Fire on 23rd Street
[nggallery id=”42706″ template=galleryview] At around 2:30 pm on Wednesday a raging fire broke out in the abandoned building on the corner of 23rd St and 5th Avenue in Greenwood Heights. After about twenty minutes of spewing out giant flames from its top the fire was extinguished. About four firemen had to use a chainsaw and…
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At around 2:30 pm on Wednesday a raging fire broke out in the abandoned building on the corner of 23rd St and 5th Avenue in Greenwood Heights. After about twenty minutes of spewing out giant flames from its top the fire was extinguished. About four firemen had to use a chainsaw and axe to bust down the boarded doors before being able to get into the building. The whole area was surrounded with police, firemen and onlookers. GMAP
Speculators/developers have poisoned the well as far as I’m concerned.
The last decade has not been kind to the South Slope or Green Wood Heights, architecturally speaking. I have looked at EVERY new building built since 2000 and the number of stinkers far outweighs those of any lasting aesthetic merit.
Ah, that’s what it was. I saw it from Gowanus. The smoke plume disappeared so fast I assumed it was a car burning up.
At least we can agree on one building, that one was on my list.
Though 3/4 of the frames you discount have been around for 100 years and will outlive any of the new condos (black glazed brick excluded) by another 100 years…rehabbed or not. They were build better back in the day, no arguing it.
It’s all about upkeep and whether the bones are good. The facade can be very deceiving.
AJ;
WOW!!
We have a fundamentally different POV then. I think there are a number of nice developments in GH.
It seems to me that your problem is with development. Going back to the vinyl-sided frames: they are not particularly well-built or remodeled, but you don’t complain about them on this site. Yet not one of the new developments meets your criteria.
For the record: my favorite development in GH is the glazed, black-brick beauty on 21st street between 5th and 6th. Far superior to anything old or new in GH.
That’s the problem, I’m not sure I can find one…
Perhaps the corner of 6ht Ave and 23rd St, contextual from a zoning perspective, design is “OK,” but the developer had to be shut down numerous times due to DOB violations.
The 2 “green” buildings on 21st Street btwn 5th/6th Ave, designed very different than their neighbors, but they still fit in (unlike the stucco and metal box up the street near 6th).
I really want to like the 11 townhouses on 23rd/7th Ave I rail against (and my friends do as well), but the construction is so shoddy, the developer such a dirt-bag and the idea of 11 14 ft wide buildings on a 100X100 ft lot so ridiculous, I just cannot wrap my mind around it.
The developer who did the contextual bro/sis condos on 21st St and 22nd St (different looks, same design), but again, problem with the builder and the neighboring property.
And, of course there are a bunch of rehabs that were done well, but that’s not what we’re debating (and there’s some not so much).
Something I should consider out there?
AJ;
May I ask you to point out one development in GH of which you approve?
Although it may appear that I’m trying to single you out, I’m not. The frownstoner ethos runs rampant on this site, but you’re the point man for GH.
Slopey: point taken.
FWIW, the day we closed, our house was boarded up, but kids were breaking in daily to do what kids do in abandoned buildings. And there had been squatters earlier. So I appreciate the good faith of your assumption benson, but my experience is that abandoned does not necessarily equal no people inside.
Thanks for the info. I can agree insofar as “Building must align with properties at the street wall.”
Agree to disagree then 🙂
R6B: FAR (floor area ratio to lot size) 2.0. Max base height at street wall: 40 feet. Max height after a 15 foot set back, 50 ft. Mandatory 30 ft. rear yard. Mandatory green space in front of property. Building must align with properties at the street wall. For more info: http://bk.ly/qjQ