On the Street

63rd Drive is the main shopping drag. While a few national chains have penetrated into the tight-knit strip, they blend in, and the neighborhood retains its mom-and-pop feel. Upon hitting Queens Boulevard, 63rd Drive transforms into 63 Avenue. Don't you just love the Queens street grid?

A Middle Eastern shop features Israeli and Arab products alongside each other. See! We can get along.

Below, a neon sign and a fading mural advertises a long-gone jewelry shop, replaced by Viva America boutique.

The flagpole of Rego Park Mall makes a dramatic gesture onto 63rd Drive. The mall once belonged to Alexander's, a deceased department store chain. After 4 years of abandonment, a Sears opened on the site in 1996.

The sitting area marks the beginning of Junction Boulevard, which runs north through Elmhurst, Corona, and East Elmhurst, terminating at LaGuardia Airport.

This branch of TD Bank was formerly a Sizzler, a Red Lobster, and a Howard Johnsons. It's funny to trace the retail genealogy of a building.

The Lost Battalion Playground, (see top of page) may appear forgotten, but if the city were to condemn the truck parking lots adjoining it (below right), it could fit in a baseball diamond, football field, and basketball courts. Just across the highway is the high-rise LeFrak City development, which also lacks a large outdoor park.

As our city become denser, so is the need for more parkland. Contact your leaders. Let them know.

Walden Terrace is not your typical brick complex. Designed in 1937 by Leo Stillman, this is Art Deco's response to the earlier garden city designs of Jackson Heights, with mid-block parks covering parking lots. The 12-building co-op made it into the AIA Guide to New York City.

Mid-block parks break up the monotony of the neighborhood's street grids. On the left below, a mid-block park separated The Connecticut from The Vermont, built in 1947. If the park were to have a geographically appropriate name, I'd dub it Berkshire. On the left, the Park City Estates sit atop rolling hills.

99th Street is a long stretch of roomy middle class co-ops. While their bodies are identical, all have unique faces- their grand entrances. Revere Hall has a sloping entrance with park-like lamps. Extra points to The Joyce for using Broadway font.

Queens Park Realty comprises of 4 buildings symmetrically spaced onto two blocks. Its parks are connected by archways. Unfortunately, there is not one bench in these parks, and residents must bring out their own chairs to enjoy the verdant scenery.

It is a pleasant surprise to know that instead of trying to shoehorn more apartments into these spaces, they remain preserved as parks, enhancing the value of the existing buildings.

The two dominant grids of Rego Park meet at Queens Boulevard, with 65 Avenue and 98th Street merging in a Y shape into 65th Road, as it crosses Queens Boulevard. On the left below, a city-owned corner space sits unused. It is a perfect candidate for a Greenstreets park.

In contrast, LeFrak Memorial Square, across from the empty space, has a sitting area and a flagpole. The LeFrak family has been in the RE business since the 1840s. Their local creations include three office towers in Rego Park (all pictured below), and nearby LeFrak City in Elmhurst. Unlike the Trumps, the LeFrak name is still solidly associated with middle-class prices.

My family arrived in America on August 31, 1992. Our first close relatives arrived in America in 1974. They hosted us for our first day, demonstrating how a remote-controlled apartment garage door opens. "Open Sesame," my uncle Michael said, hiding the remote control behind his back.. As an 8-year-old, I believed him. We then spent two weeks at my uncle Semyon's apartment, learning English through Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

My family's first apartment was found on the corner of Queens Boulevard and 63rd Avenue. The Rego Realty apartments feature mid-block alleys. Some sit unused, others have landscaping and benches to sit on. Here, my grandparents chatted with other elders from the old country, as youngsters climbed fire escapes and explored basements.

My first crush lived in the building next to mine, a blond classmate from Ukraine named Jane. We both went to PS 139. But she took up smoking at an early age. It turned me off, and I no longer found her attractive. Another neighbor from this alley was a Russian classmate named Christina. Her stellar grades took her to a specialized school in the city, and we lost contact. Perhaps Facebook can help in this matter.

Jupiter Court was built in the Spanish mission style in 1920. It is one of Rego Park's first apartments. At the time, much of the surrounding land was still undeveloped. Within a decade, it would all be built up.

Jupiter is the old name for 62 Avenue, before the banal numbering system was imposed on Queens in the 1930s.

Behind Jupiter Court is Remo Court, a charming Tudor-bethan with a corner minaret, dating to 1927.Its entrance features a medieval-style coat of arms with the building's address.

Marion Court dates to 1930. It features Romanesque arches, a rooftop pergola, relief sculptures, and cloister-like landscaping in its courtyard. Marion was the pre-numbering name for 63rd Avenue.

If you're interested in historic Rego Park buildings, contact the Rego-Forest Preservation Council.

For many post-1970s immigrants, these were their first apartments in America. Roaches, rent, and heating problems notwithstanding, they were beautiful places to start a new life in a new land.

In their infancy, Jupiter and Remo symbolized the upward mobility and optimism of their decade, as show in these 1928 photographs from the Queens Chamber of commerce, that were recovered by local historian Michael Perlman.

The doormen may be long gone, but the buildings are still beautiful and affordable today.

In some ways, Rego Park is the poorer cousin of Jackson Heights. It has plenty of space for gardens, but much of this space is fenced off and unused at the moment.