Big Dev Site along Williamsburg Waterfront Hitting Market

67 Kent Avenue, an almost full-block site across from Bushwick Inlet Park is on the market. This is the former Ko-rec-type factory, where they once made correction tape for typewriters. The Kent Avenue building was originally constructed as the Morrell Meat Packing plant, and the tall windowless tower at the corner of Kent and North 10th was the silo used for meat smoking. This was back when the Northside was a major meatpacking area, second only to Gansevoort.

The Death and Life of a Great American Building

Fascinating look at the history of the former St. Denis Hotel on East 11th Street. Jeremiah Moss’ attention to the detail of the history of the building (his office, for a short time longer) is exquisite, as is the history that lies behind the banal pink walls. And speaking of exquisite – that staircase!

Inn Inching Along

This is bizarre – the Bossert Hotel, which has been under renovation since 2012 – still has no operator. Fën Hotels was chosen as the operator in 2015 but they have no backed out and the developer is now searching for a new operator. The hotel was slated to open in 2013, so it is now delayed by 5 years, with the developer citing vague issues with interior restoration (the building is not an interior landmark, but could have been a good preservation tax credit project).

Dime Savings Bank to be Landmarked

At a public hearing yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission took another step toward landmark designation for the Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh. Among those speaking in favor of designation were the building’s owner and the Historic Districts Council.

The bank building on Havemeyer Street was constructed in 1908 and design by the architecture firm Helmle & Huberty. The building is the second home to Dime (originally they were on Broadway and Wythe). After the construction of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903, many of Williamsburg’s banks moved from lower Broadway and Grand Street to the newly-created Williamsburg Bridge Plaza. The plaza itself never became the grand public space that one would expect for this era of the City Beautiful and Beaux Arts era, but did become home to a number of monumental buildings, including the Williamsburgh Trust Company, the Dime Savings Bank, Northside Savings Bank and the First National Bank.

It is nice to see Williamsburg get a bit more attention from LPC, but as one of the oldest and most richly layered neighborhoods in New York, we definitely get short shrift. Meanwhile, Manhattan continues to be carpeted with historic district designations.

Dime Savings Bank of Willliamsburgh, Williamsburg

Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh (1908, Helmle & Huberty architects)
[Photo: Matthew X. Kiernan, via Flickr]


Food Market Coming to North #rd Street

Noticed something odd on the CB1 public hearing agenda for next week [link is to a non-searchable PDF]: three applications for the same address, 103 North 3rd Street. Odd, huh? Unless it is a food court, which it turns out it is. The North 3rd Street Food Market is apparently a thing. And it looks like Carnal, one of Smorgasburg’s regular vendors, will have a stall there. The other two applications are from “Jaja Brooklyn” and “LJ North 3 LLC”, neither of which are up on the SLA website.