George S. Kaufman Way (Queens)
Present name:None
Location:At the northwest corner of 35th Avenue and 36th Street
Honoree: In 1982 George S. Kaufman (1928-2018), a Korean War veteran, took over an old movie studio lot in Astoria that was once used by the Famous Players-Lasky and the Marx Brothers. The studio was recognized by a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. He renamed it Kaufman Astoria Studios and transformed it into a full-service, comprehensive studio, including more than 500,000 square feet of soundstages. The surrounding area was revitalized, becoming the Kaufman Arts District, home to the Museum of the Moving Image. Many movies and television shows were filmed on the lot including Hair, The Wiz, Goodfellas, and Sesame Street. He was an active member of the Real Estate Board of New York and also served on the boards of a number of philanthropic and civil organizations, such as The Whitney Museum, the Fashion Institute of Technology, Exploring the Arts, and the Museum of the Moving Image. He was the Founding Chairman of the Fashion Center BID. (Van Bramer)
LL:2021/14