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Astoria Is Getting Its Own Official Arts District
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 27, 2014
Modified Mar 27, 2014
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By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 27, 2014
Modified Mar 27, 2014
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Astoria is getting its own official arts district this week, in hopes of creating a "world-class vibrant cultural destination and home for creative industries." The brunch line at Queens Comfort is about to get a whole lot longer.
Not that Astoria will be getting too many multipurpose creative hub developments quite yet, since the new district won't amount to much more than a name for now. That name, the Kaufman Arts District, will be announced by City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer tomorrow; the naming ceremony will be held at Kaufman Astoria Studios, the district's namesake and the studio that plays host to movie and television productions like Sesame Street, Orange Is The New Black and Men In Black III.
The district will run from Steinway Street to 31st Street, and from 34th Avenue to 37th Avenue in the neighborhood; cultural establishments in the neighborhood include Kaufman Astoria Studios, as well as the Museum of the Moving Image, the headquarters for the Queens Council on the Arts, beer-and-event space Studio Square and the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts.
The area, once an "almost a ghost town," according to Astoria native Van Bramer, hopes to pick up more steam and cash with a new creative pull. And it seems Astoria residents appreciate both the recognition, the extra business and the possible protection that comes with making an official arts district, considering what's happened to other former artist communities in the city. "There’s a lot of good, really healthy cultural activity," Carol Sudhalter, founder of the Astoria Jazz Band, told the Daily News. The only danger is that it gets too expensive and we all have to leave — you know that trend.” Oh, don't we.
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Rebecca Fishbein
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