Periodically I check on some of my favorite “forgotten” artifacts around town, just to see how they’re doing. Sometimes, I’m disappointed. There was a sign with red and blue plastic letters on a nondescript brick building on 12th Street south of 30th Avenue in Astoria Village for Horstmann Mix & Cream, an ice cream mix company. I know nothing about Horstmann. A daughter was married in 2018 and the notice was in the Times, and elsewhere on the net, a business site said Horstmann Mix & Cream made over $5M annually (if your daughter’s wedding is in the Times, you have money to burn).
Sick transit, Gloria. My most recent pass in November 2020 found the building and the sign gone, with a construction lot in its place.
There is some hope for the sign, though. A story in the LIC Journal back in 2016 stated that developer Nick Fiorentinos is replacing the building with a 44-unit residential building, but “We’re keeping the front sign just like they did at the Pepsi Building.”
We’ll see.
Read more: LIC/Astoria Journal – Astoria Characters The Power Couple
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop, and as always, “comment…as you see fit.”
1/9/21