Rosedale was originally conceived in the consolidation of the borough of Queens as a part of what is now Springfield Gardens. At the time, the Laurelton Land Company was in charge of the new Borough of Queens. It was dotted with farmland that was isolated from each other, so construction on an acceptable mode of transportation was started immediately. The Southern Railroad of Long Island was built and the whole area was served by Laurelton Station. The area was also connected to the Brooklyn waterworks. In the 20th century, the water system was less needed, and its use dwindled. Today the ruins of the aqueduct system can still be seen. After the Long Island Rail Road's construction, many new roads such as Francis Lewis and Sunrise Boulevard were constructed. The area that is now Rosedale remained farmland until the mid-1930s. After the former period of relatively slow growth, development rapidly turned Rosedale into a suburban community. Rosedale was originally known as Foster's Meadow. During the mid-1970s, African American and Caribbean families started moving into what had been a mostly Irish, Italian, and Jewish community. Many black families' homes were firebombed to harass them and cajole them to leave. The U.S. government filed a civil-rights lawsuit in 1975 against a group named Return Our American Rights, alleging that ROAR had been harassing white homeowners who tried to sell to black clients, and implicating ROAR in some of the firebombings. In 1976, Bill Moyers presented a documentary titled Rosedale: The Way It Is, which addressed the racial tensions in the community. While the racial tensions decreased in subsequent years, there were still some incidents of racial conflict: for instance, during the July 4 weekend in 1989, a group of white youths chased black youths through Rosedale after a dispute over firecrackers. The area is home to many Caribbean immigrants compared to the Irish, Italian and Jewish Americans of the neighboring Nassau County communities of Valley Stream and Woodmere.
Warnerville and Meadowmere are small neighborhoods within Rosedale. The area is served by the 11422 ZIP Code, which also covers the rest of Rosedale and parts of Kennedy Airport. Warnerville is surrounded on three sides by Jamaica Bay just to the southeast of John F. Kennedy International Airport and comprises just three streets, bordered by Rockaway Boulevard on the east. Meadowmere is surrounded by Nassau County and comprises just four streets and six blocks, bordered on the west by Hook Creek and on the east by Rockaway Boulevard.
Demographics
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Rosedale was 25,063, a decrease of 439 from the 25,502 counted in 2000. Covering an area of, the neighborhood had a population density of. The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 5.3% White, 79.9% African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.3% of the population.
Recreation
The Brookville Park is located on the western border of Rosedale. It is bounded by South Conduit Avenue, 149th Avenue, and 232nd and 235th Streets. It contains Conselyea's Pond.
