TheBrewster Buildingis a 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m2) building at 27-01Queens Plaza NorthinLong Island City,Queens,New York City.Once an assembly plant forRolls-Royceautomobiles,Brewster automobiles,andBrewster airplanes,in particular theBrewster F2A Buffalofighter and theSB2A Buccaneerlight bomber, it later became the corporate headquarters forJetBlue Airways.
| Brewster Building | |
|---|---|
 View of the building from the south, including a bit of 27th St | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Completed |
| Type | Office |
| Location | 27-01Queens Plaza North Queens,New York11101 U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°45′01.8″N73°56′20.0″W/ 40.750500°N 73.938889°W |
| Current tenants | |
| Construction started | 1910 |
| Owner | BRAUSE PLAZA NORTH LLC |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 7 |
Usage by Brewster
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The building, designed byStephenson& Wheeler,[1]opened in 1911 to handle the assembly of the chassis for the Brewster cars that were being built since 1905 at47th StreetandBroadwayinTimes Squarein nearbyManhattan.The building was one of the first major developments at the foot of theQueensboro Bridge,opened in 1909, which reduced car transport from Queens to Times Square to a matter of minutes. In 1915 it began building the Brewster Knight.
In 1925, the company was bought byRolls-Royce of America,which had been operating out of a plant inSpringfield, Massachusetts.In 1931, the Rolls-Royce Springfield operation ended. From 1931 to 1934,Rolls-Royce Phantom IIchassis were shipped directly to the Long Island City plant when Rolls-Royce terminated its United States assembly program.[2]
From 1934 to 1936, under J. S. Inskip, Brewster automobiles usingFordchassis were built at the plant. The Brewster operation ceased in 1936.[2]TheBrewster Aeronautical Corporationmanufactured theBrewster F2A Buffaloand a version of theVought F4U Corsairknown as the F3A-1 duringWorld War IIat the plant. The multi-story layout of the building limited airplane production efficiency. The aircraft were flown fromRoosevelt FieldinMineola.[3]
Disrepair and reuse
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The building fell into disrepair following the war and its clock tower was dismantled in 1950. A series of garment manufacturers occupied the building until 1996.[1]In 1996, Brause Realty extensively remodeled the building and an adjoining 12-story tower and it became an operational center forMetropolitan Life Insurancewith 1,500 employees.[4]
In 2010, JetBlue announced it would combine employees at its existing largeKew Gardens, Queensand small 70-personDarien, Connecticutcampuses into the building, bringing 1,000 employees to it. JetBlue is the only major airline headquartered in New York City.[5]The new headquarters is 6 miles (9.7 km) from the previous one.[6]JetBlue, looking for a new corporate headquarters, had also considered moving toOrlando, Florida.As part of taking on the moniker of being the hometown airline of New York City, JetBlue announced it would be joint branding the "I Love New York"logo.[5]JetBlue stated in 2012 that it plans to construct a 40-foot (12 m) lighted sign stating "JetBlue" on top of the 8th floor, adjacent to the outdoor terrace.[7]
References
edit- ^abGray, Christopher (22 July 2001)."Streetscapes/Long Island City, Queens; After Hard Times, 1910 Auto Factory Gets New Life".The New York Times.p. 2.Retrieved2011-03-24.
- ^ab"Brewster Car Society".Dons-neatstuff. 1937-08-18.Retrieved2011-03-24.
- ^Stoff, Joshua (2010).Long Island Aircraft Manufacturers.Arcadia Publishing.
- ^"Brause Realty, Inc. - Real Estate Owners, Developers and Managers".Brauserealty.Retrieved2011-03-24.
- ^ab"JetBlue Airways - Press Releases".Investor.jetblue. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-07-18.Retrieved2011-03-24.
- ^"Leave New York City? Fuggedaboutit!".JetBlue Airways.March 22, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-12-15.RetrievedAugust 23,2012.
- ^"Taking JetBlue To The Sky(line) In Our New Home".JetBlue Airways.February 7, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-08-22.RetrievedAugust 23,2012.
External links
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Media related toBrewster Building (Queens)at Wikimedia Commons
