FAMILIAR IN QUEENS VILLAGE

by Kevin Walsh

As stated here a few days ago I have been busy scanning and labelling vintage postcards, slides and photos for the Greater Astoria Historical Society archives. When I came across a picture of this house at 100-02 Springfield Boulevard in Queens Village, I said to myself, “I recognize that joint…”

… and I had — because I walked right past it on a recent hike from Bellaire Queens Village to Hollis in April 2017. While the photo at the top, from 1960, still shows the house in its original glory complete with porch, columns, window shutters and roof corbels, by 2017 things have been considerably stripped down and the porch, columns etc. are all gone. 

However, the basic outlines are still in place. The photo is emblematic of the changes that have swept over Queens in the 5 decades since; tract housing has mostly replaced these old veterans, but this one is still there, camouflaged to make it fit in with the bland new dwellings that have been built around it.

“Comment…as you see fit.”

5/3/17

 

 

16 comments

Steven Otero May 3, 2017 - 11:21 pm

Year built 1901

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Alan Gregg Cohen May 3, 2017 - 11:24 pm

It is truly sad to see what contemporary Queens looks like in comparison to pre WW I I photos. This house is but a tiny reminder of how in one generation, an entire county of once extant small towns, nascent suburbs and farms was transformed into a largely ever increasing urban environment. I personally see this as a failure of New York City’s poor planning and zoning decisions from the post W II years to today.

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NY2AZ May 5, 2017 - 9:48 am

That seems to be the price for “progress”. Case in point: I relocated to Queen Creek/San tan Valley, AZ in 2005. In just 12 years a semi-rural environment has been transformed. There are still cotton fields, equestrian zoning, & some cattle. However, home construction continues, there are numerous strip malls, & a larger retail mall with a movie theater in Queen Creek, as well as schools & two hospitals. All this plus a major upgrade of Hunt Highway. The fact is that the Phoenix metropolitan area is the fifth largest urban area in the nation. You have the Manhattan skyline; we have our mountain views & Saguaro cactus.

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George Cassidy May 4, 2017 - 7:43 am

I can’t figure how you got on Springfield Boulevard walking from Bellaire to Hollis.

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Kevin Walsh May 4, 2017 - 5:14 pm

all right, Queens Village. Jeez.

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Anonymous May 4, 2017 - 12:32 pm

I remember Braddock Park when I was in my early teens. We thought we were really cool. Turns out we were beginning to grow up but didn’t know it at the time. Hope everyone that shared that with me is as successful as I have become. I have three meals each day, a wonderful cot to sleep on and a window that allows me to share the day. Can you say PRISON.

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Pete Falina May 5, 2017 - 1:37 am

When is your “lease” up?

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Pam DiVanna May 5, 2017 - 11:24 am

I remember this house. I lived on the end of the block. I think I recall 2 old women living there.

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Anonymous May 5, 2017 - 11:46 am

Smh it’s ashame! Homes now have no character or beauty it once did. Wish we could bring them back!

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Anonymous May 7, 2017 - 2:54 pm

RE: discussion NYC Queens. I saw it happen in my lifetime on Staten Island. My Dad would take us to the small truck farms on Richmond Ave. In 1964 all hell broke loose when the V-N Bridge opened. I was 10 y.o. Same poor NYC planning. You would think that NYC Planning Dept. would have learned by then.

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Kenny May 9, 2017 - 11:46 am

Thanks Kevin for showing the vintage postcards. Recently I inherited a collection of a century + old picture postcard correspondence between acquaintances, whose decedents are currently my neighbors, living in NYC and Huntington NY. Please all share your opinions and observations:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/146852140@N03/albums/72157678888478442

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Jeff B. May 9, 2017 - 11:05 pm

Neat post cards! I like how the only address is the town name + Long Island. No street. No state. Pretty cool!!

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Kenny May 14, 2017 - 8:14 am

I admire the lost art of penmanship .
My favs are the old bridge of sighs / courthouse, the jamaica normal school, and the regis hotel now dwarfed by it neighbors was once it was a singular commanding monolith .

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Andrew Porter May 13, 2017 - 10:06 am

A shame how almost all the decorative elements have been stripped off. Every day, I’m happier and happier that I lived in a Landmarked area where this travesty of architecture would not be permitted.

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jack May 31, 2018 - 7:50 pm

junky looking house … before and after

There are quite a few Queens Village old houses that are a hundred times more attractive than that junk heap.

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Tom Messner May 4, 2021 - 8:40 am

that’s the QV post office…i think….worked there one christmas…

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