Quite a bit of Queens real estate bears the name Hollis — the neighborhoods Hollis, Holliswood, Hollis Park Gardens and Hollis Hills, the LIRR Hollis station, Hollis Avenue, Hollis Hills Terrace and Hollis Court Boulevard. The name honors a small town in southern New Hampshire with a current population of just over a thousand.
In 1883 developer Frederick W. Dunton bought up a lot of real estate north and south of what is now the Hollis LIRR station in eastern Queens at what is now the intersection of Hollis Avenue (then Old Country Road) and Farmers Avenue (now Boulevard) and, after some reflection, decided to name his new developments for his hometown, Hollis, New Hampshire. Today’s neighborhood of Hollis (immortalized by RUN-DMC in “Christmas in Hollis” was originally surrounded by Hollis Park Gardens, Hollis Terrace, Holliswood, Hollis Manor, and other celebrations of the southern New Hampshire villa. Over time, some of the Hollises have been renamed but you can still find the original Hollis, south of Jamaica Avenue, as well as hilly Holliswood and today’s subject, Hollis Hills,on the map roughly between Cross Island Parkway on the west, Clearview expressway on the west, Grand Central Parkway south, and the Long Island Expressway north. I walked mainly along Union Turnpike, Hollis Hills’ main east-west surface route.
I began my walk at the somewhat forbidding Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, (left) located on campuses north and south of Union Turnpike. In the 19th Century the property was owned by the Creed family and the regin became known as “Creed’s Moor.” The National Rifle Association (NRA) and National Guard used the property as a rifle rangeafter NY State purchased the grounds from the Creeds, and this era is still reflected in local street names in Bellerose, the neighborhood just south of Creedmoor, like Winchester, Range, and Musket. In 1912 the Farm Colony of New York, a division of Brooklyn State Hospital, opened here with 32 patients, and over the next few decades the campus expanded with additional buildings.
At its peak, [Creedmoor] housed some 7,000 patients. They tended gardens and raised livestock on the hospitalís grounds. The hospital contained gymnasiums, a swimming pool, a theater, a television studio, and giant kitchens and laundries where patients were put to work.
Today, Creedmoor, still run by the New York State Office of Mental Health, has only a few hundred patients. In a process of deinstitutionalization that began in the 1960s and accelerated in the 1980s, psychiatric wards were nearly emptied, their charges turned over to outpatient treatment centers that would help re-integrate the mentally ill into their communities. NY Times
Most of Creedmoor’s grounds south of Union Turnpike today are ghostly and shuttered. However, the thriving Queens County Farm Museum today occupies acreage once tended by the patients, and one of Queens’ best-kept secrets, the Living Museum, featuring art created by patients with mental illness, is on the Creedmoor campus. The Living Museum was profiled in a 1998 film by documentarian Jessica Yu.
Handsome ashlar park house at the eastern end of Alley Pond Park, Winchester Boulevard north of Union Turnpike. Alley Pond Park is a giant (approx. 656 acres) mostly marshland area in eastern Queens, runing from Little Neck Bay on the north to Union Turnpike south, acquired by the NYC Parks Department in 1929, which has kept it mostly pristine, but with 26 acres of playing fields and the lengthy Alley Pond Nature Trail, opened in 1935. The “Alley” was named in colonial times for the valley passing through two hilly areas in eastern Queens.
The historic Long Island Motor Parkway is now a bike trail running through Alley Pond Park. It is part of a longer bike trail originating at Kissena Corridor Park and running east to Winchester Boulevard. Originally, though, it was one of the first roadways built specifically for auto traffic when first constructed by industrialist heir William Kissam Vanderbilt II between 1908-1910. It was expanded westward to 73rd Avenue and 198th Street by 1926. At left, a brick arch takes it over an Alley Pond Park path.
A boa constrictor was found on the Motor Parkway in November 2010. Boas are not native to Queens, and it was likely a pet snake that got away.
Here’s a pair of living fossils, like the coelacanth or tuatara, on Union Turnpike and 234th Street. At one time (roughly 1964-1985) NYC street signs were color coded by borough, with Queens signs blue type on an off-white background. In 1998, when FNY was instituted, there were quite a few of these still around, but the Department of Transportation, which despises nonstandard signage, took them all down. I fully expect the DOT to do the same here tout suite, since FNY does have readers in the DOT. Spare these signs!
You know what, when I first encountered the word coelacanth I deduced, correctly, it was pronouned SEE-la-canth. I am intelligent in certain very narrow fields that have no practical application.
The Grand Central Parkway crosses Union Turnpike on a stylish metal and concrete arch. I used to think, when I was a kid and first saw it on maps, that this parkway had something to do with Granc Central Terminal in Manhattan. The two names are completely coincidental, as when the initial section was opened between Kew Gardens and Glen Oaks, it was in eastern central Queens.
The parkway was opened in tandem with the westernmost section of the Northern State Parkway (which GCP becomes east of the Queens/Nassau line.
Ebenezer Mission Church, Union Turnpike between Hartland Avenue and 221st Street. This was likely a different church when constructed; anyone from the neighborhood know which one?
ForgottenFan Erika Williams: The building was originally used as the building for the day school at Chapel of the Redeemer Lutheran. I believe the school closed in 2002 or 2003.
Eastern Union Turnpike also features some post-modern church designs, such as the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Union Turnpike and Hartland Avenue. Once again, the internet is silent on the building itself; I get frustrated because little about the architecture of some churches is readily available online, as many churches don’t think the building itself is the point, after all.
New street clocks are a welcome addition in eastern Queens, and this sign bids visitors welcome at Union Turnpike, Hartland Avenue and 220th Street.
Most residents of Hollis Hills are unaware of it, but over a century ago, a long lost railroad once ran through the area: the Central Railroad of Long Island was built by Scottish-American entrepreneur Alexander T. Stewart between Flushing and a new real-estate development of his called Garden City. The most obvious remnant of it is Kissena Corridor Park, which runs diagonally to the overall street grid, and the presence of Stewart Road and Peck Avenue, which flank the old right of way. A parking lot next to Stewart Road follows the old railroad path, which can be discerned in an adjacent parking lot. The railroad ran only 2 years, 1872-1874.
The Saucer Has Landed
The saucer has landed at Union Turnpike and Bell Boulevard, where you find the American Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, built in 1967. The martyrs were eight Jesuit missionaries to the Huron Indians in the 17th Century. All eight were killed during a Huron conflict with the Iroquois in what is now Quebec and upstate NY between 1642-1649.
The Windsor Park branch of Queens Public Library, on Bell Boulevard across from the church, is named after the Windsor Park Houses, a garden apartment complex a few blocks north.
I had lunch at Union Diner, at the Turnpike and 212th Street. When I was here in the summer of 2009, I’m not sure if I was here before or after the owner won a million dollars in the New York State lottery.
photographed June, 2009; page completed November 25, 2010.
51 comments
did you guys and gals at fny know that there are 2 abandoned tunnels in hollis hills? i have visited both of them and i am still at a loss as to why they were built in the first place…
they were built in the 1800’s for the Vanderbults
Wow! Where are the abandoned tunnels?
The abandoned tunnels are located in ally pound park
the tunnels go under union tpk and springfield blvd in the shadow of the GCP. it appears to me that it was to control water runoff, because the tunnel has a raised concrete platform for its entire length 4′ or so above a dirt floor. it doesn’t seem wide enough for a road or railroad, but it may have been built to control erosion, which could have undermined the CCRLI railroad tracks. the train ran right nearby in the 1870’s
The “tunnels” are probably remnants of old entrances/exits to the Grand Central Parkway. In the 1970s or so there was a major construction project which realigned and/or rebuilt parts of the GCP. The project included new entrance/exit ramps. A half-buried “tunnel” is visible near the northwest intersection of the west side of Springfield Blvd and the north fringe of the GCP, between Hartland Ave and 223 St.
The project also took a couple of baseball fields from Alley Pond Park for the GCP stretch between Winchester Blvd and Union Tpke.
The tunnels actually were the bridale path for horses to go along the parkway when built in 1940. The elevated sidewalk under the tunnel was for walkers.Most of the parkways had paths,but here we had this built as a bridel path to get to Alley Pond from area stables which still existed in the day.When only 4 lanes there was a big buffer from traffic on the north side of the parkway.
I remember walking the length of the trail in the 1970’s,when it was still in use before the Grand Cenral Parkway was enlarged and the old enranceson Springfiels Blvd eliminated.
The bridle path went past Bell,but somewher in time was cut off,probably when Bell was extended to the GCP
I can tell you quite a bit about the Chapel of the Redeemer — Lutheran, as my family were members there from about 1952 to the early ’80s, and I graduated from the school. The “new” church building was dedicated in 1962; prior to that, worship was held on the upper floor of the (now) Ebenezer Mission Church, which also doubled as the school gym (I can remember taking the chairs up and down). In its heyday the school was quite crowded, two grades to a classroom, and when the new building was completed some of the grades moved into classrooms on the main floor and basement. I now live in Michigan and haven’t been back in years — thanks for the memories!
Tom, my family went to Redeemer from the mid 1950’s to the early 1970’s. I remember Pastor Lindemann, his wife and their three sons and Mr. Pittlekow, the school principle. My brothers and sisters attended NYC public schools. I live in Denver now. The neighborhood still looks very good. Cornelia Maes née Trostorff.
Hello from another former member of the Redeemer congregation! My family and I attended from the late 60s through the early 80s. I recall with great fondness how terrific Paster Lindemann was with children, and how fascinated we all were with his ear (although we were strictly forbidden to stare at it or discuss it in any way for fear of making him feel self-conscious).
Anyone else from that era will also have memories of the stand-alone Carvel ice cream store, which was also located on Union Tpke (just east of Springfield Blvd., and which I believe is now a dollar store of some kind). We’re up in Westchester now, but still visit the old neighborhood every now and then.
I now live in Albany, NY but grew up in Bayside and my family were members of Chapel from roughly 1950 to 1979. I attended school from 1973-75 and again 1976-79.
Pastor Lindeman married my parents on June 24, 1967.
Loved Carvel- still love Carvel chocolate shakes, or other comparable soft serve wherever I can find them.
I still have a photo album of chapel and will post photos in the future here and on my facebook page in the near future.
i got my first carvel there…10 cents for a cone..those were the days
Tom,
I grew up at Chapel of the Redeemer. I was baptized and confirmed there, and I attended the day school from Nursery through Grade 8. It was a sad day when the school closed, as that day marked the end of an era of sharing God’s love in the Queens neighborhoods. Sadly, many of the Lutheran schools in NY have since closed. But I do have many fond memories of chapel, especially the teachers and principals. Two amazing teachers and principals (with whom I still communicate) are Beth Crowe and John Matern. Also, there was Mrs. Thierfelder (now deceased), Mrs. Frillman, Mrs. McReynolds, and so many others. In fact, my mother, Jan Johnston, taught at Chapel for many years (as well as Immanuel Whitestone and Queens Lutheran School.)
Tom, you may not know this, but your dad frequently watched me as a baby while my Mom was working. When I stumbled across this website, I shared it with my mom, and she recognized your last name immediately!
Lately I’ve been thinking it would be wonderful to have a Chapel of the Redeemer reunion of former students and teachers. Perhaps we can get the word out!
Blessings,
Chris Johnston
Chris, I remember you and your wonderful mom. Wish I had a school like Chapel to send my kids.
As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I too attended Chapel for school, though not continuously.
1973-74- Nursery, Mrs. Eickmann
1974-75- Kindergarten, Mrs. Thierfelder
1976 (Nov) -1977- 2nd grade, Mr. Thierfelder (Mrs. Thierfelder’s son, now a retired English professor from what I understand.)(I briefly went to PS46 near my apartment for 1st grade and part of 2nd. Public School overcrowding brought me back to chapel.)
1977-78- 3rd grade, Ms. Crowe
1978-79- 4th grade- Karen Reiter
My parents transferred me to Redeemer on 36th and Bell for 5th grade, probably because of the fact that two grades were being combined into a class in Chapel. We also changed memberships. I only went to one other service in Chapel after that, circa 1986. (possibly another in 1991?)
Fond memories of Redeemer Lutheran, Pastor Lindemann, John Matern, the elderly Mr. Pittlekow (sp?) and the church services held upstairs on folding chairs. I did not attend school there, rather PS109 and then Martin Van Buren in it’s infancy. 1955 I believe. I was confirmed at RL and attended many of the supervised teen activities sponsored by the church. God Bless.
I attended Chapel of the Redeemer from 1953 to 1961. At that time Mr. Pittlekow was the principal and the teacher of grades 7 and 8, and John Mattern was a young teacher of grades 5 and 6. Mrs. Pittlekow taught 1st and 2nd grades. This website informed me that the school had been sold. Anyone from those years reading this?
My brother, the late Ted Simon attended and graduated from there, probably around 1950. I attended from around 1953-57. Mrs. pittlekow was my first and second grade teacher, Mrs. Brummer (I believe) was my third and fourth grade teacher. It was a beautiful school, I lived just four blocks away.
I can vouch for these comments about The Chaple of Redeemer Lutheran Church and Day School. I had the same teachers and graduated after grades 1-8 in June 1963. To the list of teachers, I would add Mrs. Wong (4th grade); Ms. Kinear (4th grade); Mr. Matern 5-6th grade and Church Deacon). I went on to Brooklyn Technical High School where my Prefect Teacher (Home Room Teach) had been a college classmate of the Pittlekows. I served as an acolyte during my 4 years in high school. The Chapel served Holy Communion at every Sunday Service (08.30 and 11.00).
The Union Diner has been closed for about two months, but lately I’ve seen workmen doing something there. There’s no sign or indication as to what they’re doing or what might be coming in there.
Diners don’t seem to be surviving lately.
I drove by the diner this morning, there’s a sign in the window saying that there’s a Greek Family restaurant coming soon. I couldn’t read any other info…
Back in the 50’s and 60’s, a corner luncheonette was on that site. It was owed by Milton and Mary Blatt, and was known as “Uncle Milty’s”
UNCLE MILTY MADE GREAT EGG CREAMS
My mother grew up in Floral Park in the 50s and 60s. She said that when insulted by another child, the kids used to sing, “Same to you, even more, hope you die at Creedmoor.” Lovely stuff.
do you know if the houses in hollis hills were built on swap land or with running water underneath? and i heard along time ago some kid drowned in the pond do you know if thats true.
Pea Pond is where the teenage boy drowned. We used to ice skate on the frozen pond. I think when the Grand Central was widened it dried up.
The boy that drowned at Pea Pond was a friend of my father’s. This happened in the winter time in the early 1950’s. A bunch of the kids were traveling thru the neighborhoods, shoveling snow from driveways for a little extra money. The one kid (cannot remember his name) was deathly afraid of water and could not swim. When they were done for the day, this one kid decided to take a short cut home over the ice of the pond. The ice gave way and the kid drowned. About 30 years later, when they drained Pea Pond, one of my dad’s friends who was with him that day, found the shovel that the drowned boy had been using on that fateful day.
I also don’t remember the boys name but he was a 7 grader at PS33 and would have graduated in 1953. He lived just south of Braddock ave and was very popular with all the girls in school
Make that 1954 not 53
I remember a teenage young man drowning at Pea Pond (Springfield Blvd), in the late 1950’s. I think he was a Martin Van Buren Student. He was handsome and very popular. He had a beautiful girlfriend. I remember how shocking it was, to realize, someone, young with a bright future, could die. It was very sad, and an introduction to many of us, that life can be so unfair.
I might be confusing Pea Pond with Alley Pond. Anyway, Queens Village and its surrounding areas will always hold a special place in my heart.
Hi I grew up in Hollis Hills in the 60″s. There is a still functioning Hollis Hills Jewish Center on Union Turnpike beteween 210th-211th maybe.
There was also a functioning center with a grocery and great old fashioned “candy store” luncheonette called Miltie’s (I think).
Great site , I love what we called the bike path when I as a kid.
Thanks for the work.
The ‘candy store’ you refer to was owned by Milton & Mary Blatt. It was about 6 blocks from my house. I was there all the time as a kid. It was on the corner. David’s Hardware was next door.
Yes, Dave,s hardware was next door. I attended American Martyrs Catholic School. I lived on 214 Street and Grand Central Parkway.-The house with the pebbles and the largest garden, which I sold when my mom passed. There are now two houses on those lots. My dad put out the most amount of Christmas decorations when my brother and me were young. Right across the street from out house was a bridal path which the police used to patrol on horse back. I used to walk to Pea Pond with my ice skates on and sometimes was lucky enough to buy a pretzel from the man selling them. Suicide Hill was the greatest place to ride the sled until the construction and expansion of Grand Central Parkwat. We used to play ball on the triangle until that was used for parkway expansion. People used to ring my parents bell to use the phone when their car broke down because the original exit and entrance was right in front of our house. I raised my children on Hartland Avenue. American Martyrs is now a public school, extension of PS 188. Boy, oh boy, have I got lovely memories and stories.
Madelaine Fratello, I so remember you. I also went to American Martyrs, class on 1962 and I even remember going to your house for a party and to play. My name is Bernadette Endres Sihler. I stumbled on this site and scrolled down to see if there were ay references to AMS. I would love to hear from you if you have a chance…my email is basihler@yahoo.com.
Madelaine and Bernadette, I also attended AMS from its opening in1953 and graduated in 1958 so I’m a bit older than you. I remember all the places Madelaine wrote about, the triangle, the bridal path, Suicide Hill, etc. I lived up the road from Madelaine on 2i4th Street and 85th Avenue. After AMS I went to Mary Louis and graduated in ’62. The McKean brothers also lived on 214th and went to AMS and Holy Cross but they were my age; they did have a younger sister, Kathy.
Just happened upon this site and enjoyed reading the comments.
I am trying to find out if there was a private school on Woodhull Ave, in Hollis, NY names the Woodhull School which closed in 1998?
Jasmine: Yes, I attended the Woodhull Prepatory School that you are asking about (it was a private school)…from 1964-1967, 5th thru 8th grades. Even back then, the neighborhood was ‘compromised’ and we were
instructed to not stray into certain areas. I’d say the school officially closed at least 20 years ago so maybe 1998 +/- is accurate. I recall visiting the place after it had closed and someone there was nice enough to let
me walk around inside to stir my memories. I believe it was being converted into some type of offices. Back in the day, on the lot next to the school was the Kindergarten building, which had already been razed when I visited. Some students who attended during the period I was there are on Classmates.com …I always wondered what happened to a classmate by the name of, Peggy Lang ? She was my 1st ever date to the 8th
grade, 1967 graduation function. I vividly recall that she had a Dutch-boy haircut !
Chris Johnston, I remember your mom before she left the school. She was a 7th grade teacher but Mrs. Sanford took the 7/8 grade class post after she and Mr. Stanco left. I honestly have very fond memories of my 5th -7th grade (1982-85). That church was beautiful and I enjoyed our Wed chapel services. I wish i still lived close enough to NYC to partcipate in a reunion. I now reside in FL.
You were an adorable young man with blonde hair back then!
The school was something else, and it is a shame that they do not run schools like that anymore. Back then, we feared the principalm but nowadays the principals are all friendly and not at all intimidating. We need a little bit of Mr. Matern in the schools.
remember the old “deli” on union tpke & the soda fountain nearby. liked hollis hills a lot.
These bring back fond memories , I remember them building the large Cheedmore Hospital, sneaking into their movie theater balcony and watching the latest hit movies. Since I lived on 237st I was very familiar with Alley Pond Park ,ice skating sleigh riding all kinds of sports, the motor parkway, when from end to end many times. Even hunted, fished and trapped there but don’t tell anyone. My home away from home when I was a kid. If any old friends read this please e mail me at donaldjbaumgarten@yahoo.com
Oops, forgot to mention the wading pool and the lookout tower in the park
Lived in Queens Village. My friends and I would bike ride and explore in the 60’s. We rode the path along the GCP north side (before it was widened) and through the tunnels under Union TNPK and Springfield BLVD. And the path brought you right into Alley Pond Park. The tunnels had rusted and broken light fixtures along the walls ( from what I can remember) and a couple of abandon autos (how they got them down there?) . We also rode the Vanderbilt parkway from Winchester BLVD as far west as we can go, which it seemed to end at a small park in Flushing just south of the LIE. Also the paths in APP going north looked like they at one time connected into the park on Little Neck Bay (sorry can’t spell the name) and was cut off by the LIE.
I was a student at the Chapel of the Redeemer Lutheran School: Nursery-Kindergarten 1973-75 and 2nd thru 4th 1976-79. Of those years, 3-4 grade was in the building now occupied by Ebenezer, and N, K, 2 in the building between Ebenezer and Chapel. The vestibule between Ebenezer and the chapel single story building was constructed roughly 1978. In now-Ebenezer, the first floor had three classrooms and the principals office. 2nd floor was a library, kitchen and gymnasium. I heard that in the early 1980s, the gym was converted to more classrooms.
My 3rd grade teacher was Ms. Elizabeth Crowe and she eventually became principal of Martin Luther HS. I found out that the school was vacant when I drove by in early 2007 while in town. (I now live near Albany, NY). I reached out to Ms. Crowe and she did say the school closed a few years earlier, so 2003 or so is probably a good estimated year. sad to see that.
My father and grandparents were members of that church some time soon after they moved to Bell Park Gardens in 1949. My parents were married there on June 24, 1967. We were members there through the 1970s until I changed schools to Redeemer Lutheran in northern bayside.
Someday soon I’d like to go see a church service there for old times sake.
I grew up in Hollis Hills. My father’s family built many if the homes in that area. I fondly remember “Milty’s” and the lending library at the far back of the store, past the comic books. Dave’s Hardware was a wonderland for little knicknacks. The deli sold beautiful ‘SWISS’ Lollipops. The grocery store had a butcher named Eric and the deli very man was Eddie. Everything was delivered in bushel baskets to our back door. I went to P.S. 188.
Hi Helen, I think I know you. My parents had a house on 208th street off of Hollis Hill Terrace! please email me. pattysage@gmail.com
That grocery store you referred to was called, ‘Colony’ and the owners name was, ‘John’, I believe he was the last owner, it may have been called something else prior to being Colony. Next door was a pharmacy, ‘ Stewart Drugs’.
Don’t get me started about Hollis Hills. Briefly, (got a lunch date shortly, I was six months old in 1949 when my parents and
two older siblings moved to Hollis Hills where I grew up on 211th street, two blocks from Union Turnpike. Went to PS 188
then 109 and Van Buren. Will return to this site soon. Meantime, there is a 188 Facebook page for those here who went
there.
The bridle path stretched from Alley Pond Park to Cunningham Park. The tunnels went under Union Tpke. at the GCP overpass, then under Springfield Blvd. at the Grand Central overpass and then continued past Pea Pond to Hollis Court Blvd. where it went under that road as well. The path ended in the woods at Cunningham Park. The path was divided in the tunnels between an elevated pedestrian walk way with black railings dividing it from the brick and dirt bridle path. The path was basically destroyed when the GCP was widened for the 1964 World’s Fair.
Born in Hollis in 1932. left in 1950. Did a lot of modelling in NYC from “34 to “50, also Broadway shows and Mot. Pic. Attended Woodhull Private Day School grades 3 thru 8. Then Andrew Jackson HS in St Albans, NY. Lived in big house very near Hollis station of LIRR, 194th st bet 99th and 100th ave. Ed Abel (still breathin’)