NEW YORK – By New York City standards, Hardeep Singh, 12, is something of an expert on cows. Two summers ago while spending his vacation with relatives in India, he lived among cows and learned to milk them.

Still, that didn’t prepare him for Queenie, a boisterous bovine that police chased for 2 miles through the streets of Jamaica, Queens, on Tuesday night.

Hardeep was awakened about 10 p.m. by the glare of flashing police lights. Hearing a commotion, he looked out his first-floor window and spotted police trying to corral a brown-and-white heifer.

It took police another hour to capture the animal, whose nipping and head-butting made her a prime candidate for a Western rodeo.

“It was the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in this neighborhood,” said Mahmood Mused, 11, who was supposed to be asleep but sneaked out of his family’s home to watch.

“The cow was angry, she kept mooing, and it was a little bit scary when she would put her head down and charge.”

Residents avidly watched the cow’s pursuit and capture. No one was hurt, though Queenie left behind a trail of trampled backyards and broken furniture.

“They had to chase it for a few blocks, but Emergency Services are used to corralling all sorts of different wildlife,” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Queenie’s residence of origin remained unknown. Richard Gentles, a spokesman for city Animal Care & Control Services, said no area slaughterhouses had reported a missing cow.

Police followed Queenie for about two miles through residential streets before she ran into a fenced area next to a building and cops maneuvered their cars to block her in, Gentles said. Using ropes, Emergency Services officers corralled her and transported her to Animal Care & Control’s facilities in Manhattan, he said.

Queenie probably will be sent to a farm sanctuary upstate, Gentles said.

“She’s in good shape, doing very well. She’s eating hay,” he said. “We have her in one of the large open pens, so she has lots of room.”