Vanderbilt Cup Races

Over the last five years, I have been documenting the 44-mile right-of way of the Long Island Motor Parkway from Fresh Meadows, Queens to Lake Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County. The most elusive area to research has been the most westerly section of the Motor Parkway In Queens. This entrance from Horace Harding Boulevard was opened by the Long Island Motor Parkway, Inc. in 1928.

Fellow LIMPer Mitch Kaftan has stepped forward and recommended several new research resources to help discover photos and aerials documenting this section. I am pleased to report that this treasure hunt has been successful. The above aerial image (circa around 1948) is courtesy of the New York Life Archives which developed the apartment complex bordering on the Motor Parkway in Fresh Meadows .

Horace Harding Parkway runs diagonally on the left side of the aerial. The remnants of the Long Island Motor Parkway are just north above Peck Avenue which runs from left to right at the top of the aerial. .

Two Motor Parkway Bridges can be seen in the aerial; the North Hempstead Turnpike Bridge (see enlargement to the right) and the 73rd Avenue Bridge further to the right.

Check VanderbiltCupRaces.com over the next two months for new rare images of the LIMP Western Terminus including ground and aerial photos from the late 1930s.