Queens County Supreme Courthouse

Queens County Supreme Courthouse. Sutphin Blvd. , Considered the finest example of neo-classic architecture in Queens, the courthouse has Corinthian columns and an Alabama limestone facade. The building features seven types of marble adorning its interior lobby, and a grand staircase and acclaimed murals depicting Mosaic Law and Constitutional Law. Built in 1936 and dedicated on March 1, 1939 by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, it was originally called the Queens General Court, and was the most expensive and tallest public building ever erected in Queens., The building is set back from the street and reached by broad steps. While the recessed entrance is marked by a Corinthian colonnade, the rest of the building is modern in style, with sheer walls and no window trim. There is a modest dentillated cornice. The architects worked with the Borough President and a committee of the judiciary on the designs, which were called Federal style by the Department of Public Works., On the drawings, Alfred H. Eccles was listed as the architect and William W. Knowles as the associated architect. On the inside, the vestibule and lobby walls are faced in different colored marbles and there is a grand double staircase leading to the first-floor courtroom. The building was a Works Progress Administration project and cost about $5 million, with over $2 million spent by the Federal government. Original sculpture above the doors and a 1942 mural at the grand staircase depict various aspects of divine and secular justice. A 1998 sculpture added to the building's front courtyard shows the judicial process and has "Queens County references."