How some of the world’s best pianos were built in Queens
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Steinway & Sons gifted this piano to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, pictured here in the White House’s East Room in 1963. AP Photo.
By Victoria Merlino
Though Steinway & Sons is well known for constructing some of the world’s finest pianos, few know about the company’s history constructing Astoria.
Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg built his first piano in his kitchen in Germany. In 1850, he immigrated to the United States with his family, intent on getting into the American piano business. Steinweg soon changed the family’s name to Steinway, and set up shop on Varick Street in Manhattan in 1853.
The pianos were quickly a hit, and the Steinway name began to expand, becoming New York City’s largest employer at one point in the 1860s. Steinway’s fourth son, William, who had the best command of English and served as the company’s business liaison, started purchasing Astoria farmland in the early 1870s. This move was partly intended to remove workers from the blossoming organized labor movement in Manhattan.
Astoria was also seen cheaper alternative to the real estate market in Manhattan, enabling workers to live close to the burgeoning Steinway piano factory, which was erected in the neighborhood.
Thus, Steinway Village was born. The village was a company town, and William Steinway prided himself on improving it, building a public school, fire house, post office and other amenities for workers. Some of these institutions still stand today, such as the Steinway Reformed Church, which William Steinway donated land to, and Steinway Street, which is still a major road in the neighborhood.
William Steinway also influenced subway construction in the area, having a hand in the construction of the No. 7 and Astoria-Ditmars-bound trains.
Today, you can tour the Steinway factory in Astoria, where the company still makes pianos by hand. For $20, the company takes you through the factory floor, starting with the selection of a piano’s raw wood and ending with fine-tuning and a showcase.
Despite Astoria’s ever-changing landscape, music still plays through the neighborhood.
