College Point, Queens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

College Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located north of Flushing on Flushing Bay and the East River and is part of the NYPD's 109th Precinct. In the past, it was a largely German American community. Today, College Point is a mildly industrial but mostly residential community featuring mostly one and two family homes and condominiums experiencing a housing boom with the construction of multi-family homes.

1 History
2 Notable structures
3 Famous residents
4 Schools and churches
5 Recreation and attractions
6 College Point Sports Park Controversy
7 College Point Little League
8 Links

[edit] History

College Point was named for St. Paul's College, a seminary founded in 1835 by the Rev. Augustus Muhlenberg.[1] The college closed circa 1850, but the name stuck. Former names include Lawrence's Neck, Tew's Neck, Flammersberg, and Strattonsport.

The town was pioneered by a German-American industrialist, Conrad Poppenhusen, who made his fortune in manufacturing hard rubber combs. He founded the community primarily for his workers and became a philanthropist contributor to churches, libraries, and The Poppenhusen Institute, an educational beacon of College Point. He is responsible for the first free kindergarten in America. A special monument on College Point Boulevard, one of the main streets in College Point, stands testament to Poppenhusen [2].

College Point became a center for breweries and day trip resorts, but during Prohibition the community shifted towards airplane parts manufacturing.

In 1997, the Queens Historical Society[3] bestowed a "Queensmark" award on College Point, in hopes of encouraging historical preservation of local landmark architecture.[4]

[edit] Notable structures

The First Reformed Church — A church built in 1873 in the small town New England style. The church is on a large lot, has a bell tower, and is adorned with "gingerbread" trim. (up on 119th ST)

Flessel's Restaurant — Recently demolished in the construction boom, Flessel's stood as a testament to the summer resorts and beer gardens that once marked College Point.

Flushing Airport - Opened in 1927 along the shore of Flushing Bay, the airport had been a busy aviation hub before LaGuardia Airport was built in 1939 about one mile away. It carried the IATA code FLU and finally closed in 1984. The site remains abandoned, although plans have been proposed over the years to convert it into a blimp-port or office park. Given natural deterioration of the hangars and concrete runways, however, it is likely that the site will simply return to being natural wetlands.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Poppenhusen Institute — Built in 1868 by Conrad Poppenhusen, the founder of College Point. The architecture features a French Second Empire Mansard roof topping off the three Italianate style stories. Originally a town hall, Poppenhusen now serves as a cultural and historical center and offers a variety of classes and activities.

Schleicher Court — A mansion built around 1870 that also operated as the Jocker's Hotel; the house was divided into apartments and literally sat in the center of 123rd street. Today the house is no longer there as it has been knocked down; there are now many small condos and the street is now completely open to traffic.

The Spangelberg Mansion — A yellow and white mansion circa 1860 now also divided into apartments.

Poppenhusen Library — An Andrew Carnegie library, built in 1904 featuring a copper roof, is still active as a branch in the Queens Library system [12].

[edit] Famous residents

Conrad Poppenhusen - Founder of College Point, education innovator, rubber factory tycoon, failed railroad venture capitalist, and philanthropist from Germany.
Steve Karsay- Major League Baseball pitcher.
David Gallagher- Actor that portrayed 'Simon Camden' on the show 7th Heaven, which airs on the CW11(WPIX) network.
College Point Saints- Professional woodsball paintball team. Formed in College Point and many of the members of the team still reside here.

[edit] Schools and churches

Public elementary schools, defined as kindergarten through 6th grades, include PS 29 and PS 129. College Point is home to St. Fidelis, a Catholic school for nursery through 8th grades(school now only accepts admission until 6th grade, and only students in the school before the change can stay in the school until 8th grade). It is also home to St. Agnes High School and St. John's Lutheran School, another elementary program.

St. Fidelis Roman Catholic Church[13], St. Paul's Episcopal, St. John's Lutheran, and The First Reformed Church of College Point host the community's four largest congregations.

[edit] Recreation and attractions

Empire Market on College Point Boulevard has sold German meats and groceries since 1920 and is owned by a third generation German family. The store also offers a wide variety of candy in glass jars and is a favorite amongst children.

College Meat Center, family owned and operated since 1963, has been serving local residents for over 40 years, notably surviving a fire in the 1980s.

Shopping centers on 20th Avenue include Target, TJ Max, BJ's, Circuit City, Old Navy, Babies R' Us, Waldbaum's, and more.

The College Point Multiplex Cinemas offers 12 screens of movies, as well as a mini-arcade.

McNeil Park [14], formally known and still affectionately called Chisholm's by many locals (after the family that owned the mansion that once stood in the park), features a water front view, full playground, basketball and handball courts, and baseball fields.

Poppenhusen Playground [15] is a park for primary school aged children.

College Point Park [16], the former location of P.S. 27, is located across the street from Poppenhusen Library. It has basketball and handball courts as well as an adjacent municipal parking lot. A hot-dog vendor is often in the park on days with good weather and has handballs available for sale.

Powell's Cove Park [17], an environmental waterfront park, lies on the border of College Point and Malba and affords a great view of the Bronx Whitestone Bridge

[edit] College Point Sports Park Controversy

College Point is also home to a newly reconstructed hockey rink on Ulmer Street complete with floodlights and bleachers, which was part of a larger reconstruction of the College Point Fields. The construction also included two baseball fields, which are the primary playing location of the College Point Little League. The baseball fields and hockey rink are now New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Fields, but the entire property used to belong to the College Sports Association, which leased the fields from the City for $1 a day. The fields were to be rebuilt in the late 1990's, but due to complications due to the EnViroFill dumping construction debris, in 1999, the construction was stopped, the fields closed and the lease revoked. The local leagues nearly collapsed due to the closure of the fields, but under the leadership of Jerry Castro, President of the Little League, and Tony Mongeluzzi, President of the Roller Hockey League, the leagues survived and are now thriving.

[edit] College Point Little League

The College Point Little League was founded in 1962, and initially enjoyed success, winning District 26 championships. Though once a strong program by the 1990's the league began to deteriorate under President John Rijo. When the fields closed in 1997, the league nearly collapsed, but somehow managed to survive. Jerry Castro became President in 1999, and worked tirelessly with little help to revitalize the once proud league. Under Jerry Castro, the league improved in nearly every way, with improvements in the uniforms and the quality of play. The program soon became a District 26 powerhouse, winning the summer league tournament in several age groups, and was nearly won the 11 year old State Tournament in 2006 under Coach Nelson Santiago. However, in late 2006, Gus Klidas overthrew Jerry Castro, with the help of a cabal of supporters. The Klidas presidency soon began to rollback all the progress that had been made under Jerry Castro. As an example of the incompetence of the new regime, the Executive Board voted not to install sod given by the New York Mets to the Parks Department and donated to the College Point Little League.