4. Aviation High School
A glimpse of the aircraft parked in clear view behind the Aviation High School in Queens.
Did you know there is an Aviation High School in New York City? The Aviation Career & Technical Education High School in Queens is located on Long Island City at 45-30 36th Street and shares a northern boundary with Queens Boulevard. You’ll find vintage airplanes in the courtyards of the high school. Formerly known as the School of Aviation Trades, the Aviation High School looks almost identical to the way it did when it opened in 1954 but the history of the school begins even earlier in 1930, when the aviation program was developed.
The focus of the school makes sense geographically — aviation was big business for Queens and Long Island following the Second World War. The high school was specifically designed with the growing demand for experienced aviation workers in mind. As of 2014, 12 percent of all the aviation mechanics in the United States graduated from the Aviation High School in Queens, where they completed the school’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified program.
