Hamilton Beach is a small, low-lying waterfront community in southern Queens bounded by Jamaica Bay and Hawtree Creek, originally envisioned as a resort destination but settled instead as a tight-knit working-class neighborhood of single-family homes with a strong Italian-American heritage. Its unique spit geography extending into Hawtree Basin gives it a maritime isolation unusual for New York City, and it neighbors Ramblersville, sometimes cited as the city's smallest distinct neighborhood.