Queens by Ellen Freudenheim

Author:Ellen Freudenheim
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

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SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF HISTORIC JACKSON HEIGHTS

This is an approximately thirty-minute walking tour of some of the landmarked cooperative buildings built by the Queensborough Corporation in the early 1920s, which gave Jackson Heights the reputation as a community of garden apartments. The buildings have internal courtyards, often quite spacious, an amenity in stark contrast to the overcrowded conditions in many city dwellings in the early twentieth century. Look for: gardens in the back of the buildings, entrance vestibules that stand out from the buildings, details at the roofline, French doors with fanlights, slate roofs, and orange Spanish tiles.

Start at 82nd St. and 37th Ave. The corner Tudor-style building with English gables and lambs’ head decorations, now occupied by a North Fork Bank, was the headquarters for the Queensboro Corporation, which developed all of historic Jackson Heights. On 82nd St. you will see stores built in the 1920s and 1930s by the Queensboro Corporation as part of its vision of an architecturally coherent Jackson Heights. This commercial street has handsome neo-Tudor commercial buildings on both sides of the street. Today, it’s landmarked.

Moving to the residential areas, walk along 82nd St. bet. 37th and 35th Aves., where you can see Plymouth and Willow Courts (1916). Walking to 81st St. and 35th Ave., you can see where Scrabble was first played and informally product-tested at the Community United Methodist Church. Note the plaque that honors local resident Alfred Butts, who invented the game. Charmingly, the street sign resembles a Scrabble game piece.

Walk down 82nd St. bet. 35th and 34th Aves., passing (on your right) the colonial-style buildings (1915). Note their tiny front gardens and no sign of fire escapes. Arriving at 34th Ave. bet. 80th and 81st Sts., you will see the famous Chateau (1923) and Towers (1924) coops. Local historian Daniel Karatzas writes, “The Chateau, with its sumptuous garden, slate mansard roofs, and elegant carved limestone entranceways was the epitome of Jackson Heights style when it opened in 1923.” The Chateau and Towers stand opposite each other and occupy almost a full city block each, from 35th Ave. to Northern Blvd. You can’t enter, but you can glimpse their gardens. The Towers has a fountain and a baldacchino (formal ornamental columns) at its center. The Chateau has extensive shrubbery and trees. Walk to 80th St. bet. 34th and 35th Aves. to view the interior garden of the Chateau.

Across the street is Elm Court (1922), modeled after dormitories at Harvard. As a last stop, take a good look as you go down 80th St. bet. 35th and 37th Aves. because the term “garden apartment” was apparently coined for these buildings, called the Greystones (1917). Note the large front gardens, and interior gardens hidden behind their gray brick facades. Return to 37th Ave. and 82nd St. near the beginning of the tour. If you want to continue, check out the private homes (also part of the original 1920s Jackson Heights developments) on 86th and 87th Sts. bet. 37th and 34th Aves.

(NOTE: For the annual open house, see Jackson Heights Tours.

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