Pistilli Building Receives Chamber Honors

Some people looked at an unused former Eagle Electric Company factory

Pistilli Riverview East, a 186- unit co-operative apartment building at 19-19 24th Ave., Astoria has won an award as a rehabbed building from the Queens Chamber of Commerce. at 19-19 24th Ave., Astoria

as nothing more than a derelict shell. Joseph Pistilli, president of Pistilli Realty, saw the building's potential. Where there was once an empty shell of a factory now stands a residence boasting 186 spacious co-operative apartments, served by a 24-hour concierge and offering spectacular views of the East River, Astoria Park and the Manhattan skyline, with prices starting in the mid- $200,000 range.

The Queens Chamber of Commerce honors Pistilli's perspicacity and drive at its 95th annual Building Awards dinner this year. Pistilli Riverview East is one of seven buildings deemed winners in the Rehab category, sharing the honor with a single-family residence, a bank branch office, a senior adult center, a branch of the Queens Borough Public Library, an MTA subway maintenance shop and car washing facility and the Visitor and Administration Center at the Queens Botanical Garden.

Ten other buildings will be cited as winners in the category assigned to buildings of new construction. Those buildings include the Cambria Heights branch of the Queens Library, a fast-food restaurant, a multi-family low-rise residence, an office building, a single-family residence, a residential treatment center, a multi-family high-rise building, a mixed-use building that holds residential and commercial space, a Marriott motel and the interior of a building in Bayside.

The awards dinner is scheduled to take place Thursday, December 6 at Terrace On the Park in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Building owners, architects and contractors will all receive awards from the chamber for their outstanding contributions to the Queens community and for helping to beautify the borough.

Dominic Ciampa, a principal in the Ciampa Organization, a real estate development firm based in Queens, will receive a lifetime achievement award. Ciampa is a director of New York Community Bank, New York Community Bancorp and New York Commercial Bank. Congressmember Joseph Crowley will deliver the keynote address.