Flushing, Queens  Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing, a major commercial and retail area centered around the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, is the third-busiest intersection in New York City, behind Times and Herald Squares. Flushing was established as a settlement of New Netherland on October 10, 1645, on the eastern bank of Flushing Creek. It was named Vlissingen, after the Dutch city of Vlissingen. The English took control of New Amsterdam in 1664, and when Queens County was established in 1683, the "Town of Flushing" was one of the original five towns of Queens. In 1898, Flushing was consolidated into the City of New York. Development came in the early 20th century with the construction of bridges and public transportation. An immigrant population, composed mostly of Chinese and Koreans, settled in Flushing in the late 20th century. Flushing contains numerous residential subsections, and its diversity is reflected by the numerous ethnic groups that reside there. Flushing is served by several stations on the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington Branch, as well as the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line (), which has its terminus at Main Street. Flushing is located in Queens Community District 7, and its ZIP Codes are 11354, 11355, and 11358. It is patrolled by the New York City Police Department's 109th Precinct. Flushing was originally inhabited by the Matinecoc Indians prior to colonization and European settlement. On October 10, 1645, Flushing was established on the eastern bank of Flushing Creek under charter of the Dutch West India Company and was part of the New Netherland colony that was governed from New Amsterdam (Lower Manhattan). The settlement was named Vlissingen, after the city of Vlissingen, which was the European base of the Dutch West India company. By 1657, the residents called the place "Vlishing." Eventually, the formal traditional English name for the Dutch town, "Flushing", would be settled upon (despite being a Dutch colony, many of the local early settlers were British, who trickled down from nearby Connecticut colony). Unlike all other towns in the region, the charter of Flushing allowed residents freedom of religion as practiced in Holland "without the disturbance of any magistrate or ecclesiastical minister." However, in 1656, New Amsterdam Director-General Peter Stuyvesant issued an edict prohibiting the harboring of Quakers.