More CH: 23rd Regiment Armory
23rd Regiment Armory, 1322 Bedford Avenue With its eight great round towers, one soaring over its peers, and arched entry complete with portcullis, this crenellated brick-and-brownstone “fortress” for the National Guard lacks only a moat to be out of King Arthur’s realm. –AIA Guide to New York City, p. 740
23rd Regiment Armory, 1322 Bedford Avenue
With its eight great round towers, one soaring over its peers, and arched entry complete with portcullis, this crenellated brick-and-brownstone “fortress” for the National Guard lacks only a moat to be out of King Arthur’s realm.
–AIA Guide to New York City, p. 740
I also read years ago (hope I am not hallucinating) that there are Tiffany stained glass windows in there and that Albany wanted to remove them to Albany to “protect” them.
The city also recently spent a lot of time and money redoing the roof of the entire building (that’s a lot of roof), and other structural repairs.
Like realestatelust said, it’s a large building, and the shelter doesn’t use up all of the space. There is an airplane like hanger space in the back that was virtually empty the last time I walked by, and there is still plenty of room inside the main building for other organizations or events. There used to be a National Guard unit there, but I don’t know if they still are stationed there. It would be great if even part of the building could be used the way the 7th Regiment Armory on Lexington and 66th St is used – for community and financially viable events.
I don’t know how that could be worked out with the shelter, which I think fills a need. They seem to run a pretty tight ship there, and while there are day laborers in the morning, a constant police presence keeps the hanging out to a minimum at other times.
Yup. It’s a New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) men’s shelter. I haven’t been there recently, but when I was working at a nearby women’s shelter a few years ago, there were almost 600 beds there. It’s an “assessment” shelter, which means any homeless man entering the shelter system for the first time (or re-entering after an absence) in Brooklyn will be sent there for evaluation, to see if he should be sent to a specialized shelter for substance abusers, the mentally ill, or medically frail men. The shelter only uses part of the building, the armory is huge.
And of course, while the architecture may look great, I wouldn’t think it’s that great of a block, thanks to the guys hanging out in front of the shelter waiting for day labor vans to pick them up… But a friend of mine recently bought a co-op right across the street and insists it’s fine.
Does anyone know what this building is currently used for?