IT’S not mentioned often but Astoria and its neighbor Ravenswood were once a hotbed for silk manufacture and production. Several remaining buildings scattered over the region are former silk production buildings, with minuscule clues to prove their past identities.
The Silks Building, 38th Avenue and 24th Street, was constructed in the 1920s for the Franco Scalamandre Silks Company. The company produced luxury silk and textiles used in wall coverings, upholstery and other furnishings. Scalamandre was employed by multiple presidential administrations to furnish the White House, and the Hearst family’s mansions have also used the firm. A painted sign on 24th Street still identifies it as the Scalamandre silk works, but it’s hidden by foliage in spring and summer.
Scalamandre moved to South Carolina in 2004, and the building, still called the Silks Building, is being subdivided into residences.
For more on silk production in LIC, see this FNY page.
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8/3/23