Astoria, Real Estate
May 26, 2014

Significant Change on Steinway Mansion Property – Small House Demolition

We learned that the owners of the Steinway Mansion are planning to demolish a little one-story house on the property with the address of 18-38 42nd Street. We think it’s (…)

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Via Bing Maps.

We learned that the owners of the Steinway Mansion are planning to demolish a little one-story house on the property with the address of 18-38 42nd Street. We think it’s that reddish looking house just to the east of the mansion itself. The heavy timber house was built in 1910, is 16 feet tall, and is a total of 522 square feet. The market value of this parcel of property is $370,000 but was only recently assessed at $22,200.

An interesting historical tidbit: former resident of this house, boat builder Oscar Beck, was involved in a hit-and-run, AKA auto homicide. The news was in the Long Island Daily Press from April 26, 1940.

18-38-42nd-street-astoria-queens-hit-run-newspaper-clip

Not sure why they are demolishing this house—it could be in bad shape, or in a more drastic scenario, perhaps the new owners will divide up the property and develop it. We’ll have to see, I guess. As a reminder, the Steinway Mansion itself is immune to being torn down due to its landmark status.

About Meg Cotner

Meg Cotner was trained as a harpsichordist and now works as a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Queens," and is a skilled and avid home cook, baker, and preserver.

4 Comments

Dianne

Growing up on the property was like living in a rural area in the midst of Astoria. it was quiet and in hindsight should have been spooky, but I had all that land to play on and the backdrop to the mansion but was too young to truly appreciate it.

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