Ikea Destroying Five Historic Red Hook Props

According to today’s Daily News, five historic buildings in Red Hook will be demolished to make way for the new IKEA megastore. A Civil War-era building on Beard Street was already being torn down yesterday. IKEA claims that the buildings are too structurally unsound to be saved; the DOB claims that since the buildings aren’t landmarked, the city agency can’t prevent their destruction; the Army Corps of Engineers, which allegedly has jurisdiction, says that the buildings may be salvageable and may even be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; preservationists, needless to say, are up in arms. Brownstoner stands firmly in the latter camp.
IKEA Targets Red Hook Buildings [NY Daily News]