Ozone Park is a neighborhood in Queens, NY. It was established in 1882 as part of the Queens County. During the 1870’s, New York City was hit with a depression and people sought to live in more affordable neighborhoods. At that time, Ozone Park used to be an empty farmland that was used for agriculture. In the mid 1870’s, Ozone Park started being used for more affordable housing for New York City Residents. So in 1882, Ozone Park was established as a Town in Queens County. Today, Ozone Park is home to over 20,000 residents and is a very diverse neighborhood. It’s a middle class neighborhood with the average income of around $41,000. In 2013, Bill de Blasio was elected Mayor of New York City and as mayor, he chose to make certain changes to New York City. One of the controversial changes made to New York include the initiation of the Close to Home program which he chose to be centered in South Ozone Park, NY.