Happy Hanukkah! Our Landmarks Elicit Light, Soul, & Miracles

THEN: Rego Park Jewish Center at 97-30 Queens Blvd had its cornerstone laid in 1948. RPJC was designed by Frank Grad & Sons in a Bauhaus variation of the Art Moderne style, by the same firm which designed the Essex House on Manhattan's Central Park South. This photo is from 1950.

NOW: Rego Park Jewish Center proudly stands today, & has been honored by placement on the State & National Register of Historic Places in October 2009.

Happy Hanukkah! Let's celebrate in the name of miracles, and believe in the miracles of achieving preservation success stories to inspire us all. Too much beauty and historic significance is often sacrificed in the name of progress, but it is the gifted creations of mankind and the creations of nature that should withstand the test of time in a physical sense, rather than only existing in our minds or in the history texts. 

This is the Rego Park Jewish Center flickr photoset, and we are thankful that it has been placed on the State & National Register of Historic Places in October 2009 due to our research collaboration and advocacy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/sets/72157605758107073 

Given this distinctive status, Rego Park Jewish Center is now commemorated statewide & nationally, and the RPJC board has the option of for grants through the NYS Historic Preservation Office, as well as applying for funding through the NY Landmarks Conservancy non-profit's Sacred Sites Program.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall's "Queens Synagogues National Register of Historic Places Reception," Dec 15, 2009 - Rego Park Jewish Center staff with BP Helen Marshall & Michael Perlman of Rego-Forest Preservation Council

We are thankful to our members of Rego-Forest Preservation Council, and our colleagues and friends who volunteer and support us as a community preservation organization.

Rego Park Jewish Center's mosaic mural adorns the Queens Blvd main sanctuary facade, & depicts scenes from the Old Testament. This mural was designed by Hungarian-born artist, A. Raymond Katz, a prominent figure in 20th century Judaic art in America.

  
Let's continue taking the steps towards preserving Rego Park, Forest Hills, and the great legacy of our neighboring communities.  

RPJC's sanctuary has 2 walls of stained glass windows which span the height of the sanctuary, & were also designed by the famed A. Raymond Katz.

Celebrate the "Festival of Lights," and seek and embrace miracles year-round. May there always be light!

MacDonald Park Meeting Calls For Proactive Approach By Our Volunteers To Restore Forest Hills' Historic Anchor

Since the early 1930s, MacDonald Park with its Gerald MacDonald statue, has been an anchor of Forest Hills. However, in early August 2011, park-goers and passersby began to notice disturbing issues. Chair Michael Perlman of Rego-Forest Preservation Council, submitted a 12-page photo survey to the NYC Dept of Parks, with copies to our elected officials: http://www.scribd.com/doc/62766462/Macdonald-Park-Maintenance-Problems

 Since the survey submission, members of Rego-Forest Preservation Council began discussing the creation of a voluntary subcommittee which would engage in proactive strategies for maintaining, beautifying, and enhancing MacDonald Park. On Oct 2, 2011, members were grateful to hold a meeting in MacDonald Park with Parks Manager Rene Herrera, who serves the CB 6 vicinity, comprising of Forest Hills & Rego Park. Hassan King of Partnerships For Parks has also been very helpful towards our cause, and plans on meeting with us as well. The Parks Dept could always benefit through the role of volunteers, considering the city's budget, and also as a result of the progress of a public-private partnership.


Primary Topics of Discussion

1. Almost 10 trees that were planted in April 2011 at the One Thing That's Green event have perished prematurely. It may be attributed to the late July drought. Those trees will be replaced, since they are under warranty. Rego-Forest Preservation Council members suggested replacing the irrigation system which was dismantled during the Sept 2010 tornado, & Rene Herrera thought it would be a good idea for us to look into the possibility of acquiring a drip sprinkler system.

2. We discussed the possibility of a mature tree moving company to strengthen the integrity of our park trees, by engaging in methods of stabilizing them and pruning when necessary. Historically speaking, mature trees can be excavated and transplanted! There is no replacement for a mature tree, which fosters much beauty, shade, and purification of our air.

3. Rego-Forest Preservation Council's subcommittee will assign volunteers to help maintain the park by cleaning, watering, and planting bushes, flowers, and trees upon agreement per project. We will be on the lookout for organizations that can donate these plantings, so bald areas on the lawn and some unkempt bushes will be addressed, for example.

4. The centerpiece of MacDonald Park is the historic Gerald MacDonald statue. Its base contains text, but weathering has taken its toll, making it difficult to decipher the statement of dedication. Rego-Forest Preservation Council plans on nominating the statue and the park for the State & National Register of Historic Places. If the nomination is successful, it will commemorate the park, and open the door to federal tax credits and state-matching grants, among other potential incentives, and allow for the restoration of the statue and park over time.

5. A bench that went missing, which was documented in our August 2011 survey submission to the Parks Dept (above) has been restored almost immediately thereafter, and graffiti on the MacDonald Park plaque has been cleaned off.

Press To Date


1. NY1 News interview: Forest Hills Residents Want Parks Dept To Fix Up MacDonald Park

2. Queens Chronicle: Civic Group Seeks Partnership

3. Forum West, Dead Trees In MacDonald Park Worry Residents

4. Forest Hills Patch, The history of MacDonald Park, written by Michael Perlman:
http://foresthills.patch.com/articles/local-history-macdonald-park

We thank Rene Herrera, Parks Manager of CB 6, and the Parks Department for their willingness to work with us. We also thank Hassan King of Partnerships For Parks for his assistance and plans to meet with us in the near future. 

If anyone is interested in joining our subcommittee to help maintain the park, and volunteer with and/or support Rego-Forest Preservation Council, please e-mail Michael Perlman at unlockthevault@hotmail.com

Forest Hills Post Office History Recognized in Queens Chronicle

The Forest Hills post office under construction in September 1938 and completed in 1940. The topless female sculpture above the door was criticized at the time. The building behind the facility is labeled “Forest Hills Fireproof Storage.” Courtesy of Ron Marzlock, Queens Chronicle Historian

 

A post office deemed risque 1

The Forest Hills post office under construction in September 1938 and completed in 1940. The topless female sculpture above the door was criticized at the time. The building behind the facility is labeled “Forest Hills Fireproof Storage.”

Forest Hills Post Office in September 1938 - Courtesy of Ron Marzlock, Queens Chronicle Historian

2007 photo courtesy of Greg Godfrey

The Forest Hills Post Office is currently the only building in Forest Hills on the State & National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for federal tax credits and state-matching grants for preservation-friendly upgrades & restoration work. Rego-Forest Preservation Council is currently documenting the Forest Hills Post Office's history and authentic features for a good cause, so imagine how we felt when we discovered the building in the 8/4 edition of the Queens Chronicle's "I Have Often Walked" column, written by Historian Ron Marzlock:

Queens Chronicle: A Post Office Deemed Risque

In the 1930s, most post offices in Queens were little candy store-type buildings housing only a few letter carrier routes in a leased building.

In June 1936, the Emergency Construction Program Act was passed. Politically strong Forest Hills was able to arrange the construction of a federal building to house a post office, at 106-28 Queens Blvd.

The new building was to be a showpiece of the area, topped off with a sculpture called “The Spirit of Communication.” The Art Deco-style work, a bare-breasted woman holding a clock and dove, was denounced by conservative 1938 Forest Hills as bad art in bad taste. But sculptor Sten Jacobson’s creation was valued at more than $150,000 in 1990, and is protected today and cared for by the General Services Administration.

Most other buildings of the era put up by the Works Progress Administration got a painting for artwork. Forest Hills got real sculpture. The other fortunate areas of Queens to secure WPA buildings for a post office were Jackson Heights, Woodhaven, Far Rockaway and Flushing. All of them are protected by landmark status.

Today, the fine 71-year-old structure facing MacDonald Park is dwarfed by the highly-concentrated apartment houses which have since engulfed so much of Forest Hills. At least it’s not one of the five post offices in Queens the United States Postal Service is considering closing.

"The Spirit of Communication" adorns the terra-cotta facade. Recent photos courtesy of Michael Perlman, Chair of Rego-Forest Preservation Council

Polished brass doors bear Art Deco handles

The Forest Hills Post Office made the grade on the 10th annual walking tour of Downtown Forest Hills in September 2010 by Historian Jeff Gottlieb, President of the Central Queens Historical Association.

Admiring the verticals and cubism of an International Style/Art Moderne Federal building. Most other post offices designed in the 1930s & prior were of (Georgian) Colonial design in Queens. This design would be found in a 1939 World's Fair pavilion, but this predated it! A patriotic mark is made upon Queens Boulevard!