northern section of the borough of Queens, New York City, U.S., at the head of Flushing Bay (East River). Settled in 1645 by English Nonconformists (who had probably been living at Vlissingen 【Flushing】, Holland), it became a Quaker (Friends, Society of) centre under the leadership of John Bowne. The Flushing Remonstrance (1657) protested the persecution of Quakers and the trial of Bowne. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Flushing was noted for its commercial nurseries. It flourished as a township and then a village until it was absorbed by Queens in 1898. Flushing Meadows–Corona Park was the site of the 1939–40 and 1964–65 New York World's Fairs (the Hall of Science remains as an exhibition centre), and in 1946–49 it served as the temporary headquarters for the United Nations General Assembly. In 1978 the park became the site of the U.S. Tennis Association's National Tennis Center. Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets baseball team, is also in Flushing Meadows.