The entrance to the “Golden Gate” apartments, an Art Deco building, at 41-00 43rd Ave. (via Art Deco Society of New York)
Sept. 21, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
A free event that aims to showcase a bit of Sunnyside history through its Art Deco buildings will be taking place this Saturday.
The two-part event, from the Art Deco Society of New York, will begin with a presentation on the neighborhood’s Art Deco buildings using slide illustrations, and wrap up with a walking tour of several spots around Sunnyside where the architectural style can be observed.
Matthew Postal, an architectural historian and licensed tour guide who will lead both parts, says Sunnyside’s Art Deco profile is not exactly known, as is widely the case for neighborhoods outside of Manhattan.
The architectural style, prevalent between 1925 and 1940, is characterized mainly by rich decorations that are typically seen in building facades, entrances, and sometimes lobbies.
“Sunnyside developed in the 1920s and 1930s, so almost all the buildings are either before Art Deco or from Art Deco,” Postal said. “The neighborhood developed very quickly.”
The talk will last about an hour and be given at the Queens Library’s Sunnyside branch. The tour afterward will take anywhere between 90 minutes and two hours, and will begin at the Celtic Park Apartments on 43rd Street in Woodside before hitting other sites like Concord Hall on 44th Street and the Phipps Garden Apartments on 39th Avenue.
Concord Hall, an Art Deco building at 43-30 44th St. (via Matthew Postal)
Postal will give a brief overview of the buildings and its architectural history during each stop. At Concord Hall, for example, located at 43-30 44th St. and built in 1940, attendees will come to know that a father and son duo from Russia were behind the design, and also built the identical building behind it on 43rd Street.
“That building in particular is really beautiful because it has an original marquee,” Postal said.
Dozens have already signed up for the event, one of many put on by the Art Deco Society of New York after the non-profit a grant from the New York Council on the Arts to carry on the free educational program. Other organizers include NYC Cultural Affairs and Queens Library.
Visit Eventbrite.com to save a seat in the talk, walk, or both.
The “Telling the Art Deco Story of Sunnyside” talk will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 22 at the Queens Library Sunnyside Branch, located at 43-06 Greenpoint Ave. The walk will begin at 4 p.m. at the Celtic Park Apartments, located at 48-10 43rd St.
