Queens, NY (TAN) (Then & Now)
Title: Queens: Then & NowAuthor: Jen CarlsonPublisher: The GothamistDate: 1/5/2009Queens gets the Then & Now treatment as Arcadia Publishing releases their image-heavy book by Jason D. Antos, filled with contemporary and historic photographs of the borough. You'll get side-by-side shots comparing the old and the new landscapes, but the book won't hit shelves until January 19th, so here's a sneak peek at what you'll find inside.Interesting factoid from the introduction: "Around 60,000 years ago, the territory that would become Queens and Greater Long Island was created by an enormous glacier that descended from southern Connecticut." There were even prehistoric creatures inhabiting it...and currently there are muppets living there.Title: Author Chronicles Queens DevelopmentAuthor: Joseph OrovicPublisher: Queens TribuneDate: 1/15/2009A litany of books line shelves, filled with random facts and generally useless information. But for those itching to catch a glimpse of Queens pre-development, Jason Antos has answered the call.The 27-year-old Whitestone-native and University of Miami grad's latest book, "Queens," out Jan. 19, offers page after page of before and after photos. Spanning back to the 19th century, one can see pastoral Long Island City (yes, there's even a cow) to steam engines at Jamaica Station."I've always been fascinated by the area and how progressive it is," Antos said.Progressive indeed. Our Borough was, by most accounts, isolated until the Queensboro Bridge opened in March 1909. After that, Queens grew exponentially, especially after World War II.The book is the byproduct of Antos' Queens fetish. He has a personal collection of century-old photos, as well as recent snapshots.He garnered the collection after rooting through people's storage spaces and finding old photos that would otherwise be junked. The majority of the book's pictures come from this collection."A lot of them come from private collectors, or people who have them in their attic and they give them to me thinking I'll do something with them," Antos said.While you may be stunned by the progress several decades can bring, there may be a greater message to the book: development wins."I think as the years go by, any property that isn't preserved or landmarked will eventually be redeveloped," Antos said. "That's always the case."