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Jamaica Hills-Briarwood sits near the Queens Boulevard corridor with diverse housing and strong transit. The E/F trains at Briarwood station provide direct Manhattan access.
Jamaica Hills-Briarwood sits near the Queens Boulevard corridor with diverse housing and strong transit. The E/F trains at Briarwood station provide direct Manhattan access.
Did you know?
The Main Line of the IND Queens Boulevard subway, which serves Briarwood, was the deepest subway tunnel ever bored when it opened in 1937.
Who’s your neighbor?
Housing cost
$389 / sq ft
Commute
Weekday mornings · leaving 7:30–9:00
- FromJamaica Hills-Briarwood
- ToNear Bryant Park
Family scores
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Trade-offs
Stands out
- Schools68/100
Strong results at the public and charter schools serving it
- Affordability65/100
Lower costs than most
- Transit65/100
Quick weekday-morning transit to the city's main job centers
To weigh
- Family-Friendly Vibe31/100
Fewer families with children than most
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 Jamaica Hills-Briarwood 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
Schools17 schools
This pocket of Jamaica Hills and Briarwood serves students from kindergarten through high school with a genuinely mixed bag of options — you're looking at roughly 20 public schools, a handful of privates like Archbishop Molloy High School, and one charter (Growing Up Green Charter School II). The public system here includes neighborhood zoned elementary schools like P.S. 117 and P.S. 131, plus several themed high schools at the Gothic Drive campus that draw from across the district. Private alternatives add some variety, though the selection is modest.
Browse all early-ed in this neighborhoodLiving here
Parks & Playgrounds4 places
Three playgrounds dot this Queens stretch, giving kids a handful of spots to burn off energy. Briarwood Playground anchors the north end with its well-maintained equipment, while Hoover-Manton and Joseph Austin serve the southern block. It's not a park-heavy neighborhood — you're not going to find sprawling green here — but what's there is solid and well-used by local families. Tree canopy is modest, but the play areas get the job done for everyday outings.
1 playground within a 10-min walk
Nearest large park: Flushing Meadows-Corona Park · ~17 min walk (0.7 mi)
Transportation25 stops
There's no subway in Jamaica Hills-Briarwood — you're hopping a bus to get anywhere fast. The Q44 runs the length of Hillside Avenue, the Q20 and Q17 cut north-south on Main Street and Parsons Boulevard respectively, and Queens Boulevard is a major east-west artery with multiple routes. That might sound like a commute hurdle, but the bus network is deep enough that most blocks are a short walk to a stop. You'll need patience and a MetroCard, but the connectivity is there — it's just a transfer tax on your commute time.
Restaurants37 places
Jamaica Hills-Briarwood delivers a deep bench of ethnic eats — South Asian, Caribbean, Latin, and Chinese spots line Queens Boulevard and Parsons Blvd in satisfying density. It's more of a takeout-and-casual-dining scene than a date-night destination, with plenty of delis, bakeries, and quick-serve counters for weeknight dinners. A couple of diners and coffee shops break up the mix for more relaxed sit-down moments. Fast-food options are thin, but the variety of homegrown kitchens more than makes up for it.
Groceries9 places
Jamaica Hills and Briarwood offer a deep bench of grocery options for the weekly shop. You've got two Key Food locations along Queens Boulevard — one near the 138th Street stretch, another around the 116th Street block — plus a solid mix of independent supermarkets along Hillside Avenue. The ethnic grocery scene is strong here, with Russian, Middle Eastern, and South Asian options within walking distance of most blocks. For a full Target run, you'll want to hop in the car, as the closest big-box options are a trek north into Jamaica proper.
Coffee Shops4 places
The coffee situation here is thin but functional — a Starbucks on Queens Blvd handles the reliable grab-and-go crowd, while a couple of indie spots tucked around Kew Gardens and Parsons Blvd offer a quieter pour for the linger crowd. A sit-down option rounds out the mix. It's not a caffeine destination exactly, but what's here covers the morning run and the laptop afternoon without much fuss.
Things to Do2 places
On the activities front, Jamaica Hills-Briarwood offers a thin but focused selection — a single sports facility and a tutoring center give families a couple of anchors to work from. The mix leans academic, though the overall bench is pretty shallow for a neighborhood this size. Families looking for variety may find themselves venturing to neighboring areas for more options.
Daycare & informal care2 places
Jamaica Hills and Briarwood deliver a respectable lineup of Pre-K through the public schools — P.S. 117, 131, and Q086 all hold slots, along with a few stand-alone programs scattered along Parsons Boulevard and 84th Drive. Private daycares are fewer but present, clustered around the Grand Central Parkway edge. Morning drop-off gets congested around the school zones, but having options spread across both sides of the neighborhood helps keep the rush from hitting any single corner too hard. It's not a childcare desert, though peak-season waitlists can tighten things up.
Family Resources3 places
The neighborhood has a small but solid anchor in the Briarwood library on Main Street — a reliable public resource that stays busy. For outdoor time, you've got two playgrounds working the north and south ends of the area: Briarwood Playground on 144th Street and Joseph Austin Playground off 84th Avenue. It's a thin spread geographically, but there are at least a couple of steady options to count on.
Healthcare5 places
Jamaica Hills-Briarwood's healthcare options are limited but workable for families. The neighborhood has one hospital — NYP/Queens Wound Healing Center on 87th Avenue — though for most pediatric or emergency needs, parents head to nearby Jamaica or Flushing. Pediatric care exists at a handful of practices clustered along the main corridors, while dental options are scarce with just a single cosmetic-focused practice on Hillside Avenue. The real gap shows up in urgent care, which is essentially absent from this stretch.
Compare with nearby neighborhoods
Best schools in Jamaica Hills-Briarwood
Schools in Jamaica Hills-Briarwood
17
- ARCHBISHOP MOLLOY HIGH SCHOOL
- ELHAAM ACADEMY
- Growing Up Green Charter School II
- High School for Community Leadership
- Hillcrest High School
- Hillside Arts & Letters Academy
- J.H.S. 217 Robert A. Van Wyck
- Jamaica Evening High School M/
- Jamaica Evening High School T/
- Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences
- P.S. 082 Hammond
- P.S. 117 J. Keld / Briarwood School
- P.S. 131 Abigail Adams
- P.S. Q086
- Queens Collegiate: A College Board School
- SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES/T PAPLIN SCH
- Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School
Early education in Jamaica Hills-Briarwood
18
- BRIGHT BEGINNINGS
- Bright Beginnings Pre-School
- Circle Academy
- CIRCLE ACADEMY ( NORTH SIDE SCHOOL - JAMAICA )
- ELHAAM ACADEMY
- IRA'S BRIARWOOD DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL INC.
- IRA'S BRIARWOOD DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOL INC.
- Ira's Parkway Day Care
- Ira's Parkway Daycare & Preschool, Inc.
- P.S. 117 J. Keld / Briarwood School
- P.S. 131 Abigail Adams
- P.S. Q086
- Pickwick School, Inc.
- Renanim Day Care
- RENANIM MANHATTAN INC.
- SCO FAMILY OF SERVICES/T PAPLIN SCH
- Sholom Daycare #4
- THE PICKWICK SCHOOL, INC.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is Jamaica Hills-Briarwood a good neighborhood for families?
- Jamaica Hills-Briarwood scores 58/100 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 Jamaica Hills-Briarwood for families?
- For families, Jamaica Hills-Briarwood stands out for strong results at the public and charter schools serving it; lower costs than most; and quick weekday-morning transit to the city's main job centers. What to weigh: fewer families with children than most. 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 Jamaica Hills-Briarwood safe?
- Jamaica Hills-Briarwood scores 62/100 on safety — ahead of most NYC neighborhoods. 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 Jamaica Hills-Briarwood?
- Jamaica Hills-Briarwood has 17 schools mapped inside its boundary and scores 68/100 for schools — ahead of most NYC neighborhoods.
- How do middle and high school admissions work from Jamaica Hills-Briarwood?
- Middle school: families in Jamaica Hills-Briarwood apply in 5th grade through the citywide middle school application. District 28's 15 middle school programs admit by method: 9 unscreened, 3 charter lottery and 3 screened. 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 Jamaica Hills-Briarwood affordable?
- Jamaica Hills-Briarwood scores 65/100 for affordability on Motley — more affordable than most NYC neighborhoods.
- Which borough is Jamaica Hills-Briarwood in?
- Jamaica Hills-Briarwood is a neighborhood in Queens, New York City.
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