An Appeal From the Owners of the Broken Angel
As many of us suspected, the fire at the Broken Angel has brought increased scrutiny by the Department of Buildings, prompting this appeal from the owners’ son post on Brooklyn Record last night: The New York City Building department is attempting to remove my parents from their home of 30 years, unless we immediatly get…
As many of us suspected, the fire at the Broken Angel has brought increased scrutiny by the Department of Buildings, prompting this appeal from the owners’ son post on Brooklyn Record last night:
The New York City Building department is attempting to remove my parents from their home of 30 years, unless we immediatly get an architect or engineer to bring the building to NYC codes. We do not have the money to do this. If there is anyone out there who is qualified and willing to work Pro Bono we desperately need the help, contributions are also welcome. You can contact my father. Arthur Wood, 4 Downing St, Brooklyn, NY 11238. Also we appeal to David Chappelle and Michel Gondry.Our home became the backdrop for your wonderful concert film, please help us to save it now.
BREAKING: Broken Angel on Fire! [Brooklyn Record]
I live across from the building on Grand Ave. I don’t know if it’s still visible from that angle, but it appears that there was a fire at the base of the third floor–you could see the char when I moved in here in 1989. Maybe the top floors were opened up by the fire with the lower floors (where they live) intact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQOfRAg5C8
the movie footage was up at the top near the roof (where the art is); they don’t live up there. i don’t believe there is anything particularly wrong with the structure of the building.
if you check the DOB site, there are dubious complaints such as “caller states building is in danger of collapsing.” but when inspected, the complaint was dismissed with “building does not appear to be in danger of falling at this time.”
okay just a question… where’d they get the money to do all of this to the building? I’ve never seen the inside but if its as bad as people say why wasn’t the money put into the restoring the structure of the building itself rather to add onto it? I wonder how much that building would sell for or at least how much its worth at this point.
they should really bring the building up to code. if something happens again. fire fighters or people around the area could get hurt. if this was just another building half you guys would yell and scream about how it should be knock down and other crap.
Anon 12:13 — There are building codes for factories too, as well as regulations about living in a manufacturing building. I sure got the impression from the Chappelle film that the Woods resided there.
My four year old calls it the “crazy house.” I will now tell him to call it the “crazy factory.” LOL. I think once you make public appeals for money you invite people to express their concerns with the safety/beauty/purpose of the structure. I don’t see why any of those expressing concern are doing so to improve their property values. I can’t see how this structure, as smile-inducing as it has always been to me, has any effect on property values. Again I think it is natural to be skeptical of the plea for money at a point when it is really unclear what the resources of the owners are, and where this is leading. Obviously the request for an architect or engineer makes sense (but again perhaps the owners have the resources to pay for it).
there are a lot of people here making opinions about the building’s structural integrity, safety, etc. are these people engineers or architects? making such comments based on what they saw in a movie is ridiculous. i read a piece (can’t remember where) about how, years ago, the city tried to close the building down due to suspected structural/safety issues. the plan completely backfired, as, the engineers doing the inspection found the structure sound, and even said it was ‘overbuilt’.
sponsorship by the website ‘burning angel,’ anyone? it’s a brooklyn based company…