city landmark.

Sources: John F. Kennedy International Airport (Wikipedia); Trans World Airlines Flight Center Designation Report (LP-1915, July 19, 1994) (NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission); JFK Airport Construction & Modernization: New Terminals (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey).

Map

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John F. Kennedy International Airport borders five areas, and Van Wyck Expressway holds more of its corners than any other street, 21 of 101.

Street map of John F. Kennedy International Airport, Queens, outlined among Springfield Gardens (South)-Brookville, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach-Lindenwood and Jamaica Bay (East), with its one subway station and Jamaica Bay Park.Springfield Gardens (South)-BrookvilleRosedaleHoward Beach-LindenwoodSouth Ozone Park
  • John F. Kennedy International Airport
  • A neighboring area
  • Park
  • A station in the list
  • Another station

Neighborhood areas and streets: NYC Department of City Planning. Parks: NYC Parks. Stations: MTA.

Neighboring areas

Subway stations

  • Howard Beach-JFK Airport lines A accessible

Getting around

One subway station and buses on 12 routes stop in or at the edge of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

  • 1 subway station
  • 1 listed by the MTA as fully accessible
  • 11 local bus routes
  • 1 express bus route

Local bus routes

  • B15
  • Q3
  • Q6
  • Q7
  • Q10
  • Q11
  • Q77
  • Q80
  • Q97
  • Q109
  • Q121

Express bus route

  • QM15

Safety record

Between 2021 and 2025, its corners averaged fewer police-reported crashes than the average Queens corner.

  • 5 police-reported crashes at its corners
  • 0.0 a corner, on average
  • 5.2 the average Queens corner
  • 96 corners with a clean record

Camera tickets

In 2025 the Department of Finance recorded no red-light, school-zone speed or bus-lane camera ticket at its corners.

Parks and landmarks

Parkland
21.1 acres of Jamaica Bay Park, as NYC Parks maps it within John F. Kennedy International Airport
Designated landmark
The Trans World Airlines Flight Center

Streets and trees

Trees
39 in NYC Parks' records, most often thornless honeylocust, Japanese pagoda tree and pin oak
Street with the most corners
Van Wyck Expressway, with 21 of the area's 101
Height above sea level
From 8 feet at 130th Place & 155th Avenue to 26 feet at South Cargo Road & JFK Expressway

Street corners

How the figures above are measured: Methodology.