Sunday, February 05, 2006

Lions in Astoria?


Lion Above
Originally uploaded by mcotner.
Well, not real live ones. But this makes for the second stone lion I've spied in Astoria.

This ornament is above one of the apartment buildings on my block. There is a lot of decorative stone work and carving throughout the buildings in Astoria - you just have to look up to see it. Once you're aware that it exists, you'll be amazed at just how much decorative work there is throughout our little part of Queens.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You will actually find that the lion is a common theme throughout Astoria. I suspect it must have some higher conotation in Greek culture. Whatever the case, there are two houses on my block with no less than 5 stone lions perched atop the railings! (one is called the "House of Roar!") Where they are putting up the new building on the old Tupelo site (34th ave and 35th street), they have decorative lions along the roofline. If you look closely, there are lions literally everywhere in Astoria!

megc said...

Awesome! You're right about the prevalence of lions in Astoria - I've seen many of those stone lions atop various walls in front of homes. Love the "House of Roar!" element. Thanks, anon!