I Grew Up In Queens

And went to Yeshiva High School - the Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva Preparatory High School - in Forest Hills.

So, I found this very interesting (at p. 13-14):-

Forest Hills, New York: A Jewish Golden Land

Judith F. Rosen (CUNY Graduate Center)

One hundred years ago, in 1905, the Long Island Railroad extended its train routes to Queens. Taking immediate advantage of this in 1906, the developer,
Cord Meyer broke ground for a new housing subdivision in Whitepot adjacent to the railroad line. Renaming the bucolic area Forest Hills, his advertisements were designed to allure buyers to leave their over crowded city apartments and move to the suburbs.*

Three years later (1909) the Russell Sage Foundation purchased from Cord Meyer 142 acres to be known as Forest Hills Gardens adjacent to the Forest Hills section. Established in the years when newly arrived immigrants flooded the neighborhoods of Manhattan the newly founded neighborhoods in Forest Hills were a ticket to escape the teeming streets of New York and to improve living conditions. In order to protect the civility and integrity of the Forest Hills and Forest Hills Gardens communities each set up deed restrictions which through a “gentleman’s agreement”
prevented Jews from buying homes in these locations.

Although Jews were initially restricted and discouraged from settling in Forest Hills, they began arriving in the 1920’s and continued to do so as more apartment buildings were built. They began to thrive and organize. The first religious institution to be established in the area was the Forest Hills Jewish Center founded in 1931.

The Jewish community grew larger and stronger over the decades, particularly after the war years. By 1957 the majority of the children and teachers in PS 206 and other local elementary schools were Jewish. By the 1960’s the Forest Hills Jewish community was perhaps the most dynamic Jewish community in the country. It boasted multi-Jewish denominational institutions and organizations. It supported kosher butchers, restaurants, takeouts, delicatessens, bagel stores, Jewish-style bakeries, appetizing stores, a Jewish book store and Barton's candy stores. As the community grew in stature its leaders began to play important roles in New York city-wide and national Jewish organization and in local and national government, art, education, law and industry.

Changes in New York City approaches to education and housing integration and new Jewish immmgration waves challenged the equilibrium of Forest Hills over the decades. Yet, Jewish Forest Hills continues to thrive. This paper will present the fascinating story of the growth and evolution of the dynamic, heterogeneous Jewish Community of Forest Hills.