US Concrete, Red Hook's New Resident
Red Hook residents have been distressed for a couple months now over the planned arrival of US Concrete to their neighborhood. Although Red Hook was historically a center of industry, and once considered one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, the neighborhood has greatly changed over the past ten years (duh). Now, residents fear…
Red Hook residents have been distressed for a couple months now over the planned arrival of US Concrete to their neighborhood. Although Red Hook was historically a center of industry, and once considered one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, the neighborhood has greatly changed over the past ten years (duh). Now, residents fear that the new concrete factory will disrupt the balance they fought to create, reports the Brooklyn Paper: they worry about traffic, noise and pollution from trucks, dust from the factory, and its proximity to a community farm, Red Hook Park, and Ikea’s waterfront park. The area’s democratic councilwoman, Sara Gonzalez, held a summit meeting for residents and company representatives last Thursday, but so far, it looks like US Concrete will go forward with its plan.
Concrete Plant Plan Is a Real Red Hook Dust Up [Brooklyn Paper]
Residents Upset over Location of Concrete Plant [NY Daily News]
Photo by sgoodyear
And there won’t be Wi-Fi access at this ready mix plant..
Is there anything the residents of Red Hook don’t get distressed about?
Benson, you took the words right out of my mouth (and it wasn’t while you were kissing me, no matter what Meatloaf sez!) This should be a panacea to all those moping that Gentrification will make Red Hook lose its “grit” and “edge.” What could be grittier than cement? But no…cement is yucky. You are spot-on: What they seem to want is a moody, mostly empty stage set of a “gritty” past, dotted with some nice Internet cafes. I totally understand–that’s pretty cool, and one feels quite hip in such a setting–but it doesn’t do a hell of a lot for the local economy and the folks who actually live there.
There are cities around the country that would welcome new businesses no matter what the industry. The people who will work here are the same that built their palatial loft.
Every city still needs a working class. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t appreciate the city’s true history and/or have never broken a sweat in their lives (aside from being in their spin class).
Gotta agree with you on this one, Benson.
Gemini;
The reason is that Red Hook was developed as a port (or basin, as it was then called) after the Erie Canal was constructed. More specifically, alot of Midwest wheat was shipped to NY harbor via the canal, and much of that wheat wound up in Red Hook, where it was then loaded onto ocean liners. Those huge abandoned concrete silos that still stand in RH were for that purpose.
I don’t know why it was called “The Point”. What I do know (from my parents) was that anything south of Atlantic Ave was referred to as “South Brooklyn”, which was then sub-divided into “The Point” (Red Hook and Carroll Gardens) and “The Creek” (Current-day Gowanus and parts of Cobble Hill). People were referred to as “Pointers” and “Creekers” based upon where they lived.
Benson – I notice that “Erie Basin” train car that sits on the dock near Fairway – why was RH once called Erie Basin?
LOL my grandfather pronounced toilet as terlet and oil as earl hahah.
yeah people complaining about stuff like this is absolutely ABSURD
it’s jobs and manufacturing people! welcome it!
*rob*
Hey, what happened to all those folks who were clamoring for a “working waterfront” when Ikea was being proposed? What caused the change of heart?
I have a theory that some of these trust-funders want some type of ‘old Brooklyn background”, complete with old-timers like my dad, who pronounces toilet as “terlet’ and does hark back to the days when Red Hook was a gritty, tough place where fists landed on faces quite often. It gives them some romantic notion that they are “keeping it real”. Lo and behold, however, when an actual industry does plan to come to Red Hook, with its inherent dirt, they are “concerned”. What a hoot!
By the way, there is one way you can instantly tell if someone is actually fron the old Red Hook: they never call it that. It was called “The Point” (or,as it is actually pronounced “the pernt”) or “Erie Basin”. Why it was called these names is a different story.