Meltzer, Larry | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1971 | This three-story warehouse is clad in a glazed brick and framed by the concrete supports. The minimal windows are aluminum with bronze glass. With its restrained entrance incorporating white marble or granite panels, it could be mistaken for a school or office building. Its location between two roadways of different heights means that vehicles can enter the rooftop parking lot and third floor from the rear access road. Today it is used, at least partially, as the New York Public Library Services Center.
Skidmore Owings and Merrill | Bronze Plaque for Banks | Extant | Jamaica Estates | Bank | 1971 | Designed by the prolific firm of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, this one-story bank branch has a long wall of white travertine panels facing Hillside Avenue. Originally this wall was unrelieved but a set of doors have since been added. The building is topped by a striking, geometric roofline of double tees. Both ends of the building are enclosed in a full glass wall and a now-closed drive through teller window is located on the interior side wall.
William N. Breger Associates | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | Forest Hills | School or College | 1971 | This building shows the continued move toward the minimalism of the 1970s with its largely unadorned facade of brick with plain window treatments and bold geometry of the sloped roofs above the entrance housing skylights for the interior spaces below. It was originally built as an Jewish Orthodox high school. However by 1981 the school had closed and today it is home to the Beth Gavriel Center, a Bucharian Jewish congregation.
John O'Malley and Associates | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Long Island City | Religious Building | 1969 | The front facade of this community center is dominated by a tiled mosaic in bright oranges and reds above the entrance and fronting a center stairhall. The rest of the exterior is tan brick with limestone trim. The award program also claims the building featured a motorized assembly hall, an unusual descriptor that could possibly refer to the ability to alter the space to serve other purposes.
Raymond Irrera Associates | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Corona | Public Building | 1968 | As noted in the original awards program, the Corona Library is a simple steel frame with the roof deck laid over bar joists. Most of what can be seen today on the exterior is part of an extensive renovation and upgrade by Gruzen Samton (also a firm which has received Queens Chamber awards). There is a minimal brick and metal facade covering and originally the entrance was recessed, but has since been filled in with a contemporary glass storefront. Gruzen Samton’s project also address modern needs such as ADA compliance and adding much-needed space with a light-filled reading room at the rear.
