4. Ornate Doors and Stoops

  • Three brick houses in Queens
  • A Queens house in Elmhurst with a bright blue stoop

Like fences and facades, doorways and stoops come in as many colors and shapes as you can imagine. In the first photo above, you can see three completely different styles all right next to each other. Stoops likewise vary widely, from classic brick to painted colors.

The color and character shown in these different architectural elements are traits that Herrin-Ferri notes “seem to be ignored by most present-day developers as they cater to the appetite for ‘affordable-luxury’ apartment buildings that hide all of their attractive amenities on the inside and offer very little to the public at street level.”