Iconic buildings/symbols of Astoria or Queens

May 21, 2013 7:43 AM

I'm wanting to do a project similar to this, but for Astoria (specifically, if possible) or Queens (generally, if that works out better). So basically, I'm looking for suggestions of iconic people/places/things that represent the neighborhood and/or borough, and would evoke fond memories for folks who have lived there. I'm not going to be taking photos, so I'm not limited to things that currently exist or that are concrete (as a terrible example of this, I mean that an apple could represent "the Big Apple"). I've already thought of Shea Stadium and the World's Fair stuff in Flushing Meadows (QMA, Unisphere, NYState buildings, etc.) What am I missing, Queens-folk?
posted by unknowncommand to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

I only lived there a few years, but for me:

5 Pointz (Long Island City)

Silvercup Studios (also Long Island City)

and not quite sure if this is what you're looking for, but:
the Sunnyside arch (Sunnyside)
posted by matcha action at 7:55 AM on May 21, 2013 [2 favorites]

Grand Wine and Liquor and the Athens Cafe are my "iconic" Astoria destinations.

Steinway Street, but the marquees of all the old now-closed movie theaters are gone, so you can't even see the remains of its old glories.
posted by deanc at 7:59 AM on May 21, 2013

I love Queens dearly, but there's not a lot of impressive architecture here. For Astoria, the most notable structures are probably the Hell Gate bridge and the pool in Astoria Park. I'll second Silvercup Studios -- anyone above a certain age remembers when it was a working bakery, and the smell of bread would hit you as the 7 train went by.

Also in LIC is the Pepsi sign on the waterfront -- in Queens, you look at it from the rear.
posted by neroli at 8:01 AM on May 21, 2013

The Jackson Diner?
posted by Mchelly at 10:19 AM on May 21, 2013

Kaufman Astoria Studios?

The Astoria Park pool?

Check out these photos from the Greater Astoria Historical Society.

And here's all the entries tagged Astoria on Forgotten New York.


Also for Queens in general: Station Square/Forest Hills
posted by elsietheeel at 11:08 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]

When I think of Astoria, I think of the Hell Gate Bridge and the Museum of the Moving Image (formerly Kaufman movie studios); also Socrates Sculpture Park and the Noguchi Museum - which are technically in Long Island City, I suppose.
posted by moonmilk at 11:25 AM on May 21, 2013

(been an Astorian for 8 years, hi! :)

Queens in general:
-Unisphere
- Silvercup sign
- 5 Pointz
- Gantry Plaza - either view of (Long Island/Pepsi signs) or from
- view of Manhattan from Pulaski Bridge
- view of Manhattan from Queensboro Plaza

Astoria specifically: I think a wide angle shot from Astoria Park of the Triboro (RFK) and Hells Gate Bridges is exactly this. (there are lots of photos to work from out there.)

(Sorta related, as a former car owner who used to make a living driving all over NYC & LI...I rented a car JUST TODAY! to make a Long Island IKEA run...it's a shame that much of Eastern Queens is basically cut off from the MTA, unless you want to take a 3 hour bus ride. Lots of awesomeness out there.)
posted by AlisonM at 2:55 PM on May 21, 2013

Lemon Ice King of Corona?
posted by sigmagalator at 7:39 PM on May 22, 2013