Queens General Court House

88-11 Sutphin Boulevard | Jamaica | built 1939

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The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1938

    December

    The nearly finished Queens courthouse wins a Chamber of Commerce first prize

    Shortly before it opened, the courthouse designed by Queens architects Alfred H. Eccles and William W. Knowles took first prize for public buildings in the Best Buildings of the Year contest run by the Queens Chamber of Commerce. The E-shaped, seven-story Modern Classical building is faced with Alabama limestone, and its two-and-a-half-story colonnaded portico rises above a broad staircase. Its three arched entrances keep their original bronze doors, framed by bronze panels showing famous lawgivers.

    “In 1938, shortly before it opened, the building was awarded first prize in the public buildings classification in the Queens Chamber of Commerce's Best Buildings of the Year competition.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1939

    March 1

    Mayor LaGuardia dedicates the courthouse before a crowd of about 4,000

    The Queens General Court House opened with a dedication organized by the Queens County Bar Association, and Mayor LaGuardia gave the main speech. He told roughly 4,000 listeners that gathering all the civil courts and offices under one roof would save the city $102,000 a year in rent. LaGuardia had lobbied Washington for the project, which won a Public Works Administration grant of $2,175,930 in 1936.

    “The building opened March 1, 1939 with a dedication ceremony organized by the Queens County Bar Association at which Mayor LaGuardia was the principal speaker.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1960

    Overcrowded courts move out and the building becomes the Supreme Court Building

    As the populations of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk boomed after World War II, the Tenth Judicial District crowded into the courthouse, splitting courtrooms and taking over rooms meant for other uses. In 1960 three tenants, the Municipal Court, the Small Claims Court and Central Jury Part I, moved to leased quarters on Queens Boulevard, while the Queens Bar Association left its first-floor meeting rooms for a headquarters of its own. Over time people came to call the place the Supreme Court Building.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1998

    Artists Ed McGowin and Claudia DeMonte install "The Wheel of Justice" on the plaza

    In 1998 a sculpture ensemble by Ed McGowin and Claudia DeMonte was installed on the plaza in front of the courthouse, two years after the preservation firm Gran Sultan Associates began restoring the exterior for the city. A bronze sculpture representing "The Wheel of Justice" sits on a concrete base at the center of the plaza, and round concrete benches carved with the names of Queens towns are scattered around it.

    “In 1998 a sculptural ensemble by artists Ed McGowin and Claudia DeMonte comprised of a bronze sculpture representing "The Wheel of Justice…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 2002

    July

    A renovation crane collapses onto the courthouse's ceremonial staircase wing

    A crane working on a renovation that began in 1999, led by Henry Spring of WASA Architects for the New York State Dormitory Authority, collapsed and damaged part of the parapet and wall of the two-story wing that holds the ceremonial lobby staircase. Because of litigation, the damage stayed unrepaired until 2009. Late that year the city took down the part of the perimeter fence facing the entrance plaza.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

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