Choosing a mover in Queens comes down to three checks. First, the license: a mover working inside New York State needs a New York State DOT household-goods number, and it should be printed on the site, not just promised on the phone. Second, the building: Queens is a borough where more than half of all homes are one- and two-family houses, and where the apartments that remain are as likely to be a garden co-op with a board or one of more than twenty public-housing developments as a doorman tower—so ask who handles the certificate of insurance, the elevator window and, for NYCHA tenants, the 30-day notice date. Third, the drive: trucks are banned from the Grand Central, Belt, Cross Island and Jackie Robinson parkways, so a Queens crew routes on the LIE, the Van Wyck and the BQE and should price that time into the estimate rather than onto the clock. For a move within Queens in 2026, published market estimates put a studio or one-bedroom between roughly $350 and $1,100 and a two-bedroom between $800 and $1,800, with summer weekends and the last three days of any month running 20–30% higher.
Moving in Queens is not moving in Manhattan
Queens is 2.4 million people across 109 square miles, and 44% of its households own their home, against 33% for the city as a whole. That changes the job. A Manhattan move is an elevator reservation and a freight-entrance window. A Queens move is just as likely to be a detached house in Bayside with a basement and a garage, a garden co-op in Kew Gardens Hills with a board that wants paperwork, a fourth-floor walk-up in Astoria, or an apartment in one of the borough’s public-housing developments—and each of those is planned differently.
Big Apple Moving has been moving Queens since 1979: 220K+ moves completed, a 5.0 rating on Google from 2,300+ reviews, licensed and insured under NY DOT #T9942, and an approved vendor for both NYCHA and HRA moves. Bilingual crews are available on request. This page covers what is different about a Queens move, what one costs in 2026, and how we plan for each kind of building in the borough.
Houses, co-ops, walk-ups and towers
One- and two-family houses
More than half of Queens homes are in one- and two-family buildings. A house move means a driveway or curb-to-door carry, a basement and often an attic, and furniture that has been in place for decades. We plan a house move on the inventory, not the room count: crew size and truck are sized to the carry, and the estimate covers the basement and the garage before anyone arrives.
Co-ops and condos
Glen Oaks, LeFrak City, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens Hills, Bay Terrace: Queens is the borough of the garden co-op and the Queens Boulevard tower. Boards ask for a certificate of insurance naming the building, a booked elevator or move-in window that is often weekdays only, and sometimes a deposit. We issue the certificate the same business day and work to the window your building gives you.
Pre-war walk-ups
Astoria, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Woodside and Ridgewood run on four- and five-story walk-ups with narrow stairwells and no freight entrance. On our hourly rate, stairs are not a surcharge—they are time, and the estimate says how much. On a binding estimate the flights are priced in before you book, so the number does not move on the day.
High-rises and public housing
Long Island City’s towers and the new buildings in Flushing and Jamaica run on freight elevators and certificates of insurance. Queens also holds more than twenty NYCHA developments, from Queensbridge and Ravenswood to Pomonok and South Jamaica. Big Apple Moving is an approved NYCHA and HRA vendor; the next section explains what that means for your move date.
An approved NYCHA and HRA vendor in the borough of Queensbridge
Queens has more than twenty New York City Housing Authority developments: Queensbridge North and South, Ravenswood, Astoria Houses, Woodside, Pomonok, Latimer Gardens, Bland, Baisley Park, South Jamaica, Hammel, Redfern and Ocean Bay among them. Queensbridge alone is the largest public housing development in North America, 3,142 apartments across 29 buildings on the East River between the Queensboro Bridge and Ravenswood.
Big Apple Moving is an approved vendor for both NYCHA and HRA moves. The vendor paperwork is handled on our side, and the crew is scheduled to the date the agency gives you. One rule to plan around: NYCHA asks for 30 calendar days’ written notice on its Notice of Intent to Vacate form, and rent runs until the keys are returned and the apartment is taken back—so book the mover for the day you hand in the keys, not the week after.
Western Queens developments
Queensbridge, Ravenswood, Astoria Houses and Woodside Houses sit along the 21st Street and Vernon Boulevard corridor in Long Island City and Astoria, the shortest truck run from Manhattan in the borough. Approved-vendor paperwork applies at every one of them.
Central Queens developments
Pomonok, Latimer Gardens and Bland Houses serve Flushing and Kew Gardens Hills. These are mid-borough moves that route on the LIE and the Van Wyck rather than the Grand Central, and the drive is planned into the estimate.
Southern Queens and the Rockaways
South Jamaica, Baisley Park, Hammel, Redfern, Carleton Manor, Beach 41st Street and Ocean Bay are the longest drives in Queens from the city center. We schedule these as full-day jobs with the route set before the crew leaves.
What a Queens move costs in 2026
Queens moves are quoted the way local moves are quoted across the city: by crew size and hours on an hourly job, or as one guaranteed figure on a binding estimate. The ranges below are 2026 market estimates for a move within Queens or between Queens and another borough, drawn from published 2026 Queens pricing data. They are not a quote. A house with a basement, a fourth-floor walk-up or a long carry from the curb adds time to every band.
| Home size | Typical Queens inventory | Market estimate range (2026) | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | Studio or junior one-bedroom in a Long Island City or Astoria elevator building | $350–$800 | 2–4 hours |
| 1 Bedroom | One-bedroom walk-up in Astoria, Sunnyside or Jackson Heights | $450–$1,100 | 3–5 hours |
| 2 Bedrooms | Two-bedroom co-op in Forest Hills, Rego Park or Bayside | $800–$1,800 | 5–8 hours |
| 3 Bedrooms | Three-bedroom floor of a two-family house in Flushing, Jamaica or Ridgewood | $1,200–$2,800 | 7–12 hours |
| 4+ Bedrooms / full house | Detached house with basement and garage in Bayside, Douglaston or Howard Beach | $2,000+ | 8–12+ hours |
Market Estimate Ranges (2026) — 2026 market estimates, not a quote. Summer weekends and the last three days of a month typically run 20–30% above these bands.
Two things move the number in Queens more than anywhere else in the city: the carry—driveway, front steps, basement—and the drive, covered in the next section. Both belong in the quote before move day. That is why we quote from an item list and the building details, with a video walkthrough available if you would rather show us, and why a binding estimate is one number that includes the stairs, the carry and the route.
Why a Queens crew never takes the parkway
New York City bans trucks and commercial vehicles from most of its parkways. In Queens that means the Grand Central Parkway east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Belt Parkway, the Cross Island Parkway and the Jackie Robinson Parkway are all closed to a moving truck. The roads your car uses to cross the borough are the roads the truck cannot use. A crew coming from Manhattan to Bayside, Douglaston or the Rockaways routes on the Long Island Expressway, the Van Wyck and the BQE, and a same-borough move from Astoria to Howard Beach is longer by truck than the parkway drive your map app shows.
We plan the route before we price the move, so the drive sits in the estimate rather than on the clock. On move day the truck parks under the City’s commercial-vehicle rules as close to the door as the block allows, and on a house move the crew stages from the driveway where there is one—the single biggest time-saver in eastern Queens.
Queens neighborhoods we move
Big Apple Moving covers all of Queens, from Astoria and Long Island City on the East River to Bayside, Little Neck and the Rockaways. Neighborhoods linked below have their own page with local access notes and pricing for that area.
Western Queens
Astoria · Astoria Heights · Long Island City · Sunnyside · Woodside · Jackson Heights · Elmhurst · Corona · Maspeth · Ridgewood · Glendale · Middle Village
Central and Northern Queens
Forest Hills · Forest Hills Gardens · Rego Park · Kew Gardens · Kew Gardens Hills · Queensboro Hill · Flushing · Fresh Meadows · Whitestone · College Point · Bayside · Bay Terrace · Douglaston · Little Neck
Southern and Eastern Queens
Jamaica · St. Albans · Cambria Heights · Hollis · Queens Village · Bellerose · Floral Park · New Hyde Park · Richmond Hill · Woodhaven · Ozone Park · Howard Beach · Rockaway Beach · Far Rockaway
Moving to or from another borough or county? See every area we serve, or the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Nassau County pages for the other end of the move.
How a Queens move works with Big Apple Moving
Send an item list and the building details: floor, stairs or elevator, driveway or curb, and any board or agency paperwork. That is enough for a binding estimate. A fifteen-minute video walkthrough is available if you would rather show us than list it.
The certificate of insurance goes to your building the same business day. For NYCHA and HRA moves, the approved-vendor paperwork is done on our side and the date is set to the agency’s schedule.
Truck route on the LIE, the Van Wyck or the BQE; crew size matched to the carry; a start time that fits your building’s move window.
Wrapping, loading, the drive, unloading and basic reassembly. Customer support answers from 7AM to 9PM, and crews work around the clock for buildings that only allow an early or a late window.
Long-distance moves that start in Queens
Long-distance moves out of Queens—to Boston, Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut or across the country—are priced by volume and destination rather than by the hour, and 2026 market estimates for a household move run $1,500–$5,000+ depending on destination and volume. The truck leaves Queens by the same truck routes a local move uses: the parkways are closed to it in both directions, so the LIE and the Van Wyck are the way out as well as the way in.
Our long-distance page covers routes, timing and what a binding estimate includes on an interstate job. The New York to Boston page covers the most common New England route from the borough.
Why Queens chooses Big Apple Moving
Moving New York since 1979
220K+ moves completed across the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester, Rockland and Fairfield County—and Queens in every one of those years.
5.0 on Google
Rated 5.0 on Google from 2,300+ reviews, many of them from walk-ups, two-family houses and co-ops in Queens.
Licensed and insured
NY DOT #T9942 | USDOT #382368 | ICC MC-205240. A certificate of insurance for any Queens building, issued the same business day. See our credentials.
Approved NYCHA and HRA vendor
Approved for NYCHA and HRA moves across every Queens development, with the vendor paperwork handled on our side and the date set to the agency’s schedule.
Binding estimate or hourly
One guaranteed price from an item list and the building details, or an hourly crew with no minimum and no surcharge for stairs or carries. You choose which fits the move.
Around the clock, in your language
Crews work 24/7 for buildings that only allow early or late windows; customer support answers 7AM–9PM. Bilingual crews are available on request in a borough where 55% of households speak a language other than English at home.
Queens Movers — Frequently Asked Questions
Published 2026 Queens pricing puts a studio or one-bedroom local move between roughly $350 and $1,100, a two-bedroom between $800 and $1,800 and a three-bedroom between $1,200 and $2,800, with full houses from $2,000. Those are market estimates, not a quote. Summer weekends and the last three days of a month run 20–30% higher, and a house with a basement or a long carry from the curb adds hours to any band.
Both. More than half of Queens homes are in one- and two-family buildings, and a house move is planned on the carry—driveway or curb, front steps, basement, attic and garage—rather than on the number of rooms. Send an item list that includes the basement and the garage and the estimate will cover them.
Most co-op and condo boards in Queens ask for a certificate of insurance naming the building as additionally insured, a booked elevator or move-in window—often weekday hours only, and many buildings do not allow Sunday moves—and sometimes a refundable deposit paid to the building. Big Apple Moving issues the certificate of insurance the same business day. The deposit and the window are set by your building, so ask management for both when you sign.
Yes. Big Apple Moving is an approved NYCHA vendor and an approved HRA vendor. The vendor paperwork is handled on our side and the move is scheduled to the date the agency gives you. Plan around NYCHA’s rule that a tenant gives 30 calendar days’ written notice on the Notice of Intent to Vacate form, and that rent runs until the keys are returned.
New York City prohibits trucks and commercial vehicles on most parkways. In Queens that covers the Belt Parkway, the Cross Island Parkway, the Jackie Robinson Parkway and the Grand Central Parkway east of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. A moving truck routes on the Long Island Expressway, the Van Wyck and the BQE instead, and we plan that drive into the estimate rather than leaving it on the clock.
All of them: Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Flushing, Whitestone, Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica, St. Albans, Cambria Heights, Queens Village, Floral Park, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Ridgewood, Glendale, Middle Village, Maspeth and the Rockaways. Neighborhoods with their own page carry local access notes and pricing for that area.
Yes. Long-distance moves from any Queens neighborhood are priced by volume and destination, with 2026 market estimates of $1,500–$5,000+ for a household move depending on where it is going. Our long-distance page covers routes and timing, and the New York to Boston page covers the most common New England route from the borough.
Many Queens movers bill a two- or three-hour minimum on local jobs; the 2026 market data for the borough lists a typical two-hour minimum. Big Apple Moving does not set a minimum on hourly local moves, and stairs and long carries are not surcharged on the hourly rate—they are time, and the estimate tells you how much.
Mid-week, mid-month, between October and April. Summer weekends and the last three days of any month are the borough’s peak, because leases turn over on the first, and market rates run 20–30% higher. Many elevator buildings also close to moves on Sundays and after 5pm, so a weekday window is both cheaper and easier to book.
Yes, the same business day. Send the building’s insurance requirements—most management companies have a one-page COI sheet—and the certificate goes to the building before the move. Big Apple Moving is licensed and insured under NY DOT #T9942, USDOT #382368 and ICC MC-205240.
