Court Square Park

Jackson Ave. bet. Court Sq. and Thomson Ave.

Queens

Directions via Google Maps

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

This park stands directly in front of the Queens County Court House in Long Island City. On October 22, 1872, the City of New York purchased the land on which the courthouse and Court Square Park stand. The first Long Island City courthouse, built two years later, was designed in the French Second Empire style by John Hathorne. In 1904, however, a worker repairing the roof accidentally set it ablaze, destroying the entire building. To replace the old courthouse, architect Peter Coco designed a neo-English Renaissance building, which opened in 1908. Ironically, Coco was indicted on corruption charges a year later, and was tried and convicted in the very courthouse he designed.

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