|
|
||
|
|
||
|
INDEX |
||
|
|
||
|
|
|
First
Recorded Parish Society The earliest reference to a parish society here comes in the September 13, 1894 edition of The New-town Register, which alludes to the "Young Peoples' Aid Society" of the Catholic church in Woodside. It consis- ted of 30 members, including President Louise Borges, Vice-President Richard Lawlor, Secretary Mary Gavin, Treasurer Mary Gorman, and Sergeant-at-Arms Peter Kelly. It seems fitting that from its very inception, the parish should have been interested in promoting the welfare of its young people. Twentieth-Century Growth St. Sebastian's was not a heavily populated parish until several transportation changes. In 1896, the New York and Queens County Railway Company erec- ted its main barns at Woodside Avenue and Northern Boulevard, bringing trolley lines into Woodside. Other openings soon followed: in 1909, the Queensboro (often referred to as the "59th Street") Bridge; in 1910, the LIRR East River tunnel; in 1917, the opening of the ffl train station at 61 Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The population of Queens quadrupled between 1910 and 1930, and St. Sebastian's grew with it. The establishment of the City Housing Corpor- ation in 1924 to promote private home and apartment building encouraged the rapid growth of Sunnyside. Soon came the Mathews homes along Skillman Avenue (1925). The Christy Gardens at Roosevelt and Woodside Avenues were an early example of co-op apartments in 1925. In 1931 the Phipps Garden Apartments, designed by architects Stein and Wright, opened at 39 Avenue and 50-52 Streets. These award-winning designs have been nationally recognized as a model for elegant urban hou- sing. A major housing development was the opening in 1963 of the "Big Six" towers by the New York Typo- graphical Union ff6 at Queens Boulevard from 59 to 61 Streets. These seven buildings of 15 to 18 stories and 982 units, located on more than 12 acres of land, are unique in their possession of private power generators, which provide both economy and reliability. In 1962, the first units of the Berkeley Towers opened on a portion of the old Windmuller estate near P.S. 11, providing Man- hattan-like apartments only 10 minutes from midtown. Skyview Towers on 59 Street between 47 and 48 Ave- nues hold 233 units on the former site of Consumers' Brewery and Park, a nineteenth-century concern. The special needs of the elderly were partly met by the con- struction in 1982 of 77 units of Sunnywood apartments at 64 Street off Queens Boulevard, under the auspices of Woodside on the Move and Sunnyside Community Services. |
