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The Richmond Hill Historical Society, the Queens Preservation Council, and the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance will hold a protest rally in Richmond Hill Sunday at 2 p.m. to increase their push for a new historical district designation in Queens.

The rally will be held in front of Simonson’s Funeral Parlor at 86-01 Lefferts Blvd. The old-style funeral parlor, which has housed the Richmond Hill Historical Society for years, was recently sold and will soon close down.

“The handwriting on the wall is that it will probably be demolished and converted into new homes,” said Queens Historical Society President Mitchell Grubler. “The same thing is eventually going to happen to beautiful Victorian houses in the area. Dangers to the historic integrity in Richmond Hill keep accelerating.”

The Four Borough Neighborhood Alliance, a coalition of many of the “outer” borough historic groups, was formed by former Queens Historical Society President Stanley Cogan about a year ago, and meets twice a month. Grubler said the alliance was created because there were many organizations with the same goal of preserving the city’s architectural character.

Attempts at landmarking Richmond Hill date back to 1997, when the Richmond Hill Historical Society first requested it. In December, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall wrote a letter to Landmarks Commission Chairman Robert Tierney to further push for a landmark designation.
However, the landmarking process is known to be a lengthy endeavor, so frustrations are boiling.

“We really need to get a historic district now, we cannot wait any longer,” said Richmond Hill Historical Society President Nancy Cataldi. “Rezoning does not seem to have made a difference because these great historic houses are still coming down.”

“In many cases, it is too long a process. By design, it is understaffed and intentionally slow,” Grubler added.

Because the Richmond Hill Historical Society had been running out of Simonson’s Funeral Parlor, Cataldi said the society museum has relocated to Kearn’s Funeral Home on 115th Street and Myrtle Avenue. Despite the upheaval of the move, Cataldi’s concern remains focused on the future of Simonson’s.

“Simonson’s is part of our proposed historic district for Richmond Hill, so to lose this magnificent structure would be horrendous,” she said.