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

Community gathers in Kew Gardens Hills to remember 9/11 with prayer, reflection and unity

Sep. 16, 2025 By Robert Pearl

As the nation marked the 24th anniversary of Sept. 11, the Jewish community of Kew Gardens Hills came together on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills for a moving memorial service that honored the lives lost and the resilience of New Yorkers. Hosted by Zev Brenner of the podcast “Talkline with Zev Brenner,” the solemn evening blended prayer, music and heartfelt words from civic leaders and neighbors.

With US Open done, Kantu serves up winning brunch in Forest Hills

Sep. 9, 2025 By Claude Solnik

Brunch, or at least breakfast, is a fairly common offering across New York City restaurants. And these morning meals often follow basic rules and menus with fairly similar offerings such as eggs, traditional omelets and maybe a Mimosa. When it comes to good food and, in particular, brunches that depart from the usual, Kantu really can do.

Rego Park sex offender pleads guilty to charges of sexually exploiting young girls on Long Island: Feds

A convicted sex offender from Rego Park pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and admitted to soliciting and receiving sexually explicit images and videos from four young girls during a plea hearing in the federal courthouse in Central Islip on Friday. Anthony Pangallo, 41, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment and up to 50 years in prison.

According to court filings and statements during the plea proceeding, Pangallo was initially arrested on May 20, 2021, at his Rego Park residence, on state charges filed in Westport, Connecticut. Those charges, which remain pending, involved a 15-year-old victim whom Pangallo met online and manipulated into sending him sexually explicit images of herself.