You are reading

Queens Community House Buys Its Longtime Forest Hills Headquarters

Forest Hills Community Center, at 108-25 62nd Dr. (Google Maps)

Feb. 10, 2021 By Allie Griffin

One of Queens’ largest community-based organizations recently bought its long-time headquarters and plans to modernize the building.

Queens Community House (QCH) bought the Forest Hills Community Center at the end of December and will start renovating the building in July, the organization announced Monday.

The non-profit plans to add accessibility upgrades, lounges, counseling rooms and areas for intergenerational activities. It will also revamp the entire building.

The work is expected to be completed by the summer of 2022, Queens Community House Executive Director Ben Thomases said.

Queens Community House has run the center, located at 108-25 62nd Dr., since 1976 and now owns the building after its Board of Directors agreed to purchase it from the tenants of the Forest Hills Coop.

It was owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) until 2017 when tenants of the Forest Hills Coop took it over.

“The purchase marks an enormous milestone in our organization’s evolution,” Thomases said. “It solidifies the continuity of the Forest Hills space as an essential resource for the Forest Hills, Rego Park, and Corona communities.”

Queens Community House, which was established at the center, has 32 community sites across the borough. The non-profit is still headquartered at the Forest Hills Community Center.

About 500 people visited the center daily prior to the pandemic, according to Queens Community House. The center houses a senior center and a teen center and offers English language classes, after-school programs and youth leadership programming.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Forest Hills home invasion leaves man hospitalized after brutal assault and robbery: NYPD

Police from the 112th Precinct in Forest Hills are looking for three suspects who beat and robbed a 28-year-old man during a home invasion on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21. The three intruders slipped into an apartment building at 102-40 62nd Ave. at around 4 p.m.

The perpetrators allegedly forced their way into the victim’s apartment, punched him repeatedly in his body with closed fists, and forcibly removed $60 in cash and medication before fleeing the building in an unknown direction, police said Monday. EMS responded to the crime scene and transported the victim to Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, where he was listed in stable condition.