Time has been kind to the old Bulova Watch Company Building adjacent LaGuardia Airport. Instead of a vacant 45-year-old building filled with memories of a by-gone-era, there is a glistening 485,000-square-foot art-deco office center that houses companies including the North American headquarters of British Airways, bringing new economic life to the borough of Queens.

Key to the success of this building’s transformation was the vision of Edward Blumenfeld, president of BDG, Ltd. Blumenfeld’s company has demonstrated an uncanny ability to transform the interior of discarded buildings. Typically, Blumenfeld creates wide open atriums, almost pastoral corporate interiors and whimsical art.

"We worked to ensure that the overall design evokes the art deco flavor of the exterior so that there is a consistent theme surrounding the building," he said.

Unlike many of the city atriums, his work has an unsually large, horizontally shaped atrium that Blumenfeld says captures the flavor of village green, and it is open to the public.

In rehabing the building more than ten years ago, Blumenfeld saved the architectural soul of the structure, but everything else started from scratch.

"Efficient cooling, heating, floor loads and 17 foot high ceilings are sufficient for computers and other high-tech requirements. Fiber-optic links are also available as well as a state-of-the-art sales and conference center," he said.

The fall season is sizzling at Kaufman Astoria Studios.

Two of TV’s hottest network family comedy shows are in production at the historic facility. Dan Akroyd and company are brightening ABC’s Tuesday night line-up with "Soul Man," while down the hall, Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Madeline Kahn and Doug E. Doug are back for a second season of "Cosby," the hit Monday night CBS comedy that’s even set right in Astoria. Both shows tape before live studio audiences.

"It’s a great fall season," said studio president Hal Rosenbluth. "Having this wonderful group of TV shows, including our friends at Sesame Street and the new Jim Henson production at Lifetime, "The Bear and the Big Blue House," shows just how versatile the studio and the tremendous pool of talent here in our community are."

This past summer, "Oddville, MTV" taped 65 half-hour shows at Lifetime Studios, and the romantic summer comedy "Picture Perfect," starring Jennifer Anniston and Kevin Bacon, also debuted. In addition to on-location shots in Queens and Manhattan, the film was also shot at Kaufman Astoria. "Oddville, MTV" hosted by Frank Hope, will air this fall on MTV. If anyone walking past the studio this past summer wondered what was going on, as a "unique" collection of people with green and red hair and others carrying Pogo sticks and trampolines made their way into the studio, now they know – it was "Oddville, MTV!"

The mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting Commissioner Pat Scott reports that studio production in New York City is at an all-time high. Direct expenditures for film and television production totaled $2,227 billion in 1996.

Commenting on this statistic, Rosenbluth said, "Being a part of the Astoria community is a major selling point for us. Producers, actors, directors and crew members who come to work here enjoy the special qualities that our neighborhood offers."

Producer Brian Burns summed it up by saying, "Neighborhoods like Astoria have a special feel that you just can’t compare to L.A. Astoria has a small town feeling that makes you feel welcome." He’s right.

For nearly a century, the words "New York" and "tall buildings" have been synonymous throughout the civilized world.

New York’s symbolic image as a city of skyscrapers transcended national and international boundaries. It carried an immediate identification, as well. Looming large in the public eye, these tall structures reflected the stature of the firms which created or inhabited them.

During the same century in which New York was growing, the Lefrak Organization was building thousands of apartments throughout Queens.

In 1960, the company began constructing Lefrak City, where the borders of Rego Park, Elmhurst and Corona meet along the Long Island Expressway. At that time, this new Lefrak "total living" community would be the culmination of the firm’s architectural, engineering and management expertise, rising in the geographical center of New York City.

Lefrak City did not "just happen." It was a planned community – planned from the beginning on principles as deep and well engineered as the reinforced concrete slabs on which its unique "floating" foundations rest.

Towering high above neighboring private homes and less lofty apartment structures, Lefrak City would dominate the Queens skyline – a $150 million accomplishment in shelter which would set new standards for mass housing.

By 1968, Lefrak City had developed into a first-class community with a suburban touch – spacious air-conditioned living areas, with that flavor of elegance unique to homes with a view. Sunlight and refreshing breezes led right into living rooms by opening doors to private terraces overlooking landscaped grounds.

Today, even the interior public areas reflect that atmosphere of elegance. The deep, luxurious hallway carpets and the tasteful arrangement of fine pictures and murals in the lobbies are reminiscent of a way of life usually associated with town houses and mansions.

Household work areas in the complex are equally impressive. Every apartment in Lefrak City has an all-electric GE kitchen. Modern in design and performance, these utilities produce less heat and less dirt.

By devising a dining area which can easily be converted into an extra bedroom, study or family room, the Lefrak community has anticipated – and provided a solution to – the basic problem of additional space for expanding families.

Adapting many of the best proven of modern site planning, Lefrak City also contains other advanced planning provisions unique to this installation. For example, nearly 80 percent of the community’s 40 acres have been set aside for gardens and recreational areas.

Supplementing this are outdoor swimming pools, children’s wading pools, playgrounds, tennis courts, soccer fields and community centers – all carefully woven into the landscaping.

The Lefrak Organization, which pioneered "total living" communities, went on to construct many others. Currently, the company is developing the $10 billion Newport on the Hudson River waterfront.

The Plaza Business Institute represents a unique example of the positive impact that a locally operated institution can have on the residents of Queens and New York City. Plaza is a specialized two-year college, accredited by the New York State Board of Regents.

The college, established in 1916, was founded by the Callahan family. Charles Callahan, Sr., and Charles Callahan III represent the family’s second and third generation leading the school. They continue to play a significant role in the educational, cultural and economic life of Queens.

Plaza’s successful educational model is primarily employment focused. The overriding goal of the college is to develop the students’ skills, work habits and attitudes, and to assist them in securing positions in Queens and other New York City businesses.

Plaza maintains an exceptional performance record in that the college graduates over 70 percent of entering students. Plaza’s job placement rate for graduates is even more impressive. Over the last 10 years, the college has averaged an over-93 percent placement rate in occupations related to the student’s course of study.

A large percentage of Plaza’s students are Queens residents who are either beginning new careers in business or upgrading their computer business skills. Plaza primarily serves an adult, ethnically diverse student body, reflecting the population of Queens.

Located in a newly renovated and expanded campus in Jackson Heights, Plaza offers associate degrees and three-to-nine-month certificate programs in both day and evening sessions. The college offers a variety of business programs, specializing in business-related computer competency taught by a college-certified faculty, in modern, state-of-the-art computer labs.