Kew Gardens Cinema Park
A historic prewar co-op complex tucked in a prominent park
The 165-acre Forest Park in Queens contains hiking and bridle paths, a par 67 golf course modeled after Scottish links, a skate park, athletic fields, a “barking lot” dog run and a restored bandshell that seats 3,500 people. A park map shows a small, crisply delineated square indentation devoid of green on the park’s far east end. Hampton Court, a complex of four six-story red brick Georgian Revival buildings, occupies that curious cutout. A handsome brick and wrought iron gate at its entrance prominently displays the compound’s name and opens to a campus of buildings and lushly landscaped walkways. The 315-unit development, known as “The Kent,” when built in 1935, was recently placed on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Notable Queens architect and Turkish immigrant Benjamin Braunstein prioritized light, air and open space with his design for the project, rental buildings intended to house middle-class New Yorkers, Jewish refugees from Europe and other immigrants. Braunstein selected the distinct colonial aesthetic to help new arrivals to the United States feel “Americanized.” At the 2022 celebration of the historic designation, Hampton Court board of directors president Andrea Crawford noted that half of the development’s first residents were refugees. Renamed after it was converted to a co-op in 1987, Hampton Court is also recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. The extensive landscaping throughout the complex is specifically selected to attract pollinators and draws butterflies and native and migrating birds. Demetrios Zias, a Coldwell Banker American Homes agent who has done business in the building, says the proximity of Forest Park, access to transportation and pleasing natural surroundings are key factors in why people choose to live at Hampton Court — and why many stay. According to Zias, turnover is low. “There’s not a lot,” he says. “Most people who sell are elderly or young families trying to buy a house.”