Mrs. Mott's Douglaston house to be drastically altered

Here's some history:

38-60 Douglaston Parkway, constructed in ca. 1865, is a two-story, 4 bay, wood frame, rectangular plan, single-family residence. The one-and-a-half-story sub-type has a strong Greek Revival presence with elements that include a heavy cornice and deep fascia boards; 6/6 double-hung wood sash windows; a hip-roofed portico with plain entablature supported by substantial wood piers, and a rectilinear transom and sidelight configuration at the front door. The cornice at the north end of the street elevation is embellished with Italianate paired brackets. Other features include a cross-gabled roofline, and louvered wood shutters. A one-story, flat-roofed wing is attached at the rear (west) elevation. An early twentieth century, two car garage is placed at the southwest end of the property.

The first documented house constructed in the Village of Marathon was the John Quade (later) house, built in 1854 and located at 39-18 Douglaston Parkway. For over one hundred and twenty years, the west side of Douglaston Parkway north of the railroad tracks up to Bay Street (originally Myrtle Place), was lived in by members of the Quade family, an extended tenant farm family originally from Ireland. The earliest remaining buildings are the John Quade House, later shown as the P. Dimmeny house on the Beers Atlas of Long Island (1873); the D. Starkings house (c. 1865), located at 38-80 Douglaston Parkway; and the Mrs. Mott house (c. 1865), which was moved from just south of the John Quade house in 1956 to its current location at 38-60 Douglaston Parkway.

Mrs. Mott's house, saved from destruction 6 decades ago, is soon to lose all of its historic value and character. A permit for "vertical and horizontal extensions" was issued this week. This will basically look like a brick box when the dust settles.

We can thank Council Member Dan Halloran for this. He has been opposed to everything that's been calendared by the LPC since he became council member.

The Douglaston Extension is the only ORIGINAL part of Douglaston left, with the original farmhouses, etc. - and he's against it because it is "our right in liberty and freedom to develop our property as we deem fit in America" and "property owners should not be forced to landmark their property against their wishes" because it's a "taking of property rights." Never mind that the extension was supposed to be included in the original designation of 1997 with the rest of Douglas Manor, and the LPC was going to follow-up on it - which they did.

Dan stated - flat out - during the 2009 campaign that he was against landmarking the Douglaston HD Extension in principle but understood that there were mitigating circumstances (that it was supposed to be included in 1997) that changed his opinion. As soon as he took office, he reneged on that position. He's opposed to other two designations because property owners are opposed. Sometimes there is an overriding public need to protect something. In the case of the Ahles House, it's the last remnant of the Bell family, who essentially created Bayside. Here's another example:

39-12 Douglaston Parkway, constructed ca. 1910, is a two-story, 2-bay, wood-frame, L-plan, late Queen Anne style residence. The straightforward ‘Free-classic’ farmhouse has a wrap-around hip-roofed porch on the east and south elevations supported by stylized classical columns, interspersed by a simple wood porch railing. The building is finished with wood clapboard siding and the 1/1 double-hung sash are flanked by louvered wood shutters. The two-story projection on the south elevation is gabled, but does not rise to the full height of the main roof; it contains a one-story angular bay with a hipped roof. The site drops off sharply to the west close to the street and the long lot terminates at a seasonal pond.

The pond was filled in by the owner. Then he built a horrible addition to the original house. Then the house went BOOM. Then he demolished most of the original house. Apparently, he started reconstruction today and is bricking over the remnant that's still standing.

Dan Halloran, by putting a roadblock between the LPC and the designation of these homes, is personally responsible for the destruction of one of the oldest remaining streets left in Queens - first the Huang construction explosion disaster and now 38-60 being destroyed by a developer - because his ideology - and lies - have gotten in the way of saving the history of our neighborhoods for future generations to appreciate.