Mille Bornes, Curated

11/28/2011 | Comment

Mb guide lg

Rules of the road.
via Codex 99

Codex 99 on the classic French card game Mille Bornes.

The graphics on the original (mass-produced) sets from the 60s and 70s are wonderful, but I’d never seen the original (hand-lettered!) sets from the 50s nor the very abstract “edition spécial” of 1960 that Codex 99 found. In a sure sign of the decline of Western civilization, the graphics of the latest US edition are so incredibly shitty that I literally threw the set out and went on eBay to get a proper set.




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Brooklyn Brewery’s Home Fetches $16M

A five-building complex on North 11th Street, which include the current home of Brooklyn Brewery, has sold for $16 million. The new owner plans to convert the buildings to residential use. Fear not, though – the brewery has a lease through 2025.

(Crain’s says that these buildings were originally built to house a Dr. Brown’s soda factory, but the buildings that house the brewery (and the Brooklyn Bowl) were built between 1886 and 1907 as part of the Hecla Irons Works. The other portion of the development site was once part of the N.Y. Quinine and Chemical Works.)

Oops – wrong side of the street. The properties that sold are not where Brooklyn has its brewery and tours, but the warehouse on Berry. The site is the eastern half of the block fronting Berry, between North 10th and North 11th Streets. Four of the buildings were built by Hecla Iron Works (including the building that housed its offices and showrooms on North 11th (1896-97, Niels Pouslon, architect), which is a city landmark); the fifth building, 56-60 Berry, is a three-story reinforced-concrete bottling plant built by the Carl H. Schultz Corp., a manufacturer of mineral water (1928-29, Francisco & Jacobus, architects). Schultz had acquired the entire property in 1928 for use as manufacturing and bottling. In 1929, Schultz merged with Schoneberger & Noble (manufacturer of Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda) and the Brownie Corporation (manufacturer of a chocolate soda) to form the American Beverage Co. So the site did manufacture Dr. Brown’s soda, but it wasn’t built as such. (The origins of Dr. Brown’s turn out to be very murky – I have a research team on it.)

Western Carpet Warehouse Sells for $27.5 Million

Brownstoner recently (OK, a week and a half ago) reported that the Western Carpet warehouse on Wythe between North 4th and North 5th has sold for a hefty $27.5 million. This is one of the last really big development sites in the prime Northside area that was rezoned in 2005 (the other being the warehouse across the street on North 5th, which apparently is owned by the same family.

Chris Havens, in the comments says that the new owner is merging two zoning lots to put all of the development rights on the Wythe Avenue site. But the property appears to be a single zoning lot already, and in a height-capped contextual zone, using additional air rights is a tricky proposition.

McRibonomics

I’ve never eaten a McRib sandwich, and suspect I never will. But even if you are like me (I guess particularly if you are like me), you want to read this very in-depth study of the economics of McRib availability.

[Edit: As the governor of Texas would say, oops. Updated with the actual link to the article (I meant to post this is as a linked list item, with the link in the title – but I hit the wrong button). Thanks, “isa”.]

NY’s Most Loathed Architect

The Post sure didn’t pull any punches in its profile of prolific architect Karl Fischer. Fischer is responsible for some pretty questionable buildings (I still can’t figure out where the entrance to 20 Bayard is), but he is far from the worst practitioner of architecture in Brooklyn.

On the other hand, I think it is telling that his “least favorite” buildings in NY are the Herman Jessor-designed co-operative village buildings in Corelears Hook (Seward Park Houses and Corlears Hook Houses) – some of the most successful working-class housing developments in the city, and the culmination of four decades of progressive housing in the neighborhood. The designs might be simple, but the planning and execution are wonderful. And they’re still standing (and in demand) 50 years later.

Williamsburg Slab Hotel “Unlikely”

Remember that lovely rendering of a set-back slab hotel that would go next door to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building on Broadway? Turns out that it is very theoretical:

“Our architect did a design on spec — we don’t have that kind of money,” said [Juan] Figueroa, [owner of the site]. “I don’t know why he put it out there. He’s crazy to put it out there like that.”

So much for the “international design competition” the architect says that he was part of.

(Figueroa’s larger point is worth noting – someday he hopes to put a hotel on that site, just not necessarily this hotel. Maybe he’ll opt for a plan that has developable floor plates?)