Queens Subway Building On 21st Street Was Once the Center of It All

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    From the nearby LIE, or onboard the 7 train, you might have noticed an 108,000 square foot, 6-story former factory and manufacturing facility which serves modernity as a document storage warehouse and pedestal for advertising. The triangular structure, found on 21st street and 49th avenue in LIC (classified by DOB as block 71, lot 1), was the very center of Queens from 1916-20 when it was called the “Queens Subway Building” and served as the Queens Borough Hall.

    Borough President Maurice E. Connolly located the offices of Queens County & Borough here, alongside the LIRR tracks, and the building was erected over the newly built Subway tunnel and station. Influential developers like Degnon Terminal and Realty also opened offices here, but the Borough Hall moved east in 1920. Paragon Oil, whose branding persists, moved in and was here until the 1950’s. The building has been a documents warehouse ever since.

    nycma.lunaimaging.com has an August 7, 1936 shot of the building.

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