LGBT culture in New York City New York, geared toward the LGBT community, is located in Hell's Kitchen. Brooklyn is home to a large and growing number of same-sex couples. Same-sex marriages in New York were legalized on June 24, 2011 and were authorized to take place beginning 30 days thereafter. The Park Slope neighborhood spearheaded the popularity of Brooklyn among lesbians, and Prospect Heights has an LGBT residential presence. Numerous neighborhoods have since become home to LGBT communities. Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, Queens, are focal hubs for the transgender community of New York City. Astoria has an emerging LGBT presence. Queens is also becoming a
Jackson Heights, Queens game Scrabble was co-invented by former architect Alfred Mosher Butts, who lived in Jackson Heights. There is a street sign at 35th Avenue and 81st Street that is stylized using letters, with their values in Scrabble as a subscript; it was originally erected in 1995 but disappeared in 2008, and a new sign was subsequently put up in 2011. Jackson Heights has followed the general crime patterns of New York City. After crime spikes in the 1970s into the 1990s, crime has declined significantly. According to New York City Police Department CompStat statistics, measured crime has declined more than 74%