McGill, Henry J. | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Jackson Heights | Religious Building | 1950 | The Church of the Blessed Sacrament continues to be a beacon in this community with its graduated striped facing and blend of exotic and contemporary design on its tower. The architect Henry McGill was a prolific church designer and this is one of his most distinctive and also one of his last. He died in 1953 just two years after it was completed. However, according to the AIA Guide to New York City, the church design predates its construction by a decade, which would not be all that surprising given the strong moderne elements. McGill also did the other two earlier buildings on site, the auditorium (1933) and convent (1937).
Bousquet, George L. | Bronze Plaque for Rehabilitation | Extant | Flushing | Residence | 1949 | This residence was awarded as a rehabilitation not a residence, as the modern intervention was to expand the house from a one-family to two-family and one story to two, with an additional one-story extension. According to the awards program description, both residences have front and rear access. The interior was completely gutted and redone. The exterior remains mostly intact and features a facade of granite veneer on the first floor, shingles on the second, and a slate roof.
Republic Steel Engineers | Honorable Mention | Significantly Altered | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1949 | This building still stands although completely altered and serving a retail use. It was built as a distribution center for several of Republic Steel Corporation’s subsidiaries. The image from the program book shows a two-story warehouse with factory style windows on both levels and what looks to be concrete framing around the window banks and entrance area. The building was completely fireproof. It was altered around 1997 as a big-box type establishment and sits among numerous similar retail outlets.
Hohauser, William I. | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1948 | The Universal Steel Equipment Corporation building is located in a largely intact industrial zone in Long Island City. These blocks, located approximately between Skillman Avenue, 39th Street, the Long Island Expressway and the beginning of Queens Boulevard, shelter a number of Queens Chamber Award winners. This building is an example of how moderne design was moving into modernism with a long, low, streamlined profile. The materials are basic and include brick, concrete and glass brick with limestone and aluminum trim. This remains one of the most intact and earliest Queens Chamber winners. It is now occupied by a vitamin distributor.
Leppin, William F. with Lobejager, Charles M. with Perry, Shaw and Hepburn | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Woodside | School or College | 1948 | The J. Bulova Company was founded in 1875 in New York City as a maker of watches and clocks, becoming the largest watchmaker in the world. Subsequently, the Joseph Bulova School of Watchmaking was started in 1945 as a non-profit institution to provide training and rehabilitation for disabled World War II veterans, building a physical school just a few years later.
