Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
On 182nd Street just north of 73rd Avenue you will see what appears to be a weedy, empty lot, with ivy and ancient trees. This, though, is the cemetery of one of the farming families in the area, the Brinckerhoffs; there are 76 plots here dating from between 1736 and 1872. The tombstones have been [...]
Categorized in: Cemeteries One Shots Tagged with: Fresh Meadows Queens
Forgotten New York has many parents. I have said before that the kernel may have been planted in 1962, when the Department of Traffic tore down all the castiron lampposts along 6th Avenue in Bay Ridge, replacing them with Donald Deskeys, and the entire stretch of row houses across the street were torn down so [...]
Categorized in: Alleys Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Fresh Meadows Queens
In the early 20th Century, Queens featured hundreds of striped poles featuring directional signs to different neighborhoods and even out-of-borough locations. This one, photographed in 1931, pointed to Flushing, Brooklyn, Richmond Hill, New York, Hollis, and Merrick Boulevard. Another sign points to “Queens,” but since we’re already in Queens, I’m unsure what was meant. Perhaps [...]
Categorized in: One Shots Signs Tagged with: Fresh Meadows Queens
Categorized in: Street Scenes Tagged with: Auburndale Flushing Fresh Meadows Queens
I resided in fab Flushing between 1993 and 2007, and during that time both on foot and by bike, familiarized myself with the older routes through the area including the maze of roads that used to delineate Rocky Hill Road, as well as the bicycle and jogging path that now follows the route of the Motor Parkway built as [...]
Categorized in: Roads Tagged with: Auburndale Flushing Fresh Meadows Queens
I have never had even a whiff of that peculiar romance most American men feel about their automobiles. When I was a teenager, my fear and apprehensiveness when attempting to learn to drive baffled and amused my teachers: the driving school instructor as well as my cousin Jim, and soon enough the lessons were shelved as [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Fresh Meadows Queens
Queens has an abundance of small, out-of-the-way, ancient cemeteries, many of which go back to the 1700s, some of which are barely suspected by neighbors. Ancient burial grounds are alngside two-family homes, in parks and even UNDER a lot of places they wouldn’t be expected. LAWRENCE FAMILY BURIAL GROUND, Astoria Though the historical marker [...]
Categorized in: Cemeteries Tagged with: Astoria Cambria Heights Fresh Meadows Glendale Long Island City Middle Village Queens
While making your way through the southeastern part of Flushing as you get close to Cunningham Park, you may spot the occasional white-painted overpass crossing the street. They’re not old railroad trestles or park paths…instead, they mark one of America’s very first parkways designed for automobile traffic. In 1904, the auto age had arrived in [...]
Categorized in: Street Scenes Tagged with: Fresh Meadows Hollis Hills Nassau Queens
