Steinway & Sons Piano Factory Tour

History and Tour of the Steinway & Sons Piano Factory in Astoria NYC

January 13 & 22, 2009 / Steinway & Sons Piano Factory History / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

I had the opportunity to take a wonderful trip back in time without even leaving the borough. I traveled through a time warp, back into 19th century American, when technology was merging with craftsmanship to create the foundations of the modern world we lived in throughout the better part of the 20th century. In 1875 Steinway & Sons bought 400 acres of land in what used to be Long Island City prior to its merger with Manhattan and Brooklyn to form New York City. The factory is located at the northern tip of Astoria Queens, as one would guess, near Steinway Street. Tours are given weekly throughout the school year but cameras are not allowed.

 

Invention Of The Piano

We started the tour in an upstairs conference room where there’s a plaque showing the piano was invented in 1711 by Bartholomew Cristofori [d. 1731]. He modified the plucking of strings, as is done by the harpsichord, to create the piano, which strikes the strings. The piano is both a percussion [striking] and stringed instrument.

 

German Furniture Maker Steinway & Sons

Heinrich Steinway, the company’s founder was born in Germany. He grew up in the furniture making business and he began applying those skills to piano making in the early 1800’s. In 1849, one of his sons came to America, and a year later most of the rest of the family followed.

 

Click here to read the rest of our story, including photos of the Steinway Factory History & Tours in NYC.

Steinway & Sons Piano Factory Tour

History and Tour of the Steinway & Sons Piano Factory in Astoria NYC

January 13 & 22, 2009 / Steinway & Sons Piano Factory History / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

Rare Early Steinway Piano - In Astoria

At the Steinway & Sons piano factory in Astoria they have an 1836 piano that was built in Germany at the first Steinway piano factory. This rare piano was made markedly different from how pianos are made at the factory today.

 

Steinway & Sons – Technologists & Marketers

The family migrated to the U.S. in early 1850’s. By the 1870’s their fortunes began to soar. One of the sons, C.F. Theodore Steinway, developed a series of inventions relating to the piano that began to separate the quality of the Steinway product from its competitors. He collaborated with a German physicist and acoustician to refine how the piano created tonal quality.

 

William Steinway, Theodore’s brother, added to the Steinway legend by engineering celebrity sales, obtained celebrity endorsements and arranged celebrity events to build upon the Steinway name. To this end William invited European classical pianists to perform on their pianos. And in 1890 he created Steinway Hall, which was a forerunner to Carnegie Hall.

The Second Steinway Hall

The second Steinway Hall, which was used more as a retail showroom and concert piano storage area, was built in 1925 and is still functioning today. It’s worth noting that it is once again owned by Steinway & Sons as a marketing / sales and promotional place, where the greatest musicians in the world come to shop for Steinway & Sons pianos. The building is located just across the street from Carnegie Hall, and both buildings are landmarked.

 

19th Century Craftsmanship Continues To This Day

Steinway pianos are, in many respects, made by hand in this factory which employs about 600 people and produces in the neighborhood of two thousand plus pianos per year. During the tour I was struck by the simplicity of the machinery used, as most of it would have been available over a century ago. The men who make these pianos are craftsmen rather than factory workers.

 

Making A Steinway Piano – Start With The Wood

The factory air is temperature and humidity controlled in order to prevent any warping of the wood components used to create this sensitive musical instrument. The factory is keep very clean and vacuums are everywhere to absorb the sawdust that comes from working the wood.

 

Steinway & Sons Piano Factory - Queens NY

Rock maple wood is cured for various lengths of time to eliminate most of its resin. The long wide planks of wood are then cut and milled into thin layers, sixteen of which are glued together and pressed into a steel frame. In this fashion the piano body is shaped into the smoothe curves of the body of the piano as the glue dries and the wood is cured in a heated and humid environment over the course of ten weeks. During this time the other components for the piano are being built.

 

 

Steinway Piano Lid And Moldings

The top of the piano, called the lid, is generally made of populars because it’s a strong straight wood. The lid must be able to sustain thousands of pounds of pressure from the piano vibrations. The moldings are made of walnut. Steam boxes are used to help mold the strong wood to the shapes required to fit onto the curvaceous instrument like a glove.

 

Steinway Piano Keys And Hammers - Astoria NY

Ivory is no longer used on the piano keys, since the extinction of elephants became an issue some 30 or so years ago. Today the keys are made with special glass and spruce. The piano hammers are constructed of felt tips, which must conform to the highest quality standards.

 

 

Sound Boards And Harps

The base of the piano includes a sound board and a harp. The harp is made of metal by a Steinway controlled foundry. It generally takes multiple fitting attempts to lay the harp into the sound box to obtain the perfect fit. After the fit, the board is then strung and the piano tuned.

 

Unique Personality Of Each Steinway Piano

Each piano has its own unique set of characteristics, which the artisans reference to personalities. Somewhere between the fitting and the tuning, the piano is said to ‘get its soul’. The music that comes from a Steinway is the collaboration of the artisans on the shop floor and the musicians in the concert hall.

 

Steinway & Sons Pianos – Preferred By Celebrity Musicians

Many of the greats have visited the Steinway & Sons piano factory in Astoria to select their pianos. In fact the factory has a room where client can practice in a room with manageable acoustics that simulate different piano playing environments. The factory estimates that 99% of the American concert pianists and recording stars use Steinways.

 

Steinway & Sons Pianos – Costs / Value & Special Editions

Steinway & Sons produce special editions that may have unique characteristics in the trim, shape, color and more. A Steinway piano can cost up to a half million [for a special edition] but they typically run from the low $40,000’s to the low $100,000’s.

 

That said the Steinway website indicates that these instruments retain and in fact appreciate in value over time [based on historical trends]. Given that the factory produces only 2,000 plus per year, and by many measures Steinways are custom made, and they are considered by the best musicians to be the best, they seem to have all the properties that makes an item a collectible.

 

The Steinways exited the business in 1972, but their name lives on in the brand they created. The name had such cache that while Henry Steinway was still alive, he used to randomly come into the factory to autograph a few pianos before they shipped.

Sources & Thanks - Steinway Piano Factory Tour NYC

My thanks to Marisa Berman of the Queens Historical Society, Bob Singleton of The Greater Astoria Historical Society and Loretta Russo of Steinway & Sons. For tours contact the Greater Astoria Historical Society or The Steinway & Sons Piano Factory by using the search function below.

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Steinway Mansion Up For Sale

Lincoln Era Mansion & Queens History To Be Sold

August 20, 2010 / NYC Boroughs Neighborhooods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

On Wednesday afternoon I set to work on this story after returning from a fascinating four hour visit with Michael Halberian, owner and whose family occupied, the Steinway Mansion for the past 82 years. The mansion is located in Astoria, just north of 19th Avenue on 41st Street [map link provided at end of story].

 

I felt like I'd stepped through a time warp, back into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The visit connected me to one of the legendary centerpieces of Queens history - the Steinway family and the mansion they occupied during their golden years ... but the mansion's history neither starts nor ends there.

 

Michael regaled me with anecdotal tales supported by the many books off his shelves, or by pointing to numerous remnants of the past, kept in pristine shape in this beautiful old Astoria mansion on the hill overlooking the East River.

 

Click here to read more about the Steinway Mansion For Sale In Astoria Queens.

Steinway Mansion Up For Sale

 

Real Estate In Astoria

August 20, 2010 / NYC Boroughs Neighborhooods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

The Steinway Mansion has been put up for sale. This prize piece of Astoria real estate, awash in Astoria, Queens and NYC's history, is being co-brokered by two realtors: Halvatzis Realty of Astoria Queens and Douglas Elliman of Manhattan NYC.

 

This report is far more than a story about an historical landmark for sale, it is about preserving some of Astoria's, Queens and NYC's glorious 19th century past.

Steinway Mansion Owner Since 1925

The Halberian family has lived and maintained the mansion for over 80 years. Michael Halberian was born in the mansion in 1927, and is currently in the process of trying to find the mansion's fourth owner.

 

I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with Michael, while he graciously allowed me to tour and photograph the mansion and many of its belongings. Michael brought alive this wonderful old mansion's fascinating past, and with it, Queens, New York’s and in fact, America’s history.

 

Benjamin Pike - 19th Century Optician

The landmark building was built in 1857 - 1858 by Benjamin Pike. Benjamin Pike was a purveyor of optical and scientific instruments. He ran a prominent store in lower Manhattan across from city hall. Pike had studied optometry in England and was one of the first opticians to come to America in 1847. Over 150 years later, Benjamin Pike's interest in optometry and telescopes is still present throughout the Steinway Mansion. There were several telescopes scattered throughout the mansion, as well as an imprint on one of the etched glass windows of the entrance to the mansion's main foyer [see photo to right].

 

It's also worth noting that the mansion has a crow's nest, high above the third floor, from which one can see in all directions. Although on the hot summer day I was there, shady leafy foliage from the nearby trees obstructed some of the views. I can imagine in Benjamin's Pike day, he could easily study the heavenly skies with his telescopes from his beautiful country home.

 

There would have been little interference from man made light as his home was a two hour trip [including ferry ride] from lower Manhattan, which would be considered no more than a small town today, and there wasn't yet any electricity. Pike and his wife lived in the mansion until his death in 1864. In the photo below right the Pike Mansion is just under the red check mark.

 

William Steinway Buys Astoria Real Estate - Pike's Mansion

A few years after his Pike’s death, his widow sold the granite mansion to William Steinway in 1869 - 1870. At the time William Steinway, one of Henry Steinway's sons, was instrumental in moving the company of Steinway & Sons from Manhattan to Astoria. Prior to 1870 Steinway pianos were made at various locations throughout Manhattan.

 

Michael informed me that the conscription riots by the Irish during the Civil War prompted Steinway to re-think keeping Steinway & Sons Piano Factory on the increasingly crowded island of Manhattan. The conscription riots occurred when the Irish protested the U.S. government's practice of allowing the wealthy to opt out of military service in exchange for money. So following the Civil War, beginning in 1870, the Steinways moved their home and business affairs out to Queens.

 

Steinway & Sons - 19th Century Industrialists

By 1870 the Steinways had purchased Pike's Mansion as well as a large 400 acre tract of northwestern Queens.

 

Upon this land they began building their factories and an entire company town along with it. The town included a church, school, library and a horse-drawn trolley to move people to and fro within the town which was called Steinway village. See related story on Steinway & Sons Piano Factory.

 

The Steinways were quite successful and eventually their business interests turned to transportation. In the 1890's the Steinways decided to expand the trolley service into Manhattan by digging a tunnel under the East River. While the Steinways never completed the tunnel, in time the work they'd done, eventually became the tunnel for the subway line.

 

The Steinways also set up an engine manufacturing company in the late 1800's in some sort of loose relationship with the Daimlers of Mercedes fame of Germany. As Steinways were wealthy 19th century industrialists, it came as no surprise when Michael told me that Grover Cleveland came to dinner here in the 1880’s. President Cleveland is said to have eaten in the Media Luna dining room [a name probably given by Pike], which largely remains unchanged from the day the deceased president reportedly visited.

 

We weren't able to cross reference this visit, but it's worth noting that I found an old portrait of the U.S. presidents in a room on the third floor where I counted 24 presidents, meaning it was a poster of the presidents from Grover Cleveland’s time. Coincidence?

 

The Steinways, along with George Ehrets, owner of the Hellgate Brewery, also developed the North Beach recreational area, which became an amusement park and beer garden along the East River. It was Queens answer to Coney Island in Brooklyn. But in 1929 the park was razed and converted to an airstrip called North Beach Airport. Eventually the North Beach airstrip became LaGuardia Airport which was opened in 1939. See related story on the Casey Jones School Of Aeronautics aka Vaughn College.

 

In 1896 William Steinway died. The Steinway family continued to live in the mansion until 1925 when they sold it to Jack Halberian, an entrepreneur, tailor and an Armenian immigrant. One of the Halberians is seated to the far left in the photo above and is either the grandfather or the father of the current owner, Michael Halberian.

 

The Halberians - Owners & Preservationists

I first met Michael Halberian in his study, which is a large room with a high ceiling and a beautifully sculpted skylight. The room was right out of a well done movie of late 19th century aristocratic America. It was a room where science, wealth and a learned idealism comfortably coexisted. A room containing glimpses of the world's latest knowledge [of the late 19th century] as well as some of the instruments and equipment to go along with it. There was a ladder along one of the large floor to ceiling bookcases, so that one could climb to obtain an out-of-reach tome.

 

This room invited me in and enticed me to stay; as did the mansion's owner and resident historian, who graciously asked me to find a seat while we talked. I took a seat at a table in the middle of the room, since it would be easier for me to jot down notes as we conversed. There was a chess set atop the table.

 

Michael started by providing me with the mansion history, much of which I’ve outlined and enhanced above. While we were talking, I couldn’t help but take an interest in the many objets d’science & history that were strewn about the room. Michael reminded me of a history professor, whose interests ran far and wide, as he took me down all sorts of interesting side trails, without losing his initial train of thought.

 

Jack Halberian - Entrepreneur & Mansion Owner

Michael told me how his father, an Armenian tailor, bought the mansion when the Steinways put it up for sale in 1925. His father had saved everything he had made since moving to America in 1913. He had set his sights on the mansion years earlier, seeing it while traveling with friends on a Steinway trolley, likely on a trip to the North Beach recreational area. A realtor / friend who was with him on that trolley ride, remembered his interest in the mansion, and contacted him when the it came up for sale. So Jack Halberian collected everything he had and bought the house for $45,000.

 

Upon taking possession of the home, Jack found it to be a less than smooth transition, as the water and electricity conduits were provided to him complements of the nearby Steinway Piano Factory. The factory terminated these conveniences following the Steinways exit shortly after the completion of the sale. Jack Halberian quickly set about to make things work, investing another $15,000 into repairs and improvements. His new wife’s family helped him refinance his investments in 1928 by providing him with $17,000 in loans.

 

In 1929 Jack’s wife’s family wanted their money back as the stock market crashed and everyone was short of cash. To make ends meet, Jack rented out the upper two floors of the house, while he and his family occupied the first floor and the basement. Michael remembers shoveling coal into the furnace during his youth to keep the house warm. Apparently the mansion at the time would consume about thirty tons of coal per season, which Michael informed me would fill half the study about eight feet high.

 

Queens, NYC & American History In Astoria

Michael was once appointed the official historian of Astoria by Helen Marshall. A title he’s since relinquished. Michael's knowledge of the mansion and its inhabitants is likely the best source of information of this kind. He provided me with much of the information pubished herein about the Pikes and Steinways as well as his own family's history: the Halberians.

 

The mansion contains numerous remnants of America's past. There were two cannons from the American Revolutionary War sitting in the den like they were child's toys. Resting along one of the window sills there was an old beaten up globe that had come from one of the great steamships of a century ago. Steamships that once traversed the world's oceans at breakneck speed. Michael frequently referred to his collection of books, which are generally about the history of New York. He had, over the years, collected many complete sets, the likes of which he informed me, I might never see again.

 

Layout Of The Mansion - Real Estate In Astoria

The front of the house overlooks the East River from a high bluff, while the side and back of the house face the street and the rest of Astoria. I stepped out into the front yard to photograph the mansion's granite facade, which continues to this day to have a sturdy, warm, elegance. I circled the house and found the outhouse that Michael had mentioned, which was erected with the mansion [the mansion was eventually one of the first homes to have indoor plumbing]. In the photo to your right is the side view of the mansion, from where you can enter into the main living rooms.

 

Architectural / Interior Details - First Floor

Inside the house, off the study, is a foyer. The foyer leads everywhere: out to the main entrance, back into the dining area, up the stairs, as well as off into two separate living rooms, both of which have access to the outer yard. Standing in the center of the foyer, I looked up to see a skylight with an oval rail guarding the hallway on the second floor. As mentioned earlier, the den where Michael and I had first started conversing had a skylight too, all of which had been built when Pike first erected the house.

 

The two side rooms are where I imagine the ladies and men probably convened, separately, following dinner during Grover Cleveland's time. All large rooms on the main floor have fireplaces, which I believe are the originals, made of what appears to be various types of marble, elegantly cut in the fashion of the time. And the living rooms and dining room all had full length windowed doors leading out to porches overlooking the yard.

 

The doors leading from the front vestibule into the main foyer are pocket doors which have etched glass windows. These windows, as previously mentioned, displayed many of the scientific instruments / telescopes which Benjamin Pike so loved. There are many precious, well preserved details to be found throughout the mansion, which would warm a historian's heart.

 

When I returned to the main foyer, Mike pointed out a telescope that he informed me had once sat aboard JP Morgan’s yacht. He drew my attention to a Russian Tea machine in the dining room, and I noticed an old fashioned moving pictures camera, similar to one I’d previously seen in the American Museum Of The Moving Image in Astoria. There was also a suit of knight's armor which I didn't get a chance to ask him about.

 

Astoria Real Estate & History - Second Floor

I started up the stairs to see what I might find. At the top of the staircase there’s the oval rail and bookcases along all of the oval walls which Michael had built. Michael, like his parents before him, also has a tenant who lives on the second floor. She graciously showed me several old prints of New York, a beautiful view of the mansion front lawn, and two Tiffany stained glass windows.

 

Along the back of the second floor are what I believe are Michael’s living quarters. These rooms seemed to be in alignment with the overall feel of the rest of the mansion with beautiful, classically-styled, antique furniture filling the rooms. Much of the furniture appeared to be art deco from the 1920’s and 1930’s, when Michael's family first moved into the mansion.

 

There’s a third floor, which I haven’t much to say about, as it’s primarily used for storage. It's where I found the print / poster of the presidents from Grover Cleveland's time. But, as mentioned previosly, there is a crow’s nest above the mansion and from here one can see all round Astoria. The mansion is perched high on a bluff and overlooks what was once Steinway Village which is now called Steinway Street and Upper Ditmars in Astoria.

 

I dropped down into the basement, which has been modernized. The basement has a Jacuzzi, steam room, two large pool tables and a small bar booth area. At the end of our conversation Michael again drew my attention to his book collection, informing me that it covers much of the history of New York. There are beautiful prints and pictures in the books, few copies of which remain. Many of the books are 100 – 200 years old, just like the mansion.

 

Opinion: Astoria Real Estate Or NYC History?

In many senses this house reminded me of a bit of the Voelker Orth Museum in Flushing. It preserves a period of time which I dearly hope will be available for all to see in the years ahead. This can only be possible if the city, state and / or federal government step up to purchase this priceless historical legacy, which is listed price at $2.5 million to $4.5 million [price varies depending on parcel of lots purchased].

 

As I left, I felt myself yearning for the city to become not just a bidder, but the buyer of this house. It’s unquestionably a landmark not just with its age, but in its history [it has landmark status]. And it still has the charm and warmth that Benjamin Pike first put into his ‘country’ home which he started building in 1857. The Steinway Mansion has the potential to become a home owned by and accessible to all Queens residents, if it's purchased by the government.

 

Queens has a great colonial history, some of which is preserved in Flushing. Queens also has a great 19th century history, little of which has been preserved anywhere in the borough. William Steinway was the quintessential 19th century enlightened American industrialist. He helped usher in the modern era by paying his employees a living wage, providing them with decent housing [not slums], and even developing a recreational park for them [the North Beach Amusement Park & Beer Garden]. In the 19th century, leisure time and recreation for the working classes was a very novel concept.

 

It's currently possible to make the Steinway Mansion a centerpiece of Astoria and Queens History. It has the potential to one day be considered a centerpiece of NYC and America's history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I don't think this is an opportunity our Mayor, our Borough President, our City Council and our Historical Societies should let slip by. It can be purchased today, possibly with some of the memorabilia; while a former owner who is also part of the mansion's story, is still around to impart his knowledge of the glorious old mansion's past.

 

Lastly, Michael Halberian has acted as a sort of preservationist, historian and curator of the Steinway Mansion for a better part of his life. He told me that he would like to pass the mansion on to "the right buyer", which I interpreted to be the city or an historical society. He wants to do the right thing and if you agree, I implore you to help him.

 

Send This Story To Your Friends & Call 311

Please use the email form below to send a link to this story to your friends, family and associates and / or get them to call 311 to ask the Mayor and City Council to buy this property. I'm sure if they receive enough calls [thousands to millions], they'll start negotiating with the sellers to make this happen.

 

To put the purchase price of this house in perspective, the NYC budget last year was about $63 BILLION, so the asking price amounts to .00004% of the budget which is not even a rounding error. Actually billionaires like Mayor Bloomberg or Warren Buffet are wealthy enough to buy it and donate it to the city, so we contacted both of them and both responded indicating no interest.

 

Special thanks to Kim Parshley of Halvatzis Realty for informing me about this transaction and facilitating this story. And of course, to Michael Halberian for graciously allowing me to do this story and providing me with much of the information contained herein.

Realtors Handling Steinway Mansion Real Estate

The following is the contact information of the two realty companies handling the Steinway Mansion real estate sale. One of them also happens to be one of our clients, Halvatzis Realty, and they have a home page on this site.

 

I actually asked them [not the other way around] if I could do this story while the two real estate firms were preparing to market the property. I saw the story as a glimpse into Queens past, not so much as a story about real estate for sale in Astoria. They agreed and that's Kim in the photo to your left.

Kim Parshley of Halvatzis Realty Astoria - 917.620.5344 [Cell]

Carolyn Zweben of Douglas Elliman NYC - 212.769.6537 [Office]

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Mr. Mayor Invited for Cocktails at Steinway Mansion

Vallone Invites Mayor To Visit Mansion Before Making Decision

October 7, 2010 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

What an evening! It started with an interesting journey through some of the Steinway & Sons history by local historian Bob Singleton and was followed by a rousing speech by City Council Member Peter Vallone. Then the mansion was opened up to some 70 or 80 people who had been invited to ‘Help Save The Steinway Mansion’. The photo to your left shows Peter Vallone and historian Bob Singleton standing on the steps of the Steinway mansion talking to community members who wish to preserve the Steinway mansion.

It's been said that President Grover Cleveland visited this historic treasure in the 1880’s as a guest of Henry Steinway. And Mayor Ed Koch made a visit to the Steinway Mansion as guest of Michael Halberian. Click here to read more about Mayor Bloomberg’s invitation to the Steinway Mansion in Astoria later this month.

Mayor Invited To Steinway Mansion

Mayor Asked To View Astoria Queens Mansion Before Deciding On Vallone Request

October 7, 2010 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

 

It was a dry, clear October evening as some 80 guests of Michael Halberian and Peter Vallone casually toured the Steinway Mansion in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. During this time I conversed with several members of the audience who were, like me, pretty much awestruck as they soaked up the mansion’s innate charm, ambiance, and some good old fashioned 19th century Americana.

 

The photo above shows Bob Singleton [left] speaking from the porch of the Steinway Mansion, while Peter Vallone [right] looks on.

 

Steinway Mansion - Mansion Among Mansions

One member of the audience compared the Steinway Mansion to the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, New York. While another audience member compared it to the Brady Mansion near Manhasset on Long Island [the Brady Mansion was subsequently converted to a Jesuit retreat, now called Inisfada].

 

Both men explained that some of the analogy might not hold, given the rural surroundings of the analogous estates, while the Steinway Mansion is only 20 minutes away from Grand Central Station NYC. We also determined that the Steinway Mansion predates these two mansions by some 40 and 60 years respectively. In the photo to your right is Kim Parshley, one of the realtors working on the sale, standing in the entrance of the main foyer of the Steinway Mansion.

 

Peter Vallone - Save The Steinway Mansion

I had an opportunity to ask Peter Vallone what progress had been made in the three weeks since he had sent a request urging the city to purchase the mansion. Peter explained that getting the city to buy the mansion outright would be challenging, given the lean economic times and city budget constraints.

 

Undaunted, Peter said he was exploring various options to facilitate the transaction and he brandished a sheet of paper containing a list of about ten different parties with whom he’d already made contact. “And at least two of these parties are here tonite”, he informed me. He also noted that fellow City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer had also sent the mayor a similar request in a show of support for the measure.

 

“What about Queens Borough President Helen Marshall?” I inquired. He responded, “I believe that she is generally supportive of the measure, given the recent statements she’d made in the Daily News.” In the photo above Peter Vallone is shown speaking to a televison news reporter.

 

Steinway Mansion Media Coverage

It’s worth noting that in addition to the reports published by the Daily News - Crain's NY Business, the Queens Gazette, the Queens Chronicle and the Woodside Herald have either published reports or run letters to the editor regarding the Steinway Mansion sale.

 

 

It’s also worth asking why The New York Times has been so conspicuously silent on the Steinway Mansion story, particularly given the fact that two NYC city council members have asked the city to purchase it.

 

 

 

Michael Halberian - Consummate Host & Historian

Michael Halberian played the consummate host. He was charming, informative and tireless. I learned that he had owned and managed the restaurant Knickers on 49th Street near 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, where he had had sixteen years [1969 to 1985] of interacting with large public audiences like the one here tonite.

 

Michael took the press members who lingered, for a verbal tour of his history of associations with the Vallone family while Peter was still in attendance. Jack Halberian [Michael’s father] and Judge Charles Vallone [Peter’s grandfather] both lived in Astoria about 100 years ago and both men were avid pinochle players. Michael also told us about how he sought Peter Vallone Sr's [Peter's father] counsel shortly after Peter Sr. had graduated from law school about 40 or 50 years ago. Michael spoke highly of Peter Sr. as well as his bride, who Michael described as ‘an angel’. Near the end of the evening, Peter informed us that he’d just heard some of these stories himself, during his first visit to the Steinway Mansion back in September. In the photo above, Peter Vallone hears Michael Halberian tell a story about his family.

 

The Mayor Is Invited

Before we departed Peter and Michael made mention of a private cocktail party that is being thrown to generate additional publicity and to solicit different approaches to secure the means to buy and operate the Steinway Mansion as a museum / cultural center for Queens. The photo to your left shows one of the living rooms, complete with marble fireplace and floor to ceiling windows, at the Steinway mansion in Astoria Queens.

 

When asked, if the mayor would be invited and whether it would it be ok to post a public copy of the invitation on our website, they replied in the affirmative.

 

So, dear Mayor, we encourage you to accept the following invitation:

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Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

You’re cordially invited to a private cocktail party at the Steinway Mansion on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 from 6.30 to 8.30 pm.

Cocktail attire required, but we will make an exception for you.

Michael Halberian & Peter Vallone

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Will The Mayor Attend?

After having visited Michael Halberian at the Steinway Mansion for the second time, I can pretty much guarantee that the evening will be charming, that the mayor will learn things about Queens and New York's past that he never knew, and that he may even have a good time. Just ask Ed Koch.

 

The photo to your right shows Michael Halberian greeting Mayor Ed Koch at the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens. The inset photo of Grover Cleveland was found at the Steinway Mansion in a storage room on the third floor, but to date we haven't been able to cross reference the visit.

 

We'll follow up with the next installment of this story following the cocktail party on October 20th unless there's breaking news in between. You can help by calling 311 to register your interest in having the city preserve the Steinway mansion.

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Steinway Mansion & Steinways History

Click here to read our first story on the Steinway Mansion. This story has photos of the mansion as well as information about the history of the Steinway Mansion, the Steinways and about Astoria Queens in the 19th & early 20th centuries.

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Enchanted Evening At The Mansion

Steinway Mansion Strikes Resonant Chord

October 20, 2010 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

It was a cool quiet moonlit evening as I made my way down the lonely street leading up to the Steinway Mansion. As I passed through the century old Italian wrought iron gates, I found white Japanese paper lanterns lit by candles leading into the yard. I followed them around the side of the house, and eventually right up to the front porch. But I couldn't go in, at least not yet.

The mansion looked so serene and quiet, even as over one hundred people enjoyed the cocktail party going on inside. The grey granite exterior soaked in the silvery moonlight, as the white trim glowed luminously. I stood there for a while, just breathing in each moment ... until someone came up behind me and said, "We really should buy this for ourselves." We then laughed, knowing that that would never happen.

But there was a yearning in my heart that the Steinway Mansion would be bought by some level of government, so that I, along with everyone else in Queens, could continue to enjoy this beautiful home, for the rest of our days. It dawned on me later, that perhaps I'd caught the Jack Halberian fever, and fallen in love with a 19th century Queens home and legacy that have no peers.

Click this link to view this report, along with quite a number of photos taken at the cocktail party dedicated to a Steinway Mansion open house / for sale.

An Enchanted Evening At The Mansion

Steinway Mansion Strikes Resonant Chord

October 20, 2010 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

As I walked in through the front door, Kim Parshley of Halvatzis Realty welcomed me into Michael Halberian's home. She was standing underneath the large chandelier, which was hanging from the cupola skylight built over one and a half centuries ago. I was told that at one time there was a representation of 'the eye of god' covering the opening.

 

To my left was one of the drawing rooms. Prior to the party Michael had lit a fire in one of the ornate white marble fireplaces that had been installed when the mansion was first built. I was amazed that the fireplaces still exhaled the air perfectly, while warming the room. It was also interesting to note that Michael, who as a boy had shoveled 30 tons of coal per winter into his father's furnace, was still using coal to help heat the mansion today.

 

 

People From All Walks Of Life Participate

At the Save The Steinway Mansion awareness gathering, there were people from all walks of Queens life. There were businesspersons, dancers, photographers, realtors, authors, historians, environmental activists, lawyers, academics, interior designers, financiers and government officials.

 

Everyone seemed excited to be here, knowing this was a rare chance to see something very special, before it became public or before it is ruined.

 

 

 

Art, History & Music At The Steinway Mansion

There was a violinist playing in the background [see photo to your left] and hors d'oeuvres being served throughout the night. I could easily see this sort of event being held as a regular feature here, if the Steinway Mansion were converted into a museum and cultural center.

 

Throughout the evening I overheard numerous conversations about the history of Queens and the Steinways, as well as about the Americana featured throughout the mansion, the art hanging on the walls, and the music associated with the legendary creme du la creme piano factory located only a few short blocks away.

 

Steinway & Sons Piano Factory Tours

The following day I phoned the piano factory to better understand who toured the piano factory. Loretta Russo, spokeswoman for Steinway & Sons Piano factory in Astoria, had once given me a tour and allowed me to take photos of the custom made piano factory in progress. She informed me that while some of thepeople who visit the factory come from foreign lands, the majority of them are from within the United States of America.

 

Steinway & Sons Piano factory hosts over a thousand visitors per year and many of them inquire as to the possibility of seeing the Steinway Mansion. By the way, tours are held on Tuesdays only from September through June, starting at 9.30 am and ending at 12 noon. No photos are allowed without prior permission.

 

The Steinway Mansion

Make It A National Museum & Cultural Center

To date the option of viewing the Steinway Mansion has been closed to visitors, as the Steinway Mansion has been privately owned since it was erected in 1858 [see photo to your right of the mansion at night]. It's also worth noting that as of mid October, Loretta of Steinway & Sons Pianos has already booked tours of the legendary factory through March 2011.

 

She added that the booking season for the 2010 - 2011 piano factory tours will soon be over because, as mentioned above, they only host the tours one day per week. The tours are free, but a donation is now being suggested to help support restoration of the Steinway diaries.

 

 

Steinway Mansion - Important NYC History

Meanwhile back at the mansion. I wandered into the study, where I found Michael Halberian. He was seated at a table surrounded by a number of guests who were intently listening to him tell them stories about the past [see photo to left]. He told stories of his and the mansion's past, as well as of the history of the Steinways, Queens and New York City.

 

While the mansion heyday was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Michael Halberian is also capable of bringing alive the struggle and the rapture of the Steinway Mansion in the days since. Several guests remarked that they wanted a year long pass to visit the 19th century study.

 

 

Peter Vallone - Save The Steinway Mansion

I had the opportunity to speak with Astoria representative to the NY City Council, Peter Vallone. Peter has been working to Save The Steinway Mansion by securing funding to have the city purchase the mansion and convert it into a museum and cultural center. He had recently spoken to the Historic Trust organization which indicated that most historic sites are managed at a deficit and that it would be beneficial to come up with an 'innovative use' for the mansion. Peter had also spoken to borough president Helen Marshall who stated she was interested in helping.

 

Peter Vallone is shown in the photo to your right discussing different ways to fund the acquisition of the Steinway Mansion.

 

Congressman Crowley Expresses Support

We found that there's a portion [$5 billion] of the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act funds allocated to preserving America's historic sites. We attended an event hosted by Congressman Joe Crowley who is Chairman of the Queens County Democratic party, and we took that opportunity to ask him about using federal funds to purchase the Steinway Mansion. He said he'd look into it and also suggested that funding may be available through 'Save America's Treasures' which is a public / private organization dedicated to saving America's cultural heritage. He also said he supported the Save The Steinway Mansion effort knowing it would be good for the Queens economy.

 

In the photo to your right is Congressman Joseph Crowley who we met just a couple of days prior to the Steinway Mansion event.

 

Carolyn Maloney & The Mayor - Waiting To Hear

As Peter noted that the Steinway Mansion is in Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney's district, we also called her office to find out what her position was regarding a public acquisition of the mMansion. We were also interested in inquiring what, if anything, she had done or was going to do to help preserve it. Her public relations person was out of the office until next week, so we'll update you when we hear back from him. We are also waiting for a response from Andrew Brent of the Mayor's office, regarding the Mayor's position on having the city acquire the Steinway Mansion.

 

Mayor Bloomberg is shown in the photo to your left at Taste Of The World 2008 in Queens while he was running for re-election.

 

 

Benjamin Pike's Tower

Meanwhile, back at the mansion. One guest had walked all the way up to Benjamin Pike's star gazing tower above the third floor. She noted that it was a beautiful moonlit evening and that she could see for miles around in all directions. She quipped, "Walking up those stairs would be a dangerous trip after a couple of drinks, especially in heels." In the photo to your right are the stairs leading to the Steinway Mansion tower above the third floor.

 

There were over one hundred guests in attendance, and the large 27 room mansion absorbed them all like a big sponge, with plenty of room to spare. Most of us congregated on the main floor and there was ample room to circulate, especially given the flowing layout of the home. Many people were drawn to the living room with the fireplace burning while others spent time in the dining room looking through the Americana and other objects of interest on display.

 

While I didn't get upstairs on this visit, I did spend a bit more time down in the basement. There's an Irish or English Pub as well as two large regulation length pool tables situated in the center of the stone walled rooms of the basement. There's also a jacuzzi and steam room. My understanding is that Michael Halberian, not Benjamin Pike, installed these.

 

 

The Steinway Mansion - Already A Living Museum

Toward the end of the evening I started to look at the prints and paintings on the mansion walls. The one shown in the photo to your right is of Astoria over one hundred years ago. The prints were distinctly American and primarily of the 19th and early 20th century, many of which were from or about the Queens / NYC / Long Island area. There are many etched glass windows on the ground floor which I have been told are original to the house.

 

 

 

As the crowd left, I watched Michael Halberian, coal glove on hand, start feeding coal into the fireplace [see photo to your left]. It came as no surprise that after more than seventy years mastering the fine art of coal burning, he had managed the fireplace feeding perfectly.

 

I bid adieu and headed out into the yard. The moon was still shining brightly, so I started shooting a few photos of the house. This time a couple of guests partook in the effort as they 'modeled the mansion' [see last photo in slide show].

 

 

Benjamin Pike Written Into Short Story In 1858

When I arrived home, a guest named Arthur had emailed me this clip from Fitz James O'Brien's short story entitled Diamond Lens which was written in 1858 [the year the mansion was completed]. It includes a paragraph about the Steinway Mansion's orginal owner: optician Benjamin Pike:

"My first step, of course, was to find suitable apartments. These I obtained, after a couple of days' search, in Fourth Avenue; a very pretty second floor, unfurnished, containing sitting-room, bedroom, and a smaller apartment which I intended to fit up as a laboratory."

"I furnished my lodgings simply, but rather elegantly, and then devoted all my energies to the adornment of the temple of my worship. I visited Pike, the celebrated optician, and passed in review his splendid collection of microscopes--Field's Compound, Hingham's, Spencer's, Nachet's Binocular (that founded on the principles of the stereoscope), and at length fixed upon that form known as Spencer's Trunnion Microscope, as combining the greatest number of improvements with an almost perfect freedom from tremor."

As I read the paragraphs above it seemed like voices were speaking to us from the past. At this particular moment it was 'Save The Benjamin Pike Mansion'.

The more I learn about the Steinway Mansion and the people who once inhabited it, the more I believe there is to learn about it. It seems the mansion is already a living museum, offering the possibility of providing a central home to literally tons of information and photos about 19th century Queens and New York. It would be a tragedy to let pass such an easy opportunity to preserve such an important part of Queens, NYC's and America's history.

Our next story will take you deeper into the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens legacy. The Steinway Mansion is, like a still pool, where the water runs very deep.

 

Help Save The Steinway Mansion

The government needs to make the Steinway Mansion a Museum & Cultural Center for Astoria, Queens, NYC and America. But over the past few months it has become very clear to me that purchase of the mansion by a public entity won't happen unless an overwhelming number of Queens & New York residents help. In the photo to your right are guests taking great interest in the many historical artifacts collected by Michael Halberan who is shown seated in the foreground to your right.

 

Mayor Bloomberg and the NYT haven't yet publicly acknowledged that two of Queens City Council Members have asked the city to purchase the mansion. I have personally contacted representatives from both offices, so I know they are both aware that an effort is being made to sell the mansion to the city. Yet both offices appear to have turned a deaf ear to the Steinway Mansion, its legacy and its potential to help Queens and its economy. The reasons for such notable inaction are unclear to me, particularly in light of the important roles played by the Steinways in 19th century NYC.

 

The asking price is $2.5 million for the mansion and immediate yard, or $4.5 million if one includes a wide swath of surrounding acreage. A very average Queens home, with no or a small yard, no or scant parking, far less than 27 large rooms, without high ceilings, without working marble fireplaces, without Smithsonian desired etched glass windows, without 150 year old skylights, without a sturdy well made granite exterior, and without any historical significance - can run for $500,000 to $1 million dollars in the Astoria neighborhood.

 

It seems that for a city with a budget of $63,000,000,000, the asking price is a rounding error. A rounding error which could be used to preserve a very important part of Queens, NYC's and America's history. And while doing so also help the economies of the surrounding Queens neighborhoods during difficult economic times.

 

 

Email Government Officials & Tell Them You Want To Make This Queens' Mansion

Let Peter Vallone's office know you support his efforts to Save The Steinway Mansion and copy Helen Marshall, Mayor Bloomberg, Congresswoman Maloney and Congressman Crowley using the folowing email addresses:

TBD - I'm waiting to receive public email addresses for you to use, but if I don't receive them soon, I'm going to give you the direct email addresses to the contacts I have. Bookmark this page and check back here within a few weeks after the election on November 2nd.

 

Send This Story To Family & Friends

In the meantime, enjoy the slide show. You may use the form below to send this story onto friends and family or copy and past the link above and blast email it after we have those email addresses posted. Perhaps your family and friends will be interested in helping too, as the Steinway legacy isn't just Queens or NYC's, it's also America's.

 

We will keep you abreast of Peter Vallone's efforts to Save The Steinway Mansion, and we will update you on the responses given by Mayor Bloomberg, Congresswoman Maloney and Congressman Crowley.

 

And, of course, we will continue to provide you with a Benjamin Pike approved eyeglass look into the past; as we uncover the remnants of those enterprising, hard-working, idealistic 19th and 20th century English, German and Turkish immigrants. People who helped shape the borough of Queens and the surrounding city where some nine million Americans live.

Click here to go directly into the photo album of the Steinway Mansion.

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Click here to read the original Steinway Mansion story. Click here to visit a section where we dedicated a series of stories to the Steinway & Sons Piano Company founders, history, mansion, factory and Steinway Hall in Manhattan. Click here to read a report about the Steinway Piano Factory Tours in Astoria NYC.

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Steinway Hall In NYC

19th Century Queens Pioneers With Big Ideas

Steinway & Sons Legacy Permeates NYC & Queens

December 7, 2010 / NYC History & Neighborhoods / Gotham Buzz NYC.

In our effort to inform Gotham Buzz readers about the full historical significance of the Steinway Mansion, we traveled into Manhattan to take a tour of Steinway Hall when it was still in its second - and most long standing - location.

We visited Steinway Hall, which is located on 57th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, and which is owned by Steinway & Sons pianos - some 85 years later. Once again, I stepped through a time warp, similar to the one into which I stepped when I visited to the Steinway piano factory and more recently the Steinway Mansion, both of which are located in Astoria in Queens.

Steinway Hall was built by Steinway & Sons piano company in 1925, following the erection of Carnegie Hall, which had just supplanted the old Steinway Hall located on 14th Street, as NYC's cultural centerpiece.

Click here to read more about Steinway Hall in NYC including numerous photos, or click this link to visit the Steinway Mansion section of Gotham Buzz NYC.

Steinway Hall In NYC

19th Century Queens Pioneers With Big Ideas

Steinway & Sons Legacy Permeates NYC & Queens

December 7, 2010 / NYC History & Neighborhoods / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

As I entered Steinway Hall I felt as though I’d walked into the elegant, genteel world of classical music. Steinway Hall was built in 1925 and retained its original beauty with high ceilings, classically styled colonnades, the vaulted ceiling adorned with murals ala Michaelanglo and the Sistine Chapel. Not a fair comparison, but they were lovely.

Beautiful oil paintings of Berlioz, Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmananoff adorned the walls. Busts of many of the great 18th and 19th century [check dates] musicians stood quietly by, watching … listening.

The chandelier was modeled on the white house chandelier [check]. The architects of the building are the same that built Grand Central Terminal [which predates which]. In the middle of the large octoganal waiting room there stood an elegant [find another word] Steinway piano.

There were four desks, each with its back to one of the octagonal walls. Lighting lit the paintings, reflecting the images of the great musical composers into the middle of the room, into the middle of my consciousness. The long flowing drapes, the spongy feel of a great green carpet lie beneath my feet. I just liked being here with all the cultural visual stimuli come at me from all directions.

William Steinway is said to have been a great marketer. It was he who came up with the idea to build a great concert hall in the 1800’s to showcase his musical instruments. In the Steinway Hall of old, which was a concert hall and piano showroom, located on 14th Street which at the time of its inception was the heart of Manhattan, the audience had to walk past the pianos prior to entering the concert hall.

The Steinways vacated the old Steinway Hall when they moved uptown in 1925. The center of the city had migrated north and Carnegie Hall had become the new mecca. Hence the Steinway Hall I entered, built in 1925, was located diagonally across the street from Carnegie Hall and to this day continues to send pianos their way to accommodate the desires of many great musicians.

Dan Micella welcomed me into the Steinway world. Today he would guide me back into a great legacy of New York’s past, which if not preserved may fade into oblivion, like the storied notes of the greats prior to the creation of recording devices.

Dan and I talked about the time during which the Steinways rose to prominence. They are reputed to have become the tenth millionaire family in New York. A fact I found hard to believe.

Dan went on to explain that in some senses the piano was similar to the television or personal computer today – it was the home entertainment complex. People gathered round the piano to entertain themselves and one another.

As he was telling me this I reflected back to the silent movies where the piano was always a part of the background. I thought of the many westerns I had watched where the dance halls always had a piano – albeit not likely a Steinway. I was told that in their heyday, there wwere 200 companies building pianos along the east coast of America.

We will post a link to Part II of this story when we get around to finishing it.

Photos of Steinway Hall In New York City

Click this link to go to our sister Manhattan Buzz NYC site which contains a slide show of photos taken of Steinway Hall. More on this story to follow at a later date. Click here to enter the photo album for Steinway Hall in New York City.

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Michael Halberian: 1927 - 2010

Steinway Mansion Owner Dies

December 30, 2010 / Astoria Queens / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Michael Halberian, owner of the Steinway Mansion in Astoria, died Monday evening around 7 pm. We have unofficial reports that he died of cardio obstruction pulmonary disorder. Michael turned 83 in November.

Michael is survived by two children, Michele Kazarian and John Halberian [wife Stephanie]; his sister, Rosemary; five grandchildren including Jackie and Katie Kazarian and Christopher, Meg and Jack Halberian; and neices and nephews.

Services will be held at 2 pm at the Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs in Bayside. The church is located on the corner of Horace Harding Expressway [LIE] and Oceania Boulevard.

Click the links below to learn more about the life of Michael Halberian and the historical Steinway Mansion for which he so loved and cared. Michael is shown standing in front of the Steinway Mansion in the photo above circa the 1930's. Click here to go to the Michael Halberian Obituary or click this link to go to the Steinway Mansion series section of this site.

Michael Halberian: 1927 - 2010

Steinway Mansion Owner Dies

December 27, 2010 Astoria Queens / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

The Steinway Mansion ... Right out of a Jules Verne Novel

The first time I met Michael Halberian was last August as he was preparing to sell the Steinway Mansion. At age 82, he was still immensely fond of the home he inhabited, but he had grown weary from looking after the 27 room mansion and the two acres of the surrounding grounds.

 

It was a humid warm day, but cool inside the mansion as it had high ceilings and many of the doors that opened out onto the grounds had been opened to let through the breezes coming from the nearby waterways. Michael led me into his study which felt like walking through a time warp into a turn-of-the-century English study of a Jules Verne novel. In the study I was surrounded by the latest gadgetry and icons from the 19th century including telescopes, a Revolutionary War cannon, an old chess set, a globe from the one of the large ocean-crossing passenger ships, and floor-to-ceiling bookcases encompassing three of the four walls.

 

The Steinway Mansion Owners _ a brief history

 

What I had expected to be a one hour interview, quickly turned into four. I would have stayed far longer had I not made other commitments, but I came back throughout the fall whenever the opportunity was made available to me. Michael was as interesting a person as the Steinway Mansion is an historic site. The man and his home shared a sort of symbiotic relationship, like the master curator to a very special museum.

 

Michael had been born in the Steinway Mansion in 1927 and he recalled literally shoveling tons of coal into the large furnace in the basement during the cold long winters [the furnace has since been replaced by something newer]. The fireplaces still work and I witnessed both he and his son putting coal on the fire to generate heat in the large parlor rooms.

 

Michael married in 1950 and lived with his bride in the mansion until 1958. Their two oldest children were born in the mansion, and the youngest one was born after they had moved into the Garden Bay Manor development in Jackson Heights.

 

Steinway Mansion Owners _ Jack & Michael Halberian for 83 Years

 

Michael was the consummate host. While his father had been a tailor, Michael decided to become a restaurateur. He first tried his hand at his father's business but decided it wasn't quite right for him. During that time he enlisted the services of Peter Vallone Sr. [to secure more time for a move], as Judge Charles Vallone and Jack Halberian [Michael's father] were both avid pinochle players as well as good friends.

 

Michael opened a restaurant, Knickers, in midtown Manhattan in 1969. While he was making arrangements to open the restaurant, he decided not to tell his father for fear his father would try to stop him. But once the restaurant opened; Michael's father quit the tailoring business to become the morning maitre D. His father relished his new position since, like his son, he was a very sociable man. Jack Halberian, a tailor by trade, is shown in an oil painting in the photo above.

 

Michael's father died in 1976. Within two years, both Michael and his son John decided to return to the mansion. Michael ran the Knickers restaurant until it was lost in a fire in 1985. Knickers was a popular, casual restaurant; reflecting the style of its owner, which was captured in a newspaper story shown in the photo to your left.

 

Michael Halberian Obituary _ Astoria Queens

 

Michael lived in the mansion until his death on December 27, 2010. During his lifetime he was a big collector of books and other items pertaining to New York city history, most of which could be seen dispersed throughout the Steinway Mansion. These artifacts continue to add to the mansion's charm and significance as a cultural and historical site.

 

Michael will be missed by family and friends. He was a fun and interesting man, who in many respects curated a museum dedicated to his passion: the history of Queens and New York City. Michael told me he would like to see the Steinway Mansion become the Steinway Mansion Museum.

 

Michael could only imagine what sort of tourist traffic [and attendant tourism spending] a museum dedicated to the Steinway legacy could bring to the local economy in Astoria, Queens and New York city. I believe this was the vision of Michael Halberian, which if realized, would make Michael Halberian the Steinway Mansion Museum's first curator and one par excellence.

 

 

Michael will be dearly missed. We hear that his heirs, as well as many members of the community, hope to make his vision a reality.

The funeral services for Michael Halberian were held on Friday, December 31st in Bayside. Michael's son John is planning to move back into the mansion until it is sold.

Many thanks to Michael's children Michele Kazarian and John Halberian, as well as Michael's sister Rosemary, for providing some of the information contained herein. The rest of the information was obtained directly from Michael Halberian during interviews I had with him since first meeting him last August.

Click here to go to the Steinway Mansion section of this site. There you will find other stories done on Michael Halberian and the Steinway Mansion; as well as about the Steinway Piano Factory tours, Steinway Hall in New York City and City Councilman Peter Vallone's efforts to try to preserve the Steinway Mansion as a cultural centerpiece for Astoria.

Click here to read the original Steinway Mansion story. Click here to visit a section where we dedicated a series of stories to the Steinway & Sons Piano Company founders, history, mansion, factory and Steinway Hall in Manhattan. Click here to read a report about the Steinway Piano Factory Tours in Astoria NYC.

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The Steinway Diaries at the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Institute Brings 19th Century Queens Alive

Time Is Running Out - Steinway Mansion Contents Being Auctioned

February 19, 2011 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

On Monday, March 7th at 7 pm the Greater Astoria Historical Society will be hosting the Smithsonian Institution’s presentation of the William Steinway Diaries.

 

These diaries are a first person account written by one of the most influential people in the emerging American metropolis of New York City in the latter half of the 19th century. The diaries begin in 1861 around the time of William Steinway’s first wedding [and the beginning of the American Civil War] and continue throughout the rest of his life, terminating only weeks before he died in 1896.

 

I had the opportunity to talk with Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society in anticipation of the Smithsonian Institution’s presentation of the Steinway Diaries on March 7th. He took me through some of the interesting things to investigate using the online project that was the Smithsonian’s “largest and longest-running volunteer research efforts”. A copy of one of the transcribed pages from the Smithsonian's Steinway Diaries website is shown inset in a photo of the Steinway Mansion in Astoria.

The general public is welcome to the March 7th presentation, and it is highly recommended that you purchase / rsvp tickets in advance. Click here to read our look into the William Steinway Diaries.

The Steinway Diaries at the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Institute Brings 19th Century Queens Alive

The Smithsonian Brings 19th Century Queens Alive

March 3, 2011 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

William Steinway – Longtime Astorian Roots

I recently had the opportunity to interview Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society [GAHS] about the Steinway Diaries, which are to be presented on Monday, March 7th at the GAHS. Bob has been involved with the GAHS for the past fifteen years, and during this time had come to know and befriend, Henry Z. Steinway, who passed away in 2008. Henry was the great grandson of William H. Steinway who was the author of the diaries. The image to your left is of an original page taken from the William Steinway Diaries as shown on the Smithsonian website, a link to which is provided below.

 

Astorians’ Involvement & Rare First Person Account

Henry Z. Steinway donated his great grandfather’s diaries to the Smithsonian Institution over ten years ago. In so doing, he also introduced the Smithsonian to Bob Singleton and the GAHS, who were called upon a couple of times to help research local events / people to support the narrative associated with the diaries.

 

Bob noted that it is unusually rare to find this sort of first person account of events by an influential person. He also noted that two Astorians were instrumental in helping make the Steinway Diaries project a reality: Anna Karvellas, who is the Managing Editor and Exhibition Curator, and Kenneth Bailey who was a researcher on the project since 2002. Bob Singleton of Greater Astoria Historical Society is shown in the photo to your right.

 

 

The Smithsonian Institution – Steinway Diaries

This is a remarkable project in many respects. As noted in the introduction is was the Smithsonian’s “largest and longest-running volunteer research efforts”. The text had to be copied, in some cases translated [small bits were written in William's native German tongue], transcribed, annotated and put in context. Over 100 highly educated, qualified volunteers worked over the course of about a decade to make this work a reality.

 

The Smithsonian Institution has put the entire work online and it’s a fascinating first person account of New York, America and Long Island City / Astoria / Queens history. The image to your right was taken from the Steinway Diaries website, a link to which is provided at the end of this report.

 

The Steinways – Idealistic, Innovative 19th Century German Immigrants

Living amidst this splendor, was a very ambitious, hardworking and idealistic German American family. The William Steinway Diaries include notes about the continuous interactions of the Steinways with the key people in their employ, as well as their continuous involvement in the development of the emerging metropolis’ infrastructure. The diaries go from the very personal to routine transactions, to high finance to the politics of the day. And they show a German American idealism, prevalent during that time, that people can build better lives for themselves and their communities. A photo of William Steinway standing in front of the Steinway Mansion is shown to your right, compliments of the Greater Astoria Historical Society [GAHS].

 

The Steinways embarked on a sort of utopian ideal community while helping to develop the community of Astoria. The Steinway Diaries contain accounts of the Steinways either building or helping to build all kinds of community infrastructure including kindergartens, schools, churches, trolley service, post offices, fire company houses as well as providing the community with jobs while developing and selling the property. A photo of one of the Steinway Reformed church is shown below. It is one of the churches still standing.

 

Steinway Diaries - Queens History Breadth

The diaries contain over two and a half thousand pages written by William Steinway primarily in English. They contain information about his personal life, such as how many times he had sex with his wife which was written in a deciphered code, as well as about a myriad of topics ranging from the competitive piano business, show business, local politics, Tammany Hall and so many projects with which the Steinway family immersed themselves. It also contains notes about meetings with a lawyer from Buffalo who William Steinway befriended while settling an estate. The notes mentioning this lawyer by name were made after he became president of the United States of America: Grover Cleveland.

 

Steinway Diaries – Queens History In Depth

Before I began my own journey into the online diaries of William Steinway, I asked Bob what was in them. He said they contained a running log of the people with whom William H. Steinway met nearly daily, from the factory foremen, to would-be musicians, to star performers and local government officials. It documented the daily doings of a wealthy, intellectually- curious, 19th century Renaissance American.

 

William Steinway Diaries – Personal Interests

Bob talked about the many projects with which William Steinway became involved. He said that lore has it that the Steinway Mansion midnight oil oftentimes burned late. The Steinways were known to be avid players of the card game whist, which was a trick taking card game popular in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. The famous card playing author Hoyle also wrote about it. In the diaries, Steinway talked about losing and winning amounts that appeared to run between two and fifty cents, so I imagine the table stakes were more friendly than real.

 

Steinway Mansion – Last Of Great Summer Homes

The Steinway Mansion, was William Steinway’s summer home, and is the last remaining [unspoiled] great East River Mansions. The Steinways moved into the summer home while Queens was still the countryside of the emerging American city of New York. William tells of carriage rides and automobile rides through the Queens countryside. And about having people over to dinner. Bob Singleton mentioned that dinner guests included relatives to Edith Wharton and FAO Schwartz. A street lined with mansions in Astoria is shown in the photo to your right courtesy of the GAHS.

 

Bob conjectured that it’s possible the Steinways made modifications to the mansion to enhance its acoustics, so that piano performances could be played in the main foyer. The mansion today still has wood burning fireplaces in nearly every large room and the large doors in the living rooms, dining room and front entrance which open out in three directions onto the great mansion lawn which rested on a bluff overlooking the East River.

 

In his diaries William talks about taking yacht rides, which I believe sometimes docked along the East River down the hill from the mansion. The photo to your right is of the mansion overlooking the East River many years ago. This photo was provided compliments of Michael Halberian.

 

William Steinway Diaries – NYC Mass Transit

Bob informed me that William E. Steinway was involved in the development of the underground subway system, pretty much from the outset. NYC had mass transit via elevated trains beginning in the 1870’s following the Civil War. William Steinway was New York City’s second NYC Subway Commissioner, and somewhat visionary during a time when the city was planning to take its mass transit system underground.

The Steinways owned a trolley car system in Long Island City / Astoria, and in anticipation of growing the transportation business, began digging a tunnel under the East River. A large accidental explosion of dynamite shut down the operation and sent it into litigation, not long after the effort began. Eventually digging on the tunnel resumed and today it is the same tunnel used by the number 7 subway line.

 

The Steinway Diaries – American Automobile Patents [Daimler later merged with Mercedes]

William Steinway also took an interest in the automobile. Following a visit to Germany in 1888, the Steinways bought the U.S. patents to Daimler Benz self-propelled motors and opened a plant to build them for street cars and boats. The assignment of the Daimler patents is noted in the diaries, as William was remarkably transparent in the recording of his business transactions.

Following William’s death, the automobile company was re-incorporated as Mercedes and a factory on Long Island was opened to build motors for small trucks. To our knowledge there is at least one automobile in existence today that was built by the Mercedes factory in which the Steinways held a significant interest.

 

The Queens Borough Bridge & Mass Transit

The diaries also provide a running account of some of the planning for the erection of the infrastructure that opened up Queens to development. Steinway was involved in planning the two main transportation conduits into Queens at the turn of the 20th century, the #7 line subway tunnel and the Queens Borough Bridge. These two large transportation projects continue to serve Queens, and today remain a significant part of the Queens transportation infrastructure. The photo to your right was provided compliments of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group.

William Steinway was the second Commissioner of NYC Rapid Transit. As such he initiated a project to tunnel under the East River. He informs us that this effort was put on hiatus shortly after it had begun, due to a terrible unplanned dynamite explosion. He also talks about the plans for building a bridge across the East River in 1879, thirty years before it happened and thirteen years after his death.

Steinway Mansion Is Queens, NYC & U.S. History

Bob had all sorts of lines of questioning he seemed interested in pursuing. He wondered where the granite for the Steinway Mansion had come from. Who was the builder of the Steinway Mansion and did they use any edifices sold in building catalogues of the time? He noted that there had been speculation about William Steinway becoming a member of President Grover Cleveland’s cabinet even though it had not been recorded in the diaries [wouldn’t want that to slip out]. To your right is a photo of Grover Cleveland I found in the attic of the Steinway Mansion which we're publishing with permission from Michael Halberian.

All in all, the Steinway Diaries represent a fascinating account of one of the most prominent denizens of New York City, as the city and the nation were emerging as the business, economic and media center of the young American republic.

 

Smithsonian Institution – The Steinway Diaries Link

We must be thankful that the Smithsonian Institution has nurtured such an important project, and can only hope that New York City government officials don’t realize too late, the importance of saving one of the last remaining East River mansions, which was also the home to one of New York’s and America’s most prominent and influential citizens: William Steinway. Click here to read the Steinway Diaries made possible by the Smithsonian Institute.

 

Steinway Diaries Presentation - March 7th GAHS

Click here to view a location map of The Greater Astoria Historical Society. And call them at 718.278.0700 to reserve a ticket to this important presentation on March 7th.

 

No Progress Being Made To Save Steinway Mansion

As far as we know, nobody from the Mayor's office has even visited the Steinway Mansion, in spite of numerous reports in the New York Times, Daily News and New York One - not to mention the plethora of reports in Queens own newspapers and websites.

As for support from Queens government officials, we've seen a lot of vocal support, and early on there was a brief stirring of initiative. But as far as we know, at present, little progress has been made to save the Steinway Mansion.

We continue to make inquiries and naturally we will apprise you of any serious efforts to save the mansion, be it private or public, as it is becomes known. See Benjamin Pike story for an update.

 

Time Is Running Out / Steinway Mansion Contents Being Auctioned

As of March 26th some of the contents from the Steinway Mansion were auctioned off at an auction house at 36-01 Queens Blvd in Long Island City. The second auction will take place on April 30th. This is the first step in losing an important part of our cultural heritage. Michael Halberian's collection of New York history was worthy of a Queens museum. Will the Steinway Mansion become to Queens, what the loss of Penn Station was to Manhattan?

New York City receives 48 million tourists each year. The Steinway factory is toured by thousands each year in spite of no advertising and in spite of very limited visiting seasons / days / hours. It's not inconceivable that this site could become a major tourist attraction into the area, bringing with it tourist spending on hotels, restaurants and shops.

Please ask NYC & Queens government officials what actions they are taking to preserve this site, as we are in danger of losing it.

This email address was provided by the Mayor's Office of Economic Development: rgold1@cityhall.nyc.gov. An email address to the Borough President's Office was solicited but we never received a reply, so try emailing Theresa Osborne as she's the Director of Culture & Tourism for Queens - tosborne@queensbp.org.

Special Thanks To The Smithsonian Institution & Greater Astoria Historical Society

We express our thanks and gratitude to the Smithsonian Institution and its volunteers who made this exciting online project possible. And we thank the Greater Astoria Historical Society and Bob Singleton for their help in putting together this report.

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Who Was Benjamin Pike?

Steinway Mansion Builder Made A Mint as a 19th Century Direct Marketer of Scientific Instruments

April 17, 2011 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

I had a rare opportunity to meet someone who was well acquainted with the story of Benjamin Pike Jr. Benjamin Pike Jr. was the man who built the mansion that was lived in for over fifty years by the Steinways of Steinway & Sons Piano in Astoria. During my efforts to report this story, I had here-to-fore found it very difficult to find much published about Benjamin Pike. Hence you can imagine my delight when I met Deborah Jean Warner, who had once curated an exhibit dedicated to the Steinway Mansion founder, at the Smithsonian Institution.

 

Deborah has curated many exhibits about the history of physical sciences and is the author of several books. Deborah's work in 19th century scientific instruments lead her to curate the Pike exhibit. When it comes to selling scientific instruments in America in the 19th century, Benjamin Pike Jr. was an innovator who loomed large.

 

Click here next week to read our full report about Benjamin Pike Jr., the founder and owner of the Pike Mansion, which later came to be known as the Steinway Mansion in Astoria.

Who Was Benjamin Pike?

Steinway Mansion Founder was a Direct Marketing Pioneer & Seller of Scientific Instruments

April 17, 2011 / Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

Editor's Note: We have heard rumblings that a community group or collection of individuals may make an effort to raise money to purchase the Steinway Mansion for use as an historical site. Please occasionally check the Steinway Mansion section of this site for updates [hover over the NYC Neighborhoods link along the top tool bar].

 

In the photo to your right is a piece of equipment used in surveying in America in the 1800's. As you can imagine, there was a lot of surveying to be done in this country at that time.

 

Benjamin Pike Sr. - Optician & More

Benjamin Pike came to this country from England in 1798 at the age of about twenty one. In the city directories and census he described himself as an optician. Much of the scientific equipment during colonial times was for surveying and navigation [see photo above]. This included things like sextants, quadrangles, compasses, glasses, telescopes, spectacles and such. A signifcant amount of scientific equipment was imported from England and France including things like telescopes, microscopes and magic lanterns.

 

One of the visitors to Benjamin Pike Sr's shop included one of the greatest shipbuilders of the time - Robert Fulton of Fulton's Folly [creator of the first commercially viable steamboat]. A new gadget sold by Benjamin Pike in the mid 1800's is shown in the advertisement to your right.

 

Benjamin Pike Sr. was father to at least six children, three of which were sons. Benjamin Pike Jr. was the eldest son and he apprenticed for his father along with his two brothers. Apparently Benjamin Jr. learned the trade well as we'll see in a minute.

 

Benjamin Pike Jr. - Scientific Instruments

Benjamin Jr. was born in 1809, and around the age of thirty four, set up shop for himself. He established his new scientific instruments shop at a separate location in old New York in 1843. Benjamin Jr. had apparently learned the trade well as he won numerous awards including three silver medals at American Institute Fairs in the 1840's.

 

Two of the silver medals were for superior air pumps and one was for galvanic battery and apparatus. He also won two diplomas at the American Institute Fairs - one for his electromagnetic machine and the other for his mathematical instruments. The photo to your right shows a medal won by Benjamin Pike Jr. 'superior air pumps'.

 

 

Some of the equipment for which Benjamin Pike was most proud included his electrical and galvanic apparatus. The rotary magnetic machine, the improved plate electrical machine and Grove's battery were some of the items he most heralded. This, it seems, was also one of Benjamin Pike Jr.'s real genious - he knew how to market his wares.

 

Benjamin Pike Jr. - Innovative Direct Marketer

In addition to announcing the latest gadgetry, Benjamin Pike Jr. was an innovative direct marketer - about 150 years before it became in vogue. He created and published a lengthy catalogue of over 750 items, complete with illustrations and generous descriptions which Warner described as more than a catalogue, but rather "one of the best English language sources of information on scientific instruments used in the mid-nineteenth century, short of the Encyclopedia."

 

The photo above right shows a page out of Benjamin Pike Jr.'s catalogue of scientific instruments.

 

The genious of this was that while many of Pike Jr.'s clients could visit him, an entire nation couldn't. Through his catalogue which was published several times, people could read about and order high quality scientific instruments from Benjamin Pike Jr. from all around the new nation. Because of his innovative direct marketing, Pike Jr. expanded his store and his business.

 

In the photo to your right is an illustration of the technical and scientific equipment store of Benjamin Pike Jr. in New York City in the mid 1800's.

 

Pike's great success in selling new scientific equipment throughout the nation, eventually enabled him to fund the building of the Pike Mansion [later called the Steinway Mansion] which cost him $85,000 to build in 1857 - 1858.

 

The Pike Mansion In Astoria

The Pike Mansion 'boasted excellent bathing, boating and fishing facilities ... tastefully laid out orchards, gardens and lawns". One can still see the high quality of the materials and crafstmanship on the Pike Mansion while touring it 150 years later.

 

The granite walls have weathered many storms atop the hill. The marble fireplaces which abound throughout the domicile, still work like new. The sturdy wooden floor boards are still smooth and solid. It's a solid home and when I first walked into Michael Halberian's study in the summer of 2010, I felt like I had walked into a Jules Verne novel. This sensation I had, now makes perfect sense, because Benjamin Pike was likely the type of person who preceded a Jules Verne character. In the photo to your right is an illustration of the Pike Mansion, quite possibly commissioned by Pike as it resembles the illustrations in his catalogue of scientific instruments.

 

At the time Queens was entirely countryside. The Pike Mansion was one of the first two mansions that would be erected in Astoria. These were later followed by the erection of multiple mansions in the Astoria section of what is now Queens. Unfortunately all of the old mansions have been torn down, leaving the Steinway Mansion not just the most famous, but the only one of any significance left standing. In the photo to your right is a photo of the Pike Mansion in Astoria Queens. Today, off the photo your right, stands LaGuardia Airport.

Benjamin Pike died suddenly in 1864 around the age of 53. His wife sold the house to Wiliam Steinway in 1869 - 1870.

 

[Editor's Note: At a time when the city is spending mega millions developing new housing and retail structures in Queens [see our Queens Real Estate section], it seems to me that a little money could be set aside to preserve important relics of our cultural and historic past.]

 

 

 

Many Thanks To Deborah Jean Warner

Please note that most of the information published above is a summary of the research done by Deborah Jean Warner as published in an introduction to a reprint of Pike's Illustrated Catalogue of Scientific & Medical Instruments.

 

Deborah Jean Warner is shown in the photo to your right.

Astoria Neighborhood Links

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Offer Made For Steinway & Sons Piano

Kohlberg & Co Bids For Steinway Musical Instruments

July 23, 2013 / Astoria Neighborhood / Queens Business / News & Opinion / Queens Buzz.

Kohlberg & Company offerred $438 million for the Steinway Musical Instruments Company, owner of Steinway & Sons Piano in Astoria. The 160 year old company, Steinway & Sons Piano, was founded in Manhattan in 1853.

Kohlberg & Co Offer

The Steinway & Piano Company has changed hands a couple of times over the past 160 years, once being acquired by CBS Television, and later being acquired by Selmer Musical Instruments.

The Kohlberg & Co tender offer includes a provision allowing other companies to bid for the Steinway shares by mid August, but to date we have not heard of any other competitive suitor. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

The business of making Steinway Pianos by hand, is not without its challenges. But inspite of the marketplace realities - some of which we detail below - Kohlberg & Co told the NYT that they will continue to build artesanal musical instruments. Since many of the artesanal Steinway Pianos are made right here in the Astoria section of Queens; we can only hope that Kohlberg & Company will live up to their statement.

Steinway & Sons Piano Company History

The sale of the company follows on the heels of the sale of the 88 year old Steinway Hall in June of this year. In 1925 Steinway Hall was built across from Carnegie Hall on 57th Street in Manhattan - replacing a prior version of itself further south on 14th Street.

The hand made Steinway Pianos have been made for about a century and a half in the U.S. in Astoria, Queens; and in Germany near the founders' home town. As mentioned above, Steinway & Sons Piano still make the hand crafted Steinway Pianos in a factory near the northern end of Steinway Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. Click this link to view a story about the making of a Steinway Piano in Astoria.

The Steinway Musical Instruments Company had merged Steinway Pianos in with a portfolio of other brand name musical instruments. The company portfolio of products includes brand name saxaphones, trumpets, French horns, clarinets, trombones and drums.

Click here for the rest of our report about the proposed sale of the Steinway & Sons Piano Company.

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Offer Made For Steinway & Sons Piano

Kohlberg & Co Bids For Steinway Musical Instruments

July 23, 2013 / Astoria Neighborhood / Queens Business / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.

Snapshot: Steinway Musical Instruments Company & The Piano Making Business

The production of these other musical instruments resides outside of Queens, as do the modern technological keyboards / pianos currently made by the Steinway Musical Instruments Company. Most, or all, of the digital Steinway brand pianos are made in Japan. Steinway Musical Instruments, as recently as only a few years ago [2010], was making in the single digit millions of dollars in profit, although this was during the economic downturn.

Yamaha has cut into the piano business with its digital keyboards over the past few decades. Digital keyboards have many advantages as they require less space, cost less and contain added functionality. But all of the musicians we interviewed told us that the natural vibration and sound quality of a handmade Steinway Piano cannot be well replicated by an electronic keyboard.

Steinway Mansion: Remnant Of Two Great Legacies

The Steinway Mansion, also located near the northern end of Steinway Street in Astoria, was once owned by the founders of Steinway & Sons Piano Company [Steinway Musical Instruments predecessor]. It's been three years since the mansion was put on the market and the current asking price is $1.9 million.

The Steinway Mansion is one of the last great Astoria Mansions of the 19th century, and it was inhabited for nearly a half century by one of the most influential New Yorkers of that period: William Steinway.

Some historians credit William Steinway with transforming New York into a cultural capital, rivaling the great cities of Europe, by seeking and paying great musicians to perform on Steinway Pianos in NYC and other parts of America. William Steinway was also an adaptor of new technologies. In the late 1800's he lead the first meaningful effort to build a tunnel underneath the East River in order to connect Manhattan and Queens by rail. That is why today, the #7 subway line tunnel that connects the two boroughs, is referred to as the Steinway Tunnel. Click here to read more about the Steinway Mansion and the Steinway legacy.

Benjamin Pike: Marketer Of 19th Century Scientific Instruments / Technology

The man who built the Steinway Mansion, Benjamin Pike, was one of the early American purveyors of technological instruments. Most of the technology / scientific instruments he purchased came from Europe / England and hecreatively sold them by using the U.S. postal service / direct mail. Catalogues were sent to educators and inventors across the young nation, and he sold them by mail and through his shop in downtown Manhattan. What we refer to as technology today, was at the time, referred to as 'scientific instruments'.

Lately we've heard a lot of Queens candidates talk about turning Queens into a technological powerhouse. Yet not one of the candidates talks about preserving the Steinway Mansion, which was once the home to two of Queens, NYC's & America's innovative marketers and users of technology.

Steinway Mansion Preservation Spending: Zero - $0

The Steinway Mansion is not only a great historical architectural structure, representative of the wealthy American dwellings of that period; it is also one of Queens most important existing historical sites of the 1800's. And, as just mentioned above, it is home to at least two seminal NYC legacies: Benjamin Pike's lead as an early American technologist and direct marketer and William Steinway's leadership in transforming NYC into one of the great cultural and modern urban capitals of the world.

Knowledgeable Queens historians have told me that the Steinway Mansion is likely the single most important historical structure from the 19th century. And yet, excluding the questionable value of lip service, not a nickel of Queens government officials' discretionary spending has been allocated toward doing anything to save the Steinway Mansion.

Queens Government Discretionary Spending: $250,000,000

It's not that funds have not been available, as more than $250 million of discretionary municipal government funds have been collectively spent by Queens government officials since the mansion was put up for sale. And, as mentioned above, the current asking price is $1.9 million, which is far less than 1% of the discretionary government funds spent in Queens during this time.

It's An Election Year: Preservation = Jobs

It's an election year, so choose your government officials wisely. My election year wish list includes getting an enterprising, activist and visionary government official to spearhead preservation in the borough, starting with the Steinway Mansion.

But, barring that, I'd take a wealthy public-minded philanthropist, who will champion the cause of preserving the Steinway Mansion for the ages. Someone who will put the great cultural and historical mansion - and its associated legacies - to work for the businesses and residents of Astoria and Queens.

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Offer Made For Steinway & Sons Piano

Kohlberg & Co Bids For Steinway Musical Instruments

July 23, 2013 /Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz..

Kohlberg & Company offerred $438 million for the Steinway Musical Instruments Company, owner of Steinway & Sons Piano in Astoria. The 160 year old company, Steinway & Sons Piano, was founded in Manhattan in 1853.

 

Kohlberg & Co Make Offer for Steinway Musical Instruments

The Steinway & Piano Company has changed hands a couple of times over the past 160 years, once being acquired by CBS Television, and later being acquired by Selmer Musical Instruments.

The Kohlberg & Co tender offer includes a provision allowing other companies to bid for the Steinway shares by mid August, but to date we have not heard of any other competitive suitor. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

The business of making Steinway Pianos by hand, is not without its challenges. But inspite of the marketplace realities - some of which we detail below - Kohlberg & Co told the NYT that they will continue to build artesanal musical instruments. Since many of the artesanal Steinway Pianos are made right here in the Astoria section of Queens; we can only hope that Kohlberg & Company will live up to their statement.

 

Steinway & Sons Piano Company History

The sale of the company follows on the heels of the sale of the 88 year old Steinway Hall in June of this year. In 1925 Steinway Hall was built across from Carnegie Hall on 57th Street in Manhattan - replacing a prior version of itself further south on 14th Street.

The hand made Steinway Pianos have been made for about a century and a half in the U.S. in Astoria, Queens; and in Germany near the founders' home town. As mentioned above, Steinway & Sons Piano still make the hand crafted Steinway Pianos in a factory near the northern end of Steinway Street in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens. Click this link to view a story about the making of a Steinway Piano in Astoria.

The Steinway Musical Instruments Company had merged Steinway Pianos in with a portfolio of other brand name musical instruments. The company portfolio of products includes brand name saxaphones, trumpets, French horns, clarinets, trombones and drums.

Click here for the rest of our report about the proposed sale of the Steinway & Sons Piano Company / Steinway Musical Instruments.

Offer Made For Steinway & Sons Piano

Kohlberg & Co Bids For Steinway Musical Instruments

July 23, 2013 /Astoria / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.

 

Snapshot: Steinway Musical Instruments Company & The Piano Making Business

The production of these other musical instruments resides outside of Queens, as do the modern technological keyboards / pianos currently made by the Steinway Musical Instruments Company. Most, or all, of the digital Steinway brand pianos are made in Japan. Steinway Musical Instruments, as recently as only a few years ago [2010], was making in the single digit millions of dollars in profit, although this was during the economic downturn.

 

Yamaha has cut into the piano business with its digital keyboards over the past few decades. Digital keyboards have many advantages as they require less space, cost less and contain added functionality. But all of the musicians we interviewed told us that the natural vibration and sound quality of a handmade Steinway Piano cannot be well replicated by an electronic keyboard.

Steinway Mansion: Remnant Of Two Great Legacies

The Steinway Mansion, also located near the northern end of Steinway Street in Astoria, was once owned by the founders of Steinway & Sons Piano Company [Steinway Musical Instruments predecessor]. It's been three years since the mansion was put on the market and the current asking price is $1.9 million.

The Steinway Mansion is one of the last great Astoria Mansions of the 19th century, and it was inhabited for nearly a half century by one of the most influential New Yorkers of that period: William Steinway.

 

Some historians credit William Steinway with transforming New York into a cultural capital, rivaling the great cities of Europe, by seeking and paying great musicians to perform on Steinway Pianos in NYC and other parts of America. William Steinway was also an adaptor of new technologies. In the late 1800's he lead the first meaningful effort to build a tunnel underneath the East River in order to connect Manhattan and Queens by rail. That is why today, the #7 subway line tunnel that connects the two boroughs, is referred to as the Steinway Tunnel. Click here to read more about the Steinway Mansion and the Steinway legacy.

 

Benjamin Pike: Marketer Of 19th Century Scientific Instruments / Technology

The man who built the Steinway Mansion, Benjamin Pike, was one of the early American purveyors of technological instruments. Most of the technology / scientific instruments he purchased came from Europe / England and hecreatively sold them by using the U.S. postal service / direct mail. Catalogues were sent to educators and inventors across the young nation, and he sold them by mail and through his shop in downtown Manhattan. What we refer to as technology today, was at the time, referred to as 'scientific instruments'.

Lately we've heard a lot of Queens candidates talk about turning Queens into a technological powerhouse. Yet not one of the candidates talks about preserving the Steinway Mansion, which was once the home to two of Queens, NYC's & America's innovative marketers and users of technology.

 

Steinway Mansion Preservation Spending: Zero - $0

The Steinway Mansion is not only a great historical architectural structure, representative of the wealthy American dwellings of that period; it is also one of Queens most important existing historical sites of the 1800's. And, as just mentioned above, it is home to at least two seminal NYC legacies: Benjamin Pike's lead as an early American technologist and direct marketer and William Steinway's leadership in transforming NYC into one of the great cultural and modern urban capitals of the world.

Knowledgeable Queens historians have told me that the Steinway Mansion is likely the single most important historical structure from the 19th century. And yet, excluding the questionable value of lip service, not a nickel of Queens government officials' discretionary spending has been allocated toward doing anything to save the Steinway Mansion.

 

Queens Government Discretionary Spending: $250,000,000

It's not that funds have not been available, as more than $250 million of discretionary municipal government funds have been collectively spent by Queens government officials since the mansion was put up for sale. And, as mentioned above, the current asking price is $1.9 million, which is far less than 1% of the discretionary government funds spent in Queens during this time.

It's An Election Year: Preservation = Jobs

It's an election year, so choose your government officials wisely. My election year wish list includes getting an enterprising, activist and visionary government official to spearhead preservation in the borough, starting with the Steinway Mansion.

But, barring that, I'd take a wealthy public-minded philanthropist, who will champion the cause of preserving the Steinway Mansion for the ages. Someone who will put the great cultural and historical mansion - and its associated legacies - to work for the businesses and residents of Astoria and Queens.

NYC Neighborhoods & History - Queens Borough Links

Click on these advertisements for promotions, discounts and coupons by retailers and restaurateurs in Astoria and nearby LIC.

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Steinway Mansion Under Contract To Private Buyer

Historic Mansion Was Built By Early NYC Technologist & Later Bought By Renaissance Man

Great Opportunity For Queens Officials To Act On Their Speeches About Nurturing Culture, Historic Preservation & Tourism

March 12, 2014 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

Well, the saga is almost over. NYC and Queens government officials are about to let slip into private hands, the greatest historical relic of the 1800's in Queens. And what could have been - and could still be - one of the greatest historic sites / historic tourist attractions of Queens. The Steinway Mansion is under contract to be purchased by a private buyer.

Imagine yourself hanging out on the mansion grounds, sipping tea or drinking wine on a nice sunny summer day ...

It's not that Queens and NYC government officials haven't had a chance to save it. The historic mansion, which was landmarked for its historic signficance decades ago [landmarking prevents changes to outside of the structure], came on the market in August of 2010. The asking prices has been between $2 and $4 million, which given that far smaller homes with no significance are already selling for over $1 million in the Astoria neighborhood, it seemed like a reasonable asking price.

Click here to read the rest of our report about the Steinway Mansion Under Contract. The story includes photos and links to other stories we've done over the years about the Steinway Mansion and it's inhabitants and their endeavors. The story also includes the business case for taking the Steinway Mansion public and transforming it into a museum / cultural destination for all of Queens, NYC & the world.

Steinway Mansion Under Contract To Private Buyer

Brief History Of The Steinway Mansion - Click Photos For More Fotos & Info

March 12, 2014 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Steinway Mansion History & Steinway Hall NYC / News & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.

But no ... or rather nobody stepped up to lead the city in the direction of preserving this historic relic / legacy.

In the prior administrations NYC government officials could easily find tens and hundreds of millions of dollars for development projects, but they couldn't seem to find a penny to preserve a jewel of our historic past. A historic site that has the potential to transform the area into a burgeoning tourist destination. Something that could easily become a magnet and historic centerpiece for Queens. Click on the photo or this link to learn more about the Steinway Mansion significance.

 

 

Pianos of the 1800's Were The Equivalent Of Stereos, Televisions & Computers Today - The Home Entertainment Complex

The Steinway Mansion's story in a nutshell is as follows. An Englishman Benjamin Pike, a seller of scientific instruments, [aka technology] built the mansion in the mid 1800's sparing no expense [that's why it stands today].

A German family, the Steinways [of Steinway & Sons Piano Factory] bought the mansion less than ten years later. The Steinway family lived in it for the next 50 years. The Steinways were competitive piano makers, which in the 1800's were the equivalent of sound systems in the middle of the last century, televisions in the last half of the last century and computers today. Pianos were the home entertainment equipment. And it was a big business and Astoria was one of the hotspots. One of the piano manufacturing buildings of a Steinway competitor [along the East River] was recently converted into luxury condominiums.

 

Steinway's Role In Shaping NYC's Evolution As A Cultural Center - Rivalling European Capitols

The Steinways were instrumental in making NYC a cultural capital of the world, by paying famous European musicians to visit NYC and perform at Steinway Hall. WilliamSteinway was also an early real estate developer, having purchased many, many acres of Astoria / LIC. And he was the first to attempt to dig a tunnel underneath the East River to ease the flow of people between Manhattan and Queens. And the Halberians - the Armenian family that currently owns the mansion - did a yeoman's job of preserving the structure and the historic legacy.

Graceland In Memphis Tennessee - A Vastly Profitable Historic Mansion

An example of making an historic mansion a huge tourist attraction and moneymaker is Graceland in Memphis. Following Elvis's death in 1977, Priscilla Presley hired a businessman who transformed Graceland into the tourist destination it has now become. Click here for Graceland Mansion on Wikipedia.

 

 

Ask Queens Government Officials To Make Their Vision Happen

Queens government officials talk about nurturing a cultural environment in Queens and generating tourism for the borough. If they really want to do something to bring tourists into Queens, this is an opportunity to do something really big and really tangible, for what would be relatively little money.

Pike & Steinway - Technological Entrepreneurs

It's also worth noting that the first two owners of this mansion were early modern users of technology -Benjamin Pike, builder of the mansion, was an enterprising direct marketer of technology and William Steinway's pianos were the technological leaders. Steinway made a visionary effort to tunnel underneath East River in the late 1800's. The #7 subway line tunnels between Queens & Manhattan are still called the STEINWAY TUNNELS in memory of his first heroic effort. The MTA will be doing quite a bit of work in the Steinway Tunnels this year, which given their age, is not surprising. Queens Government officials also talk about nurturing technology, so it might be worthwhile to lay claim to some of Queens early American technological roots.

Given these sentiments, I decided to hold myself to the same actionable standard, so on Sunday at the St Pat's Parade in Sunnyside / Woodside I handed a packet of information about the Steinway Mansion to a Mayor de Blasio aide, and emailed him, several prominent Queens government officials and several fellow members of the press, with the same information Monday morning.

Accessible Location - Steinway Mansion Map

Over the years some folks have said that the Steinway Mansion is too far out of the way to become a viable venue? That's only true if you believe that being located less than two miles from one of the nation's busiest airports [LaGuardia], less than one mile from one of the city's busiest freeways [Grand Central Parkway] and a ten block walk from a ten minute subway ride from Manhattan - is out of the way. Click here to view a map showing the Steinway Mansion and Steinway Piano Factory locations proxmity to LGA, the MTA and the Grand Central Parkway.

 

If You Want NYC To Preserve The Mansion Call - 718.286.3000

If you care about preserving the Steinway Mansion call the Queens Borough President's Office at 718.286.3000 and ask them to do something about preserving it for all of Queens, NYC and the world. They won't do anything if they think you don't care enough to make a phone call. Also call or email the same message to any other media outlets you use or visit. They can help keep this issue in the public eye.

 

THAT'S MICHAEL HALBERIAN TO YOUR RIGHT

 

Imagine Yourself At The Mansion, Sipping Tea Or Drinking Wine ...

Make this call while imagining yourself sitting at a table outside the mansion savoring a glass of wine or sipping a cup of tea with your friends - after a chamber concert or having browsed through the great photos and artifacts of Astoria / LIC / Queens early modern history. You'reconversing about the great mysteries of the universe or what happened while you were out on the town the previous night. You're living in Queens, and the borough's new symbol is this great historic mansion that's associated with this world renowned cultural icon - Steinway & Sons Piano.

 

 

 

The Numbers Add Up - Good Business & Good For Business In Astoria, LIC & Queens

Is it wrong to assume that some fraction of 53 million American and / or international touriststhat visit NYC each year might find hanging out at the Steinway Mansion an enjoyable thing to do? Visiting the mansion to listen to some great classical music, or to browse through a historic home out of a Jules Verne novel, and then having drinks on the grounds before heading off to somewhere else [like shopping along what would become historic Steinway Street or eating at one of the great restaurants in the Astoria / Ditmars / LIC area].

Because Of Its Proximity To Manhattan, The Steinway Mansion Would Serve As A Feeder Site To Other Queens Historic Sites & A Boon To Queens Tourism Revenue

It's not inconceivable to think that some portion of the 53 million tourists that visit NYC, would think that visiting theSteinway Mansion is a good way to spend some time during their stay here. A museum where they could learn about Queens contributions to American history.

Learning about how the gantries in LIC were used to move railway cars onto ferries, so that food from the Long Island farms could be brought into the city. Or about how Flushing lays claim to the first bold defiant acts infavor of religious freedom and tolerance with the Vlishing Remonstrance.

Or how Rufus King was a bold spokesman against slavery in the 1700's. And about how the English andDutch skirmished over the land around Newton Creek where the Ridgewood Historical Society stands today. Is this not a way to generate additionalinterest in the borough? Additional time and thus spending on travel, food, lodging and retail? The Steinway name is world known. And everyone loves mansions. The Steinway Mansion could become the feeder historic site for the rest of the borough.

As with other museums and attractions, it's doubtful tourists would balk at paying a $10 or $20 admission fee. If just 1% of them [1/2 million people] visited the Steinway Mansion, it would minimally generate $5,000,000 in revenue per year. There would also be additional revenueopportunities via sales of T-shirts and souvenirs, as well profits to be made from a cafe overlooking the grounds.

 

 

Marketing A Name The World Knows & That Symbolizes The Highest Quality

The Steinway Name is still - to this day - recognized the world over as a symbol of the highest quality. This simplifies the advertising, as the name is already well known and has high appeal.

The Steinway Mansion could easily be advertised by posting a billboard along the Grand Central Parkway informing fliers of this great tourist attraction, and also in the Air Train or in the Jamaica subway station through which many savvy Europeans traverse on their way into NYC. These are very low cost ways to get the word out and reposition the borough as the Queens Borough President has talked about.

How You Can Help Preserve The Steinway Mansion

In addition to making the call yourself, you ask your friends to contact the Queens Borough President's Office to support preservation of the Steinway Mansion too. Call or email the same message to any other media outlets you use or visit. They can help keep this issue in the public eye.

Please note that for further information we've dedicated an entire section to the mansion underneath the History section on the navigation bar at the top of this page.

And then have yourself a good day and thanks for trying to do something to preserve an important legacy of Queens & NYC. See you at the mansion.

Consider Helping The Friends Of The Steinway Mansion

Also, it's worth mentioning that a group called the Friends of the Steinway Mansion was formed by the Greater Astoria Historical Society to make an attempt to acquire the mansion and convert it into a museum. And they're still actively trying to do something, so if you're interested, that's another way to get involved.

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Steinway Hall Moves 14 Blocks South

Second Manhattan Move In As Many Centuries / International Center of Photography Moves To Bowery

January 5, 2015 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The Steinway & Sons Piano Company sold Steinway Hall on 57th Street last year for a reported $195 million, and then sold the piano company which has called Astoria Queens its home for about 150 years.

 

Steinway Hall was just across the street from Carnegie Hall, which made moving the very large but delicate and valuable pianos into and out of Carnegie Hall less complicated. Steinway Hall is moving into what has been the Midtown home of the International Center of Photography along 6th Avenue and 43rd Street. The International Center of Photography is moving to a new location in the Bowery near the New Museum which is at 235 Bowery near Prince Street.

 

 

Steinway Hall has been located on 57th Street since 1925 when Steinway & Sons Piano Company moved from their first location on 14th Street. Steinway Hall has been a mix of history and art as it was designed by Warren & Wetmore, one of the architectural firms that collaborated on the re-design of the Beaux-Arts Grand Central Terminal a dozen years earlier [1913]. Grand Central Terminal was first erected in 1871.

 

Steinway Hall is expected to open in this location in 2016, following the re-design of the space. The International Center of Photography is expected to open in mid 2015.

Click here for our report on Steinway Hall moves from its 57th Street location in Midtown Manhattan NYC.

 

Steinway Hall Moves 14 Blocks South

Second Manhattan Move In As Many Centuries / International Center of Photography Moves To Bowery

January 5, 2015 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The Steinway & Sons Piano Company sold Steinway Hall on 57th Street last year for a reported $195 million, and then sold the piano company which has called Astoria Queens its home for about 150 years.

 

Steinway Hall was just across the street from Carnegie Hall, which made moving the very large but delicate and valuable pianos into and out of Carnegie Hall less complicated. Steinway Hall is moving into what has been the Midtown home of the International Center of Photography along 6th Avenue and 43rd Street. The International Center of Photography is moving to a new location in the Bowery near the New Museum which is at 235 Bowery near Prince Street.

 

 

Steinway Hall has been located on 57th Street since 1925 when Steinway & Sons Piano Company moved from their first location on 14th Street. Steinway Hall has been a mix of history and art as it was designed by Warren & Wetmore, one of the architectural firms that collaborated on the re-design of the Beaux-Arts Grand Central Terminal a dozen years earlier [1913]. Grand Central Terminal was first erected in 1871.

 

Steinway Hall is expected to open in this location in 2016, following the re-design of the space. The International Center of Photography is expected to open in mid 2015.

 

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Update on the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens

Visionary Investor Makes Good on Development but Still no Announcement of his Plans for the Steinway Mansion

September 12, 2016 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC.

On May 3rd, 2014 the Halberian Family sold the Steinway Mansion to Steinway Mansion LLC for $2.65 million. In the two and a half years since, the new Steinway Mansion owner parceled the property into a eleven additional smaller lots and built eleven two story commercial buildings on each. We watched as the owner quietly developed the property, likely in line with his plans while making the investment.

 

Just over a year ago I visited the site and took some photos, which momentarily revealed the resplendent glory of the old mansion, overlooking the East River and distant Rikers Island and Bronx shores. The new owner had cut away most of what remained of the Steinway Mansion yard to make way for the new buildings at a height on a level with 42nd and 41st Streets. The construction site seemed well maintained and the historic mansion structure appeared to be treated respectfully both last year, and as I learned in my most recent trip, also since.

The photo above was taken in August of 2015.

 

Northern Ditmars Neighborhood Real Estate Development

Last weekend I returned to the site to shoot photos and see what was happening. I came in along 42nd Street, and for a moment I wondered if I had gotten my coordinates wrong, as the street had been transformed. The emptiness on the street of the construction site of a year ago had been filled in with a number of spanking new buildings lined along the street with what appeared an exacting precision. The photo to your right shows roughly the same space in September 2016 as was shown in the August 2015 photo above.

 

A year ago, 42nd Street was an empty, slightly soiled, commercial industrial hub. But on my visit this year the street took on a wholly different appearance with the new buildings / storefronts. There were eight new buildings along 42nd Street, with red brick exteriors complemented by black trim and large floor-to-ceiling paned storefront windows, which I believe could also serve as garage doors. It almost seemed like these new edifices could as easily become art galleries, as manufacturing locales and / or storage facilities.

 

Click here to read the rest of our report about the Steinway Mansion real estate development in Northern Ditmars, Astoria.

Update on the Steinway Mansion in Astoria Queens

Visionary Investor Makes Good on Development but Still no Announcement of his Plans for the Steinway Mansion

September 12, 2016 / NYC Neighborhoods & History NYC / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

Pinnacle Realty - Commercial Real Estate Sales in Astoria Queens

I spoke to the George Margaronis of Pinnacle Realty who was handling the sale of the commercial sites. He told me that the upstairs units provided windowed office space and the downstairs rooms could be used for various types of commercial activity including architecture, contractors, IT, engineering, storage or new media / creative arts.

 

When I inquired about the demand for the units, George Margaronis informed me that five of the units were already in contract with three of them sold to owners who intended to occupy the spaces themselves and two were sold as investment properties, which would be rented out. George told me that Pinnacle was already in negotiations, and possibly near signing specific buyers, for the remaining three. He referenced the attractiveness of the Ditmars area and the proximity to LaGuardia Airport as important locale selling points, including LGA’s proposed $5 billion modernization program.

 

Prices & Square Footage of Commercial Real Estate near LaGuardia Airport

I asked how big the units were [3600 to 5400 square feet] and what kind of prices they were getting [he mentioned figures that rounded up to $2 million and above]. He explained to me that the units had some differences, including things like elevators and what not.

I made my way west around to 41st Street where I saw the other three units still under construction, that bordered the northern perimeter of the Steinway Mansion. George Margaronis said that these units would be completed within the next few months. He told me that two of these units had been sold and that he expected buyers to begin occupying many of the units around the year end time frame. What struck me as somewhat respectful of the historic beauty / legacy of the Steinway Mansion, was that the buildings erected on the re-plotted deeds are only two stories high, which likely leaves the view from the windows of the Steinway Mansion as sweeping as they probably were long ago.

 

The Steinway Mansion - Landmarked Structure with Huge Tourist Revenue Potential

I then made my way up the steep hill to the deserted Steinway Mansion. There the mansion stood in its infinite glory. Tall, historic and oh, so solid-looking - because it’s landmarked exterior is made of granite. The Steinway Mansion was built over 150 years ago by a seller of scientific instruments, Benjamin Pike. The mansion was occupied for decades not long after Pike's death, by Astoria’s leading citizen, William Steinway.

 

William Steinway was the most famous family member of the Steinway & Sons Piano Company back in its early heydays in the latter half of the 19th century. It's worth mentioning that Steinway & Sons Piano still operates a piano-making plant only blocks away from the Steinway Mansion, where they continue to make beautiful, unique, wooden pianos using many of the same processes and techniques used back in William Steinway’s day. And much of the making of a Steinway & Sons Piano is still done by hand.

 

Plans for Steinway Mansion Future Still Unknown

After my visit, I contacted Sal Lucchese, owner of the company that bought the Steinway Mansion, to ask him what he intended to do with it. He told me that he was busy finishing the work he had begun developing the site since buying the mansion, and that he did not have anything to announce at this time regarding plans for the mansion itself. I asked if anybody was living in it at present, to which he replied no.

Sal Lucchese’s success in developing the Steinway Mansion shows he is a man of vision. Unfortunately the same may not be said of the local government officials who let the option to purchase the Steinway Mansion go unanswered for years. Had the Michael Bloomberg and Helen Marshall Administrations purchased the Steinway Mansion, they could have financed much of the purchase price and the maintenance required to transform it into a world class museum, by doing something along the lines of what Sal Lucchese did. But alas, Sal did and they did not.

 

I Would Still Like to See the Government Purchase the Mansion & Turn it into an Historic Museum & Tourist Destination

We don’t yet know Sal Lucchese’s plans for the Steinway Mansion, but as you know by the series of stories we have run on it to date, we remain interested - and still faintly hopeful - that someone with the means, vision and influence will transform this landmarked building [to date only the façade & structure have landmark protection] into the local and national historic museum it appears destined to become. I believe it has the potential to evolve into a money-making, tourist destination in New York City, in a fashion similar what Elvis Presley’s Graceland is to Memphis, Tennessee. And with the current modernization / expansion planned at LaGuardia Airport, which is literally a stone's throw away [less than a mile], the possibility is even higher.

 

According the Bob Singleton of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, William Steinway helped put New York City on the map as one of the world’s great cultural centers, by paying the great pianists of the time to come to the city to perform on Steinway & Sons pianos. Hence Steinway Hall was erected and became the forerunner to Carnegie Hall which was the forerunner to Lincoln Center. Today New York City is a tourist destination to over 50 million visitors annually, due in large part because it has become a leading, world class cultural destination.

 

If that isn’t an NYC legacy worth preserving, then what is?

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