Community Helps Artists, Small Businesses After Devastating Red Hook Warehouse Fire

by Kirstyn Brendlen

A day after a five-alarm fire tore through a Red Hook warehouse, locals were beginning to look toward recovery — even as they grappled with the extent of the loss.

The historic warehouse at 481 Van Brunt Street was quiet on Friday, said artist Deborah Ugoretz, who rents an artist studio in a portion of the building unaffected by fire. Broken glass and burnt debris littered the street, and most of the businesses remained closed.

“It’s a mess, it’s a mess,” Ugoretz said. “The windows are broken out, and there’s signs of smoke damage to the building. It’s kind of desolate.”

The fire broke out at the circa 1860s and 1870s timber-framed stone and brick structure late Wednesday night and burned until morning. On Thursday evening, hours after the flames seemed to have been subdued, the fire flared up and started to spread once more, said Carly Baker-Rice, executive director of the Red Hook Business Alliance.

The four-story complex comprises a number of separate buildings constructed over decades. Buildings 7 through 11, which span from 475 Van Brunt Street to 499 Van Brunt Street, were badly damaged, and the Department of Buildings on Friday issued full vacate orders for all five buildings. The roofs on buildings 9 and 10 collapsed, as did a section of one building’s fourth floor, per DOB and the FDNY.

The damage meant most tenants had been unable to assess the state of their studios and businesses on Friday. But for some, the damage was clear.

“It’s a complete destruction,” said David Singh, co-founder of Danish mid-century modern vintage furniture store Lanoba Design. “There’s not one thing to save. Not a screwdriver, not anything. The entire inventory is wiped out.”

Singh and his husband, Lars Noah Balderskilde, opened the store just last summer. It was filled with vintage Danish furniture sourced by Balderskilde in his native Denmark and restored once it reached the warehouse.

The pair are beginning to file claims with their insurance — which they know won’t cover the full extent of their losses — and they launched a fundraiser on Friday.

“Our focus is really catching up on costs, repaying customers for items that were waiting to be delivered,” he said. “We work with a lot of small businesses … whether it be upholstery, or delivery, or everything in that matter. We want to make sure we can pay them, so they can keep going. That’s our focus now, and then trying to look toward the future.”

Many tenants are still waiting to find out just how badly their businesses were affected.

“We cannot still go into the building, so we do not know the extent of the damage,” said Alicia Degener, president of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, which spans buildings 7 and 8. “But, I mean, it’s extensive.”

Photos and video taken by a BWAC member artist showed water streaming down the stairs and pooling on the floor of the nonprofit’s first-floor space.

Degener was most concerned about the water damage. The group’s computers were likely destroyed, she said, and the soaked drywall will have to be torn down and replaced.

BWAC had also just opened its fall show — which included an exhibit called “Brooklyn Resilience.”

“We have more than 500 artists right now in that building, and by and large, they have been so patient,” Degener said. “They’re wondering if their artwork is OK. And honestly, a lot of it isn’t, it won’t be.”

More than 90 people have contacted Baker-Rice in need of fire-related support, she said. Many had suffered fire or by water damage, and others were dealing with fire-related utility outages and other issues.

Hot Wood Arts, which had 17 artist studios, a performance space, and a gallery, was destroyed, Ugoretz said. Displaced Motoco, which offers storage space to New York City motorcycle owners, had to relocate most of its bikes, owners said on social media.

But, just 24 hours after the fire, Red Hook was coming together to support the people of 481 Van Brunt Street.

When Baker-Rice was on the scene in the middle of the night on Wednesday, reporters began asking where people could donate to support the affected businesses. She started a GoFundMe on the spot and set a goal of $90,000. By Friday evening, it had raised more than $99,0000, and the fundraising goal has been raised to $160,000.

Separate fundraisers have been launched for Hot Wood and BWAC.

“We’ve had 250,000 views on the Instagram video [about the fire,]” Singh said. “We’ve had thousands and thousands of comments and direct messages.”

Many of the people messaging are offering to help in any way they can, he said. One invited Singh and Balderskilde for a free meal. Others are looking further ahead, offering their services in eventually clearing out the store or finding a new location.

“I think the biggest thing is people are mourning the lost treasures that we had along with us and fighting for a comeback along with us,” he said.

Degener said she was struggling to keep up with the outpouring of support.

“Everybody on earth has been reaching out to us and offering all sorts of help, so I’ve burst into tears multiple times in the last 24 hours, because people are being so generous,” she said.

Local elected officials have reached out, she said, as has the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and the head of the Brooklyn Museum.

“I’ve even had art restorers people contact me, all sorts of people,” Degener said. “We always joke about, we’re almost 50 years [old], nobody knows we’re here. But people do, they’re all contacting me.”

Locals can head to the Red Hook Business Alliance website to sign up to receive support if they were affected by the fire or to volunteer their help. The Alliance is particularly interested in empty spaces that can be used as temporary business, storage, and studio locations, Baker-Rice said.

The neighborhood has also already stepped up to make sure arts events planned at 481 Van Brunt Street can go forward. “Liquid Cartographies,” a four-day festival that had been set to take place largely at BWAC, was quickly moved to the Waterfront Museum and PortSide NewYork.

Red Hook Open Studios, planned for October 11 and 12, is going ahead, too.

“We’re still going to do Red Hook Open Studios, but it will be very different,” Ugoretz said. “We’re still doing the sculpture garden, and there are a lot of other artists that haven’t been affected. But we want to try to offer something to people who have lost everything.”

Several other art studios in the neighborhood have reached out to help with the event, she said, or to host the annual party held for participating artists.

“We’ll be working on potentially growing that event into a larger fundraiser at the neighborhood level,” Baker-Rice said. “We want everyone to get excited about that weekend in October.”

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

Related Stories

• Fire Rips Through Art Studios, Small Businesses in Historic Red Hook Warehouse
• Huge Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Furniture Warehouse Opens in Red Hook
• The Walled City: Brooklyn Heights’ East River Warehouses

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