Steinway Village in Astoria, Queens was developed by William Steinway in ca. 1870. The community was intended to be a kind of Socialist utopia where his employees could simultaneously live in a rural, bucolic neighborhood and next to the Steinway & Sons factory.
Steinway employees lived in quality-built houses designed by architects and benefited from working at one of the most successful and world-renowned companies.
Steinway Village contained not only the Steinway factory but also a silk factory and one of the first automobile factories in the country, as well as schools, a shopping district, and North Beach Amusement Park which operated from 1895 to 1915 and was known as “the Coney Island of Queens.”
The Historic Districts Council of New York City will host a virtual tour of Steinway Village on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, from 6 until 7 pm, via Zoom.
Notable points on the virtual tour led by Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, are the Steinway & Sons factory, the Steinway Mansion, the Modern Art Foundry (the former Steinway Stables), and the Astoria Reformed Church.
Singleton will also discuss the former Steinway Village Historic District, designated in 1974, but nullified the next year by the NYC Board of Estimate.
The tour is $15 for seniors or Friends of Historic Districts Council and $20 for the general public.
Photo: Steinway Village in Astoria Queens (provided by HDC).
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