Flushing, Queens - Landmarks, Museums and Cultural Institutions

Landmarks, Museums and Cultural Institutions

Flushing has many landmark buildings. Flushing Town Hall on Northern Boulevard is the headquarters of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The building houses a concert hall and cultural center and is one of the sites designated along the Queens Historical Society's Freedom Mile.

Other registered New York City Landmarks include the Bowne House, Kingsland Homestead, Old Quaker Meeting House (1694), Flushing High School, St. George's Church (1854), the Lewis H. Latimer House, the former RKO Keith's movie theater, the United States Post Office on Main Street, and the Unisphere, a 12-story high, stainless steel globe that served as the centerpiece for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The Flushing Armory, on Northern Boulevard, was formerly used by the National Guard. Presently, the Queens North Task Force of the New York City Police Department uses this building. In 2005, the Fitzgerald-Ginsberg Mansion on Bayside Avenue and in 2007, the Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden were designated as landmarks.

Several attractions were originally developed for the World's Fairs in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. There is a stone marker for the two 5,000-year Westinghouse Time Capsules made of special alloys buried in the park, chronicling 20th century life in the United States, dedicated both in 1938 and 1965. Also in the park are the Queens Museum of Art which features a scale model of the City of New York, the largest architectural model ever built; Queens Theatre in the Park ; the New York Hall of Science and the Queens Zoo.

The Queens Botanical Garden on Main Street has been in operation continuously since its opening as an exhibit at the 1939 World's Fair. The Botanical Garden carries on Flushing's nearly three centuries long horticultural tradition, dating back to its once famed tree nurseries and seed farms.