Brooklyn's Waterfront Gets Boost from Nat'l Trust
In the wake of the destruction of some the Brooklyn waterfront’s most historic structures, including the Revere Sugar factory, the Dutch Mustard building and the Greenpoint Terminal Market, the National Trust for Historic Preservation will today announce that it is adding the entire area from the Sunset Park through Greenpoint to its list of America’s…
In the wake of the destruction of some the Brooklyn waterfront’s most historic structures, including the Revere Sugar factory, the Dutch Mustard building and the Greenpoint Terminal Market, the National Trust for Historic Preservation will today announce that it is adding the entire area from the Sunset Park through Greenpoint to its list of America’s 11 most endangered historic places. The buildings really represent an important part of Brooklyn’s heritage, and it would be a tragedy to lose it, Richard Moe, president of the trust, said in an interview. We’re very concerned that there’s such a rush on to demolish everything. While presence on the list does not stop any of the buildings from death or disfigurement, it does give the issue a national profile and, hopefully, adds to political pressure for government to act on a local level to save an important part of the city’s heritage. Timed with the release of this news, the Municipal Art Society launched a new website this morning called SaveIndustrialBrooklyn.org that details the architectural and historic context for many of the waterfront structures. It also has a very cool interactive map (shown above) with the 411 on over 50 buildings in the footprint of the National Trust’s designation. As Mr. Moe puts it, This is a problem that can be fixed — it’s not too late. As we’ve said before, tearing down these buildings is not only short-sighted but potentially bad business. Their continued presence, whether converted in condominiums or turned into homes for arts institutions and other public uses, will only enhance the texture, and ultimately the dollar value, of the waterfront as a whole. Update: We’ve posted a few photos from this morning’s press conference on the jump.
Brooklyn Waterfront Called Endangered Site [NY Times]
National Trust regional director Wendy Nicholas
MAS head Kent Barwick
Pratt Urban Planning Guru Ron Schiffman
11:58, you probably live in your Mom’s basement, and wish you had a dog named Pathetic.
Since you are on the man’s (very sucessful) blog, he must be doing something right. Idiot comments like yours must make him fall out of his chair laughing.
Brownstoner is a Pavlov dog. He’s an absolute idiot. Lives in the ghetto and can’t understand how it must change so that everyone can live in peace and harmony. So pathetic!
lets raze it all and make it look like staten island
My concept for an industrial museum or theme park is directly inspired by, yes, agrarian historic sites like Bethpage Village or Hancock Shaker Village, and newer, innovative urban historic sites like Weeksville (and even Williamsburg, which, yes, has taken on the task of documenting its slaveholding past). History isn’t pretty, but that’s not the point! Workers were boiled alive inside Domino’s vats. The borough’s industrial story encompasses the history of technology, the labor movement, civil rights, and cultural anthropology, just to name a few. What the Brooklyn Historical Society was able to do with a few glass cases’ worth of artifacts was fascinating; imagine how a few of these sites themselves could be reimagined to tell the story on a grander scale, in situ. And we could do it just as the outsourcing of our manufacturing of–well, everything–to China etc. threatens to erase our collective memory of a time when America’s city’s actually made stuff (besides money and data and gelato)…
4:39, talk about tarring everyone with the same brush in one swipe. Please show me any examples, especially in NYC, where preservationists (1)got what they wanted in the first place (2) got an inch and took a mile, (3)”…don’t want variety. They only worship sameness and inertia”. Huh? All of the preservationists on this thread have advocated a mixture of old and new, and have especially advocated the reuse of old buildings like the Domino Sugar Factory to not be dead monuments of the past, but vital public buildings, museums, commercial ventures and housing. It never ceases to amaze me how people can read comments and extrapolate opinions that are nowhere on the page. No one said there was no room or desire for new buildings, only that the best of the old be reused.
And I must ask, Anon 3:48, why would the slaves for your little theme park have to come from Brownsville and East New York? Do people there look more slavelike (whatever that is) than people from other parts of Brooklyn? And why knock the projects down for an agrarian paradise? The best farm lands for Brooklyn circa 1850 are now parts of Park Slope and other posh nabes. Even in a pissed off fantasy parody, the poor get screwed.
Walentas’ gifts are conditional, he expects you to never disagree with him and will banish you from your space if you do.
10:26 here.
I only posted once. Let’s not dilute this healthy debate with childish behavior. Mr. B is obviously feeling the pressure of being on the wrong side of the issue and has pulled out the old trusty “troll card” again. He does this repeatedly whenever he is too harshly criticized; other times he simply removes postings or entire threads. Now be big boy and take your medicine like a man. The Brooklyn waterfront is a disgrace and everyone knows it. Now take THAT Charlie Murphy!
“Preserving a handful of old industrial buildings certainly does not preclude building a new concert hall or a bunch of shiny towers; there’s still plenty of room for that. Having some older buildings however will add variety and texture to the neighborhoods that will make living in those glass towers a much more pleasant experience.”
Now you’re making a little more sense. However, my concern with preservationists is that if you give them a little then they will want everything. These people don’t want variety. They only worship sameness and inertia. Give them the Domino Sugar Factory and before long they will put the entire neighborhood on development “lockdown”. I live in a historic district and I encourage the preservation of “good old”. Now for “bad old”, tear it down and tear it down now!
and that is knew, with a silent “k”
new=knew. I get illiterate when i’m mad.
Is 10:26 just pulling everyone’s leg? It’s occuring to me that he might just be.