The Astoria community welcomed its beloved Steinway Street Clock — which spent the summer and much of the fall undergoing repairs in Massachussetts — back home with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday. Astoria Homecoming For Steinway Street Clock
One of the several clocks throughout New York City designed by Howard Post, the Steinway Clock was iron-cast 100 years ago and installed at 30-78 Steinway St. in 1922.
Although landmarked in 1981, the clock fell into disrepair in the ensuing decades and it took several years to secure the funding necessary to fix it.
The Steinway Street Clock is one of seven Post clocks landmarked citywide, including two in Queens, according to Bernardin. The borough’s other historic clock stands at 161-11 Jamaica Ave. in Jamaica.
When asked to elaborate on the historical significance of the clocks, Bernardin provided a quote from the Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report from August, 1981: “These clocks enhance and maintain the intimacy and scale of neighborhood blocks ... they represent a small extant sample of a clock type that once proliferated in New York and other American cities at the turn of the century ... as important and increasingly rare street amenities they make a very special and significant contribution to New York’s streetscape.”
They also don't hinder development. See also: Maspeth's landmarked lamppost, the sole landmark in Queens' oldest town (which was only designated because it's on a step street and DOT forgot to remove it).
Photo from Queens Chronicle
12 comments:
I wish Metropolitan Avenue a clock...it needs something to make it look like it received a makeover!
$40,000 in wasted effort. The clock will be hidden by trees in the middle of the block and never noticed.
They should have put it at the corner of Steinway and Broadway, and rechristened it Music Square.
What a missed opporutunity due to lack of vision and creativity.
The leadership of that community, on so many levels, is operating on autopilot. Go to any function and the average age is 70s.
That's awful pretty ain't it ?
Like putting lipstick on a hog !
Too bad the rest of Steinway Street
is being transformed into a 3rd world shopping center
full of cheap discount outlets
hawking low class goods!
Flushing had a street clock on Main Street near Northern Boulevard. It had Conovitz Jewelers in pink and green neon above the face. It was lit at night.
Like so much of Flushing, it disappeared. According to CB #7 it was stolen, after it had been designated a landmark in the early 80’s.
Hickory-dickory-dock.
Da schmucks put up da clock.
Da clock shtruck treee.
Da pols took dere peee.
Hickory-dickory-dock.
It's George Dice Clay!
hope the guy who stole the Conovitz clock winds up doing time. ;)
There should be an advert/sign placed above this clock
....as was customary..... reading,
"TIME TO LEAVE THIS PLACE" !
I remember that Flushing clock "Connie".
It went with the rest of the olde towne!
I went to Steinway Street yesterday for the first time since last summer. The stores are changing FAST, not the same quality as it was a few years ago. I guess it will be another area, like Main Street Flushing, that I won't go to anymore. It's a shame!!! BTW The clock is nice.
yea, but go over to astorians.com and all they talk about are taco crawls and new restaurants opening up.
say something not airhead and they whisper that one should be ignored or rules imposed.
yup, everthing is just fffiiinnneee in old Astoria. Just fine.
For exmple, when we mentioned EL MUNDO DISCOUNT and what a dump it is in an important part of the street, the response is 'well it seems always full.'
Well, what do you say when your community is going down the tubes.
You exist in a world of denial.
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