150 4th Avenue: The Renderings
[nggallery id=”26821″ template=galleryview] When last we looked at 150 Fourth Avenue at the end of September, not much was happening, thanks to a Stop Work Order and some other snafus. All we knew was the architect’s name, the Oro’s Ismael Leyva, and the info from the DOB: 12 stories and 95 units. So here, courtesy…
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When last we looked at 150 Fourth Avenue at the end of September, not much was happening, thanks to a Stop Work Order and some other snafus. All we knew was the architect’s name, the Oro’s Ismael Leyva, and the info from the DOB: 12 stories and 95 units. So here, courtesy of Curbed, is what the project will look like someday. And also here, in the last photo, is what the block of row houses looked like before, replete with turreted building on the end. They were demolished, after move outs and evictions, to make way for the project, which Curbed also reports has no construction loan secured yet. So, thoughts on the newest addition to Brooklyn’s Park Avenue?
Huge Ismael Leyva Brooklyn ‘Park Ave.’ Development Revealed [Curbed]
Development Watch: 150 4th Avenue [Brownstoner]
I like the proposed building, and I hope that it is built, so that Brooklyn and NYC can continue to progress.
For those who wished that the old cold-water-flat tenement buildings remain, I ask a simple question: where exactly do you think new housing should be built in Brooklyn? Here you have a location that is underutilized and served well be mass transit. I believe that a 12 story building is contextual on a broad avenue like this. This is a textbook case of “green”, smart city planning.
I would also like to remind all that 4th Ave was upzoned precisely to take development pressure off the more historic side-streets of Park Slope. There is a demand for new housing in Brooklyn, and big buildings were starting to go up on the side streets (like the big building on President St. between 4th and 5th). In order to stop this type of truly non-contextual development, these streets were downzoned, while at the same time, 4th Ave, mostly a backwater street, was upzoned.
Again I ask: where should new housing be built? All of the buildings that have gone up on 4th Ave,including the Novo which was much-derided on these pages, have sold out. There is a market for these buildings. What would you say to these people?
I’m guessing, because I don’t know costs for large projects, but I think those beautiful old buildings could have been rehabilitated for low-to-moderate income families for a small fraction of what that ugly monstrosity will cost. True, we’re talking public vs. private money, but there’s an incalculable *human* cost too, in terms of the people who get pushed out and the history of those lost buildings.
Nokilissa, STOP! I haven’t had lunch yet. But I will say, ever since Rob’s post, I’ve put the seat down every time to flush. Ok, TMI, I know.
Back to the topic at hand…
According to Google Maps (which I was forced to consult my own little self), the cross streets are Butler and Douglass.
The rendering just depresses me. Perhaps poo-mist will soften it a bit, but it the design is so uninspired and completely uncontextual. MUST it be so boring? MUST it be so hulking?
WTF are these builders thinking? I agree with Nokilissa, 4th Ave is the new 2nd Ave. Big Fugly buildings.
I think Pooh Mist was described rankly and accurately by Rob as meaning the indiscernible-to-the-eye mist of toilet water and pooh that swirls up and about the john following a flushing – and I believe a fellow brownstoner noted that said mist can and does attach itself to walls, towels and…brrr…toothbrushes, thereby making it important to close the lid before flushing.
Hey Nokilissa, leave it to you to bring a smile to my face. Now I know Rob introduced the term “poo mist” to us, but what is “pooh mist”? Is that something that Winnie the Pooh coughs up after shoving too much honey in his mouth?
And mimi, you’re so right. But I have a feeling even the renderings of 150 4th Avenue will turn out to be about as realistic as those ones we’re used to seeing of future buildings around the Gowanus, with the immaculate sidewalks, trees and river that make Singapore look filthy by comparison.
Its sad when the most attractive feature of your rendering is a hundred year old building that is next to yours.
Yawn.
Even with layers of pooh mist, this one looks like it belongs in a new housing/office site in Greenwood Indiana. And speaking of Pooh mist, ever seen those horrible box apartment buildings along 2nd and 3rd avenues in Manhattan, (some are white brick) positively coated with pooh mist, which look as awful today as I imagine many thought they looked 30 or 40 years ago?
Is this really it anymore?
Anyone have an example of new construction that actually looks like someone cared? I’m having trouble thinking of one. And not one of the glass buildings. I mean brick/stone/mortar…old school.
(Landmark’s Preservation Commission, no matter how annoying and difficult to work with, is one of our most precious resources).