Since so many people liked my Forest Hills Gardens video that I made last spring, it seemed like a good idea to do the winter version also. This beautiful private neighborhood looks great any time of year, but with fresh snowfall it really creates a unique and special charm. The classic, historic architecture and beautifully designed landscapes look great accented with a white frosty freeze. We don’t get much snow in NYC these days, so when it does happen, it's a real treat to witness.
What happened was, it snowed overnight and in the morning it had stopped. By the time I got my things ready and went outside, it started snowing again. But soon after that, it sort of stopped and started up again, and then it actually started sleeting and gave everything a sort of crunchy, thin ice layer that covered all the slushy elements underneath. Therefore, most of the walk was crunchy and slushy. Either way, it was still fun to walk around and see everything covered and newly decorated by the snow, which is fleeting and not a regular occurance. So as can you see here, even in the dead of winter, Forest Hills Gardens is a real spectacle and one of the most amazing areas in all of Queens. In all of New York City for that matter. Enjoy the tour!
A BRIEF HISTORY: Occupying a 175-acre wedge just south of the Forest Hills LIRR station and within the greater Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills, Forest Hills Gardens is one of America’s oldest planned communities. Modeled after England’s “garden cities,” originally intended to create an ideal environment that incorporated shared green space with urban convenience for the working classes, the Gardens (as it’s known) is home to about 4,500 residents. The private community is managed by the Forest Hills Gardens Corporation, an organization made up of property owners.
This unique community consisting of over 800 free-standing and attached houses dates from 1909, when architect Grosvenor Atterbury and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.--son of Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect who helped design Central Park--were commissioned to plan a new town. Though the community lies within the boundaries of one of the world’s most modern and populous cities, it has retained much of its co-operative, idyllic nature.
29 сен 2024
