Recollections by A. Linsky

"In a recent Guest Book letter, Marty (Harpo) Marks asks if anyone can remember the 'Rumpus Room' on 83rd. Avenue.

I certainly can living next door to the building that it was quartered in - in fact, I even remember the previous tenant 'Art Leonard's Rainbow Inn', and even before that when it was a vegetable market!

A little history;

When my parents bought property on 83rd. Avenue to build their home on in 1938, they also bought the adjoining business parcel that stretched to Grenfell and Lefferts (see photo of vacant land in 1934 attached) thinking that they could have a rather lush garden to compliment the house.

However, a clever business friend convinced them to build stores instead as an investment.

The major or anchor store was a large produce market that eventually closed down about 1947 which is when Art Leonard, who was a movie producer with films such as 'A Hat Full of Rain' and 'The House of 92nd. Street' being among his credits, decided to open a high end night spot to compete with 'Ciro's attached to the Homestead Hotel down the street.

The Rainbow was a landmark for a number of years and closed at just about the same time as we sold our house in 1963 which is when the Rumpus Room took over.

A few interesting asides; With Mr. Leonard's show business connections he was able to obtain top names as performers for his stage including Max Roach, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and a host of other notables (the music heard when the front door was open was great!).

Mr. Leonard also produced and directed a documentary about Queens around 1958 with the focus being on Kew Gardens, and with this writer appearing as an extra - unfortunately, the reels, which are now among the missing, would have added so much to our history.

And finally; notice the sign posted in the attached picture which touts the fact that a movie theater was to be built on the property - it's obvious that it was probably going to be the original location for the Austin, and it is also obvious that the neighbors objected strenuously!"

If you have pictures of yourself showing any Kew Gardens locale in the background, email me high resolution jpegs and I will post them here as space permits.



            Click on image to find out more
"About 2 months ago I started a Hiking Group right inside of Kew Gardens. Each Saturday we meet at Dunkin Donuts on 116th Street (Audley) and Metropolitan Avenue at 9:30 am sharp. We walk through the trails of Forest Park for a little over an hour. The group has grown from 2 to 7 consistent members that show up to walk and chat and maybe get a bite to eat after. We would like to raise the number of guests from 7 to about 10 on average. To view the Meetup.com page, click here." ~ Kevin Abel


To download a copy of the Queens Courier's Sept. 2008 article about Old Kew Gardens.com, click on one of the following links. Turn off your browser's auto-resize if the JPEG text appears too small to read.

[JPEG - 240kb]
[PDF - Hi Resolution, 379kb]
[PDF - Low Resolution, 97kb ]