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.
Goldsmith, Saul | Honorable Mention | Extant | Long Island City | Industrial Building | 1950 | Thypin Steel is still in business within this massive structure, its signage on the roof visible from the nearby elevated highway. The building is a massive open interior space for handling steel. In one corner, offices and other smaller spaces are built within the larger shape.
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 | Honorable Mention | Extant | Woodside | Industrial Building | 1961 | J. J. Newberry was a prominent “Five and Dime” type store that went out of business in the early 1990s. This location most likely used for storage and distribution to the New York area. The corner of the building has a textured concrete block design, the rest is unrelieved brick.
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.
