Those Recycled Pine Benches at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Yesterday we told you about the wood that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation is salvaging from the demolition of the Cold Storage Warehouse and turning into benches for the park. Well, today we’ve got a photo of the benches themselves that have been installed already along the promenade and pathways of Pier 1; more…
Yesterday we told you about the wood that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation is salvaging from the demolition of the Cold Storage Warehouse and turning into benches for the park. Well, today we’ve got a photo of the benches themselves that have been installed already along the promenade and pathways of Pier 1; more will be fabricated and installed at Pier 6 as well. In addition, we have learned, salvaged timbers are being used to clad the gatehouses at entrances to Pier 1 and 6. Cool beans.
Demolition, Recycling Underway at Brooklyn Bridge Park [Brownstoner]
Benson,
If copper were no longer available what would the salvage price be worth?
True – but the ideology here does not come from the park builders either. It comes from the general regulatory environment. The park builders were responding the rules laid out in front of them.
And if in fact these things can be salvaged with minimal extra cost, then why shouldn’t builders be forced to respect historical structures and keep a little extra material out of landfills? Why is that not an admirable goal?
denton – there is still a bunch of industry left in Greenpoint. Try the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center for real craftsmanship. Its a re-purposed rope factory. It would be more Posner-type efficient to blast it to hell and build afresh while paving over the East river for a parking lot but we’re stuck-in-the muds here.
“you should know that i have worked on several projects in my career that have analyzed the costs of new materials versus salvaged materials and found that to be true – although we both need to admit that the details of each project will make alot of difference in cost and we don’t really know them in this project.”
Bkre;
Now here is someone talking who has actually faced this situation! I agree 100% with what you just said. For instance, in one industry I’ve been involved in (undersea cables) for a long time it was not worth the effort to pick up abandoned cables and salvage them for their materials. When the price of copper went up, however, it did become worthwhile, and was done.
Look, I’m not a cold-hearted guy. If it even turned out that salvaging the material was -5% compared to using new material, I’d go with it, for the sake of the environment.
What has happened here, however, is, as you stated, this decision was made SOLELY for ideological reasons (preservation/environmentalism). We have no idea of the economics of this thing. So who is being the idelogue here? I wasn’t the one who issued an edict on this project that was driven by ideology.
pig three- why do I feel a certain kinship with you? 😉
Denton,
Under normal circumstances, I would completely agree with you. But, with Benson, I could care less.
I have a short fuse for D!*ks like him.
Also benson – please keep in mind that blasting is not allowed in demolition in NYC. So that’s not an apt comparison when comparing costs to salvage. While I tend to agree with you that in all likelihood it costs more to salvage than to do a straight demo, i think the cost differential is not as great as you think. Therefore, it would not surprise me at all to learn that the additional salvage costs or less than or equal to the cost to acquire new wood or manufacture some sort of synthetic material for the benches.
And before you go off telling me that I don’t know what i’m talking about, you should know that i have worked on several projects in my career that have analyzed the costs of new materials versus salvaged materials and found that to be true – although we both need to admit that the details of each project will make alot of difference in cost and we don’t really know them in this project.
“wood is never a good choice for public works because they are so easily carve tagged with pocket knives and stuff.”
Good point rob. Don’t you know this is the ‘new Brooklyn’? That won’t happen here. Definitely not.
While I’m not a fan of a lot of what benson posts, I think using his home to suggest he has or doesn’t have taste is pretty crappy.
One ironic thing I was thinking, is that if these were made of imported tropical lumber, there would have been a chance it would have arrived on a ship at this very port. Now almost all cargo comes into NJ.
I’m surprised to hear there’s an actual mill in Greenpoint. Wonder how long that will last before it too gets turned into a park.