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]
It makes sense to find out what it would take to bring it to code and then determine if that is a possibility. I don’t think anyone has said that the building shouldn’t be made more safe, so the focus should be on how to do that without losing a neighborhood treasure. It would be nice to see some more creativity and commitment to preserving what is unique and special about this area. I like to think of Broken Angel as the antithesis to the Ratnerification of Brooklyn.
That building is not a dwelling. It is a factory and Wood is legally its caretaker. I doubt it has to meet housing code.
Much like the work of Howard Finster, Broken Angel is folk art. I like looking at it as part of the landscape. However, it is a safty risk that became more real because of the fire. If one person got seriously hurt or killed, I would bet most of us would say sorry, but it should come down.
how on earth would bring that mess up to “code”? did you not see the inside of the structure in the chappelle movie? it’s a disaster.
that is not to say that from the outside it isn’t an interesting landmark and a part of the fabric of the neighborhood.
Is this going to have a happy ending like in the movie “It’s a wonderful life” ? I wonder? Should it? Or is that just a movie?
Dave Chapelle have moral obligation to help. He made $$$ using Broken Angel for his concert and movie.
Of course he does not have to but it would be a right thing for him to do.
I agree this structure is important landmark for CH.
Well the Broken Angel has captured my imagination for almost 20 years now. I have a view of it from my 4th floor window and frequently bring friends up to show it to them. I love to look at it on a moonlit evening. I will definitely pledge support.
as someone who has renovated in brooklyn without filing plans, etc., I offer the following advice: post hoc legalization, if eventually necessary, is easier if you build to code in the first place.
The thing is an abomination and an insult to all that is beautiful. Not only should the building be razed, but its owners should be deported.
This is not art. It isn’t even architecture. It is nothing more than anti-culture defining itself in opposition to the 10,000 year march of civilization that has come before us.
This building DEFINES the decay of our modern world.