Author: linked

After years of (rightfully) fighting against the context-busting Finger Building, it will be interesting to see what the (chopped off) finished product looks like. Soon, perhaps – the building is getting its skin on. And that skin is a terra-cotta rain screen, from the looks of it, though its not clear what happens between the panels.

And here’s the big question – will the building look like a chopped down tower, or did the architect revise the design to account for the lower height? (Or, will the owner just leave a bunch of I-beams poking through the roof, taunting the neighborhood with the possibilities of future growth…)

They’re both pretty awful, and they are both proof that
scale and materials ≠ context.

A good start.

One of the beautiful things about this designation – if it happens – is that provides a balance to the neighboring Greenpoint Historic District. The Eberhard Factory factory, along with the dozens of other factories, shipyards, refineries, etc. throughout Greenpoint provided the capital that paid the salaries of the managers who lived in what is now the Greenpoint Historic District.

Workers’ housing is woefully underrepresented when it comes to Landmarks designations – but in Greenpoint we have the Astral Apartments, an apartment building constructed by Charles Pratt as worker housing, and an individual Landmark.

GowanusLounge has some interesting maps up, showing the vulnerable areas of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Not surprisingly, an understanding of historical geography helps to make sense of it all. Obviously, the coastal blocks are all inundated in a Cat1 storm or higher. But upland, the effects are different block by block. The area immediately around the Bushwick Inlet, as far inland as Berry, would also be flooded in a Cat1 storm. Further inland, a Cat2 storm out past McCarren Park to Withers Street, and south along Union to Grand. Its not coincidental that that pattern corresponds exactly to the footprint of the old Bushwick Inlet that we noted earlier.

Elsewhere, much of Greenpoint would be underwater in a Cat2 storm, but most of Williamsburg to either side of Grand Street would not be effected until Cat4 or Cat5, if at all. This makes sense if you know that Williamsburg once had a bluff running along the line of what is today Bedford Avenue, and that Greenpoint was mostly uninhabitable (and inaccessible) swampland until developer Neziah Bliss came along.

The City Planning Commission voted yesterday to allow the City to sell a number of firehouses – including our own Engine 212 – with no strings attached. The Community Board, Councilmember Yassky and local activists have pushed hard to keep these buildings be preserved and remain a part of the community – either as firehouses, community centers, affordable housing, etc. What we object to the most is the idea that these firehouses would be sold to the highest bidder, which invariably will mean luxurycondos, and no benefit to the community.

In the case of 212, the building has a highly significant social history as the focal point of community activism in the 1970s. And, its a handsome building.

The light at the end of the tunnel here is that both HPD and EDC have put “holds” on the disposition of the firehouses. A task force of community, council and administration reps has been established to help figure out the best use for these buildings. But through its action yesterday, CPC has cleared the way for a no-strings attached disposition if the task force process should fall through.

Arts in Bushwick is accepting registrations for artists wanting to participate in the Bushwick Open Studio and Arts Festival, the weekend of June 1 to 3. Bushwick is Beautiful has more.

Hilarious. Not sure if I like “find x” or the elephant better.

Thanks, John.

amNY has a decent summary of the emerging East River renaissance. But they are quick to show their geographical and cinematic ignorance: the East River is not a brackish strait, and its Elia Kazan.
Still, worth a read.

It may not have been New York’s first amusement park, but Williamsburg certainly was a vacationland for New York’s well-to-do. Way back in the day, Williamsburg was a vacation spot, complete with county estates on the waterfront. If you look at this map from the (always useful) Brooklyn Genealogy site, you’ll notice that the blocks to the south of Grand Street all had mansion on the east side of Kent Avenue, facing the water.
So, 175 years later, it seems appropriate that we’ll finally be able to enjoy our waterfront again.