Malba, one of the premier residential enclaves in the city, celebrated its centennial anniversary recently, with fine food and drink, fancy footwork and fireworks.
On Saturday, October 4, over a hundred members of the Malba Association, representing a majority of the 404 households in the tony neighborhood, gathered under a tent for a deluxe block party along Powell’s Cove on the East River, to fete the 1908 founding of their little slice of heaven.
All those in attendance enjoyed a sumptuous repast - everything from antipasti to zucchini, provided by Adrian & Rocky’s Catering of Ozone Park, and the music was by Nassau-based big band “Ovation.”
The highlight of the evening was a sky-filling fireworks show from the safety of Malba’s rock jetty. The party-goers stood agape, as did throngs of neighborhood children who brought their own refreshments for the occasion.
The fire-fountains and three-inch mortars lit the night so brightly, that some cable lights on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge shut off, as if it were daytime.
There have been other big shots and bright lights in Malba, since it was discovered by movie people working at the Astoria studios, during that industry’s first heyday in the early 20th century. Movie director John Frankenheimer was born there.
Other recognizable natives include William Shea, of the now disappearing baseball stadium and New York Met Howard Johnson, who played in it, just two miles from Malba.
The name is an anagram, drawn from names of the first trustees of the Malba Land Company. Connecticut businessmen George Maycock, Samuel R. Avis, George W. Lewis, Noble P. Bishop and David R. Alling, oversaw the original development of the 163 acres, for which they paid $350,000 a century ago.
Today, that sum would barely buy enough land for a garage in this highly coveted locale.
Adrian & Rocky’s help Malba turn 100
By Victor G. Mimoni
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