Perlstein, Jerome W. | Bronze Plaque for Rehabilitations and Alterations | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1967 | The Walter Lippmann Building’s rehabilitation is truly wonderful and unexpected, although now marred by modern alterations. During the rehab, to keep costs down, a large tile mural was added to several areas of the exterior, including over the entrance, providing a striking focal point for this industrial street. At some point windows were punched through the main mural, destroying its integrity but the design remains mostly intact and is an enjoyable sight to come upon.
Salkowitz, A. H. | Bronze Plaque for Public Buildings | Extant | Long Island City | Public Building | 1967 | Some of the Queens Modern winners feature the use of new materials and here at the former Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting hall (since a church and now a special events space), the cornice is made of Granolux, which was a mid-century composite coating of marble and granite. It seems to have been a difficult material and is not mentioned frequently. The doors and windows are mirrored and the facade is glazed brick. The elaborate eagle flagpole dating from the veterans’ days remains today.
Saphier, Frederick | Bronze Plaque for Office Buildings | Extant | Jamaica | Office Building | 1967 | Mirrored glass began to appear more frequently in the late 1960s and here a bold bronze tinted plate glass and amber spandrel glass gives a corporate sheen to this former union headquarters. The building is raised up on a brick base with a large glazed brick band across the cornice as well. There is some marble cladding at the entrance stairway although its unclear if that is original.
Weston, Don and Martyn | Bronze Plaque for Residences | Extant | Far Rockaway | Residence | 1967 | These townhouses are distinctly modern yet try to retain the low-rise character of the Rockaways and encourage socialization through front and back porches. The main feature here is the low dip in the eave-line. The buildings are all completely fireproof. Similar townhouses nearby with large center gardens demonstrate the likely success of this development.
Shreve Lamb and Harmon Associates | Bronze Plaque for Schools and Colleges | Extant | Jamaica | Religious Building | 1966 | This educational building is built on a sharp slope above Hillside Avenue. The design is a simple brick faced box with peaked bays from the front connected to the neighboring church with a glassed in walkway. At the rear the building projects out over the parking lot with an additional floor exposed. A simple and effective design from the firm that gave us the Empire State Building.
