Borough historian lays out agenda

From the Times Ledger:

Flushing resident Jack Eichenbaum, plans to focus on environmental preservation, changes in Queens’ demographics and using technology to document history in his new role as borough historian, he said during a ceremony celebrating his new post last week.

“This is the garden borough and we’re paving it,” Eichenbaum warned last Thursday at Queens Borough Hall.

Eichenbaum, who was appointed historian by Borough President Helen Marshall in June, was joined by a large group of history and preservation buffs as well as civic leaders, at the Queens Preservation Council reception.

The new historian said he plans to work with area colleges to document the changing demographics, including archiving interviews with community leaders from different ethnic groups.

He also stressed the need to attract Queens’ newer residents to the preservation movement in the borough.

“We’ve got to get the second-generation immigrants interested in preservation and history in Queens,” Eichenbaum said.

New technology could be a big boost when it comes to documenting changes in Queens, including using aerial photographs to show shifts in population and buildings trends, Eichenbaum said. Additionally, he said he would like to create walking tours in the borough that individuals could access from their cell phones.

“You could hook into a recorded walking tour for wherever you are in Queens,” he said. “It would be free and maybe funded in part by merchants along the tour.”