Flushing Mansion To Be Landmarked

One of the last great Flushing mansions symbolizing a period of wealth and opportunity during the 1920s is on the verge of officially receiving a landmark designation from the City Council. The Fitzgerald/Ginsberg mansion is expected to receive landmark status as early as November 30, when the entire council will vote on whether or not to designate the Flushing mansion as a landmark.
“It’s a piece of art history,” said Councilman John Liu, who is spearheading the landmark effort. “It’s a reminder of an era of grandeur in this part of Queens, and it’s part of our identity.”
The tudor-revival style Fitzgerald/Ginsberg mansion located at 145-15 Bayside Avenue, was built in 1924 adjacent to an extension of Flushing’s Old Country Club. The house, which features rusticated, irregularly shaped fieldstone walls, a multi-colored slate roof, casement and leaded glass windows, and picturesque massing, was built for Charles and Florence Fitzgerald, who sold it two years later to Ethel and Morris Ginsberg.
“It is probably the grandest remaining suburban style house of the 1920s in Flushing,” said Executive Director of the Queens Historical Society, Mitchell Grubler.
Ginsberg owned one of leading firms that supplied sash and wooden trim to Long Island builders, and his family lived in the mansion for over 70 years.
Although, the community is still waiting for the City Council to designate the mansion as a landmark, two months ago, the Landmarks Preservation Commission did exactly that.
While it is unlikely that there will be much opposition from the council, some believe that they should not be the group that decides what should be designated as a landmark.
“The City Council are not the experts when it comes to what qualifies to be a landmark and what is not,” Grubler said. “We look to the volunteers on the Commission.”
However, it appears that there will be little debate about whether the Fitzgerald/Ginsberg mansion is worthy of landmark status.
“If there ever was a structure that should be landmarked, this would be it,” Liu said.