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
Dear anon 1:16 pm,
GET OVER YOURSELF.
12:49pm… I was stating, “an apology” as in “finally”…I can read…I know he made an apology
Relax…. 🙂
didn’t he apologize in the post?
“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.”
An apology! Thanks Mr. B! Now we can all relax…..
You know why he’s not apologizing? Because he has to apologize to an elderly BLACK man! That’s why! He thinks with his UES, Ivy League degrees and all the other BS he has under his belt…that Mr. 82 Year Old is “beneath” him!
I betcha if he was an elderly WHITE man, he would’ve gone and interviewed him personally and had his whole friggin bio stuck right between “Co op of the Day” and other posts….
What goes around comes around, Mr. B…remember that!
12:54 “Slopehead”
Yes, it is me “Mr. 82 Year Old Man With The Jazzy Shirt” and Im too old to kick Mr. B’s ass! But, I have a grandson who is a 2nd degree black belt and he’s gonna Bruce Lee his ass.
Then when he’s finished karate kicking the shit outta Mr. B…He’s gonna make sure your “head is really sloped!” Now f— off..! I gotta take my meds!
The owner should sue you Mr. B. You libeled him.
Mr. B you are a good reason not to live in Brownstone Brooklyn. The neighbors are annoying nazis. get a life.
i think it is far more pompous that you feel you need an apology, 12:32.
why do you personally feel so vindicated? are you the 82 year old and bought yourself a computer this weekend?
if not, then mind YOUR own business. you pleading for an apology like some needy sack is beyond desperate.
while it turns out he was wrong, i dont think mr.b was acting out of arrogance. he’s been writing about preservation from the beginning of this blog (or as long as i’ve been reading anyway) and was reacting to a situation where he thought a building was legitimately in danger.