The multi-lane road we know today as Queens Boulevard started out as Hoffman Boulevard. This photo was taken at Woodhaven Blvd. In 1941, there was a plan by Robert Moses to make the road into an express highway. The lanes were widened and the center, or express, lanes in some areas were depressed while the local lanes remained at grade. This photo shows workers painting lane markers on the recently completed submerged road. We see Howard Johnson’s restaurant in the distance and fancy twinlamps on the median as well as at street level. There’s also a bus parking lot parked up top. Some mid-rise apartment building can be seen on the horizon.

WWII put the super highway project on hiatus and it was eventually scrapped in favor of the Long Island Expressway, a multilane highway which replaced Horace Harding Blvd. The LIE can be seen crossing over Queens Blvd in the modern photo. HoJo is long gone as are the twinlamps and the bus parking lot. Energy efficient LED streetlights line the roads now. Today the Queens Tower and Alexander condominiums dominate the skyline.