Q Gardens Gallery: Can You Picture This?

      

By David Pambianchi

RON MARZLOCK with photos of Movie Greats

Triborough Bridge 25 Cent toll, 1963 (Vintage photos: Q Gardens Gallery)

You remember how things were. Or you might like to know how your family and friends saw the world in which they lived. Suddenly, out comes a photo to bring clarity and reaffirmation to stories of times gone by. Grandma's old house and street lined with trolley cars, Great Grandpa's fish market across from the play land where the church now stands, photos help tell your personal story. Specializing in rare and unusual photos of New York City, the Q Gardens Gallery vintage photo collection offers a nostalgic, visual wealth of neighborhood history with a penchant for many local Queens Communities.

Leave your money out front for the Milkman?

MASPETH THEATRE Grand Ave. & 69th Place

For years, Ron Marzlock collected thousands of old neighborhood photos along with hundreds of photos of celebrities and movie stars. He compiled a database, a vast resource of original negatives to create a picture cornucopia that delights the imagination. Just provide a location, and you may be in for a surprise. From bridges and stadiums to dirt roads, now side streets or boulevards where you or your family grew up, anything could pop up. A Triborough Bridge "25 cent" toll booth (you wish), reminds me of when my dad threw change into a funnel from his car window, and my neighbor, Mike Mulhern, who threw nails until the city installed a magnet to catch them. Remember the milkman? Leave a dollar sticking out of an empty bottle outside in the milk box.

Metropolitan Avenue at 70th Street (Uncropped from negative)

In addition to historic photos, maps and advertisements, the galley offers photo restoration and framing. Last month's Grand Opening provided the first taste with new exhibits soon to follow. Starting December 11, the Middle Village and Maspeth communities are on deck, and an assortment of photos from the collection will be chosen and framed to grace the gallery walls ready for prospective buyers.

Thinking about affordable holiday presents?
Isn't that you I see in the picture?

Displaced Gypsy Village when Queens-Midtown Hwy built (LIE Service Road)

Q Gardens Gallery
8061 Lefferts Boulevard (off Austin Street)
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
(347) 494-5704
Open 12:00-6:00PM (Closed Mondays)
Qgardensgallery.com

Visit David's Website: "Writer's Edge"
http://davidmtc.web.officelive.com/