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July 17, 2007
Interesting Building on 3rd Avenue
A reader sent this photo of this building on 3rd Avenue at 25th Street in Sunset Park with a brief note saying, "Interesting Building." We'd agree. Anyone know anything about it? GMAP
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Comments
it had been for sale for some time, however from this picture it looks like possibly someone is renovating it?
Posted by: f.trainer at July 17, 2007 11:35 AM
oh, so if it's under the gowanus with visible graffiti, 25th street still counts as sunset park? not "south slope"? "greenwood heights"?
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 11:48 AM
I have always wondered about that somewhat charming building (only top portion of the building at this point) overshadowed by all the drek surrounding it.
Would love to know its history too!
Posted by: bren at July 17, 2007 11:58 AM
Well, it is right next door to the best source for fruit and vegetables and all sorts of inexpensive food bargains, Rossman Farms. I think part of the facade of this building is iron and it IS interesting; it's been empty for a while.
Posted by: anon at July 17, 2007 12:06 PM
i think the sign next to it is more interesting.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 12:13 PM
Love this little gem buried in crap under the 'El,' have always wondered about it...paging Kevin at Forgotten New York!
Posted by: Brenda from flatbush at July 17, 2007 12:32 PM
What is "drek" or better yet what's "crap," Brenda? Do you want to invest in
"fine" architecture, however defined, for utilitarian small industry?
Do you work with UNITE to improve conditions for the sweatshop workers nearby? Did you protest the detainment of Brooklyn Pakistanis and others at the prison a few blocks down after 9/11? Have you done anything to promote the construction of a tunnel to replace the BQE from the Verrazano to the Battery?
In a larger sense, where do you think your food comes from anyway, or your car parts, or your clothes, if not "Green-wood Heights," (good one 11:48) then generally.
The class biases, and vast ignorance of some people here is truly
astounding.
Posted by: Lisa Munoz from Sunset Park at July 17, 2007 12:55 PM
Um, yes, Lisa. I think I'll return to planet earth now. Smoke was coming out of my computer with your post.
Posted by: PPSer at July 17, 2007 1:03 PM
I've often wondered about this building. It looks tome like it might be a former fire house.
Posted by: Bob Marvin at July 17, 2007 1:07 PM
The address to this building is 760 3rd avenue (tax block 653 lot 72) - you can confirm this info via propertyshark.com just need to register your email address and setup an user password to get the freebe report. If you look on the NYC Dpt of Building's Buildings Information System (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/bis/bis.shtml) you will find a CO from 1946 listing it as one level for "light mfg. (ladies wear)" and the other as one family: http://a810-cofo.nyc.gov/cofo/B/000/113000/B000113898.PDF
Posted by: Liz at July 17, 2007 1:15 PM
Lisa.....that was certainly an overreaction. A worthy rant but not to Brenda's post.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 1:20 PM
Uh, Lisa, of all of the people who post regularly with names, around here, bren and Brenda are among those who would most likely be on the front lines with you.
I'm with ya too, but I think you waayyy overreacted, as well. I, for one, am not in any way familiar with the area, and don't know anything about the industries, or for that matter, detention centers, in the area. Please enlighten us, but you don't have to beat us up in the process.
Posted by: Sterling Silver at July 17, 2007 1:26 PM
I used to work around the corner from here at a clothing mfg company
lisa is right the area is filled with sweatshops and that fruit stand is disgusting. there are rats the size of
cats all over the place, you risk your life crossing 3rd ave, and the live chicken halal place leaves a stench on a hot day that could kill you.
otherwise it is great!
did i mention the many whorehouses in the area or the peep show place and liquor store directly across the street?
Posted by: mike at July 17, 2007 1:41 PM
Ditto on Sterling Silver's comment, Lisa. I like the fruit place, which has amazing prices on everything. I DON'T like the nearby chicken place, which is surreally disgusting.
Posted by: donatella at July 17, 2007 1:47 PM
Apologies to Brenda, sort of, as I did not mean to "go off" on any individual. I would like to ask, however, how long most of the people here would let this area of Sunset Park be called
crap
drek
& now "surrelly disgusting"
without comment or context? Or should we eliminate blue collar Brooklyn totally, or keep it out of site enough that your refined late 19th century aesthetic is not offended? Speaking of which, there are, miraculously, still some amazing buildings down there, but you will not read about them here, just as you will not read of a single Brooklyn "Latino" cultural event... ever?
I know this is an overwhelmingly white blog, and largely affluent as well but consider the language you use and what, by your own admissions, you don't know. There are a lot of people who live ON 3rd Avenue who very well know that their homes (or businesses) are not the nicest but maybe that is what they can afford or where they are from or where they can make a living, etc. Considering the overwhelming silence from "Brownstone" Brooklyn regarding any Sunset Park issue except ugly condos (which I too revile), please forgive me for being a little sensitive and also challenging what I must say appear very narrow cultural perspectives.
There are historic reasons for why 3rd Avenue is the way it is, of course. Reading "The Power Broker" is only a start but at least it is a start.
Donatella: I'll admit, I'm squeamish in live meat markets too but that's what a lot of people love. Unless you are a vegan-- and even then only if you distance yourself from the physical realities of growing, harvesting and transporting your dinner-- food is an often messy business. (But damn that halal goat tastes good.)
Lisa
PS regarding the prison, I ask this as plainly as possible: how could you not know this? Even if you perhaps did not live in pre-9/11 Brooklyn, eventually the outrages there were reported by the Voice and The Washington Post. If you-- as I imagine almost everyone here is-- are against the war, I'd hope Brooklyn's parts in it would be of some interest, even if the Real Estate Times could not-- and can not-- be bothered.
PS2 brothels in Brooklyn? Say it ain't so! Truth: my brother is a cop with Brooklyn North, and there are brothels all over the borough, including many of the "Brownstone" ones we hold dear.
Posted by: Lisa Munoz from Sunset Park at July 17, 2007 3:15 PM
boy, brownstoner can't win, can he?
oh, lisa, stop already. this site is dedicated to "brownstone brooklyn". sometimes that overlaps with "blue collar brooklyn" and sometimes not. those are the breaks. you could search for (or start) a site dedicated to areas of brooklyn you think get the shaft. your criticism amounts to "stop focusing this site on the subject that is the avowed focus of this site--not terribly compelling.
Posted by: anon at July 17, 2007 3:42 PM
"not terribly compelling"-- like your prose, 3:42 anon? Nobody critiziced Jonathan, did they? He just asked a question, and it was telling that few were able to answer, or even suggest, an answer, although some sure had opinions. (Forgotten New York isn't exactly your best bet in this case, either.)
As for where the "Brownstone" and "blue collar" Brooklyns overlap-- or do not-- perhaps you will enlighten us with the census data, or even personal anecdote? Sure seems a lot of blue collar dudes are working on your house, delivering your food and blue collar women raising your children.
Now seriously, everyone knows this site is largely concerened with residential real esate. But What type of building is Mr. B asking about again?
Posted by: Lisa Munoz from Sunset Park at July 17, 2007 4:56 PM
Please find somewhere else to grind your axe.
Posted by: anonymous at July 17, 2007 5:05 PM
This part of Sunset Park is a dump.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 5:41 PM
Lisa, I think you have some very valid points. We don't read much about your part of town, or hear much about the Latino community there.
I've always found Mr.B. to be quite eager to learn about parts of Brooklyn that he is not very familiar with, and if you send him some information or tips, especially with photos, he often will post it, as he did this building. I don't think it is a bias towards Sunset Park, working class folks, or Latinos, but just a case of not being able to be all things to everyone, and know everything there is to know about this hugely diverse and large borough.
If you read this site, you know I am not a fan of elitist, classist, or racist postings of any kind. But sometimes a question about a building is only that, and as architecture buffs, sometimes we don't see the forest around the trees. You brought me up short, and I thank you for it. I admit, I was thinking only that it was a cool old building, and the second floor would make a great workshop/studio.
I also admit I didn't know about the prison, as I seldom read the Voice and never read the Washington Post, I just don't have time. I will keep my eyes open in the future. That is certainly important, especially here in Brooklyn.
I think you should bring your perspective and viewpoint to the table any time, they are needed. You might want to send upcoming events to the events editor, since that feature has been reinstated, and it lists all kinds of events by all kinds of people.
Posted by: Sterling Silver at July 17, 2007 5:46 PM
Sterling, please...give it a rest. You don't have to kiss eveyone's @ss to demonstrate what a sensitive guy you are. I agree completely with 3:42. Lisa, get stuffed.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 6:08 PM
Brenda said nothing wrong. Crap by any other name is still crap.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 6:11 PM
Mr B seems as sweet as capitalism gets. I did not and do not criticize him, nor the goals of his website in general. It does seem to make some peoeple VERY touchy when it's pointed out how the virtual reality of Brownstoner-- or any other demographically self-selective website-- is not, in fact, Brooklyn REALITY ("Brooklyn inside and out" is the laudably inclusive, if ambitious, slogan), either the radically diverse present or the largely-unknown past.
So when Mr. B asks a question and does not get satisfactory answers, what are we who know, or at least know a little, supposed to do? I needn't have been so sarcastic, of course, but others set a strangely antagonistic tone from the start, especially considering you are mostly strangers down here.
Anonymous 6:11, you should become an architecture critic, or historian, or perhaps even a tour guide. You have a sensitivity-- dare I say even a poetic eye for the city-- that is remarkable.
Sterling: thank you for your words. Likewise thanks to all Brownstoners whom I try to learn from myself.
It feels good not to be a 'lurker' anymore!
Posted by: Lisa Munoz of Sunset Park at July 17, 2007 7:01 PM
lisa: it's unbelievable that you would write "what are we who know, or at least know a little, supposed to do". you didn't contribute a single thing to this discussion which--in case you forgot--was about a particular building, not about sunset park or latino events in brooklyn.
and thank you anon 6:08. sterling's pathetic ass-kissing is getting very annoying. maybe sterling and lisa could find some nice crappy bar in sunset park to make out.
Posted by: anonymous at July 17, 2007 9:08 PM
6:08: LOL! "Oh, my God! Someone just posted who's even more PC than I am! Must apologize! Must prove bona fides!"
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2007 9:34 PM
i have it on this page, but I gots no idea, either
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/greenwoodhts/gwoodhts.html
Posted by: Kevin Walsh at July 17, 2007 9:49 PM
I'm not known for puckering up to kiss anyone's ass. If answering someone's questions means kissing up in your definition of the words, then I feel sorry for you.
If being in the least bit polite around here means kissing up, then civility on this site, which has been eroding faster than a Hamptons beach in a hurricane, is truly dead. A real pity and a shame.
Posted by: Sterling Silver at July 18, 2007 12:14 AM
Lisa, I think you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder. I was not referring cosmically to Sunset park world, but to the Halal chicken place which is indeed surreally disgusting.
Posted by: donatella at July 18, 2007 12:27 AM
What a self righteous drip. Go away Lisa.
Posted by: anon at July 18, 2007 12:44 AM
Don't go away, Lisa. I liked your posts, and for the most part agreed. Why is it that when anyone points out how affluent-white-non-native New Yorker most of the posters are, they are attacked? Silly.
Posted by: BZoo at July 18, 2007 7:55 AM
Good for you, 9:08!
Sterling, I've heard of attracting bees with honey, but you're over the top. You shouldn't need to defend us against Lisa's rants.
Come on 7:55am. This is hardly about affluent white non-native New Yorkers. They can take criticism (and have been taking it a lot in recent years) as much as anyone. It's about the way Lisa jumped out and attacked Brenda for an otherwise innocuous statement, from which Lisa immediately and unfairly painted Brenda in a very negative light.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 8:37 AM
BZoo - so they are white are they? You got a video monitor on each bloggers' computer? No - you're just a damn racist.
Why don't you keep your own ethnic chauvinism crap to yourself. This is essentially an architecture blog, not a save the world blog.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 8:55 AM
As someone once said, this site is called BROWNSTONER. It is aimed at those who can afford to purchase brownstones, and has been extended to other types of Brooklyn construction in similar price ranges. It has never claimed to cater to the woring class, the lower class, or any other economic class other than those which can afford to purchase these types of homes. The building features may be in an area that is home to many people who cannot afford the building in question, if it ever came up for sale. And who should buy it? A brownstone refugee looing to make it a family home and invest in the neighborhood. Or should it house yet in another sweatshop, owned by some insensitive landlord?
Can't have it both ways, I'm afraid.
Maybe you should start a "working class Brooklyn" blog?
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 9:42 AM
argh....
Lisa Munoz and the shitstorm she started is why I try to avoid reading the Brownstoner comments like the plague. Here I was just hoping to learn something about the building I've often wondered about myself.... If anyone has anything constructive on that front, drop me a line: dmt204@nyu.edu
Posted by: Daniel at July 18, 2007 9:45 AM
Just clocked in to see if anyone came up with the history on that
confection of a building which seems so out of time and place... seems my choice of word, "drek" hit Lisa's last nerve, for that I apologize.
Lisa, I have lived fairly close by to the building in question for 25 years... when I used the "drek" word I was referring to the very different buildings next door, all the heavy traffic, the el overhead... just building comments, nothing heavy meant, no condemnation of working class folks , homes, or industries in the area.
I also have very real concerns about the effects of rapid gentrification and development in the many formerly working class areas of Brooklyn.
Moving forward, any updates on the little building... thought that Bob Marvin came up with an interesting thought, that perhaps it was a firehouse.
Lisa, I look forward to you sharing your thoughts and feelings about your neighborhood with all of us.
(..)/ ( big wave hi neighbor! )
Posted by: bren at July 18, 2007 10:14 AM
Liz 1:15PM thanks for sharing the information that you unearthed about our mystery building!
Posted by: bren at July 18, 2007 10:39 AM
My Lord!...this was a question..a very simple one about a peculiar looking building in a certain part of town. Of course we can discuss sociologic/economic aspects of any part of Brooklyn. I believe this is not the place nor do simple esthetic comments warrant such an outrageous reaction form Lisa. I am a son if Sicilian imigrants..I leave in Bensonhurst..certainly up there as a home for many blue collar workers..If we compare all the blue collar areas in brooklyn...there is no doubt, i repeat no doubt in my mind that this particular area of sunset part has deteriorated..traffic wise, residential upkeep wise...etc..in the last 30-40 years...and yes Lisa you bring up good book to explain part of the cause of this degrade.."the power broker"..but again..to go from a simple question..about a building..with some adjectives to describe esthetically the surroundings..including harsh smells...to sociological and economical divisions and frictions...amongst the most complex and ethnically diverse neighborhoods..is unfounded at least in this forum..Lisa..you make excellent points..but unfortunately they do not make a dent here...nor I think were required..
Posted by: Paul at July 18, 2007 11:56 AM
not sure about history of the building but it's currently home to a new store called "apple locksmiths"
image here
Posted by: f.trainer at July 18, 2007 4:54 PM
or here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samhorine/847587838/
Posted by: f.trainer at July 18, 2007 4:56 PM
This is South Slope, minutes to Manhattan and steps to Prospect Park.
Posted by: Brooklyn Broker at July 18, 2007 5:07 PM
Lisa said "Do you work with UNITE to improve conditions for the sweatshop workers nearby? Did you protest the detainment of Brooklyn Pakistanis and others at the prison a few blocks down after 9/11? Have you done anything to promote the construction of a tunnel to replace the BQE from the Verrazano to the Battery?"
No. I don't support any of those causes. 3rd avenue under the Gowanus is disgusting and crap. Deal with it. Reality is a bitch
Posted by: Anonymous at July 18, 2007 5:12 PM
I'm a racist? Really?
Keep it to myself? Silly me, I thought this was a public forum.
Posted by: BZoo at July 18, 2007 9:32 PM
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