This is a 21-point chart showing Queens buildings of architectural, cultural, or social importance, all of which were bulldozed or burned out of existence between 1904 and 2017. It was impossible to include every building I would've liked, but here's what it does include: names, facades, years standing, and dozens of hours of research and illustration.
Printed in an open edition via Epson Stylus Pro 3880 at 17x22" on Epson Ultra Premium 192 GSM Enhanced Matte paper. Dimensions include a 0.5" margin. Signed and dated on reverse. This print is archival.
Included in the image:
1. the PanAm Worldport (1960-2013, a Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton building stylish enough to be featured in Life and Vogue when it opened, not large enough to deal with the higher passenger loads of the jet age)
2. Rockaway's Playland (1902-1987, home of the “Atom Smasher” roller coaster, closed after its insurance premiums octupled in 1986)
3. Bodine Castle (1853-1966, a granite home built by wealthy wholesale grocer John Bodine, eventually became the lumber mill office before being quietly demolished)
4. the Elks Lodge (1907-2017, sported a deluxe terracotta facade including three elk heads)
5. Far Rockaway Power Station (1954-2014, originally a coal station, converted to natural gas in 1994, sat on thesouth shore of Long Island in Far Rockaway)
6. Shea Stadium (1964-2008, was home of the Mets for 45 seasons, the Jets for almost 20)
7. Jamaica Town Hall (1869-1941, currently a McDonald's)
8. Queens Blvd. Wendy's (1970s-2013, an otherwise normal Wendy's that spent a few months dressed up as “McDowell's” during the filming of Eddie Murphy's “Coming to America”)
9. 5Pointz (1892-2013, formerly the Neptune Meter Company, spent its last several decades covered in street art, murals, and housing artist studios)
10. Masonic Temple (1905-2017, the enjoined Orthodox Meeting House and Cornucopia Masonic Temple was at 137-66 Northern Blvd in Flushing)
11. the Bay Shore Gertz (1962-2012, an example of the Jamaica HQ'd department store chain, was converted to a Stern's, then a Macy's, and was then demolished to build a Lowe's)
12. Laurel Hill Chemical Works (1870-2001, occupied a Newtown Creek spot for 13 decades under various names and ownerships)
13. Long Island Courthouse (1877-1904, destroyed by fire, replaced by the current building)
14. Flushing Carnegie Library (1904-1956, one of thousands of long and low libraries built with donations from industrialist Andrew Carnegie, replaced by a modernist library demolished circa 1993)
15. Jamaica Theater (1913-1960s, a large vaudeville house at 155-16 Jamaica Ave., occupied by a bingo hall in its later years)
16. St. John's Hospital (1900-1960s, eventually replaced by Long Island's tallest building, the 48-storey Citicorp Tower)
17. the Trioboro Theatre (1931-1974, a Mayan Revival-style theater, one of the artist's favourites in this series)
18. Niederstein's (1854-2005, a Middle Village institution, was Queens' oldest restaurant)
19. the Fountain House (1756-1914, AKA “Ye Olde Taverne,” located where the RKO Keith's Theater now stands)
20. Tisdale Mansion (1826-1985, the Robert Tisdale House, sat at 134 Franklin Street)
21. the Pepsi Cola Bottling Plant (1935-2001, its 120-foot wide sign currently dwells in Gantry Plaza State Park and was designated a New York City landmark in 2016)
