Building of the Day: 35 Ryerson Street

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former Mergenthaler Linotype Company, Defense Plant Corporation Building
Address: 35 Ryerson St, at Park Ave, block wide on Park, between Grand and Ryerson.
Neighborhood: Wallabout, between Clinton Hill and Navy Yard
Year Built: 1942
Architectural Style: Factory modern
Architects: Lockwood Greene Engineers, Inc.
Other buildings by architects: Daily News Factory on Atlantic Ave (Newswalk Bldg), several buildings in the Navy Yard, parts of Rockefeller Center.
Landmarked: No, but Wallabout has been submitted to LPC for several separate districts designation, and also in the process of being submitted to the National Register.

The story: This building is the last built in this amazing industrial complex near the Navy Yard. Prior to computerized printing, linotype machines were used to set type on most newspapers and magazines, as well as many books, and Mergenthaler was the largest manufacturer of these machines, all made right here in Brooklyn. The Mergenthaler complex remains one of the largest and most intact reinforced concrete industrial sites in New York City. The complete story of the company and the rest of the site will be the topic of a coming Walkabout. THIS building was the last one built, constructed by the US Government, and leased to Mergenthaler as a factory for machines built for the war effort of World War II. Although reinforced concrete is as common as brick, nowadays, its use as a common building material in the US is less than 100 years old. Among its many advantages as an extremely sturdy building material, reinforced concrete is able to accommodate large window openings, and in a very modern way, that is wonderfully utilized here, with running bands of original glass blocks. Why not regular windows? Probably because the building was built specifically to build machinery during war, and security would have been tight. Presumably, this building also utilized early air conditioning and forced air circulation. The architects didn’t just put up a utilitarian factory. The building curves, hugging the street and the window bands curve around the corner of Ryerson and Park, a nice touch. It predates the BQE, which wasn’t built until the 1950’s. Without the highway, the lines of the factory could better be seen from across Park Avenue, as could the rest of the complex. The red paint job, which really livens up the building and showcases the windows, was done last year. It now belongs to a moving and storage company. Before that, the building was concrete grey, like the rest of the Mergenthaler buildings. An important building, part of Brooklyn’s rich industrial history, and worthy of historic preservation.

Thanks to Andrew Dolkart for a faschinating walking tour of Wallabout, yesterday, in the rain, as part of the Historic Districts Council’s 17th Annual Preservation Conference. It was worth it.

(Other buildings of the Mergenthaler Linotype complex are on both sides of the street)

(Photo: Property Shark, 2007. View of building from the Grand Avenue side, along Park Avenue)