Perlstein, Jerome W. | Honorable Mention | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1955 | This industrial building retains its original materials of brick with a flat metal roof. The main change has been the enclosure of the windows at the corner of 48th Avenue and 36th Street to create smaller clerestory windows. Originally this entire section had show windows that would have featured the products that Do All Eastern made. Today the building is used by Rama Enterprises, a company that ships products to Thailand.
Klein, Stanley H. | Bronze Plaque for Residences | Extant | Jamaica | Residence | 1955 | Giving the appearance of a ranch dwelling (and called essentially the same thing in the awards writeup), the majority of award winning features seem to be on the interior of this residence, among them a curved entrance stair, a two-story ceiling height at the entrance, and a combined living room/dining room with windows overlooking the rear garden. The main takeaway from the exterior is the placement of the garage under the building due to the structure’s siting on a slope.
Kahn and Jacobs | Special Bronze Plaque | Extant | Jamaica | Office Building | 1955 | One of the era’s selected Special Bronze Plaques went to this building. Scandinavian Airlines was making a statement with this building, siting it at a triangular point above the intersection of two major roads and using gleaming white brick as the main material. Kahn and Jacobs were also prominent designers of the era so this building has more to do with the showmanship seen with some of the major airport buildings. The neighborhood, while somewhat an arbitrary choice, was supposedly chosen as a location halfway between the two airports. The design is distinctly echoing in the white brick and glass of International design rather than the brick of the immediate surrounding area. Unfortunately, the building’s fortunes did not rise and once Scandinavian Airlines moved, the building has limped along, currently being occupied by a bank and a senior health care facility.
Bousquet, George L. | Honorable Mention | Extant | Jamaica | Bank | 1955 | The former City Savings and Loan is one of several Colonial Revival banks built in the mid-century. The one has a double height semicircular portico fronting a brick faced building topped by a slate covered roof and a white octagonal cupola complete with clock and weathervane. A wing running along Hillside Avenue includes two covered entrances for cars to reach the rear parking area and its roofline is topped by a Jeffersonian wooden railing.
LaPierre Litchfield and Partners | Honorable Mention | Extant | Jackson Heights | Bank | 1955 | The Jackson Heights Savings and Loan Association still stands prominently at this corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Gleane Street, visible from the 7 train line immediately adjacent. The bank is sited on a long triangular lot with a projecting double-height glass entrance. Behind the entrance the rest of the building is one-story with a brick facade and a line of windows along Roosevelt Avenue.
