Silvercup West will dominate the skyline by 2009.
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New Development Overshadows History
By ANDREW MOESEL
The Queens we know today would be unrecognizable a little more than a century ago. Even as Manhattan turned into a major metropolitan center, much of Queens was essentially countryside and farmland.
In time, however, the borough would boom into an expansive urban area, currently second only to Brooklyn in population and commerce. That transformation did not occur overnight, but slowly evolved as one big development followed the other, each more ambitious than the last.
As times passed, new buildings structures continued to reshape the image of Queens, both residentially and commercially. Hindsight and historical perspective allow us to view the borough’s growth in context – as a fly under a microscope – but what seems conventional now often was radical when first proposed.
Developers have not been shy when testing boundaries of acceptable construction, for better or worse. Throughout its history, the guiding principle in Queens has been to make the current project bigger or better than the one before it.
Early Stages
McMansions and luxury condos are what impress most modern day residents, but in the 1600s, a spacious two-story home would represent one of the largest developments in the region. The Bowne House, named after its builder and original occupant John Bowne, a wealthy Flushing landowner and merchant, was such a place. Constructed in 1661, it originally possessed 21 rooms.
Two centuries later, a German immigrant named William Steinway again changed the culture of Queens, building a small village around his famous piano factory in 1870. The company town was self-contained, possessing its own post office, church, library and housing. It even had its own amusement park, located at the present site of LaGuardia Airport.
The Steinway development demonstrated that Queens could be a profitable commercial center, and, with its large pool of mostly German laborers, set a precedent for the ethnic diversity that would later become the borough’s hallmark.
Around the same period, as Long Island City became increasingly populated with new industrial interests – not to mention railroads – the City moved the county seat from Jamaica to a new courthouse constructed near the East River. That building, a two and half story structure designed with French influences, became one of the largest and most important places in the borough.
Surviving a fire and restoration around the turn of the century, the Long Island City Courthouse still stands and functions today, serving as a reminder of Queens history.
Apartments For One And All
As Queens became a more popular living destination, housing developments have become adept at accommodating for the diverse trends in the marketplace.
Queensbridge Houses was one of the earliest and most ambitious housing projects in the borough’s history, and even today stands as the largest public housing development in the country. Opened in 1939, Queensbridge houses an estimated 15,000 people in 20 six-story buildings.
Muss Devlopment’s $600 million Flushing project was announced last year. |
The first Queensbridge residents were a melting pot of European immigrants, most working their way into the city’s middle class. In the 1950s, the management lowered the income requirement for occupancy and transferred many families to other projects, replacing them with Black and Latino residents. By the late 1960s, minorities occupied the majority of the development.
Middle class residents increasingly were drawn to neighborhoods such as Rego Park and Forest Hills, which until the 20th century had been farmland. Private development companies – such as the Real Good Construction Company, hence “Rego Park” – began spreading the two family houses that now typify the area.
But as time passed and those properties grew more expensive, the need for more affordable housing became greater. That call was at least partly answered with the creation of LeFrak City, a 5,000-unit complex adjacent to he Long Island Expressway.
Borrowing ideas from Steinway Village, only on a much grander scale, LeFrak City revolutionized the community development industry with its “Total Facilities, Total Living” concept, which provided recreation, education, transportation and shopping all near the same premises. Completed in 1969, LeFrak City rooms, all air conditioned, were offered at the currently incomprehensible price of $40 a month.
But Queens did not abandon high-class appeal altogether. Near the Nassau County border, at the highest point in the county, North Shore Towers were built in the early 1970s as part of a tax abatement program to encourage development. Made up of several 33-story buildings, North Shore offers more luxurious accommodations, including its own country club and golf course.
The Next Wave
Large commercial developments in the 1970s and 1980s laid the groundwork for a new wave of ideas in the new millennium.
Officials cut the ribbon at the Queens Center Mall in 1973, the first shopping center located in the heart of the borough. Even as the names have changed, shoppers have flocked to the mall over the years, making it the most profitable mall per square foot in the country.
This year a new development called The Shops At Atlas Parks hopes to duplicate that success, opening a shopping mall and recreational center in Middle Village during the spring. By attracting brand name stores and local favorites, the developers say they want to create a town center atmosphere within the community.
Along the East River, an area long dominated by warehouses, the Queens West initiative established a new base for luxury apartments. Now entering its second of four phases, officials broke ground recently on two new apartment buildings catering to middle and upper class residents.
Those new residents have brought new commercial interest along streets such as Vernon Boulevard and Jackson Avenue; especially fine restaurants and bars more commonly seen in Manhattan.
The culmination of this renewed interest in Queens’ waterfront lies in the announcement of Silvercup West, a $1 billion expansion of Silvercup Studios that incorporates new parks, offices, residential towers, museums and commercial space along the coast. As the shimmering glass structures catch the eyes of commuters as they cross the Queensborough Bridge, it will signify a gateway into the future and potential of Queens.
Its glass towers are expected to open within a few years of Muss Development’s $600 million Flushing Town Center, the $600 million new Mets stadium as slew of other projects seeking to cut aside their slice of the Queens skyline.
There’s no telling what big development they will come up with next.
