Greater Astoria Historical Society

PLEASE JOIN US TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF WAR TORN UKRAINE!
2022-05-03 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
“Little Ukraine” Virtual Tour + UKRAINE fundraiser

We are partnering with the New York City Tour Guide Slava Shpigel for a virtual tour of the Ukrainian Village in Lower Manhattan
PLEASE NOTE:
All donations (what you wish) from this event will go to Razom for Ukraine (https://razomforukraine.org/ ),
an organization delivering tactical medical items and hospital supplies to Ukraine during this devastating war.

TUESDAY MAY 3, 2022
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
TO REGISTER FOR THE EVENT:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-fund-raiser-for-ukraine-tickets-328392489777?fbclid=IwAR0eEA1C-b170eq8KI7ySXz7BcOonteliJxQ1xfK7Zlk_-IbGtwU_OmS8zg

GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL 6TH ANNUAL POETRY READING!
2022-04-25 16:30 - 19:00 UTC
“April is National Poerty Month”
MONDAY APRIL 25 @ 6:30 PM!

Join us for our virtual reading, featuring
Maria Lisella, Olena Jennings & Ama Birch!
+ a poetry open mic!!
To Register to Attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/314975228387
If you wish to read in the open mic portion Please register for the event using the link above AND …
Send a separate email to dgorman@astorialic.org with “POETRY” in the subject line
by 4:30pm the day of the event (Monday, April 25).
* * *
How many attend/sign up will determine how long each open mic reader gets,
but plan on at least one poem of reasonable length!
The event is FREE …
… but a $4 donation is suggested – or whatever you might be able to give – to the Society’s continued programming …
… would be much appreciated! 😊
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DNMAJVTLTKFTS

The 113th Anniversary of the Opening of the Queensboro Bridge
2022-03-30 19:00 - 20:00 UTC
Virtual Lecture – Wednesday, March 30th at 7 PM

View of Bridge Construction from Blackwells (Roosevelt) Island
Opened in 1909, the Queensboro Bridge is the longest bridge spanning the East River.
The Queensboro Bridge documents the creation of this cultural icon and its contributions to the history of New York.
With Bob Singleton, Executive Director of GAHS
Wednesday, March 30, Start time: 7 PM !
Fee: $5.00
(Free for GAHS members, using promo code emailed to you)
To register for the event (via Eventbrite) Tap on this link to open registration form !
The 113th Anniversay of the Queensboro Bridge!

Forgotten NY - Black History Month with Sergey Kadinsky
2022-02-23 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
Black History Month with Forgotten NY

Weeksville Brooklyn
There is much to see of Black History …
. . .
… but streets, parks, and buildings that are renamed for deserving individuals they often lack signage –
and their stories remain all but unknown.
This lecture embraces a Forgotten-NY goal:
Bring Gotham’s hidden Black History back into the public’s eye!
. . .
Join Historian Sergey Kadinsky as he shares his work and research.
(Sergey is adjunct history professor at Touro College,
and a contributing writer at Forgotten-NY for more than a decade.)
. . .
Wednesday, Feb. 23, Start time: 7 PM !
Fee: $10.00
(Free for GAHS members, using promo code emailed to you)
To register for the event (via Eventbrite) Tap on this link to open registration form !
Black History Month with Forgotten NY!

Walk Through Ravenswood (Astoria, Qns.)
2022-01-24 19:00 - 21:00 UTC
Walk Through Ravenswood w/ FNY & GAHS

12th Street looking north between 37th and 36th Avenues (c. 1910)
There are many layers of Ravenswood …
… a past community of mansions, industry, and waterfront parks.
Join Kevin Walsh of Forgotten NY as he peels back the layers
of this old village in Long Island City.
Bob Singleton of the Greater Astoria Historical Society
joins him to discuss historical elements of the area.
Monday, Jan. 24, Start time: 7 PM !
Fee: only $5.00 !
(Free for GAHS members, using promo code emailed to you)
To register for the event (via Eventbrite) Tap on this link to open registration form !
Ravenswood Tour with F NY & GAHS!

An Evening with Tom Wilk - Master Beekeeper
2021-12-13 19:00 - 20:30 (Asia/Kolkata)
Greater Astoria Historical Society Holiday Party
Please join us for our annual
‘Tis the Season’
Virtual Holiday Party
for fun and good conversation
Special Guest: Tom Wilk Founder of Wilk Apiaries
Founder of the Queens Beekeepers Guild to help beekeepers in Queens
Certified Master Beekeeper: Cornell University’s Dyce Labs for Honey Bee Studies.
Long Island/New York City region director for the Empire State Honey Producers Association
Manager of 9 Apiaries – 49 Hives – in Queens, Nassau, Ulster, and Orange Counties.

LIC ROOTS COMMUNITY GARDEN
Also Special Guests:
Musical Holiday Performance by
Natalia “Saw Lady” Paruz
A reading about a man with a beard…..
who could that be???????
Anyone who donates at least $25 during the program will be entered into a raffle for a jar of
‘Astoria Honey’ or ‘Long Island City Honey’ from Wilk Apiaries and
a Musical CD from ‘The Saw Lady.
Register here

All the Queens Houses: the highly idiosyncratic housing styles of Queens
2021-11-17 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
The highly idiosyncratic housing styles of Queens!
The borough of Queens has long been celebrated as the melting pot of America. Over a million foreign-born residents call it home, yet its houses are relatively unknown. This first comprehensive publication features over two-hundred images of highly idiosyncratic residential structures that characterize the global building aesthetic of Queens.
Between 2013 and 2020, Spanish-born architect and artist Rafael Herrin-Ferri made these buildings the subject of a seven-year block-by-block photo survey project.
Frontal, New Objective-style house portraits are accompanied by interpretive texts revealing a colorful history of alterations and architectural references, while full-page detail shots and street perspectives reflect the “World’s Borough” from a personal and pedestrian point of view.
Hosted by: Steve Vazquez, founder of Queenscapes – Trustee Astoria Historical Society
Click Here to get a ticket for the event!

Prospect Park with Forgotten NY
2021-11-11 18:30 - 21:00 UTC
Prospect Park with Forgotten NY
Prospect Park is hardly Forgotten:
millions use it to relax, play ball, stroll, take in the sun.
But there are plenty of nooks and crannies in the park that is unknown to all but the connoisseurs.

Come with Kevin Walsh and Forgotten NY in association with the Greater Astoria Historical Society which answers questions few have raised such as:
What does the Maryland Monument commemorate?
Where is New York City’s only public compost toilet?
What is a camera obscura and what building in the park has a direct connection to the Gowanus Canal?
Find out these and other fun park facts on Thursday, November 11 at 7 PM!
Click here to get a ticket for the Event!

A Halloween Tour of the Cemetary Belt
2021-10-25 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
A Halloween Tour of the Cemetary Belt

Only the brave should join us on a virtual tour of the Queens Cemetery Belt.

Thomas Wolfe wrote, “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn,” but he must not have spent much time in Queens. This tour will take you to the Cemetery Belt – the great burial grounds of more than five million people, including everyone from Mae West to confederate soldiers.

We’ll also visit Machpelah Cemetery, the final resting place (or is it?) of Harry Houdini, do some spelunking to get into Bayside’s old Lawrence Cemetery, see the acid-washed faces of the angels of Calvary Cemetery, and visit Louis Armstrong at Flushing Cemetery.

The tour will be led by Heather Quinlan, board member of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, who is currently directing the documentary “This Is a Cemetery,” about a paved-over cemetery in Staten Island.

Click here to attend the event

Civil Rights on Long Island
2021-10-18 19:00 - 20:30 UTC
Civil Rights on Long Island
Long Island has been in the corridors of almost all major turning points of American history, but Long Island has been overlooked as a battleground of the civil rights movement.

Christopher Verga is a local historian and American history lecturer at Suffolk County Community College. Christopher utilized images from local historical societies, private collections, and the African American Museum of Nassau County to create a narrative of civil rights challenges and triumphs. These photographed defining moments have become a testament to the future of an increasingly diverse suburb.
Since early colonization by the English settlers in the 17th century, the shadow of slavery has bequeathed a racial caste system that has directly or indirectly been enforced. During World War II, every member of society was asked to participate in ending tyranny within European and Asian borders. Homeward-bound black soldiers expected a societal change in race relations; instead, they found the same racial barriers they experienced prior to the war. They were refused homes in developments such as Levittown, denied mortgages, and had their children face limited educational opportunities. Collective efforts from organizations such as Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) employed civil disobedience as a tactic to fracture racial barriers.
Click here to get a ticket for the event

Open House NY - A Virtural Tour of the Steinway Mansion
2021-10-17 11:00 - 12:00 UTC
Open House NY – A Virtural Tour of the Steinway Mansion
Home to renowned piano manufacturer William Steinway and his family, this grand Italianate villa overlooking Bowery Bay was the center of a thriving model community and commercial district and the birthplace of urban development ideas that influence the city today.

Home to renowned piano manufacturer William Steinway and his family, this grand Italianate villa overlooking Bowery Bay was the center of a thriving model community and commercial district and the birthplace of urban development ideas that influence the city today.
Steinway moved his piano factory to Queens from Manhattan in 1870 and built a town for local workers, including an amusement park, a library (which became the Queens Public Library), and electrified trolley lines (which formed the basis for the MTA’s bus lines). Steinway headed the commission that planned the NYC subway in the 1890s, and through his Steinway Hall, a premier concert venue helped establish musical education standards for conservatories around the world. The mansion was one of the first buildings designated as a landmark following the passage of NYC’s landmarks law in 1966.
On this virtual tour, see the mansion’s interior rooms and dramatic halls, and learn about its past and future.
The tour will be led by Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historial Society, see bio below.
BIO
Bob Singleton is the Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society which covers Long Island City, New York’s third city.
For more information go to Open House New York’s

Click here to join the event
