6. The Mid-Century Modern Savings Bank
Photo by Michael Perlman/Rego-Forest Preservation Council
Quite forgotten in the shadow of the UFO-like Queens Place, amidst the bustle of Queens Boulevard is a Modernist gem of a building. Once you notice it, it’s impossible to not see it as a relic of jet-age design, with its parabolic, wing-like copper roof that evokes something of the TWA Flight Center or the lost terminals at JFK Airport. In the mid-century, Modernism was certainly in the air in Queens, not only at the airport but also with the arrival of the World’s Fair at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in 1964-65.
The building at 89-01 Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst was built from 1964 to 1966 as the Jamaica Savings Bank. In a strange and unusual twist of events, the bank is one of five buildings in the history of New York City to have its landmark status revoked. A new movement to preserve the building is underway. Read more about the bank here.
