Queens Borough Hall 4.13

Queens Borough Hall is a public building in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City which houses the Office of the Queens Borough President and other city offices and court space. It is located in the Kew Gardens municipal facilities stretch bounded by Queens Boulevard and Union Turnpike among other roads.Designed by architects William Gehron and Andrew J. Thomas in the austere classical style, it was built between March and November 1940 at a cost of some $1,800,000, low for its size. Featuring a red brick facade, was 580 feet long upon construction and four stories high; the office suite for the borough president and his or her cabinet was designed for the center of the building. The building was opened on December 4, 1940, with Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and many other city officials in attendance. The structure subsequently won a design award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce.A previous Queens Borough Hall, built around 1910, had been located in the Long Island City neighborhood.Queens Borough Hall was designed to serve as the center of civic life, and had other functions, such as a post office, when first built. It has become a popular spot for marriages, with some 9,000 of them being performed in the hall during 2006. Fridays are the most popular day for the ceremonies, which are presided over by the borough's deputy city clerk in a small chapel.