Engine 305 / Ladder 151 Firehouse
111-02 Queens Boulevard | also 111-04 Queens Boulevard | Forest Hills | built 1924
Open on the map4 entries
The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1924
Forest Hills' firehouse is dedicated as Engine 305 and Ladder 151 are organized
The fire department, extending paid service into fast-growing Forest Hills, awarded a $77,713 construction contract in 1923 for a firehouse on Queens Boulevard. It was dedicated on November 15, 1924, and Engine Company 305 and Hook & Ladder Company 151 were formally organized that same day, under the 46th Battalion, 13th Division.
- 1924
Local praise hails the new firehouse as built to harmonize with its neighborhood
When the firehouse opened in November 1924, fire official Hubert J. Treacy called it the most pretentious engine house in the Greater City, and the Flushing Evening Journal and Long Island Daily Star praised it for blending with the surrounding community. The papers credited the plans to fire department building inspector John R. Sliney, though the Landmarks Preservation Commission questions whether he designed it himself.
“On the eve of its official dedication, the building was recognized in at least two local papers, the Flushing Evening Journal and the Long Island Daily Star…”
- 1931
A local newspaper holds up the firehouse as a model while panning two new ones
In 1931 a Queens newspaper article attacked a pair of newly built firehouses as unpleasant to look at and urged that future ones fit their surroundings. The only good example it named was the Engine 305 and Ladder 151 firehouse, which it said proved a firehouse could be attractive and harmonious without giving up usefulness.
“…mentions only one firehouse – Firehouse, Engine Company 305, Hook & Ladder Company 151 – as an example…”
- 2012
The firehouse, still home to its original companies, becomes a city landmark
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the firehouse on June 12, 2012. Five speakers, including the Historic Districts Council and the Bayside Historical Society, supported it, as did letters from the Fire Department and Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall. The commission noted how little the building had changed in about 90 years and that it still served Forest Hills.
“Correspondence in support of designation was received from the Fire Department of the City of New York and from the Queens Borough President, Helen M. Marshall.”
Nearby
- The Church-in-the-Gardens73-01 Greenway North | 3 entries
- Ridgewood Savings Bank, Forest Hills Branch107-55 Queens Boulevard | 3 entries
- St. Luke's Episcopal Church85 Greenway South | 3 entries
- Forest Hills Post Office106-28 Queens Boulevard | 2 entries
- Queens Borough Hall120-55 Queens Boulevard | 4 entries
- Kitty Genovese Residence82-70 Austin Street | 3 entries