4. One of the first radio commercials advertised a Jackson Heights apartment

Secrets of Jackson Heights Diversity Plaza
Jackson Heights residents gather in Diversity Plaza.

On August 28, 1922, radio station WEAF broadcasted one of the first radio commercials. The radio station, which is now WNBC, played a recording of a soprano singing “Carry Me Back to 01’ Virginny” before allowing a 15-minute talk about the Hawthorne Court apartments in Jackson Heights. The Queensboro Coorporation payed $50 for the Griffin Radio Service to place this advertisement.

Throughout the 15-minute advertisement, a salesman boasted about the openness of the neighborhood, its close proximity to Manhattan, and the close-knit community within an apartment building. With such a long time to set up his pitch, the salesman finally asked listeners to consider living in a Hawthorne Court apartment built by George H. Wells. Three more commercials of this kind were broadcasted to fill the empty apartments of the complex that still exists today.