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Hollis offers affordable single-family homes with a suburban feel and diverse community character. The LIRR Hollis station and bus routes provide transit options.
Hollis offers affordable single-family homes with a suburban feel and diverse community character. The LIRR Hollis station and bus routes provide transit options.
Did you know?
Run-DMC grew up in Hollis and put the neighborhood on the map with their 1984 song "It's Like That" — the group is honored with a street co-naming on 205th Street.
Who’s your neighbor?
Housing cost
$466 / sq ft
Commute
Weekday mornings · leaving 7:30–9:00
- FromHollis
- ToNear Bryant Park
Family scores
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Trade-offs
Stands out
- Affordability84/100
Lower costs than most
- Air & Child Health84/100
Cleaner air and better child-health measures
To weigh
- Schools6/100
Weaker results at the public and charter schools serving it, or fewer of them
- Family-Friendly Vibe7/100
Fewer families with children than most
- Transit28/100
Longer weekday-morning trips to the city's main job centers
Each score compares it with NYC's other residential neighborhoods.
What these scores don't measure: how a block feels on foot, what's changing on it, and whether a particular school suits your child. Walk it at school drop-off time, and check the zoned school for the exact address before you sign a lease.
Your family’s read
How does Hollis fit your family?
An agentic read of this neighborhood — including safety and cost of living — tailored to your priorities, family size, budget, and commute.
Analyze for My FamilySchools & early education
Schools7 schools
Hollis offers a solid public school lineup anchored by P.S. 134 Hollis and P.S. 035 Nathaniel Woodhull for elementary families, with I.S. 192 The Linden covering middle school grades. For high school, Pathways College Preparatory School shares the 204th Street campus with the middle school. A handful of preschools and two private options—including Helping Hand Academy II—round out the mix, though with only about 15% of households having kids, the parent pool here is relatively thin.
Browse all early-ed in this neighborhoodLiving here
Parks & Playgrounds2 places
Hollis keeps things simple with just two playgrounds serving the area. Haggerty Park offers a solid playground setup, and Hollis Playground gives residents another option for outdoor play. It's a thin selection — you won't find a major park or waterfront here — but what's there covers the basics for anyone looking to get outside. Tree canopy is decent along residential blocks, though you'd need to venture farther afield for more expansive green space.
1 playground within a 10-min walk
Nearest large park: Cunningham Park · ~25 min walk (1 mi)
Transportation39 stops
Hollis is a Queens neighborhood where the bus is your lifeline to the rest of the city. With no subway stop in the neighborhood itself, commuters lean heavily on routes along Hillside Avenue and Jamaica Avenue to reach Jamaica Center and connect to the subway. Francis Lewis Boulevard adds another north-south option. It's a neighborhood that rewards those comfortable with the bus network — the stops are frequent, but you're looking at a transfer to get anywhere near Manhattan.
Restaurants33 places
Hollis leans practical over picturesque — this is a neighborhood where you grab dinner on the way home rather than linger over it. Jamaica Avenue and Hillside Avenue host a dense lineup of fast food chains (KFC, Popeyes, Burger King) alongside a surprising number of local fried chicken spots, plus a handful of Caribbean and Chinese takeout options. There's a small deli scene for quick sandwiches, and a lone Indian-Afghan grill adds some spice variety. It's thin on sit-down dining and zero on trendy — you're not coming here for a night out, but the essentials are covered.
Groceries4 places
Weekly grocery runs in Hollis will likely require a car — the selection along Jamaica and Hollis Avenues is modest, with just a handful of independent supermarkets serving the block. You won't find any major chains here, but the local options cover the basics for a solid shop. Families used to grabbing groceries on foot may need to adjust expectations, though what's there is functional for day-to-day needs.
Coffee Shops1 place
Coffee options in Hollis are thin — you're looking at a single spot rather than a scene, so don't expect the third-wave laptop-afternoon vibe you'd find further east in the borough. The tradeoff is that what exists leans toward the practical: quick, no-nonsense spots that won't slow down your morning run. If a proper coffee sit-down is the goal, families often pair this with a quick hop over to Jamaica or toward Forest Park, where the bench gets deeper.
Things to Do2 places
For little ones, there's a single early childhood development center tucked into the neighborhood, offering structured programs for the youngest kids. Recreation here leans on the simple side — Haggerty Park provides an open-air option for running around, but the broader activity scene is thin. Families typically look to neighboring Queens neighborhoods for swim lessons, gymnastics, or dedicated kids' enrichment classes, since what's directly in Hollis is limited to these two anchors.
Daycare & informal care
Hollis offers a decent roster of Pre-K options, though traditional daycares are essentially absent — every program listed here is a Pre-K site through the city's 3-K and UPK system or a private preschool. The mix includes several public school-based programs plus a handful of independent operations scattered along Jamaica Avenue and Hillside. That's more than some nearby blocks, but if you're hunting for a center-based daycare, the pickings are thin in this particular pocket.
Family Resources2 places
Hollis keeps things lean but functional. The South Hollis branch on Hollis Avenue is your main library anchor — solid for book pickups and a quiet place to work, though it's a modest operation compared to larger branches nearby. Hollis Playground on 203rd Street gives kids a place to run, but beyond these two anchors, civic infrastructure thins out quickly. For deeper community programming, residents typically look a couple blocks north toward Jamaica.
Healthcare4 places
Hollis has a handful of diagnostic and treatment centers along Jamaica and Hillside Avenues — HealthMed, Hillside Polymedic, and a couple of Medisys Family Care locations — but when it comes to pediatricians, urgent care, or dentists right in the neighborhood, the pickings are thin. Families typically look to neighboring Jamaica or Queens Boulevard corridors for the kind of day-to-day pediatric and dental care that keeps kids healthy. The hospital-level options are there for more serious needs, though.
Compare with nearby neighborhoods
Best schools in Hollis
Schools in Hollis
7
Early education in Hollis
9
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Hollis a good neighborhood for families?
- Hollis scores 43/100 for families on Motley — near the middle of the pack citywide. The Family Fit score blends six parts: how many families live there, schools, affordability, weekday-morning transit time to job centers, safety, and air quality and child health.
- What are the pros and cons of Hollis for families?
- For families, Hollis stands out for lower costs than most, and cleaner air and better child-health measures. What to weigh: weaker results at the public and charter schools serving it, or fewer of them; fewer families with children than most; and longer weekday-morning trips to the city's main job centers. Each score compares it with NYC's other residential neighborhoods. They don't measure how a block feels on foot or whether a particular school suits your child, so walk it before you decide.
- Is Hollis safe?
- Hollis scores 59/100 on safety — near the middle of the pack citywide. We build the score from NYPD crime complaints, pedestrian and cyclist injuries, and serious (Class C) housing violations, each counted per 1,000 residents.
- How are the schools in Hollis?
- Hollis has 7 schools mapped inside its boundary and scores 6/100 for schools — toward the lower end citywide.
- How do middle and high school admissions work from Hollis?
- Middle school: families in Hollis apply in 5th grade through the citywide middle school application. District 29's 23 middle school programs admit by method: 13 unscreened, 4 charter lottery, 4 zoned and 2 screened. High school: one citywide application in 8th grade lets a family rank programs anywhere in the city, and the eight specialized high schools admit on the SHSAT alone.
- Is Hollis affordable?
- Hollis scores 84/100 for affordability on Motley — more affordable than most NYC neighborhoods.
- Which borough is Hollis in?
- Hollis is a neighborhood in Queens, New York City.
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