Queens Borough Hall
Encyclopedia
Queens Borough Hall is a public building in the Kew Gardens
neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City
which houses the Office of the Queens Borough President and other city offices and court space. It is located in the Kew Gardens municipal stretch bounded by Queens Boulevard
and Union Turnpike
among other roads.
Designed by architects William Gehron and Andrew J. Thomas in the austere classical style, it was built between March and November 1940 at a cost of some $1,800,000, low for its size. Featuring a red brick facade, was 580 feet long upon construction and four stories high; the office suite for the borough president and his or her cabinet was designed for the center of the building. The building was opened on December 4, 1940, with Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and many other city officials in attendance. The structure subsequently won a design award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
A previous Queens Borough Hall, built around 1910, had been located in the Long Island City neighborhood.
Queens Borough Hall was designed to serve as the center of civic life, and had other functions, such as a post office, when first built. It has become a popular spot for marriages, with some 9,000 of them being performed in the hall during 2006. Fridays are the most popular day for the ceremonies, which are presided over by the borough's deputy city clerk in a small chapel.
Frederick MacMonnies' heroically scaled and controversial marble allegory of Civic Virtue (1909-22) was moved outside Queens Borough Hall in 1941, and decades later was still drawing criticism from those who viewed it as depicting "masculinity as virtue and femininity as vice". An R33 "Redbird" New York City Subway
car has been outside Queens Borough Hall since after its retirement in 2001.
Kew Gardens, Queens
Kew Gardens is a triangular-shaped neighborhood in central Queens bounded to the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway , to the east by Van Wyck Expressway and 131st Street, to the south by Hillside Avenue, and to the west by Park Lane, Abingdon Road and 118th Street...
neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
which houses the Office of the Queens Borough President and other city offices and court space. It is located in the Kew Gardens municipal stretch bounded by Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Queens connecting communities from Midtown Manhattan to Jamaica...
and Union Turnpike
Union Turnpike (New York)
Union Turnpike is a thoroughfare stretching across central and eastern Queens in New York City. It runs from Myrtle Avenue in Glendale to Marcus Avenue in North New Hyde Park, about a mile into Nassau County, New York. Initially designed as a toll road, it takes a straight-arrow path from Kew...
among other roads.
Designed by architects William Gehron and Andrew J. Thomas in the austere classical style, it was built between March and November 1940 at a cost of some $1,800,000, low for its size. Featuring a red brick facade, was 580 feet long upon construction and four stories high; the office suite for the borough president and his or her cabinet was designed for the center of the building. The building was opened on December 4, 1940, with Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and many other city officials in attendance. The structure subsequently won a design award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
A previous Queens Borough Hall, built around 1910, had been located in the Long Island City neighborhood.
Queens Borough Hall was designed to serve as the center of civic life, and had other functions, such as a post office, when first built. It has become a popular spot for marriages, with some 9,000 of them being performed in the hall during 2006. Fridays are the most popular day for the ceremonies, which are presided over by the borough's deputy city clerk in a small chapel.
Frederick MacMonnies' heroically scaled and controversial marble allegory of Civic Virtue (1909-22) was moved outside Queens Borough Hall in 1941, and decades later was still drawing criticism from those who viewed it as depicting "masculinity as virtue and femininity as vice". An R33 "Redbird" New York City Subway
R33 (New York City Subway car)
The R33 ML was a New York City Subway car built by St. Louis Car Company in 1962–63. They were a "follow-up" or supplemental stock for the "A" Division's R29s and closely resemble them. Five hundred cars were built, serving on all IRT subway lines. They were rebuilt between 1986–1991...
car has been outside Queens Borough Hall since after its retirement in 2001.