This past fall, my fiancee and I went to Europe. Among our many stops, we visited this really charming medieval village set in the hillside…
OK, that was a test. Did you believe me for a second? Or am I the only one that thinks Forest Hills, Queens looks really out of place for New York City when viewed from up high?
-SCOUT
Seeing the blue onion dome from a distance, you’d probably assume St. Nicholas to be your typical Russian church. But take a drive down Clintoneville Ave, and you’ll realize the truth… Someone has landed a spaceship in Queens and disguised it as a Russian Orthodox church.
For the past week, I’ve been searching meticulously through Google Maps satellite view for a particular style of rooftop, and as I made my way across Long Island City… I happened to notice something unusual on one of the rooftops… A marriage proposal! But what was the story behind this? Did the suitor have his…
In June ’11, I wrote about one of my favorite “haunted house”-like properties in New York City, a dilapidated yet once beautiful Victorian located at 3103 37th Avenue in Queens: Gone forever: Several readers sent me this article in the Queens Gazette about its recent demise. Can’t wait to see what goes up in its…
Last week, I spent a few days scouting the College Point neighborhood of Queens. As I drove down 15th Ave, I happened to notice the gas station at the corner of 126th Street. It’s a pretty neat little 1950s-style service station…
Last week, I went the New York Hall of Science in Queens to take some scout pictures, my first time visiting. The Hall of Science was originally built for the 1964 World’s Fair, and while it’s gone through many renovations over the years, this oddly-shaped cement portion speckled with black dots clearly dates back to…
I was driving down 27th Ave in Astoria the other day when a rather large tree in front of an auto body shop caught my eye. Nothing too special about a random tree…but something didn’t seem right… …And then I realized: was that tree growing through the auto body shop??
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hahahaha. the best.
Do NYC-Based productions use this as a stand in for generic Europe?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was several years ago and Cop Out in 2010. Quite a few tv shows also come to the neighborhood to shoot.
I used to live in that rounded tower! I recently wrote an article about Forest Hills and its history that might be of interest to you – (http://ventilateblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/forest-hills-gardens-from-manhattan-to-tudor-village-in-20-minutes/)
The tennis stadium in the neighborhood used to host the US Open and rock shows, including the Rolling Stones and the like. It was used in “The Royal Tannenbaums”, where Richie loses his cool on the court. It also made a brief appearance in “Mad Men”, when Draper goes to scout out the Stones for a possible ad relationship.
Always enjoy your site!
Recent independent film Roadie, Remake of Mildred Pierce and Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train were all filmed here. Peter Parker grew up on Ingram Street. I’ve been told that this was one of the first “planned” communities; a project of Russell Sage & F.L.Olmsted, Jr. and their take on the Garden City Movement.
I live two blocks from the stadium. The homes are beuitiful, but the sad truth is people spend their lives in these houses and when they change hands your looking at a total re-hab. Not to mention, some of the materials and building techniques that were introduced in the construction of these houses have not proven the test of time.
You had me! I was trying to think of where on Eastern Europe I saw it!
I’ve always wondered why the images used in these posts are so small.
Was this area all built by one developer, around the same time? From the air (via Google maps) it is probably the most heavily treed (?) area in Queens. And the buildings so similar in design, but designed as a mixed-use community with houses, apartments, and commercial spaces.
Nope, sorry, even in a cocktail-addled state this European wasn’t fooled.
It’s a bit like the faux-medieval Nikolai-Stadt the GDR installed in Berlin.
You should really consider covering some stuff in Forest Hills. The buildings aren’t quite as old, but a lot of cool 1930s/1940s architecture. I’m about to move there and the building I’m moving to has a great facade, a cool lobby and a good deal of available information.
I got to see the band Genesis and then Peter Gabriel at Forest Hills tennis stadium back in the early 80’s. That stadium was the former site for the US OPEN.