One of the last relics of rural Queens — a 108-year-old barn and stable in Fresh Meadows — may ride into the sunset.
The Western Riding Club — serving children, seniors and cancer patients — could be lost forever if the landlord goes through with his sale to a Korean church, which plans to use the land for parking.
Joy Tirado, who runs the club, is in a race to lasso a court order and enough cash in a last-ditch effort to save the quarter-acre, seven-horse farm.
“To see this go away — it’s horrifying,” Tirado, 43, said.
The barn and paddocks are on a double lot owned by John Lightstone, 87, who is selling it for $800,000 to the Reformed Church of America, which would convert his home into a church and raze the rest of the land for a parking lot.
The closing is imminent, said Lightstone’s attorney, Robert Litwack.
Tirado claims she had the legal right of first refusal on a sale, yet didn’t find out the Pidgeon Meadow Road property was on the block until she saw a friend’s Facebook post.
“Oh my God. That’s Joy’s stable,” the friend wrote after seeing a real-estate listing that advertised the property for $699,000 in March.
On May 3 she learned that Lightstone received an offer for $800,000 in cash — and she was given only 16 days to come up with a $60,000 down payment, she said.
With the clock ticking, and a bid to save the farm through landmarking rejected, the Knights of Columbus raised $1,500 to help Tirado — who has collected 1,000 signatures of support — fight the sale. She filed a lawsuit last month in Queens Supreme Court claiming she was not properly informed the land was for sale, said her attorney Matthew Beckwith.
Tirado fell in love with the horse farm in 2009, when she took a wrong turn and stumbled upon it. “There was this huge horse, and I was like, ‘Oh my god! No way!’ ” she recalled.
In 2010 the Brooklynite snapped up the lease for $600 a month for six horses plus $100 for each additional horse.
With the help of her family and neighbors, Tirado spent $20,000 installing a patio, a second paddock, stalls and mending a roof, she said. During repairs on the barn, a Civil-War-era bit was discovered, she said.
Her club hosts kids, teaching them discipline, respect, communication and hard work through caring for the horses.
“It keeps kids busy. It keeps kids unplugged. It keeps the kids in a natural environment,” Tirado said.
Seniors and cancer patients also come to unwind in patio chairs and enjoy the relaxing view of tomato plants, a Snow White garden statue and the paddocks.
Many of the animals were once abused and have been transformed by Tirado’s training methods passed down from her Taino Indian ancestors and her grandmother, who had a horse farm in Puerto Rico.
Landlord attorney Litwack said the club missed its chance to pony up the matching cash when it was notified of the offer in May. He said the law required only that Tirado be notified when a serious offer was made.