A Ghost House In Queens
|

A Ghost House In Queens

This property was demolished in April 2013. Growing up in Massachusetts, there was never any shortage of ghost houses: crumbling, hundred year-old derelicts that would fuel many a sleepover double-dog-dare (“I double dog dare to you to knock on the door!” “No way!” “Wuss!”). One of my favorites was just a few blocks from my…

Houdini’s Final Vanishing Act in Queens
| |

Houdini’s Final Vanishing Act in Queens

Cypress Hills Street might as well be called the Graveyard Highway. A wide, four-lane thruway located in Glendale, Queens, it cuts through The Cemetery Belt – a sprawling collection of cemeteries established after the State Rural Cemeteries Act of 1847 forbade the creation of any new cemeteries in Manhattan. I was out there recently to…

Stumbling On A Prohibition-Era Bowling Alley Speak-Easy
|

Stumbling On A Prohibition-Era Bowling Alley Speak-Easy

I received a very unexpected email last week asking if I’d like to check out a hidden prohibition-era bowling alley in Queens. Uh, yes, definitely interested. I took a trip to see it today – Just incredible: According to the owner, the bowling lanes were hidden under boxes and boxes of junk. After researching the property,…

45 Years Late to the World’s Fair
| |

45 Years Late to the World’s Fair

By the time I got there, it was gone. The World’s Fair, you ask? Nope. I am referring to something far more unbelievable… That’s right: Queens once had an honest-to-God Parks Department-approved fountain named “Fountain of the Planet of the Apes.” And if that’s not odd enough, an identical fountain on the opposite side of…