Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village.

[6] Rego Park is built on lands originally part of the Leni Lenape Nation, possibly inhabited by members of the Canarsee band.

By 1653, though, English and Dutch farmers moved into the area and founded a community called Whitepot, which was a part of the Township of Newtown.

[7] The area turned out to be good for farming, the colonists cultivated hay, straw, rye, corn, oats, and vegetables.

[9] In 1930, the Independent Subway System began work on eight IND Queens Boulevard Line stations in the area, at a cost of $5 million.

The subway extension was concurrent with the Real Good Construction Company's completion of apartment buildings near Queens Boulevard and one-family homes throughout the rest of the neighborhood.

[8] The short block of 63rd Drive between Austin Street and the Long Island Railroad overpass was the scene of a fire in February 1972 that claimed a row of stores and the neighborhood library.

Firefighters scrambled to keep the windswept flames from reaching an apartment house behind the stores, a new Key Food supermarket across Austin Street, or the Shell gas station just across the drive.

[14] In 2018, an estimated 16% of Rego Park and Forest Hills residents lived in poverty, compared to 19% in all of Queens and 20% in all of New York City.

Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Rego Park and Forest Hills is considered to be high-income relative to the rest of the city and not gentrifying.

Most of the Bukharan Jewish immigrants in the neighborhood come from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and there is also Uzbek and Tajik cuisine in many Rego Park restaurants.

[16] In the 2000s and 2010s, many young professionals also moved in, and the average price of residential units in Rego Park increased correspondingly.

Apartment complexes include The Carol House, Savoy Gardens, Jupiter Court, The Brussels, and Walden Terrace.

[17] Vornado Realty Trust built a 312-unit residential tower on top of Rego Center Phase II, to accommodate a surge in young professionals moving into the area.

[18] Phase II opened in 2010[19] with 950,000 square feet (88,000 m2) of retail space[18] on 62nd Drive across from Rego Park Center, with more stores being built.

[16] The Lost Battalion Hall, on Queens Boulevard, is named after nine companies of the 77th Infantry Division who fought in World War I.

The site also contains a play area and a New York City Department of Environmental Protection water pumping station.

[7] The art deco Rego Park Jewish Center, opened in 1939, is notable for an A. Raymond Katz-designed façade with Old Testament scenes and symbols carved into it.

[33] The Rego Park Green Alliance has also been active in the community planting flowers and trees, arranging the installation of new garbage cans, pushing for the repair of some sidewalks and creating a large mural celebrating the neighborhood under the LIRR overpass on 63rd Drive.

[34] In March 2010, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a beneficiary agency of the UJA-Federation of New York, partnered with Masbia in the opening of a kosher soup kitchen on Queens Boulevard.

[11]: 14 The concentration of fine particulate matter, the deadliest type of air pollutant, in Rego Park and Forest Hills is 0.0075 milligrams per cubic metre (7.5×10−9 oz/cu ft), equal to the city average.

[11]: 13  In Rego Park and Forest Hills, 19% of residents are obese, 7% are diabetic, and 20% have high blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 20%, 14%, and 24% respectively.

[43] Rego Park and Forest Hills generally have a higher percentage of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update].

[44] Rego Park and Forest Hills's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is less than the rest of New York City.

[12]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [11]: 6  Additionally, 91% of high school students in Rego Park and Forest Hills graduate on time, more than the citywide average of 75%.

Our Lady of the Angelus, a PK–8 private school operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, is located in Rego Park.

[53] The IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway has local stations at 63rd Drive and 67th Avenue, served by the E, ​F, ​M, and ​R trains.

[56] The Long Island Railroad overpass between Austin and Alderton Streets was the location of the Rego Park station until its abandonment in 1962.