Jamaica Savings Bank

Courthouse and bank in Queens designated

Queens General Court

Supporters claimed that buildings needed protection after City approved Jamaica rezoning in 2007. On October 26, 2010, Landmarks designated the Jamaica Savings Bank and the Queens General Courthouse as individual landmarks. Both buildings were subjects of public hearings on February 9, 2010, and received broad support from the community and preservationists, who argued that the area’s historic buildings needed protection after the City rezoned the area in 2007.

Constructed in 1939, … <Read More>

Third time the charm for Jamaica Savings Bank

Jamaica Savings Bank. Photo: LPC.

Landmarks cites newly found political support behind the designation of 110-year-old Beaux Arts-style building. On February 12, 2008, Landmarks voted to designate the former Jamaica Savings Bank, located on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. This is the third time Landmarks had voted to designate the building. In 1975 the Board of Estimate rejected Landmarks’ designation, and in 1990 the City Council did the same. In both instances, the failure to designate … <Read More>

Landmarks makes third try at Queens designation

Jamaica Savings Bank had been denied landmark status in 1974 and 1992. On May 15, 2007, Landmarks held a public hearing on the Jamaica Savings Bank, an 1898 Beaux-Arts style building prominently located on Jamaica Avenue near 161st Street in Queens. Landmarks designated the building twice in the past, but the Board of Estimate overturned the 1974 vote and the City Council denied Landmarks’ second attempt in 1992. The owner of the building opposed designation … <Read More>

Council rejects designation of Queens Blvd. bank

Objections by building owner and lack of positive support by council member sank designation. On October 27, 2005, the City Council overturned the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of the 1966-built, former Jamaica Savings Bank on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. Landmarks designated the bank in June 2005, calling it a striking example of 1960s popular modernist architecture. 2 CityLand 92 (July 15, 2005). The bank, designed by William F. Cann, features a 116-foot long curved copper … <Read More>

Queens Bank designated

Building is bold expression of mid-twentieth century engineering. On June 28, 2005, Landmarks designated the former Jamaica Savings Bank located on a diamond-shaped parcel at the intersection of Queens Boulevard and 56th Avenue in Elmhurst, Queens. The unique building, constructed in 1966-68, features a 116-foot long curved copper-clad roof that rises from a low floor-to-ceiling height to a 43-foot height at the Queens Boulevard facade. At the public hearings, North Fork Bank, the owner, strongly … <Read More>