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Elmhurst - South & East Photo Gallery: Queens Blvd |
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 Shot
in the early summer of 2000, we look south into the facade of
the venerable Elmhurst institution, the Elmwood Movie Theatre,
once a singleplex, now a quadplex, and due to be razed in favor
a planned megaplex nearby. All in all, a plan guaranteed to bring
even more of those two implacable Queens Blvd arch enemies to
this intersection; pedestrians and motorists. Lucky perhaps for
those hit by cars at this particularly insidious intersection
is the fact that St. Johns Hospital is half a block to the left,
just past the Mobil station located in front of the theatre on
a thin triangular plaza that itself is a nightmare to walk by.
Since this was shot, barriers have been erected in hopes of narrowing
the channels of passage for walker and wagon alike. St. Johns
would probably expand onto the Elmwood property if all goes according
to plan and yet another classic movie palace from bygone days
will be no more. As for the No turn sign on the foremost pole,
I doubt too many intent on switching from the local to the center
express lanes care much. If anyone thinks I make jest about the
dangers experienced crossing this road by the way, I do not,
and along with the late 2000-early 2001 carnage, was the horrific
rundown of a city fireman not far to the west from here (The
last I'm aware of as of this writing 2/17/2001 is that he remains
critical, two months after being hit.) His accident came right
on the heels of Sofia Leviyev's widely publicized death at 67th
Avenue a mile east of here, and not long after, was followed
by the death at Union Tpke of an elderly man struck by a turning
bus. |
| Looking east from just west of 57th Avenue in mid March 2001. The Queens Center Mall is on the left and the smoked glass building to the right is the newer wing of St. John's Hospital. No shortage of signs warning about maximum heights, whether you can turn or cross or live. If they would just bite the bullet and wing a walk bridge over this crazy intersection, it would end alot of problems. The furniture store on the right sort of marks the jumping off point for a flurry of similar businesses between here and Grand Avenue several blocks to the west. |
© 2001, Jeff Saltzman. All rights reserved.
