Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge Number 878

The lodge was founded in 1903 and met at Lodge 828 in Long Island City until it bought land on Queens Boulevard in 1921. Construction began in October 1923, and the building, which cost $750,000, opened on October 26, 1924. Besides a pool and gymnasium it held six bowling alleys, indoor hardball courts, a grille room, a barber shop, a game room, lockers, lounges, a dining room, a kitchen, office space, a main meeting room with space for 2,000 people and twenty-eight bedrooms; the interior is not part of the designation. The annual "Elks Bazaar" included raffling off two dozen Cadillacs. Membership peaked in the 1960s at 6,600 and had fallen below 600 by 2000, and the building was sold to the New Life Fellowship Church in 2001.