Illegal Paint Job on Landmarked Block of Clinton Hill
We just got a tip that someone just started painting one of the brownstones on Grand Avenue between Gates and Putnam white this morning. (Yes, a certain blogger does live on this block.) Something tells us the Landmarks Preservation Commission didn’t sign off on this. If any readers are nearby, we’d appreciate a photo asap….
We just got a tip that someone just started painting one of the brownstones on Grand Avenue between Gates and Putnam white this morning. (Yes, a certain blogger does live on this block.) Something tells us the Landmarks Preservation Commission didn’t sign off on this. If any readers are nearby, we’d appreciate a photo asap. If anyone from LPC is reading, please get on the stick! Update 7/27: Here’s the photo from about 11:20 this morning. The address is 373 Grand Avenue. LPC confirms that there are no permits out on this.
Update 7/29: As the Daily News article reports, it turns out that—luckily—the owner was only repainting the area around the door. While we understand that some people feel it was an overreaction on our part to post about this before all the facts were known, here’s why we think it was warranted: First of all, had the painters been intending to paint the entire facade, every second counted when we got the tip (we were in fact in Dumbo, and not just across the street, when the tip came in, so popping over for a friendly chat was not an option); secondly, we were on the phone with LPC within five minutes of getting the tip, and LPC told us that (1) the owner had no permit for the painting and (2) that he had racked up, and failed to cure, several other landmark violations over the years. All these factors led us to conclude that, on balance, it was not worth taking the risk that something really destructive might happen. You know, better safe than sorry. With 20/20 hindsight, this was clearly the wrong call. Apologies to the owner—our obsession with historic brownstones may have gotten the better of us on this one.
Bottom photo by Rosier for the Daily News
Well, Mr. B…I think you owe your neighbor a big apology…jumping the gun like that…He’s been living on that block for damn near 30 years..And, you come from Manhattan to Brooklyn just like 5 years ago, if that much, and now you think you’re “God”. By looking for the slightest thing, so you can condemn and/or criticize…which allows “hits/blogs” to your site. Understand one thing, Brooklyn is not just another borough it is a community…generations and generations have come waaaaaaaaay before you…So, in the near future, stop and ask a question… Also, this lets it be known that you are NOT familiar with your fellow neighbors in the first place. Because if you did, you might’ve known what your 82 year old neighbor was doing!
So, try saying “Good Morning” to your neighbors and put the LPC guideline book down and be part of the community in a “human-like” fashion.
If you were a true “brownston”er” owner”, you would know the difference between primer and paint, and the process of painting one…Try checking out your own “Reno” section and get educated.
This “story” is in today’s Daily News and the owner stated it was primer and it’s already been painted back brown. He was also correct that some of you morons need to focus on more important things than his house and I whole heartedly concur, idiots.
my oh my… I just can’t imagine how all the lovely old brownstones and pre-war brick buildings survived over a hundred years without the current crowd
around to save them…. obviously generations of folks have loved these
places, made them their homes, fixed them up, kept them up, then the places needed updating… why I just don’t know how a brownstone could exist without track lighting and a high-end kitchen…. the previous owners had some nerve!
Every body should just take a deep breath and let out a big chuckle….
Get over yourselves! 🙂
Not promoting any action but don’t you need a permit to paint in any color; to do work, period?
Why does the house come up as a corporation?
What the hell is that other color? That isn’t right! LOL
So it wasn’t the grandma I had envisioned. It was a grandpa. Someone should bake him cookies to thank him for two days of entertainment.
Brilliant, Newsreader! So, screw the 80 year old man living there. He’s not worth preserving, but save the building (or rather, our property values)! Nice.
Dear Assorted Jackasses,
You do not come off well here:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/07/29/2007-07-29_help_police_its_white_on_brown.html
I live near Stuy-Heghts which is landmarked (and a real pleasure to walk past every day on the way to the subway). I have noticed that almost all of my neighbors are black – does this mean Stuy-Heights is gentrified?!?
Clearly, my neighbors are not super wealthy, but have pride in ownership which extends out to the other areas nearby that are not even landmarked. Maybe that’s what the real fuss is about – narrow-minded apathy vs. people who care about the future.
Go Brownstoner!
Landmarks actually makes painted brick and brownstone homes stay painted. Is it possible that this home was painted previously in a brown color and that they were repainting but needed to reprime first? Not many people get a landmarks permit to repaint their homes. I’m not talking about whether they should or not, they just don’t. And honestly I don’t think it hurts anyone if they are just repainting. Of course now with the Dept. of Brownstone Security happening in our midst I guess we all should think about getting permits for minor work when we used to not bother. Keep in mind that Landmarks significantly increased the costs to file an application for a minor work permit a number of years ago. This also discourages people from filing. Not to say this b’stone owner fell in to any of these categories. But the reason why calling landmarks to report this is that they will look up the history of the exterior of the building and then act accordingly. It’s not a witchhunt like this blog is on this topic.