Seymour Schwartz, Clip 3: The Over-development of Briarwood

Collection: Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Seymour Schwartz

Date: Time Period: 1953 - 2015; 2015-10-16; Interview recorded: October 16 2015 Material: Digital audio recording made using a digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth. Dimension: Total running time: 0:00:00

Creator: Seymour Schwartz interviewed by Anna Lacson Identifier: aql:22136 schwartz-seymour-clip3

Description: What makes Briarwood unique from other Queens neighborhoods is that it is now very much a mix of multi-story dwellings and private homes. With changes in zoning regulations, private homes were bought up for huge sums of money. In place of a single house, developers put up a four- or five-story building with 20 apartments. By building two entrances per building, they even managed to bypass the requirement to provide onsite parking! Briarwood’s streets thus became clogged with parked cars. This was complicated by the speed of the Briarwood subway – people who lived elsewhere used Briarwood as their personal “park and ride” facility. The Briarwood Community Association was instrumental in having the neighborhood rezoned in 2008. Still, there’s no demolishing what has already been built. And in the remaining R5 and R6 areas, where property owners were paid inordinate amounts to leave, there are no more private homes. The last houses disappeared within the past five years.

Title : Seymour Schwartz, Clip 3: The Over-development of Briarwood

Collection : aql:20455; aql:22196

Creator : Seymour Schwartz interviewed by Anna Lacson

Date : Time Period: 1953 - 2015; 2015-10-16; Interview recorded: October 16 2015

Summary/Description : What makes Briarwood unique from other Queens neighborhoods is that it is now very much a mix of multi-story dwellings and private homes. With changes in zoning regulations, private homes were bought up for huge sums of money. In place of a single house, developers put up a four- or five-story building with 20 apartments. By building two entrances per building, they even managed to bypass the requirement to provide onsite parking! Briarwood’s streets thus became clogged with parked cars. This was complicated by the speed of the Briarwood subway – people who lived elsewhere used Briarwood as their personal “park and ride” facility. The Briarwood Community Association was instrumental in having the neighborhood rezoned in 2008. Still, there’s no demolishing what has already been built. And in the remaining R5 and R6 areas, where property owners were paid inordinate amounts to leave, there are no more private homes. The last houses disappeared within the past five years.

Subject : Neighborhoods

Relation : Queens Memory Collection at the Archives at Queens Library: Seymour Schwartz

Rights : Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.

Coverage : Locations discussed: Briarwood, Queens, NY Briarwood (New York, N.Y.) Queens (New York, N.Y.)

Type : Oral history

Format : Digital audio recording made using a digital recorder and Adobe Soundbooth.; Total running time: 0:00:00

Identifier : aql:22136 schwartz-seymour-clip3