The most innovative housing of its time. The movie "Ragtime" was filmed on 48th Street and 34th Avenue, and "A Bronx Tale" on 44th Street and 30th Avenue!
The last outdoor Beer Garden in the city! Enjoy a drink of imported Bohemian beer at one of the many summer folk festivals in the Park. A real neighborhood treasure!
The Public Art Fund, in co-sponsorship with the NYC Department of Transportation, has created an "urban" nature trail plotted to include various cultural, historical, and recreational destinations within the community.
A group of two-story brick houses stands on 20th Avenue and 41st Street. They boast stone window lintels and recessed entrances. Built before 1880, they are Landmark quality homes.
Located in northern Long Island City between La Guardia Airport and the East River. This lively neighborhood has attracted the largest Greek community outside Athens.
This community lies on the East River shore north of the Queensborough Bridge and south of Old Astoria. Mid-nineteenth century mansions lined the East River until overwhelmed by industry at the turn of the century.
Today, some remain waiting for you to find them! Home to the Noguchi Museum, the Socrates Sculpture Garden, Ravenswood is one of Long Island City's secret delights!
This community, one of the first
European settlements in Queens, started from Dutch land grants
along an arm of Newtown Creek (Dutch: Newtown
Kills).
Today, a vibrant neighborhood north of Queenborough Plaza maintains a 350 year tradition. Look for the attractive community banners placed by the Dutch Kills Civic Association. Architecturally distinguished, St. Patrick's Church recently celebrated its centennial.
The Village of Astoria, developed in 1839 by Stephen A. Halsey, still exists! Ante-bellum mansions, quaint workers' cottages, churches and cemeteries echo a vanished age. This intact district, unique to New York, offers a rare glimpse of a nineteenth century Long Island town.
Homes, lovingly restored, surprise Queens native and tourist alike. Don't miss the small Irish "Famine Cemetery" on 21st Street.
Long Island City - the western fifth of Queens - is the largest community in the borough. Its borders are the East River to the north and west, Newtown Creek to the south, and 51st/Hobart Street to the east.
Its rich farm land encouraged early settlement (1640s). Throughout the nineteenth century, the community supplied flowers to hotels in New York; some claim an Astoria farm grew the first broccoli in America!
Transportation spurred dynamic growth. The Village of Astoria started around Manhattan's 92nd Street Ferry, and the Hunters Point district developed around the Long Island Rail Road.
Long Island City, chartered in 1870, existed only 28 years. In the consolidation of 1898, it was swallowed up by the City of New York.
The area became fully developed with
the spread of trolleys and, later, with the construction of the
subway and elevated lines (1870 - 1940).
But the secret to this community's
success is more than excellent location.
It has always been home to creative
people and innovative ideas. Chester Carlson invented the Xerox
process in a lab at 37-02 Broadway. The modern piano developed
at the Steinway Piano Factory. The Paramount (now Astoria) Movie
Studios remain the premier East Coast film and movie production
facility.
The Noguchi Museum, P.S. 1 Studios,
Socrates Sculpture Park, the Silvercup Studios, the American Museum
of the Moving Image, and the growth of a new community of arts
have revived the name - "Long Island
City."
Chartered in 1985, the Society is
a non-profit cultural and
community oriented organization dedicated to preserving the past
and promoting Long Island City's future.
An active program of slide presentations,
guest lecturers, field trips, school programs and walking tours
are available to the membership and community.
Regular meetings are on the first
Monday of each month (except summers) at Quinn's Gallery, 35-20
Broadway, Long Island City. For more information, or to become
a member, please call (718) 278-2437.
28-27 STEINWAY STREET, ASTORIA, NY 11103 * (718) 728-7820
The Central Astoria Local Development
Coalition, Inc. is a non-profit neighborhood preservation organization
founded in 1979 to encourage and complement private sector investment,
improve the quality of life, and foster neighborhood pride in
Astoria.
Its three primary focus areas are:
housing preservation, economic development, and cultural enrichment.
Last revised 3/25/97