Fire Rips Through Art Studios, Small Businesses in Historic Red Hook Warehouse

By Kirstyn Brendlen and Lloyd Mitchell

An historic Red Hook warehouse home to dozens of independent retailers, artists, and makers was still smoldering Thursday morning after a devastating five-alarm fire burned through the night.

The blaze broke out at 481 Van Brunt Street, part of a long circa 1860s and 1870s four-story brick complex known as the Beard and Robinson Stores, at around 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 17, officials said. Flames quickly engulfed the top floors of the building and spread to the roof, forcing firefighters to evacuate.

“This type of construction is called heavy timber, it’s all wood … so, once these structural members start going, the fire takes over rather quickly,” said FDNY Assistant Deputy Chief Kevin Woods.

Built by William Beard and Jeremiah P. Robinson, the iconic Civil War-era warehouse is well known for its arched openings with iron shutters. Inside, stone walls and massive beams once housed shipments of coffee and cocoa beans on their way to and from markets via the Erie Canal.

While some art survived the fire, many of the tenants “lost everything,” as more than one expressed in Instagram posts. One of these was Lanoba Design, the popular 10-year-old importer and retailer of Danish mid-century modern furniture that moved from New Jersey to the Red Hook warehouse last year.

“Everything is gone,” said Lanoba co-founder Lars Noah Balderskilde, including their inventory and workshop, in a video posted to Instagram. He and his husband and co-founder, David Singh, are looking for a new space to start over as soon as possible, he said.

More than 200 firefighters worked through the night and two sustained minor injuries, according to the FDNY. As the sun began to rise, the extent of the damage became clear: the building’s roof had collapsed, and a section of the fourth floor had collapsed into the third floor.

The blaze had been largely under control by 6 a.m., but firefighters were expected to remain on the scene throughout the day on Thursday to extinguish hot spots and monitor for flare ups. The FDNY has called for an inspection of the building’s structural stability, records show, and fire marshals will investigate the cause and origin of the blaze.

It was not immediately clear how severe the damage was, or when and if tenants will be able to return. One local artist said it was “absolutely a devasting loss for our community.”

Janice Weiss, an artist and public relations coordinator at the nonprofit Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, said the team is “completely devastated,” and has not yet been able to assess the extent of the damage in its exhibition space.

“It’s cordoned off already, we can’t even get to the area,” she said.

BWAC’s fall show just opened on September 13, she said, and the org — along with dozens of local artists — was gearing up for the annual Red Hook Open Studios.

Carly Baker-Rice, executive director of the Red Hook Business Alliance, launched a fundraiser to help support the artists and businesses impacted by the fire. Hours after the fundraiser went live, it had earned more than $12,000 in donations.

In a statement, Council Member Alexa Avilés said Con Edison was on the scene to inspect damage to electrical infrastructure, and that her office would “continue to monitor this situation and provide support to the impacted residents.”

— Additional reporting by Cate Corcoran

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

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