Serious Dumpster Action on Clinton Avenue
On Friday, at long last, work started on converting the former Baptist church (and originally the residence of Daniel Burdette) at 447 Clinton Avenue (top photo). In addition to its noteworthy Italianate style and scale, the property is noteworthy for the fact that it runs all the way through the block to Waverly and has…
On Friday, at long last, work started on converting the former Baptist church (and originally the residence of Daniel Burdette) at 447 Clinton Avenue (top photo). In addition to its noteworthy Italianate style and scale, the property is noteworthy for the fact that it runs all the way through the block to Waverly and has a 2,800-square-foot building in the rear. The most recent info about the plans for the place come from a DOB filing back in January 2006 which call for the addition of 3,500 square feet and the creation of 12 apartments. We tried to extract some more info from the workers on site but no one spoke English and our Spanish ain’t what it should be. The property is still listed as being in contract though (and no change of ownership is showing up on PropertyShark) so we wonder who’s doing the work…Perhaps more interesting, however, is the dumpster that just appeared in front of the William Tubby-designed mansion at 405 Clinton Avenue (bottom photo). An unusual mix of the Romanesque Revival and Queen Anne styles, the house was landmarked in 1983 and has been in the same hands since 1990; it’s been horribly neglected since then. We gather that the owner’s a very nice guy but we hope he either figures out a way to save the building while there’s still time or sells it to someone who can. There are no jobs listed for it yet on the DOB website so he might just be doing some late spring cleaning.
Big Contracts Signed in Fort Greene & Clinton Hill [Brownstoner]
447 Clinton Avenue: GMAP P*Shark DOB
405 Clinton Avenue: GMAP P*Shark DOB
The dumpster at 447 Clinton Avenue
Seems to me like this is a typical example of why no one should be handed anything. They have no appreciation for it, no sense of value. They feel entitled, paranoid (for good reason — they feel guilty for never actually having earned it), and in some ways I think they resent the very thing that is supposedly their saving grace.
I guess it’s his business to do whatever he wants with this building. I’m a big defender of the kooks in our city having the same rights to live here as we do.
But it does show up the real tragedy of the good samaritans (starting with the old jewish woman) whose good deeds go so very much punished.
The punishment being suffered by a building that deserves more than one little crazy man’s paranoiac greed.
GET A JOB, SLOB! Let people who work hard and love the fruits of that labor take care of this one-of-a-kind treasure.
(Any other old ladies out there who want to donate an ugly mcmansion to this guy? Maybe he’d be willing to move to jersey . . . )
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFD71E3FF931A1575BC0A9629C8B63
“But the Schieren house remains unrepentantly unrenovated, with broken windows, peeling paint and a decaying front door. A bright new brass lamp is on the side of the doorway, and some woodwork has been stripped — perhaps a decade ago. Someone has rigged a ladder for repairs up the steep, tiled roof, but it was quite some time ago — a vine of bright hollyhocks has grown through the rungs.
In the gloom of a recent warm evening, a man who reluctantly allowed he was the owner was leaning against the front steps. ”William Tubby,” he responded when asked the name of the original architect, a question only a tiny percentage of householders can answer. But he didn’t want to talk about the house, or the progress of any renovation, and he declined even to give his name
”I’m kind of a private person,” he said. PropertyShark.com lists the owner’s name as Steven Fong.”
Man! That ladder has been up against that house for at least six years now! Steven, for God’s sake, get up there with a bucket of paint and do something for once! A tragedy! He’s an embarrassment to the neighborhood!
“405 Clinton, a real wreck, was built by Charles A. Schieren, the mayor of Brooklyn from 1894 to 1896. A leather manufacturer, Schieren put up this Queen Anne cube of rich red brick, brownstone and tile in 1889; note the robust, fish-scale tile roof, apparently unaltered since the 1880’s, with the top-floor dormer, trimmed with copper in a rivet-head design.”
From NY Times StreetScapes 8/22/2004.
Steven was pissed that NYT interviewed him and then called his house a wreck. So he’s not very trusting when it comes to “well intentioned” samaritans. As far as he’s concerned everyone is trying to steal his property from him. With respect to getting him “good representation” for a possible sale, this is not a novel idea. People have been trying to do this for 30 years. He’s not moving….not yet anyway.
You go boy! Sock it to the man!! LOL! 🙂
Tell him he can list it here and save on the broker’s fee 😉
Well maybe he needs some good financial advice because, at this point, waiting longer will not necessarily be good for him, and it definitely will not be good for the house which is a real treasure to be preserved, not neglected.
It is nice the old woman bequeathed it to him. He should now take care of himself and his family, if he has any, and sell it so another grand mansion can be restored before it falls into complete ruin. If anyone knows Steven, they should tell him to strike while the iron is hot and make sure he gets good advice/representation.
That’s an interesting story about 405. As all brownstoners know, the natural state of a building is ruin. The elements and gravity left unchecked eventually reduce architecture to crumbling rot. I am delighted to see the work on 447, which I love and really hope that the owner gets a better plan for 405.
Steven inherited the property while still a teenager. The Jewish lady was a philanthropist and helped out troubled kids in downtown Brooklyn. She took a liking to him and bequeathed him the property. He’s not well educated or a professional. He’s simply doing his thing and allowing time to go by and living on subsistence. IMHO, I think that’s unfortunate. I would’ve sold years ago and truly lived off my windfall. If he waits much longer he may be too old to enjoy all that money when he eventually sells. Unless he’s simply thinking about his family and generation to come. Then waiting is not a real bad idea.
I’m of the opinion that minimal upkeep it necessary. If an owner cannot keep a place from rotting around them, they should sell. The owner of 405 should sell. He could do very well financially and be set for the rest of his life. The place is absolutely enormous and beautiful from the outside (maybe the inside too), but it looks to be deteriorating quickly from many years of complete neglect. It would be a shame if it got to be in such a state of direpair than original details that would otherwise be salvagable were lost.
Demo by neglect, seems more like it.