Sunday, August 12, 2007

Gothamist visits 1950s Flushing

Reader Bill Leahy recently scanned a number of slides that his father took in New York City during the 1950s. Above is a picture of the intersection of Main St. and Northern Blvd. in Flushing, Queens.

More here: Flushing, Queens, NYC in the 1950s

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

we'll we all know who to blame for this nice neiborhood being turned into a shithole

Anonymous said...

Taken in front of the gateway to Flushing....
the RKO Keith's.... Theater looking south!

Wow....what a contrast!

Not much in the way of traffic congestion, filth, stench, unsanitary goods being wheeled about on handcarts.....or people leaving diseased sputum on the sidewalks.

No hordes careening into each other
trying to bypass the armies of leafleteers
who are hawking advertisements in our faces
for cut rate medical clinics, bargain basements or perhaps even massage parlors.

Let's all show our gratitude to the teeming unwashed minions who now make Flushing the"vibrant" sewer that exists today!

Anonymous said...

Now that's the Flushing I remember!

Anonymous said...

I wish I had a time machine.

Anonymous said...

Look at the cobblestone street (which is probably still beneath the blacktop).
It was once a town with character.

Anonymous said...

This article explains why Queens of today is not the Queens of the 1950's...
http://www.creators.com/opinion/pat-buchanan.html?columnsName=pbu

Anonymous said...

It looks like a depressed little town. There are many towns like this in Upstate New York -- places where you would be hard pressed to find anything to eat other than ham and cheese sandwiches.

Anonymous said...

It's depressing now. That's why I don't go there anymore. Too many people, not enough sidewalk. And what's up with all that spitting and nose blowing? Does anyone there use a hanky?

Back then it was a civilized user friendly place. If I wanted a ham and cheese sandwich I would know where to get one.

Looking at that photo, I crave for a Nedick's hot dog. Better yet, one from Grant's on a top-split buttered bun.

Anonymous said...

I can not stand the crowds in downtown Flushing. The sidewalks are so packed you have to turn sideways in order to make your way along them. If I had to deal with this on a daily basis I would go nuts.

Anonymous said...

So Flushing looked like a "depressed"
little upstate town to some.

Well there was a plentiful variety to eat then.

But their might be some more "exotic" varieties
one may "dine" on now.

Cat (yes feline creatures)
are considered a Chinese delicacy.

You'd better know what you're ordering.

Come to think of it.....there aren't as many rats
that you would normally expect
with the abundance of refuse strewn about.

H-m-m-m......might they be included among those amorphous little stir-fried morsels ?

Anonymous said...

Before criticizing another's cuisine -- isn't it a delicacy to eat bull testicles in the US?? (I think you call them Rocky Mountain Oysters. Also, you feast on chicken embryos every morning, which is repulsive to many people.

P.S. the rats and cats are only for "special" customers.

Anonymous said...

I've eaten just about anything from sushi to barbecued split lamb's heads.....the brains included....
(only after my grandfather had removed the eye with a fork which he considered a "delicacy") .

Is that good enough for you.....
so I'll feel free to comment any way I please.

P.S.
But I've never eaten what I suspect
you really love to "eat".....eh "Sven" ?

Need I elaborate any further? !!!

Anonymous said...

On several occasions,
a Chinese man was seen dressed in checkered pants
(the kind that restaurant workers & chefs wear)
with a baited fishing rod down by Fort Totten.

He wasn't trying to catch fish.

He was casting for Sea Gulls !

As soon as he caught one, he quickly killed it and put it into a sack (with the others).

Was his fresh "catch of the day" about to be
served up in a local eatery?

You'd better know what you're eating
and where your food is coming from!

Anonymous said...

Pass me a barf bag!

Does anyone remember Gould's Music Store on Main Street? Was a great place. I bought my first phonograph there, a Webcor table model. Was obsolete a few years later when stereophonic sound came in. But I loved my record machine. Yes, I am over 21.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Correction...."Sven" (?)......

Anyone who's passed high school biology knows
that a chicken egg isn't an EMBRYO
until the Hen has been "fertilized" by the Rooster first.

You had better have a talk with your dad
to learn more about f-----g!

Anonymous said...

The only store I recall from back when is Gloria's Pizzeria, which was located by the railroad overpass on Main Street. I used to eat there as a teenager in the early 80's. My friends from Flushing loved their pizza, but I was never really all that crazy about it, because the crust was very thin. When I held out a slice to eat it would droop down causing the sause and all to plummet onto my plate -- or lap!

Anonymous said...

I almost forgot.......
Try some eggs boiled hard in Oolong or Chinese Black tea .....they're delicious "Sven"......then there's the more common egg foo yung.
(I'm not sure if that last item is a Cantonese dish or a hybrid Chinese/American concoction like chop suey) .

You don't know eggs-zactly
what you're talkin' about .....do you? !!!

Anonymous said...

If you're such an expert on eggs answer me this:

Which came first the chicken or the egg?

And furthermore:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Anonymous said...

WOW!
I remember Gloria's... that pizza was always server BURNING HOT! always burned the roof of my mouth!
Remember the Roy Rodgers on the same block? Me and all my friends worked there when we were in Junior HS, we got our working papers.. LOL
How about Nobody beats the Wiz, which was next door to Burger King, or Crazy Eddie which was on Main Street close to Norther Blvd.
I remember my friends and I used to sneak in through the back door of RKO on Northern blvd to see movies. Or trying to sneak in the back door of the Prospect movie theater on main street. What about the Gold Mine jewelry and electronics shop that was where Busy Bee used to be. Remember when it burned down?
I miss the old Flushing, I hate it now China Town.
It really sucks now

Anonymous said...

The racism expressed in most of the comments here are repulsive.

It's called progress. I can find a few people who would look at that photo in pure disgust at the way Flushing had BECOME in the 50's. I am sure there was a time when it was farmland and small stores. But most of those people have dies of old age(which is why they dont post) as most of you will. Once you get over your mid/end life crisis and accept your mortality, you all will realize that things change. Things were no better back than and no worse than they are now.
When you compare Flushing property prices, schools, graduation rates, crime rates to the rest of city, you will see it a much higher value neighborhood now than before. Back in the 70s' it was a dying area and look at it now..... It ain't my cup of tea, but I do visit for the food since it is closer to Chinatown.

Anonymous said...

People living on top of each other in a crowded filthy slum is considered progress?

And by the way, why exactly isn't it your cup of tea? Is it because of what I mentioned above?

Anonymous said...

You dont know what you are talking about. People used to go from all over Queens to Keith's or shopping for imported tweeds at Abramsons or to see shows at the Armory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epUg4uGSt3Y&feature=related

Today it is a slum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urrQOLhHV5U&feature=related

Or maybe you are just doing handmaidens service for the clubhouse.

What you boys did to Queens is a crime - what you did to Flushing is a sin.

Anonymous said...

The racism expressed in most of the comments here are repulsive.

It's called progress.

_____

you sound like a typical white guy trying to curry favor (pun intended) with the machine.

most immigrants I know cant stand the place and are trying to move out as soon as they can.

you think because they are immigrants they like living in a shit hole.

you sir are the racist.