Hollis and Southeastern Queens are facing a quiet loss of history.

The places that tell our story are being threatened by neglect, demolition, and overdevelopment — one building, one block, one memory at a time.

• The Ketcham House
  A rare surviving historic farmhouse tied to the early development of Hollis. It was also the home of the original Gibson Girl during the last 30 years of her life. Its possible connection to the Underground Railroad is still under investigation, and it remains one of the clearest physical reminders of the neighborhood’s beginnings.
• St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
  A historic Black Episcopal institution that began in a barn, at a time when Black worshippers had limited places where they were welcomed to worship. It stands as an irreplaceable landmark of dignity, resilience, faith, and community-building by a disenfranchised people.
• Woodhull School / St. Gabriel’s Parish Hall
  An important educational and civic site connected to old Hollis, St. Gabriel’s, and generations of local families.  It is the kind of substantial stone building we may never see built again — and once lost, it cannot be replaced.

These places tell different parts of the same story: how our neighborhoods were built, who built them, and what we stand to lose if development moves forward without preservation, transparency, and community input.

This is not only about three buildings. It is about whether Hollis and Southeastern Queens will be allowed to keep visible evidence of their own history.

We encourage supporters to contact the agencies, elected officials, and community leaders with influence over preservation, planning, and development in Hollis and Southeastern Queens. Please ask them to support landmark review, preservation planning, transparency, and community-centered alternatives to demolition and overdevelopment.

Our neighborhoods deserve growth, but growth should not come at the cost of erasing the places that tell us who we are.

Please sign, share, and speak up before these buildings — and the stories they carry — are lost.

Although the Ketcham House remains unprotected, prior review acknowledged that the house may warrant landmark consideration. We are asking for renewed attention, transparency, and community-supported preservation planning before demolition moves forward.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please sign and share this petition, and contact the agencies and elected officials with authority or influence over preservation, planning, and community advocacy in Hollis and Southeastern Queens.

Ask them to support:

• Renewed landmark review for the Ketcham House and other threatened historic sites
• Preservation planning before demolition or redevelopment
• Transparency and community input
• Alternatives to overdevelopment that erase neighborhood history

Supporters may also contact the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and ask that the Ketcham House receive renewed, serious landmark review in light of its prior merit response, additional documentation, community support, and current demolition threat.

 New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission at
 info@lpc.nyc.gov or 212-669-7817
Request renewed landmark review of the Ketcham House.