Back in 1965, we were among the first tenants in 35-20 Leverich St., one of the pioneers of the ubiquitous Fedders Queens Crap being proliferated throughout the Borough today. I was five when we moved in, and am unsure of what stood on the land before 35-20 was constructed, but I do remember sifting through some debris (unbeknownst to my parents) left next to the building which appeared to contain remnants of someone's home.
Across the street (next to 35-15, I'm unsure of the address) stands a single-family home which has always captivated my interest. Even in 1965 it appeared anachronistic, a hold-out from another era, ensconced between the Leverich House apt. building and its more modern neighbors, single-family brick homes.I know Jackson Heights is not in the gunsights of these avaricious developers as often as other Queens communities, and I don't know if this little gem has even been targeted, but I thought I'd make you aware of its existence before it is razed for another piece of Queens crap.
I currently live in Clearwater, Florida, and am active in trying to preserve
historical buildings here - a losing battle against the greedy developers who continue to construct multi-million dollar condominiums where the mom-and-pop hotels once stood, rendering this area too expensive for many tourists to visit, and for many inhabitants to continue to live.
Keep up the great work! Community activism is the only way we can put an end to, or at least mitigate, the rampant destruction of our Queens. - Laura from the Sunshine State
3 comments:
Good luck on your preservation work down there and thanks for remembering Queens and sharing your memories.
She raises a good point. Increasingly we are hearing about development pressures across the country.
A good portion of this comes from immigration. (No, don’t go there. I am damn proud of my immigrant grandparents and my roots in other nations.)
Why should the resources of our nation be under pressure, and our tax dollars spent not to help us, but sustain a system of open borders to benefit the few landlords and employers that not only want to exploit immigrants, but to place them in direct competition with tenants and workers (many of them native-born) that are already living here?
Bluntly correct! Streams of illegal aliens pouring into our borough (and country) are often a temptation....a veritable target....for those without any scruples who are quick to abuse them! Their status makes them invisable except when it comes to eating up our tax dollars to fix up the problems they create.
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