At 108-01 Queens Boulevard stands Sterling National Bank, formerly Boulevard Bank, and originally a Masonic Temple. The metamorphosis of this corner lot is a telling example of the Forest Hills narrative, as the connotations of both institutions reflect the changing face of the neighborhood. The Masonic Temple was established on October 9, 1920, hosted a concert in 1922 to raise funds to construct St.Luke’s church, and was home to political meetings (for example, the City Fusion Party) starting in 1933. The Georgian Colonial style temple represented the homogenous face of the neighborhood, as well as the wiping away of the area’s Whitepot (the former title of Forest Hills) roots, in an era of increasing landmark erection. Freemasonry has strong associations with white, Christian men (however the organization only requires that members worship one supreme being) and has a notoriously exclusive, secretive reputation– qualities that often lend themselves to so-called WASPs. As a neighborhoods institutions change in accordance with the identity of its residents, the transformation of the Queens Boulevard building from a Masonic temple into Boulevard Bank & Trust Co. in 1929 and finally Sterling National Bank & Trust Co. in 1948, reflects an accommodation for a growing neighborhood, as well as a shift from an arguably Eurocentric, exclusive model, to one that is more diverse and accessible (take, for example, the association between Jewish-Americans and the financial sector).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8095451@N08/sets/72157623071939110/comments/
http://books.google.com/books?id=yfz7w8mogvEC&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=masonic+temple+forest+hills+queens+boulevard&source=bl&ots=4MN0Z3uity&sig=5yvPDQcgnK-kjkoBSHvme3osGhg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=N7BuU5jDCIOisATSw4HoCw&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=masonic%20temple&f=false
http://www.msana.com/religion.asp
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