The late Yumi Heo’s stained glass artwork series, Q Is For Queens, found in the 33rd, 40th and 46th Street stations on the Flushing Line #7, has been endlessly fascinating for me as I decipher the Queens scenes, peoples and locations depicted. To this day I have not figured out all of them!
W is relatively easy. It depicts the original Weeping Beech tree of Flushing. Flushing’s original Weeping Beech Tree was brought to Flushing from Belgium by Samuel Bowne Parsons in 1847 and planted on the grounds of the Parsons plant nursery. Kingsland Mansion, now home of the Queens Historical Society, was moved adjacent to the tree in the late 1920s. The tree was declared a living landmark in 1966 and survived until 1997. Cuttings from the original tree ultimately produced the specimens you see not only in the original Weeping Beech’s old garden……but in the Bowne Playground on Sanford Avenue and Union Street…n an auto customizing shop on Sanford Avenue and 162nd Street…and the Douglaston LIRR station on 235th Street!
It’s likely they all descend from that long-ago 1847 import from Belgium.
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7/30/18
2 comments
Which letters are still not deciphered?
https://forgotten-ny.com/2012/03/q-is-for-queens-queens-culture-in-stained-glass/