legends Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 32 JULY 2013 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com PRESERVE HISTORY The Steinway Mansion is for sale. Under the leadership of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, a consortium of community leaders, businesses, government offi cials and community groups stepped forward this year to form the Friends of Steinway Mansion. The group’s goal is simple. They intend to save and restore the Steinway Mansion as a museum and as a learning/education center. Their campaign intends to acquire this remarkable building – and to restore it to celebrate both the heritage of the name “Steinway” and the rich legacy of Long Island City and Astoria. The mansion is a New York City Designated Landmark and one of the fi rst properties to receive such a distinction in early 1967. The designation report reads, in part, that the building “has a special character, special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City.” A survey by the National Register of Historic Places, where it was listed in the early 1980s, stated it retains “almost complete exterior and interior integrity. The Steinway House recalls an important period of prosperity and industrialization in Long Island City.” It is the last 19th century country mansion on the Queens waterfront. The setting, atop a high vista, was intended to give the residence a delightful view of Bowery Bay and the East River. This once rural and secluded location was a summer colony of the rich and powerful. In the 1980s, archaeological digs adjacent to the house recovered artifacts from both prehistory and throughout the period of European occupation. Benjamin Pike, Sr. was a transplanted Englishman who was a leading dealer of eyeglasses, telescopes, and other optical instruments. The interior doors have frosted glass etched with images of the scientifi c glassware and instruments found in his catalogues. LEGENDS OF LIC BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LEGENDS OF LIC Pike enjoyed the house for a few years before his death in 1863. His widow sold the mansion to the Steinways in 1870 for the princely sum of $127,000, a fi gure worth more than $30 million today. The Steinways took great pride in the home, its appointments, its grounds, and the private dock on the East River. William, in his diary, called it his “country seat” and “his magnifi - cent stone mansion.” The Steinways lived there for 50 years. After William’s son, Charles, died in 1919, the house was sold to Jack Halberian, whose grandchildren are now selling the mansion. The mansion has been on the market since 2011. Over the next issues, Legends of Long Island City will discuss the Steinway Mansion’s legacy and why it remains one of the most noteworthy landmarks in our city. This column will examine the building’s historical signifi cance and the reasons that it must be preserved and saved for future generations. Next: “The Instrument of the Immortals”
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