Levien, Robert E. | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1965 | The Russ Togs building is a large blank building, its facade of blocks of tan brickface intersected at regular intervals by narrow vertical lines of dark windows. There is a central core differentiated by a slightly higher facade wall, dark grey brickface, and a wall of windows above the entrance. The structure housed a prominent clothing manufacturer, well known and expanding when this facility was built, but bankrupt by 1991. The layout of three floors with 20 foot ceilings and 70,000 square feet was directly for the needs of the company’s line of business. Today the structure houses a cosmetic manufacturer.
Francisco and Jacobus | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Maspeth | Industrial Building | 1967 | The entrance to this expansive facility is at ground level through a parking structure. The rest of the complex rises above on a slight hill above 56th Road. While undoubtably state of the art at the time, there is not much to understand stylisticly about the plant, which is mostly a set of various one-story boxes housing the various functions of the plant. Even the subtle design of the garage entrance with curved pilasters has been removed and replaced with a standard utilitarian feel.
Stein, Julius | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Woodside | Industrial Building | 1961 | One of two Armor facilities to be honored, this is the much larger plant that encompasses an entire block (the other building is a tiny administrative showroom in Long Island City). The 70,000 square foot building is two-stories of orange brick and a prominent entrance of aluminum and enamel panels. Originally these panels were turquoise but have since been replaced with brown. The front of the building houses offices and executive spaces on two floors, while the rear of the facility is the same height but all one level of factory space with clerestory windows.
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.
Sirof and Sivertsen | Bronze Plaque for Industrial | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1965 | This building today serves as a social services center for the disabled but largely remains the same on the exterior from its industrial days as a factory for knitting and sewing. The structure is a large, singular rectangle with clad in brick with some granite details at ground level. There is a prominent double-height entrance framed by vertical and horizontal exposed steel beams, which originally had a cantilevered entrance staircase, since modified. The building is sited on a slope which accommodates a garage underneath the building for parking.
