106-28 Queens Boulevard;
Lorimer Rich, 1938-40;
National Register Property|

This Art Deco style post office is one of five constructed by the Works Progress Administration in Queens. Designed to be a showpiece in the neighborhood, the one-story building is clad in reddish brown terra-cotta above a granite base. It features a statue above the entrance on Queens Boulevard entitled “The Spirit of Communication” by sculptor Sten Jacobson. The statue was very controversial at the time of its unveiling, as it depicts a bare-breasted woman holding a clock in one hand and a dove in the other. Walk south on 70^th Avenue and turn left on Austin Street, a commercial hub in Forest Hills, then turn right onto 71^st Avenue and under the train tracks into Station Square. Soak up this iconic view of the beautiful plaza.The post office was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

Queens Boulevard between Yellowstone Boulevard and 70^th Road;
Monument: William Henry Deacy, 1934|

Queens Boulevard was expanded gradually over many years, beginning in the early 1920s. After an expansion phase in 1931, this small park was formed. In 1933 it was named after Captain Gerald MacDonald (1882-1929), a World War I veteran and Forest Hills resident who was held in great esteem by the community. Toward the park’s eastern end is the Gerald MacDonald statue, which was designed by architect William Henry Deacy, sculpted by MacDonald’s brother-in-law, Frederic de Henwood, and unveiled in 1934.

107-55 Queens Boulevard;
Halsey, McCormack & Helmer, 1939-40|

The first branch of the Ridgewood Savings Bank, the location was chosen for its proximity to public transportation and the area’s growing population. Situated on its own triangular lot, the limestone-clad bank is a prominent structure on bustling Queens Boulevard. Aside from its location, the bank is noteworthy for its mix of Art Deco and Modern Classical style design. Its rounded ends are connected by side walls with alternating flat and curved panels, as well as large windows and decorative motifs that include eagles, wavy lines and clock faces. At the rounded ends, vertical piers mimic Classical columns and bronze doors and window grates at the main entrance feature simple spear and fan motifs. Just off of Queens Boulevard at 108-19 71^st Avenue is another civic structure: the Forest Hills Branch of the Queens Public Library, a simple brick building designed by Boak & Raad and built in 1957.

108-22 Queens Boulevard;
S. Charles Lee for Thomas W. Lamb Associates, 1942|

Named for the World War II Battle of Midway, this theater boasts 2,000 seats. Thomas W. Lamb was a prolific theater designer, having been responsible for roughly 300 theaters across the country. This theater bears the distinction of being his last project and one of only a few designed in the Art Moderne style. Its undulating limestone façade features a large vertical beacon with letters spelling out “MIDWAY.” The structure currently houses a United Artists cinema along with a variety of shops and restaurants.

Theobald H. Engelhardt, 1944-46;
Mural: Richard Haas, 1989|

Though this bank building is fairly undistinguished and much changed since its construction, it is well worth a visit. The building originally housed the Stratton Restaurant & Bar, which was replaced in 1986 with the Home Savings Bank of America. The bank commissioned a quirky detail for the curving façade during its tenure: a mosaic tile mural depicting Forest Hills, with Station Square in the foreground, Queens Boulevard in the middle ground and Manhattan’s skyline in the distant background. Also enclosed within its gold-tile border are boxes depicting some of the area’s distinctive architecture. The mural displays charming community pride in both Forest Hills and its broader urban locale.

110-6 Queens Boulevard, Maginnis & Walsh, 1938-39;
72-55 Austin Street Maginnis & Walsh, 1928|

The parish of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs was founded in 1912, as the development of Forest Hills was in full swing. Its original wood frame chapel building burned down in 1929, just after the completion of the church’s beautiful neo-Gothic school building. It would be ten more years until a new sanctuary would be built, with services taking place in the school’s auditorium in the interim. Modeled after England’s Durham Cathedral, the cruciform sanctuary building was constructed of granite and limestone and features an abundance of stained glass. It is the largest Catholic church in Queens.

If you walk along Queens Boulevard on 72^nd Avenue, you will see some of the earliest residences in Forest Hills, which are commemorated by a plaque on number 108-19.

73-37 Austin Street;
Benjamin Braunstein, 1929-30|

This imposing Art Deco apartment building features red brick façades with intricate brickwork and exquisite limestone moldings. It is one of the neighborhood’s finest examples of apartment house construction that arrived in Forest Hills once both the LIRR and the subway made their way to the neighborhood.  Advertisements for the building described it as a “Ten-story apartment 14 minutes from the Pennsylvania Station with all the advantages of a Park Avenue residence.” Peek down 73^rd Road to see some other early apartment houses, including The Mayfair, a fanciful structure with ornate brickwork and limestone carvings.

Austin Street between 75^th and 76^th Avenues;
Robert Tappan, 1925-27|

Forest Close and Arbor Close are distinct developments whose construction and history are inextricably linked. The two rowhouse communities were commissioned by the Cord Meyer Development Company, and each encircles a shared, yet private, green space. Such a layout was appropriate for the already lush neighborhood of Forest Hills and similar to other Queens communities, such as Sunnyside Gardens, which were also developed as suburban enclaves. Cord Meyer originally intended to construct more closes extending as far as Union Turnpike to the east. However, with the stock market crash of 1929, the others were never completed. Both Arbor Close and Forest Close were designed in the neo-Tudor style, with half-timbering, slate tile roofs and brick and stucco cladding. Each grouping also includes a block of garages in the same style, which feature copper cupolas at their centers. Robert Tappan was responsible for both Forest and Arbor Closes, as well as for many single-family houses in greater Forest Hills. A concentrated number of Tappan houses may be found north of Queens Boulevard in the Cord Meyer section of Forest Hills. When the subway arrived in 1936, development patterns in Forest Hills shifted in favor of larger-scale apartment houses. Luckily, Forest and Arbor Closes managed to remain and have only increased in desirability with home buyers. This is due in part to the existence of covenants, established at the time of their construction, that protect their special character. These covenants are in perpetuity, lending some measure of stability for the continued maintenance of their architectural features and overall cohesion. In anticipation of potential internal and external pressures, the communities are investigating ways to strengthen these controls.