By Dustin Brown
The Steinway & Sons piano factory is tucked away in an industrial part of Astoria far removed from the neighborhood's busy shopping corridors, plying its legendary trade the same way it has done for a century and a half.
But as the company celebrates its 150th anniversary, it is in many ways also marking the birth of Astoria, which was transformed by the company's move across the East River to Queens from Manhattan in the 1870s.
“It's a company town,” said Dennis Tortora, a vice president with Steinway. “At one point they owned all this property up here from what is now LaGuardia Airport all the way to the Poletti power plant facility.”
The northern part of Astoria traces its roots back to the arrival of Steinway & Sons, which in the 1870s built a town for its employees and made sure it was connected to Manhattan by train. Its history is still reflected in names of the local post office, library branch and even the main commercial thoroughfare – all of which are called Steinway.
Steinway & Sons officially commemorated its anniversary in a March 5 celebration at Steinway Hall in Manhattan, where two anniversary limited edition pianos were unveiled: a recreation of a historic Steinway grand piano, crafted entirely in the Astoria facility, and another created by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, which was a joint effort between the Astoria plant and a sister facility in Hamburg, Germany.
Founded by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in a Manhattan loft in 1853, Steinway & Sons pioneered the modern piano over the course of the next four decades, when it developed almost half of the company's 114 patented inventions.
During this critical period in Steinway's history, the company purchased 400 acres in Astoria, where a foundry and sawmill went up in 1873 on the site the factory still occupies at 19th Avenue and 38th Street. The company eventually moved all of its assembly operations from Manhattan to a warehouse on Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria – now the Sterns site slated to be developed into luxury housing. The enterprise was consolidated in the 19th Avenue site by 1950, where the pianos are still built to this day.
“The fact that Long island City and Steinway & Sons are still together since 1870 underscores the fact that in our community, excellence is not a slogan, but something real,” said Bob Singleton, president of the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Steinway & Sons plans to mark its anniversary at the Astoria site with a celebration for its 500 employees this summer, along with factory tours with community groups like the Long Island City Business Development Corporation, which will view the site in April.
Over the course of the company's 130 years in Astoria, the neighborhood has been transformed from meadows and farmland to a dense, high-profile area coveted by immigrants and yuppies alike. But still, other features have stayed remarkably stable.
“It's very much a family-like atmosphere here and has been for 150 years. We're very fortunate,” Tortora said. “This neighborhood has many generations of Steinway craftsmen who have worked in our factory here, who live very close by. It's been a great legacy.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
