Oldest Rowhouses in Forest Hills Threatened with Demolition
From the Daily News
Forest Hills readies for row
Conservationists want to save oldest houses
BY NICHOLAS HIRSHON
Posted Tuesday, July 10th 2007, 7:39 PM
Fearing a developer will knock down the oldest houses in Forest Hills, some ardent preservationists want the city to save the century-old structures before time runs out.
Lining 72nd Ave. between Austin St. and Queens Blvd., the two-story row houses are a rare throwback to the way Forest Hills was in 1906 – but a real estate agent is pitching two of the five addresses as “perfect property for a developer.”
“A majority of today’s developers move in fast, and seize whatever they can with minimal or no concern for the community,” said preservationist Michael Perlman, 24, who fears the buildings will be altered or demolished.
Perlman and others seek a historic district that would protect the row houses’ red brick and limestone facades, gargoyles and stained glass windows.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is evaluating the buildings and will decide whether to designate them within the next few weeks, said spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon.
Time is a factor. Near the middle of the block, a large white house with four offices and 11 apartments is being offered by Massey Knakal Realty Services at about $4 million.
The sales agent for the property said he couldn’t predict when negotiations would end or whether the buyer would tear down the row houses.
“Sometimes, they tell us something and they do something else,” said agent Nikolay Diankov. “It’s really guesswork.”
Five more row houses used to be across the street, but they were demolished in recent years.
“Those have been replaced with hideous structures because of developers who have no merit and employ the ‘finish it by Thursday’ technique,” Perlman said.
Cord Meyer, the developer who built Forest Hills, created Roman Ave. – now known as 72nd – and erected the row houses for the town’s only carpenter, electrician and plumber.
But by the late 1940s, the area witnessed such a large influx of new businesses and residents that the small town became a bustling urban center.
“You want to give people an idea that before the recent spate of new apartment buildings went up, there was a neighbor-to-neighbor feeling,” said historian Jeff Gottlieb.