4th Ave. Buildings Have a Date With the Wrecking Ball
A row of Fourth Avenue buildings is about to bite the dust, clearing the way for a fairly massive development site. The properties, between Butler and Douglass, have been boarded up for awhile now, but the DOB just issued demolition permits for all of ’em. We got word of their coming demise via a tipster…
A row of Fourth Avenue buildings is about to bite the dust, clearing the way for a fairly massive development site. The properties, between Butler and Douglass, have been boarded up for awhile now, but the DOB just issued demolition permits for all of ’em. We got word of their coming demise via a tipster who noticed they were sporting tell-tale big boxed X’s and who opined I wonder what crappy 20 story eyesore will go up in its place. All that nice brick…all gone… Last we heard, a developer was planning to put a 12-story condo in their place. We’ll reserve judgment about the shape of things to come until we see some renderings, but like our tipster we’ve always had a soft spot for the old school tenement look of these buildings, and it’s gonna be sad to see them go. GMAP DOB
So you think, 11:56 that the 12 story condo that will replace these buildings will be affordable?
You’re living in a dream world.
These will be a million bucks.
Your personal views are irrelevant. There is a huge housing shortage in this city. It is almost impossible for a middle class family to afford adequate housing, and the majority of unmarried young adults aged 22-29 live in shared apartments.
It is immoral to restrict development until the vacancy rate in this city reaches a reasonable level and average household sizes return to something approaching normal in the civilized world.
The issue is these buildings are obsolete in terms of density. Anyone with an ethical conscience should DEMAND they be leveled and replaced with something much larger and more suitable for the needs of the people. Even 12 stories is far too small. There should be no height limits anywhere in the city until the housing crisis is over.
I don’t think it’s about what’s better.
I think that some people value history more than others as well.
I personally would rather see these old buildings than just about anything new I could imagine being built here.
That doesn’t mean that I hate anything and everything new (I happen to really like the new Meier building at GAP) it simply means that I like the old stuff better. It’s not a even a conscious choice…innately these buildings are beautiful to me.
just because something is new doesn’t make it “better” either.
I have no idea what relevance Hopper has to this discussion or why we should even care what is (speculated) opinion would be….
but if you think that (non-decript but old) tenements like this are becoming rare in NYC you must truly be blind.
JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS OLD DOESNT MAKE IT “GOOD”
The artist Edward Hopper might have disagreed about how “architecturally deficient” they are. Seems like a visionary developer could’ve taken the entire row, preserved the facade, and built a stepped-back set of extra stories above it. Buildings like these are fast becoming like paper ephemera–utterly ordinary in their day, but intrinsically more valuable as their numbers dwindle and the surrounding culture undergoes massive shifts around them.
that’s too bad. i’ve always appreciated that this block remained intact. it has the potential to be rehabilitated similarly to the project on atlantic avenue where all the old buildings were combined internally, but still appear to be separate.
The reason for the rush is the change in the 421(a) laws – AND
Secondly, if there is a glut we should all welcome it since it will only lead to more affordable housing but Based on the number of shoppers looking at the new developments on 4th Ave this weekend there is endless demand for these type of projects
I agree, 11:12 – no matter what goes up here, posters on this site will dislike it.
I’m sure that the corner deli will do a brisk business when the future yuppie inhabitants of this building shop there for beer, NYT, cigarettes, fruit, etc.