 | |||||||
| Home | Email Us | Find It | What's New | Back | Next | ||
| VIEWER MESSAGES | ||
|
| MISCELLANEOUS | ||||
|
||||
  Pictures dated 1941 and 2004
Click images to enlarge The Kew Bolmer Apartments as seen from Queens Boulevard
"The Kew Bolmer (80-45 Kew Gardens Road) was designed in 1914 for the acute angled intersection of Queens Boulevard and Kew Gardens Road at the edge of the new community. Like the nearby Kew Gardens Inn that would go up six years later, the Kew Bolmer must have been sited to take advantage of the rural views looking east over the Queens Valley (Flushing Meadows) as well as the Boulevard's new trolley line that ran via the Queensborough Bridge into "the city." handsomely designed to fit the triangular site, it had balconies facing west, a picturesque cornice to delight those traveling east on the Boulevard, and surrounding gardens that are today buried under commercial store fronts."
[Barry Lewis, Kew Gardens: Urban Village in the Big City, pp. 42 - 43 (Kew Gardens Council for Recreation & the Arts, Inc. 1999).]   Pictures dated 1941 and 2004
Click images to enlarge The Pennsylvania Drugstore at the corner of Queens Boulevard and Kew Gardens Road
If you have pictures of yourself showing any Kew Gardens locale in the background, email me high resolution jpegs and I will post them here as space permits.
To download a copy of the Queens Courier's Sept. 2003 article about Old Kew Gardens.com, click on one of the following links. Turn off your browser's auto-resize if the JPEG text appears too small to read. [JPEG - 240kb] [PDF - Hi Resolution, 379kb] [PDF - Low Resolution, 97kb ] |
April 2005 Guest Book
My name is Bill Grimmel. I lived in Kew Gardens from 1947-1987. I was baptised in and was a member of the congregation of the First Church of Kew Gardens. I was married there too. I attended PS 99 from '53-'59, RSJHS from '59-'61, RHHS from '61-'64, Queens College from '64 on. I lived at 117-14 Union T'P'Ke - The Kew Terrace Apartments. I appear in several of the PS 99 class photos. I now live in Seattle, Wa. I'd be happy to correspond with anyone that knew me or that have questions about Kew Gardens.
Sincerely,
Bill Grimmel
[To contact Bill Grimmel, click here]
Mini Reunion
April 21, 2005
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
April 18, 2005
PLEASE tell me what is going on with construction at the Regents Row Pub.
It's looking awfully like the new occupants have destroyed the facade -- and am getting the terrible feeling that yet another part of Kew Gardens has been tossed away.
Why isn't the association doing something about this? In general, I see trees being cut down -- without replacement, new stores on Lefferts Blvd. that are only pulling the neighborhood down (the 99 cent store). It's all really outrageous. We should be preserving and restoring -- and it doesn't look that way to me.
I commend the Bliss Cafe and Ascend for their aesthetically pleasing appearance, valuable service to the community and quality service.
[Unsigned] [No. 001]
[To contact the writer, click here]
Editor's Note: Signs posted at the site indicate that the old Regent's Row is being converted into two stores. The inside has apparently been gutted and renovated, so not a trace remains of the old restaurant. The loss of the frescoes painted on the interior walls of the old Regent's Row is sad. I do not know what businesses might occupy those stores, but I will try to find out and give you an update. As to the Kew Gardens Civic Association, there probably isn't much it can do. The building is not designated an historic landmark, so the owner is free by law to alter it as he sees fit as long as the final result complies with the zoning laws, which notices posted at the site indicate it will. So, because it is private property, the Association has no way to stop the renovations or to veto what businesses might lease store space there or anywhere else in the community.
04/20/05 Update: The Civic Association's best information is that the site of the old Regent's Row will become a pizzeria. If true, it's an odd choice of tenants considering that Dani's House of Pizza is just across the street.
35th Earth Day Celebration
April 16, 2005
Gary, at Linda's Organic Kitchen & Market, said he would like to celebrate the 35th "earth day" at the health foods store at 81-22 Lefferts Boulevard between Grenfell and Austin Streets. We are having another poetry and music evening. The event is scheduled for Friday, April 22nd at 8:00 P.M. Everyone is invited to attend. If you'd like to perform, please contact me.
A. Adler
[To contact Aaron Adler, click here]
April 16, 2005
Thanks for an informative and great-looking site. I had gotten the address from a mail message sent to me by Joe, who was answering a query of mine about war memorials. Thanks for everything.
Best,
Cal Snyder
[To contact Cal Snyder, click here]
April 15, 2005
Hello Joe:
My name is Gus I have been living in KG since 1978 at the Mowbray. I never graduated from PS 99 since I am an immigrant from Argentina, but a US citizens since 1986. However I taught at PS 99 for few years at the night school the course of Travel and Tourism. I do not mind to have my e-mail published. I found the site today searching for pictures of KG to sent to a friend. I also found Barry Lewis book inspiring and very well documented. It made excellent reading during the winter.
While I was reading it I thought of the idea of having a flag for the "Urban Village " A civic flag for the residents and businessmen of KG. A flag of no political and religious significance but to be proudly hoisted by all its resident as a show of belonging.
I leave you with that thought and I will love to hear your comments of the subject.
B.Rgds-Gus
Gustav Tracchia
82-67 Austin St. Apt. 205
Kew Gardens, NY 11415 - USA
April 15, 2005
For those Kew Gardeners who went to Russell Sage Junior High School during 68-70 it is with great sorrow that I have to tell you that Leslie Braunstein passed away this past week while living in Florida.
Lori Olf Curran
[To contact Lori Olf Curran, click here]
April 14, 2005
Editor's Note: Because I have been receiving so much spam, I have had to change the way messages are posted to the guestbook and "Where Are They Now?" pages. Instead of online forms (which could be submitted anonymously), all messages will have to be submitted by email. The fastest way to do that is to go to the Email Me page and click on the appropriate email link under the headings "Guestbook" or "Where Are They Now? A blank email page will open with the subject and categories of information.
Forest Park 1950
April 10, 2005
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Michael Gruenberg
Lived in Kew Gardens: 1946 - 1980
Home of the Week
April 9, 2005
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Chatillon Scale Factory
Editor's Note: The latest edition of The Queens Chronicle newspaper reports the closing and possible razing of the Chatillon Scale Factory on Kew Gardens Road east of Lefferts Boulevard. Click on the link below to read the story online. The link will open in a new window. Close out the window to return here.
Click here to read the full story
April 5, 2005
I went to PS 99, Russell Sage Junior High School, and Richmond Hill High School graduating in 1962. I would like to get in touch with KittyPick De Chiara , Roberta Marcus, and any one else looking for some one that went to school during the time I did. On the school pictures from PS 99 ( 6-1 MRS. Mahon Teacher l956 )(4-2 MRS. Fuller 1954) I recognized more people ,and some of the names that were printed were wrong. The site is Great. Thank you For having it.
Ellen Schmeidler Wilner
Houston, Texas 4/5/05.
Lived in Kew Gardens: 1944 - 1981
Graduated P.S. 99: 1956
Featured Photograph
April 3, 2005
Editor's Note: Beginning today, I will post a photograph of some Kew Gardens location which will change twice a week. Each image will have a higher resolution and be more than 2-1/2 times the size of the other images I have on the site. Most of the pictures will be ones I have taken over the past 4 years. Some will be old photographs already published elsewhere on OKG, but the higher resolution will let you see the image in much greater detail. For now, I'll call them "Featured Photographs". (I'm not happy with that name, but I can't think of anything else. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions.) The Featured Photograph can be accessed either from the home page or from the most current guestbook page (see above).
April 1, 2005
Just wanterd to say hi there to all those I went to school and enjoyed my childhood with....PS-99(63-69) and Sage (69-72)...and apologize to all those I pulled over when I was captain of the saftey patrol in 6th grade.
Roger
Roger Lewin
Lived in Kew Gardens: 1957 - 1973
Graduated P.S. 99: 1969
April 1, 2005
I was very pleased and nostalgic to look at our class picture and see how great everyone looked in the reunion photos these many years later. I'm living in Springfield, Missouri and would really enjoy knowing how my old schoolmates have been doing. I can be contacted through this website's e-mail address.
Lance Luria
[To contact Lance Luria, click here]
Bauer's Meat Market at 81-18 Lefferts Blvd. on the bridge over the LIRR tracks
April 1, 2005
Click on thumbnail to enlarge.
Bill Lehman
Lived in Kew Gardens: 1945 - 1969
Graduated P.S. 99: 1957
Visit Bill's Boston University Medical Campus Web Page.
[To contact Bill Lehman, click here]
I'm Giving Away Invitations to Join Gmail
April 1, 2005
Editor's Note: As of February 1st, Old Kew Gardens [.com] got a new email address with Gmail, which is the Google web based email service. You've probably heard that Gmail offers two gigabytes [2,000 MB] of free storage. It's free, but available by invitation only. Invitations are so sought after that they are being offered for sale on eBay. I have invitations I can distribute to friends. I'm not selling them, I'm giving them away. They are available on a first come first serve basis. Just send me an email telling me you'd like one.
Update: I will remove this post when I run out of invitations. If you're reading this, then there are still invitations left to give out.
My New Email Address
April 1, 2005
Editor's Note: Please note my new email address which is
April 1, 2005
[Ed.'s Note: The reason each guest book posting does not appear here immediately is that I review each message individually before posting to eliminate spam or unwanted adult content. Email me if you want to make a correction to a message you have already posted or if you would like a message removed.]
How to contact Guestbook signers
Some Guestbook signers choose not to publish their email addresses. If you wish to contact one of them, send me an email identifying the guestbook signer you wish to contact and giving me the date his or her message was posted. Your email to me must contain your full name, and may also include anything else you wish to tell the signer. I will forward your email to the Guestbook signer you wish to contact, but with no cc or bcc to you. It will be the signer's decision whether or not to make contact with you. Any emails which contain spam, adult content, or appear suspect for any other reason will not be forwarded. ~The Editor.