This old-style Redbird that sits outside Borough Hall will soon open as a tourist information center for the borough. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen
This old-style Redbird that sits outside Borough Hall will soon open as a tourist information center for the borough. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Queens
Borough Hall, built in 1940, is located on the north side of Queens Boulevard
and is bounded by Union Turnpike, 126th Street and 82nd Avenue. It houses the
Queens Borough President and a number of other City services as well as court
space.
Previously,
Queens’ municipal offices were scattered throughout the borough before being
brought together under one roof. Queens Borough Hall was originally built to
house the Queens Borough office, a post office and a traffic court –
demonstrating as early as 1940 that the Borough Hall was the home to all types
of civic activity, including judicial.
Planned
during the Depression, expense was spared and the low cost – a little over
$1.6 million - was the major design issue. The architects, William Gehron and
Andrew J. Thomas, eliminated elevators to swiftly build the structure in just
nine months.
This
long, low, three-and-a-half-story brick building has a central entrance marked
by angular columns. The building is in a very austere classical style, referring
to the modern style popular at the time.
 Queens Borough Hall is 66 years old. Tribune Photo by Ira Cohen |
Gehron
was responsible, with Alfred Easton Poor, for building the Criminal Courthouse
nearby. Earlier, as part of the firm of Gehron and Ross, he designed the Jewish
Theological Seminary in Manhattan and in 1958 his firm Gehron & Seltzer
designed Thayer Hall at West Point. Thomas, on the other hand, was best known
for his sought-after residential work, designing a number of the original apartment
buildings in Jackson Heights, as well as the model Dunbar Apartments in Harlem.
The architects struck even more notoriety when, in 1940, the Queens Borough
Hall won a design award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
This
was the county’s first dedicated Borough Hall and it symbolizes the growth of
Queens from a collection of rural villages to a bustling urban center. The
horizontal, clean-lined Borough Hall, along with the modern Criminal Courthouse,
define the Civic Center.
Helen
Marshall, the borough’s first African-American borough president, gathers for
monthly staff meetings with the Borough Board and her cabinet. People interested
in participating can contact her office at (718) 286-2800 to participate.
 Borough President Helen Marshall collected donations at Borough Hall to send to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf region. Tribune Photo by Dominic Totino |
Also
at Borough Hall is Board 9, representing Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven,
and various other communities in central Queens. They file constituents’ complaints
and helps deliver City services.
The
building is operated by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and
contains the following list of services for the general public:
City Clerk’s Office
(718) 286-2829;
(718) 286-2846
Ground Level
Department of Buildings
(718) 286-0790
Room 110
Department of City Planning
(718) 286-3170
Room 201
Department of Environmental Protection – Sewer and Water Permits
(718) 286-2600
Room 1-280
Department of Housing Preservation and Development – Anti-Abandonment Office
(718) 286-2758
Room G-100
Department of Housing Preservation and Development – Code Enforcement Office
(718) 286-0800
Room 1-330
Department of Transportation – Permit Office
(718) 286-2739
Room 1-240
District Attorney’s Office – Intake Bureau
(718) 286-6850
Room 3
Police Department – Auxiliary Police Section
(718) 520-9243
2nd Floor, Right side
Police Department - License Division – Rifle/Shotgun Section
(718) 520-9300
Room B-11
Post Office
(718) 263-8518
Basement
Queens Borough President’s Office
(718) 286-3000
2nd Floor, Left side
Queens Community Board No. 9
(718) 286-2686
Room 310A
Source: Department of Citywide Services www.nyc.gov/html/dcas