Crossway Idlewild Inn
153-90 Rockaway Blvd in street view image from the 1980s. Accessed via www.80s.nyc website.
Known Name(s)
Crossway Idlewild Inn
Address
152-25 139th Ave., Jamaica 34 Queens, NY (1963, 1964, 1966)153-90 Rockaway Blvd Queens, NY (Modern Address)
Establishment Type(s)
Hotel
Description
Surviving depictions of 152-25 139th Ave (current address 153-90 Rockaway Blvd) in the historic period are few and far between. The most complete representation of the property is preserved in the form of a printed souvenir lighter. Although the property still exists today, it is extensively modified from its original state and is largely obscured by a tall fence. These factors make physical description a challenging task from all angles but above.
From the engraved lighter, we can see a long, low hotel with sharp midcentury lines. A projecting covered entrance faces out towards the street, allowing hotel guests easy entrance regardless of weather conditions. Above the entrance, a section of the main building rises several more stories. At the top is a sign that reads “Crossway Idlewild Inn” in a stylized script. This taller section of the main building no longer exists, and it is unclear if the space was ever used to house guests. A limited color palate on the lighter makes it impossible to determine how the building was clad, but its minimalist lines are significantly different from those of the present facade.
Today, 153-90 Rockaway Blvd occupies an asymmetrical lot. It is bounded by Rockaway Boulevard to the Northeast, 136th Avenue to the Northwest, Cranston Street to the Southwest, and Conduit Avenue to the South, forming an outline that resembles the state of Nevada.
The main building is long and rectangular in shape, with three stories and a flat roof. It runs parallel to 136th Avenue (albeit set back quite a way) and perpendicular to Rockaway Boulevard and Cranston Street. At some point the facade was clad in buff stucco, making the original construction difficult to ascertain.
The main building features three additional wings – one which is original and two that are later additions. The original wing is located on the northernmost end of the building and runs parallel to Rockaway Boulevard; it is significantly smaller than the other two but matches the main building in construction. Moving counterclockwise, the northwestern addition is the largest wing and is constructed from concrete block. The southwestern addition is constructed from brick and appears to be an enclosed parking garage.
Detailed History
Constructed in 1963, the Crossway Idlewild Inn was a sprawling hotel complex conveniently located near Idlewild/JFK Airport. Its sister location, Crossway Airport Inn, serviced LaGuardia airport. The two hotels were often advertised together.
Relatively little documentation has surfaced regarding Crossway Idlewild. It was frequently advertised as a haven for tourists during the lead up to the 1964 World’s Fair, which was located in Queens. For a period in the late 1960s, the inn hosted the Shirtsleeves Playhouse, a local theater that occasionally put on original productions. The inn was also a popular meeting place for local service organizations, such as the Woodhaven-Richmond Hill Lions Club.
Although the hotel’s inclusion in the Green Book suggests that it welcomed guests of color, a 1968 postcard suggests that racial hierarchies were still at play. The postcard prominently depicts a Black porter carrying a suitcase, perhaps an implicit suggestion of subservience. Many integrated workplaces only hired Black men for unskilled manual labor well into the 20th century.
In 1969, Crossway Motor Hotels Inc. sold the property. By 1971, the hotel was operating under the name of Air Host Inn. Eventually, the hotel closed altogether and was reopened as a homeless shelter in the early 2000s. It continues in this capacity today as the Belt Park Family Residence.
