The Sohmer Piano Factory
Up to Neighborhood Discussion
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Would anyone know if there has been any progress made in turning the Sohmer Piano Factory into condos? A while ago I read that the building was being gutted.
NYD Daily News
[quote]When Dr. Angelo Acquista learned in late 2005 that the former Sohmer & Co. piano factory building at Vernon Blvd. and 31st Ave. in Long Island City was on the market, he was immediately interested.
"I am very attached to the area. I have many fond memories of growing up in the area," said Acquista, a physician and clinical instructor at Lenox Hill Hospital and a best-selling author.
"I came here from Sicily with my parents and brother when I was 9 years old and settled at 12-11 31st Ave., which is a block away from Sohmer," he said, adding that, six years later, the family moved about five blocks away.
Acquista attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and Mater Christi High School (now St. John's Prep).
He remembers fishing from a 200-foot pier just across Vernon Blvd. from the building, which the city Landmarks Preservation Commission designated as a landmark in late February.
"We want to preserve the building and agreed to have it landmarked," said the doctor-turned-developer.
His efforts have gone so far as to preserve bricks from a loading dock attached to the factory for use in restoring the six-story brick-faced building.
Acquista's plans call for approximately 68 condominium apartments and 16 duplex penthouses, and the first floor will contain 8,000 to 9,000 square feet of commercial space.
Two clocks in a tower at Vernon and 31st will be restored with new mechanisms and the tower itself turned into a room. "The tower is dome-shaped, and it will make a spectacular room," Acquista said.
Further plans call for Socrates Sculpture Park, diagonally across Vernon Blvd. from the building, to use 5,000 square feet or more of the space, he said.
Plans also called for sculptures from the park to be exhibited in a garden that would be created on top of an underground garage planned for the rear courtyard of the L-shaped building.
The German Romanesque Revival-style structure was built in 1886 by Hugo Sohmer, whose firm was noted for manufacturing upright pianos, favored by famed songwriter Irving Berlin. "Sohmer & Co. played a key role in the history of New York City's piano manufacturing industry, and their building is one of the few 19th-century factory sites remaining in Queens," said Landmarks Commission chairman Robert Tierney.
Sohmer & Co. was sold in 1982 and moved to Connecticut; Adirondack Chair Co., a furniture manufacturer, subsequently acquired the factory building.
As he stood atop the landmark structure one day recently and took in the view, Acquista asked a visitor: "Where else can you have such a view of Manhattan, Socrates Park and the river?"[/quote]
[quote]When Dr. Angelo Acquista learned in late 2005 that the former Sohmer & Co. piano factory building at Vernon Blvd. and 31st Ave. in Long Island City was on the market, he was immediately interested.
"I am very attached to the area. I have many fond memories of growing up in the area," said Acquista, a physician and clinical instructor at Lenox Hill Hospital and a best-selling author.
"I came here from Sicily with my parents and brother when I was 9 years old and settled at 12-11 31st Ave., which is a block away from Sohmer," he said, adding that, six years later, the family moved about five blocks away.
Acquista attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel School and Mater Christi High School (now St. John's Prep).
He remembers fishing from a 200-foot pier just across Vernon Blvd. from the building, which the city Landmarks Preservation Commission designated as a landmark in late February.
"We want to preserve the building and agreed to have it landmarked," said the doctor-turned-developer.
His efforts have gone so far as to preserve bricks from a loading dock attached to the factory for use in restoring the six-story brick-faced building.
Acquista's plans call for approximately 68 condominium apartments and 16 duplex penthouses, and the first floor will contain 8,000 to 9,000 square feet of commercial space.
Two clocks in a tower at Vernon and 31st will be restored with new mechanisms and the tower itself turned into a room. "The tower is dome-shaped, and it will make a spectacular room," Acquista said.
Further plans call for Socrates Sculpture Park, diagonally across Vernon Blvd. from the building, to use 5,000 square feet or more of the space, he said.
Plans also called for sculptures from the park to be exhibited in a garden that would be created on top of an underground garage planned for the rear courtyard of the L-shaped building.
The German Romanesque Revival-style structure was built in 1886 by Hugo Sohmer, whose firm was noted for manufacturing upright pianos, favored by famed songwriter Irving Berlin. "Sohmer & Co. played a key role in the history of New York City's piano manufacturing industry, and their building is one of the few 19th-century factory sites remaining in Queens," said Landmarks Commission chairman Robert Tierney.
Sohmer & Co. was sold in 1982 and moved to Connecticut; Adirondack Chair Co., a furniture manufacturer, subsequently acquired the factory building.
As he stood atop the landmark structure one day recently and took in the view, Acquista asked a visitor: "Where else can you have such a view of Manhattan, Socrates Park and the river?"[/quote]