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The building that later became Flessel's Restaurant was originally built by Joseph Witzel, a College Point landowner who also built a long-gone amusement park called Point View Island in Whitestone. Probably the only reminder of Joseph Witzel's former holdings in the area is the "W" on the columns of Flessel's Restaurant.

College Point, at one time, was a fashionable summer resort and still has a number of Victorian-era buildings as reminder of those forgotten days.

Over the years, the building changed hands. It has been used as both a hotel, bar and restaurant throughout its long history. It has been known as Witzel's, Eifel's and then, Flessel's over the years. German food and drink was a specialty as a rule.



CREDIT: Forgotten-NewYork.Com


College Point is a neighborhood in north central Queens (1985 pop. 25,000), northwest of Flushing along the East River and Flushing Bay. It was built in 1854 by Conrad Poppenhusen to accommodate the workers at his hard-rubber factory, and he alone guided the development of its streets, houses, businesses, and schools. In 1870 it became a village incorporating the neighborhoods of Flammersburg and Strattonport. As breweries, silk mills, and paint works were built the area grew rapidly m the 1880s and 1890s and attracted mostly a German population. Its beer halls and amusement parks, especially Point View Island, made it popular for outings, steamboat excursions, and political clubs. During Prohibition the resorts declined and were eventually replaced by aircraft and aviation parts factories built by Sikorsky Aircraft, the LWF Company, and the Edo Corporation. College Point in the mid 1990s remained predominantly residential, with condominiums along the waterfront and light industry along the main streets.


CREDIT: Vincent Seyfried, Encyclopedia of New York City, Edited by Kenneth T. Jackson. New Haven, Yale University Press. 1995.