Bay Terrace is the latest Queens neighborhood to get a personalized welcome sign.
On July 26, lawmakers, civic leaders and members of the community joined together to unveil the new Welcome to Bay Terrace sign at the corner of Bell Boulevard and 26th Avenue.
According to Bay Terrace Community Alliance (BTCA) President Matthew Silverstein, he and Councilman Paul Vallone discussed the idea of putting up a sign for the neighborhood similar to the ones in Whitestone and Sunnyside.
“We called Cord Meyer [and] they were kind enough to do this. We’re really excited, I think this is the first official designation that says this is Bay Terrace [or] welcome to Bay Terrace. So as people come down Bell Boulevard they will be welcomed by this beautiful sign into our community,” Silverstein said.
Bay Terrace was established in 1949 and is often considered to be part of the larger Bayside area. The neighborhood was originally comprised of farms and large estates until Cord and Charles Meyer sold their farm for development in the 1950s.
Residential development began in 1952 and continued into the 1960s. Commercial development, including the creation of the Bay Terrace shopping center, also began in the 1950s.
“It was a perfect summer day for the grand unveiling of the new Welcome to Bay Terrace sign Friday morning!” said Vallone. “I was happy to work with Cord Meyer and the Bay Terrace Community Alliance, which is celebrating 20 years of civic activism, to see this great idea come to fruition.”
The welcome sign installation coincides with the BTCA 20th anniversary. In 1999, residents formed the coalition which now represents 5,000 households in northeast Queens.
“People know Bayside and they hear about Bay Terrace but they might not exactly know where Bay Terrace is,” said Assemblyman Ed Braunstein. “So now when they’re coming down Bell Boulevard, they’ll see this sign and they’ll say, ‘Oh, now I’m entering Bay Terrace. This is what all the fuss is about. I have to check it out.'”
