Queens Builds: EMS Station 50

The second of the five projects I drove by yesterday morning in Queens is EMS Station 50, which opened last month in Jamaica. The building was designed by Dean/Wolf Architects, which calls it the "Restless Response Station" on their website and states:

The Queens Hospital Emergency Medical Services Station reverses the entropy of the existing site and releases the restless response latent in the program. The double bar structure rises up and out of the site countering the downward slope of the topography. The diagonal form pulses with the anticipation of movement, embodying the programmatic need for immediate action, and energizing the community with a sense of engagement. The tension created by the double mirror of the sloping situation paired with the programmatic need for immediate action gives the building its name, restless response.

Setting aside this reaching description, I'll admit it's an attention-getting design and a great addition to the neighborhood:


Yet I can't help – once again – comparing this carefully considered design with a budget to what passes for an EMS station in my neighborhood of Astoria:


I can only hope that DDC (which "builds the city") will make an effort to improve ALL of the EMS facilities, regardless of budget. Bundled construction trailers do little for the neighborhoods they occupy, and certainly less for the people working in them.