Forgotten New York is in Association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a non-profit organization supported by the Long Island City community.
The Frost Pharamcy sign on 55th Avenue and Queens Boulevard is without a doubt one of my favorites in Queens. It’s likely a snapshot from the Fab Forties or Nifty Fifties. Rendered in my favorite color combination, black and yellow, it’s purely hand-lettered, probably by a signmaker using just a triangle and ruler to measure. [...]
BY SERGEY KADINSKY Forgotten NY contributor The Borough of Queens was once a patchwork collection of villages divided among the major towns of Flushing, Jamaica, Newtown, Far Rockaway, and Long Island City. In 1898, Newtown merged into Greater New York, and was renamed Elmhurst. Its outlying neighborhoods, Winfield and Nassau Heights were absorbed into Elmhurst. In 1915, [...]
Categorized in: Forgotten Slices Tagged with: Elmhurst Middle Village Queens Rego Park
The Hempstead Swamp once occupied a vast area of land that sits just east of present-day St. John’s Cemetery in Queens. The greater area was first settled in 1653 as ‘Whitepot’ by English and Dutch farmers, including the Remsen, Furman, Springsteen and Morrell families. They found the land good for growing hay, straw, rye, corn, oats [...]
Categorized in: Neighborhoods Tagged with: Queens Rego Park
WHETHER it wants to admit it or not, the Department of Transportation’s main function is the movement of motor vehicles; to enable them to move as quickly as possible. That means synchronized stoplights that are calibrated to provide uninterrupted passage for a lengthy distance. Such traffic lights often provide two minutes of green for the vehicles [...]
Categorized in: Street Scenes Walks Tagged with: Elmhurst Forest Hills Queens Rego Park Sunnyside
The Rockaway Line is a mighty good road, the Rockaway Line is the road to ride, to paraphrase the old song. Or rather, it used to be the road to ride, since no passenger trains have run on it since 1962. The Long Island Railroad’s Rockaway Beach Branch diverged from the LIRR’s Main Line in Rego [...]
Categorized in: Subways & Trains Tagged with: Forest Hills Ozone Park Queens Rego Park Woodhaven
