Inside Admirals' Row
Urban guerilla photographer Nathan Kensinger recently found his way into the Admirals Row houses and came out with some interesting photos and observations: However, some of the buildings are in remarkably good condition. Their staircases, light fixtures, plasterwork, shelves, mantlepieces and wood floors are only in need of polish and paint. The beauty of these…
Urban guerilla photographer Nathan Kensinger recently found his way into the Admirals Row houses and came out with some interesting photos and observations:
However, some of the buildings are in remarkably good condition. Their staircases, light fixtures, plasterwork, shelves, mantlepieces and wood floors are only in need of polish and paint. The beauty of these architectural details, when compared to the complete devastation in other buildings, is a stunning indictment of the Navy’s neglect.
Lots more photos on the link. Enjoy.
Brooklyn Navy Yard: Admirals Row [Nathan Kensinger]
Pratties Develop Alternative Plans for Admirals’ Row [Brownstoner]
Admirals’ Row: Debate Still Framed as Either/Or Decision [Brownstoner]
wish i had a choice where my tax money went. id much rather it be put into this project than a stadium
These should have been saved but they seem to be too far gone now. Knock them down build affordable. Lesson learned preservationists have to jump on the preserve not destroy bandwagon much sooner.
Okay, good, so that means you’re donating the money to renovate these buildings then, right 11:38?
Money doesn’t grow on trees.
Historic buildings should be saved. Preserve the history of NYC and the US, it makes sense! Once it’s gone it’s gone forever.
Nobody said the buildings were not salvagable or beyond repair. They said it would cost tens of millions of dollars for each building, and that’s what made it impossible. It’s all about the cost and never being able to recoup it.
Very expensive housing would not sell in this area and it would have to be very expensive housing, with the high cost to renovate.
Very true, Ella. Intellectual exercises make for interesting classroom experiences, but rarely traslate seamlessly into reality.
The only thing the Pratt plan makes clear is that Pratt professors and students have no concept of reality when it comes to developing and financing actual real estate projects.
-Ella
Even the front halves of quarters K and L are salvageable, as is C without the eastern addition. True, it would be a complete gut renovation, whereas, say, B could probably just be rehabbed – the parquet floors are still freaking glossy with shellac in areas of B! – but it would be doable.
Not to mention, as the Pratt plan makes clear, there are plenty of ways to meld the commercialization plan with the preservation of the Row, providing valuable services to Farragut and Ingersoll residents whilst helping maintain a valuable vestige of old NY! But of course, I’m sure there are some idiots on here who would happily part with some gorgeous old Second Empire buildings in exchange for another “Hot” Karl Fischer row. Well, there’s no accounting for taste.
R. Nickel, Jr.
kingstonlounge.blogspot.com
If some of the architectural detail needs only polish and paint, why not remove it and place them in historic homes that are structurally sound? No reason to raze the whole row, either, if some of these houses are salvageable. but it’s clear that at least a few of these are way beyond repair and need to be demolished.