UPON ambling through Douglaston to take in the crisp spring air (an El Niño is developing that will keep it hot and humid for a few months soon enough) I decided to investigate a couple of dead ends I had touched on before but not photographed in depth. These are Willow Place and Stuart Lane, which appear at the end of Depew Avenue as you make your way east. The Google Street View truck has not bothered with them, so “if you want the job right, do it yourself.” These two alleys have not appeared on a paper map of any make, and I was unaware of their existence until I moved to the area in 2007. (And, neither Cornell Lane or Jessie Court, on Northern Boulevard in Little Neck, did either.)
As I have said Google Street View doesn’t bother with the two lanes much at all, so I turned to Open Street Map, always a creditable alternative and more detailed at times. Willow Lane is actually two separate lanes, but I traveled the one that faces the front doors of its dwellings.
Willow Place
Of the two, Willow Place is the one marked by an official Department of Transportation street sign, but it’s old-style all caps, so it was installed prior to 2011 at least. Its junction with Depew Avenue is punctuated by a handsome Tudor.
Mind, these alleys fall outside Landmarks Preservation Commission protection, thus I have no idea about building details or construction dates. There are no “No Trespassing” signs, so I assume these are available to the public for exploration.
The Tudor is lined along Willow Place by a colorfully-painted wall.
Tudor protected by a crossbar wood fence.
One story ranch dwelling at north end of Willow Place.
Attached bungalow-esque houses, at north end of Willow Place.
Willow Place looking south toward Depew Avenue.
Stuart Lane
Stuart Lane, to the east of Willow Place, is a more curious case as its street sign and speed-limit signs are not DOT standard issue. Thus, I don’t think it’s officially mapped by the city. It’s lengthier than Willow Place, as we will see.
Most of Stuart Lane is unpaved and thus looks like a rural lane anywhere in the country. Its houses seem a bit older than Willow Place’s.
A newer ranch style house has a large front lawn accessed by wooden steps. Note also the old-style mailbox.
Stuart Lane looking north past two country houses.
It was at the north end where things got more interesting. Unlike Willow Place its houses are not numbered according to the hyphenated Queens system, but in single digits, progessing north to south. This house under construction actually sits north of #1, so unless they want to call it #0 (I haven’t encountered this anywhere else) it’ll have to get a 39-xx house number. Incidentally Open Street Map renders Stuart Lane houses with Queens-type house numbers, but where I can make out the house numbering, they’re single digits.
Stuart Lane is question mark shaped and the north end goes all the way to a lookout over the Long Island Rail Road. That walkway deck is deteriorating to such a degree I did not trouble it lest I trip and fall perilously close to the tracks.
Stuart Lane’s lone streetlamp is also nonstandard for NYC. The make is LANGY and operates by solar power. A local homeowner probably installed it, as another one appears above a garage across the street.
Though Douglaston and Little Neck are separated by a high bluff and only one road goes through, called “The Back Road” by locals) a handy wood staircase at the east end of Depew Avenue, built by Eagle Scouts in 2019, takes walkers down the hill. If not for this staircase, I would have had to backtrack west on Depew Avenue and then return home whence I had come, via Douglaston Parkway and Northern Boulevard.
Upon attaining Orient Avenue at the bottom of the hill, I then took the scenic path through the woods in Udall’s Cove Park which lets out on 247th Street and 40th Avenue near my home. Some are wary of these woods: but I haven’t met with a problem as long as I have been using it.
Check out the ForgottenBook, take a look at the gift shop. As always, “comment…as you see fit.” I earn a small payment when you click on any ad on the site.
5/5/26