I have chronicled the various Statue of Liberty knockoffs around town since the very beginnings of Forgotten New York over 20 years ago, most notably the 37-foot high replica that was originally on the former Liberty Storage building on West 64th Street near Lincoln Center. The SOL has a unique profile and the real thing and its imitations can be spotted from miles away.
The same can be said of the gargantuan Eiffel Tower in Paris, which I have never seen in person, having never been to France, Who knows? One of these days. But I was shuffling around the old World’s Fair grounds and was making my way south of the Long Island Expressway when I caught sight of the unmistakable shape of the Eiffel Tower on a rooftop.
It is on a rooftop at Horace Harding Expressway, as the LIE is known in NYC, and Saultell Street in Corona. Not just any rooftop but the Paris Suites Hotel! I don’t know the exact height of the replica but it must be a good ten feet high.
Not only is there an Eiffel on the roof, there are several Eiffels displayed on the ground floor of the building. From what I gather, the rooftop Eiffel has been there quite some time and survived a complete building makeover several years ago that added a couple of floors.
I do not know what color the original Eiffel lights up at night. Probably a variety of colors that get changed every night to commemorate something or other, like the King of All Buildings, the Empire State, or even the New Kosciuszko Bridge. This one lights up green.
So what is the Paris Suites Hotel? I did not brave a visit. However, the late great Bill Helmreich did, and recounts the experience in his book The Queens Nobody Knows. Let me quote him here…
Me, I tend to stay out of hot sheets joints. There’s a hotel on Greenpoint Avenue across the street from Calvary Cemetery called the City View Inn. When I was writing the Forgotten NY The Book in the 2000s, I wanted to research the place and called the hotel number. “Got anything with a city view?” I asked in all curiosity. The receptionist hung up.
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12/7/21