Queens Plazais aplazastraddling the western end ofQueens BoulevardinLong Island City,Queens,between 21st Street and Jackson Avenue/Northern Boulevard(NY 25A).[1]TheQueensboro Bridgestarts near the middle of the plaza. It has aNew York City Subwaystop for theE,M,and Rtrains, theQueens Plaza stationbelow ground along the eastern edge, and another stop for the7,<7>,Nand Wtrains, theQueensboro Plaza stationabove the west central part of the plaza on elevated tracks.
History
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The location was the center of the 18th century village ofDutch Kills;twomillstoneswere preserved asrelicsof that time, to be displayed in a green space.[2]
20th century
editThe plaza itself was built to accommodate the connection of the Queensboro Bridge to Queens Boulevard, which opened in 1909. A street, named Jane Street, was widened by 90 feet (27 m) and was renamed Bridge Plaza North and South. Grassymedians,cut off at each intersection, divided the main and service lanes of the plaza. Sculptures made out of flowers and trees, including a 75 feet (23 m) "crescent with a Japanese cherry tree at its center", were prevalent. At the time, it was spacious, with only a few buildings on the sides and a solitaryflagpolein the center of the plaza.[3][4]Immediately to the southeast of the plaza was theSunnyside Yard,a storage yard for thePennsylvania Railroad(nowNJ Transit Rail Operations). The addition of railroads and a bridge made Queens Plaza easily accessible fromManhattan.[4]Queensboro Bridge Plaza or simply Bridge Plaza, as it was originally called, soon experienced an increase in real estate development.[5]
By 1915, the bridge was overcrowded with traffic, and subway tracks were built above the plaza. TheQueensboro Plaza station,a large two-level subway hub for theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit CorporationandInterborough Rapid Transit Company,opened above Queens Plaza in 1916-1917.[6][7]The construction of the Queensboro Plaza station necessitated the removal of Queens Plaza's landscaped medians.[4][8]: 140 From the 1920s throughWorld War II,Queens Plaza served as the location for many factories and warehouses, some of which later became office buildings, as well as a financial hub with several banks.[4]TheBrewster Building,a factory along the plaza, madehorse-drawn carriages,Rolls-Roycesand other cars, and theBrewster F2A Buffalofighter plane. TheLong Island Savings Bank,Silvercup BakeryandChase Manhattan Bank Buildingalso were built on the plaza.[3]Other banks included theCorn Exchange Bank,First National City Bank,andTitle Guarantee and Trust Company.[4]
By 1928, 86,000 cars went through the Queensboro Bridge and onto the plaza each day.[3][4][8]: 139 Queens Plaza came to be characterized as a "a new downtown", supplanting theHunters Pointsection of Long Island City in that regard.[8]: 138 In 1933, theQueens Plaza station,an underground subway station on theIndependent Subway System'sQueens Boulevard Line,opened at the southeast corner of the plaza.[9][10][11]
In the 1970s, Queens Plaza became a place for drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes to frequent, and was filled with trash, drugs, and broken glass.[12]Later, "agingChinese takeoutrestaurants,humidfried-chicken joints,sad-seemingdoughnut shops,[and] the Queens Plaza MunicipalParking Garage,a brown concrete structure resembling a 1970's [sic] filmmaker's idea of an intergalactic battle station "opened along the plaza.Strip clubsappeared in the 1990s, around the time that rehabilitation of the plaza started to be considered.[3]
21st century
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By the early 2000s, Long Island City was going throughgentrification,and new buildings were being put up, especially around Queens Plaza. In 2001, the area was rezoned, and 2,500 of about 5,000 apartments were built or planned within two blocks of the plaza. City officials decided to clean up the plaza, since the area was being gentrified.[12]In 2005, theU.S. Congressapproved a measure to demolish the municipal parking lot and turn it into a 1.5-acre (6,100 m2) park.[3]In 2009, $75 million was earmarked to clean and spruce up the area and to renovate the plaza.[13]
The renovation itself cost $45 million. It created a newpublic parkwithin the plaza, on the former site of the municipal parking lot; the park was envisioned as an "urban oasis" or neighborhood meeting place.[12]Another new public park, named Dutch Kills Green, was built as part of the renovation; it has 500 trees,wetlands,andpaversforstorm drainage.It is right next to two newhotels:the 16-floor, 183-roomHilton Garden Inn,and a 31-floor, 160-roomMarriott.[12]New office buildings are also coming into the area. Even though theMetropolitan Life Insurance Companymoved two-thirds of its employees from theBrewster Buildingon Queens Plaza North back toManhattanin 2006 because of the distance and lack ofrestaurantsin Queens Plaza, airline companyJetBlueand advertising and public relations firmPublicislater moved into the same former factory. Real estate developerTishman Speyerwas also looking for tenants for its Queens Plaza South skyscraper, named 2 Gotham South.[12]
While only 1,000 people lived on the streets immediately surrounding the plaza as of the2000 United States Census,[3]the area has been undergoing substantial new development. About 4,700 new rental units in 25 new residential buildings were expected to be completed in the Queens Plaza area by around 2019, as it grows along with the rest ofLong Island City.[14]
Notable places
editThe New York City Traffic Control Center at28-11 Queens Plaza Northcontrols the city's traffic lights.[15]
TheChase Manhattan Bank Buildingis aNew York City designated landmark,having been given such a designation in 2015. Located at 29-27 41st Avenue, with one side facing Queens Plaza North, it was one of the most prominent buildings on Queens Plaza when it was completed in 1927.[4]
References
edit- ^Seyfried, V.F. & Asadorian, W. (1991). Old Queens, NY in early photographs. New York: Dover
- ^Lauinger, John (September 24, 2009)."Colonial-era millstones in danger at Queens Plaza construction site, preservationists peeved".Daily News.New York.RetrievedApril 12,2024.
- ^abcdef"For Joey Hot Dog, a World on the Wane".The New York Times.July 9, 2006.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 21,2015.
- ^abcdefg"Bank Of The Manhattan Company Building"(PDF).New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.May 12, 2015. pp. 2–3.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
- ^"QUEENS BUILDING RECORD.; To Occupy Entire Block Front on Queensboro Bridge Plaza".The New York Times.September 10, 1911.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
- ^"NEW SUBWAY LINK.; First Train at Noon Today from East 42d St. to Queensboro Plaza".The New York Times.November 5, 1916.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
- ^"First Train Runs On Elevated Line to Astoria Section".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.February 1, 1917.RetrievedJune 29,2015– via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers
.
- ^abcSeyfried, V.F. (1984).300 Years of Long Island City: 1630-1930.Queens community series. Edgian Press.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
- ^"TWO SUBWAY UNITS OPEN AT MIDNIGHT; Links in City-Owned System in Queens and Brooklyn to Have 15 Stations"(PDF).The New York Times.August 18, 1933.RetrievedNovember 7,2015.
- ^"New Queens Subway Service Will Be Launched Tonight; Tunnel From Manhattan Open to Jackson Heights; Service Will Eventually Be Extended Through To Jamaica".Long Island Daily Press.August 18, 1933. p. 20.RetrievedJuly 27,2016– viaFultonhistory.
- ^"New Queens Tube To Open Saturday: Brooklyn-Long Island City Link of City Line Also to Be Put in Operation".New York Evening Post.August 17, 1933. p. 18.RetrievedJuly 27,2016– viaFultonhistory.
- ^abcdePristin, Terry (January 15, 2014)."A Major Renovation on the Doorstep of Queens".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedMay 21,2015.
- ^Tarquinio, J. Alex (July 28, 2009)."Cleaning the Grit Off Long Island City".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 31,2010.
- ^Konrad, Walecia (July 8, 2015)."Queens Plaza, a Neighborhood Under Construction".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 26,2020.
- ^Henely, Rebecca (July 21, 2011)."Changing Midtown signals in LIC".YourNabe.Archived fromthe originalon October 4, 2011.
External links
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