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VOLUME 6:
LONG ISLAND CITY'S ROTO-BROIL AT 33-00 NORTHERN BOULEVARD
By Nicholas Kalis
Sixth in a series of glimpses into industries or warehouses that made
for interesting freight operations on the Long Island. Information presented
has included, where available, a brief history of the firm, how it was
served by the LIRR, and what commodities were received or shipped from
this facility.
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Phone directories of the 1960s list its address as 33-00 Northern Boulevard
which would place it near 33rd Street. This building was built by Henry
Ford in 1915, it later became the Roto Broil factory, owned by Leon Klinghoffer,
who was shot to death and pushed into the Mediterranean by terrorists
aboard the Achille Lauro. By 1973-74, the local phone directory no longer
listed Roto-Broil. Page 2 of Maps of Freight Stations and Private Sidings
(June 1966) puts Roto-Broil (Spot 19a), located in Long Island City, facing
Yard A while with its own track it shared a spur with Extrin. Roto-Broil
was flanked by Speed Queen (former Standard Plumbing - Could this be the
Standard Sanitary Co. in Photograph 1 below?) or Spot 18 to its West and
Seggerman Slocum (Spot 20) to its East. Roto-Broil is South of Extrin
Foods and just East of Honeywell Avenue. I have been unable to identify
any auxiliary buildings associated with this building as is the case with
some of its neighboring businesses.
J. Reselike's 1937 photo from the Frank Zahn Collection may hold the
answer to the mystery of how the Roto-Broil building appeared. The photo
refered to shows Kohler (Spot 21) to the right and Spots 20 amd probably
19a to its left. According to Carl Fabrizi, an open-sided freight shed
probably belongs to the PRR and is not connected with any local industry.
Is a taller building with a skeletal structure for a sign Roto-Broil?
Is a shorter building between Kohler and the taller building Seggerman
Slocum?
I would guess commodities shipped into this facility by rail were assembled
kitchen appliances carried in box cars and originated from the central
factory of Roto-Broil. Can anyone identify in what city or town this manufacturer's
plant was? I assume Roto-Broil warehoused, distributed, and serviced appliances
from this location but only empties left this facility by rail. Roto-Broil
was once a household name in America as a Mr. and Mrs. Roto-Broil Cookbook
dated 1955 evidences. Roto-Broil's fame was so great famed artist Roy
Lichtenstein made a Roto-Broil appliance the subject of one of his artworks.
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Roto-Broil (Spot 19a) may be the building identified
as Ford Motor Co. Credit: The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives, LaGuardia
Community College/ The City University of New York
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MODELING
I have built a foam core mock-up in HO scale of this building.
CREDITS
Thanks to Carl Fabrizi, Bob Miller, and Bill Myers. An early draft of
this article was sent to Richard F. Makse for review.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Author Unknown Maps of Freight Stations and Private Sidings (Reprint)
June 1966
Please send photographs that show how Extrin appeared
in the 1960s and direct any comments on or corrections to this manuscript
to:
Nicholas Kalis
Suite 600, 1420 Spring Hill Road
McLean, Virginia 22102
Any illustrations or maps contributed will be gratefully acknowledged.
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Logo, Long Island Railroad
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1966 Map Showing Roto-Broil
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