Monday, September 1, 2008

College Point's past converted to crap

By most estimates, the house was built in the 1850s, and it belonged to a man named Hermann Schleicher.

In the late 19th century, the house became a resort that advertised “light and airy sleeping rooms” and “a good assortment of choice wines and liquors for medicinal purposes.”

It’s not easy to imagine that past today. The three-story house is now a seven-unit apartment building that tenants had to vacate this summer after the city’s Department of Buildings deemed its antiquated electrical system a fire hazard. Several other housing code violations have been filed against the owner, and according to some residents, the interior is in disrepair.


A Manse With a Past

In the 19th century, mansions that were home to wealthy German industrialists lined College Point’s northern tip. But only a handful of these structures remain today, replaced mostly by housing developments.

On one recent afternoon, a College Point preservationist and resident named Susan Brustmann talked about what the neighborhood has lost as she walked through the pale green hallways of the Poppenhusen Institute, a community center that occupies one of the area’s surviving Victorian buildings.

Ms. Brustmann is the institute’s executive director, and as she strolled the hallways, she pointed to photographs of long-gone mansions on the walls.

“That’s gone, that’s gone, that’s gone,” she said. “All replaced by brick boxes.”


Bloomberg desperately wants a legacy. He certainly has one in Queens.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, this is a legacy of the city wide preservation movement - that has managed to both protect their communities while selecting do nothing non entities in Queens to spin their useless wheels in the outer b's.

All they think Queens needs is Queens share of $200,000 they want from LPC (about $10,000) and a public lauding of useless Queensmarks.

Public education programs that will encourge an effective motivated grass-roots effort?

You kidding?

The mainline preservationists don't want to lose control or cache.

Anonymous said...

Queensmarks are not useless.

This helps Teri's efforts to ensure machine control over the borough by having the 'right' groups in the spotlight.

Anonymous said...

Yes, HDC is simply GUSHING over Queensmarks:

http://www.preserve.org/queens/collegep.htm

Funny. I don't see any in REAL historic neighborhoods THEY live in. How many remain after a decade?

Anonymous said...

I just have a big dispute with racist landlord looking at computer in yard here.

This old possessions of the past is a big waste of space that can be creating vast wealth!!
Bloomberg is doing his best with these Schlemiel goyum who habitually take a couple $$ and run to Carolina and play golf.

The Hindrance of all these Archie Bunkers with the 1 family houses, flagpoles & trees. Etc are the problem. They do not want to leave New York City!!

When are these insubordinates finally going to get the point the Mayor, The new people and New builders do don’t want them here !!

They need to:
-1 Die
-2 Give up or move to little shack with grass and Tomatoes on Long Island?

-Avi

Anonymous said...

I'm sure a slew of developers from Flushing are licking their chops to get their greasy hands on that lot.

It's a damn shame too the way they've let that building go into disrepair, you can tell it was once a thing of beauty.

Anonymous said...

If this were located in Manhattan
(or Brooklyn) it would have already been lovingly preserved through a more appropriate creative reuse of the building.

But this is "Garbage Point", as
the mayor and his cohorts view it,
to be haphazardly over developed without any cohesive or mindful plan.

They intend to show its surviving graceful structures from the past no degree of mercy!

And don't bother contacting Historic Districts Council.

The Last time its Queens born president Paul Graziano tried to get some equal time for our borough their old guard Manhattan contingent (supported by quisling Dr. Jeff Kroessler) fermented a palace coupe in an attempt to dispatch him !

Esperanza said...

you need to go to ''The Poppenhusen Institute &get informed...there is alot of ''History here!!''or go to amazon.com&read..before you make a comment!!