North Shore Towers - History - Location and Construction

Location and Construction

Glen Oaks, the neighborhood where the North Shore Towers were built, was a rural, unnamed section of Flushing, part of a 20,000-acre (8,100 ha) land grant to Massachusetts settlers. In 1923, the Glen Oaks Golf Club was built, created on 167 acres (68 ha) purchased from William K. Vanderbilt II’s country estate. By 1971, the golf course was replaced by the North Shore Towers. The North Shore Towers were constructed in Glen Oaks because of Queens’ lax zoning rules that are less restrictive than those in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

Some Glen Oaks residents, mostly single-home dwellers, protested the construction of the North Shore Towers because they were afraid it would dominate the horizon. However, it was a highly anticipated “big Queens project” for most New Yorkers.

The buildings are considered fireproof by the New York City Fire Department because partitions between individual units are designed to stop the spread of flames, also known as compartmentalization. This is evidenced by a 2004 fire caused by a cigarette where no one was seriously injured because the fire was self-contained.

In 2000, a North Shore Towers resident noticed a zip code error when making an online purchase. After further investigation in 2001, it was determined that the North Shore Towers was one of four zip codes that were mistakenly charged a Nassau County sales tax of 8.5% instead of the New York City sales tax of 8.25%. This is because the zip codes cross the city line. Residents argue that New York City should receive their tax dollars and not Nassau County. This error has since been corrected.