Preservation Support for the Gowanus Awarded by Historic District Council!

I am happy to learn that the hard work of a Gowanus neighbor of mine has paid off. This person, who chooses to remain anonymous, has been tirelessly working to get the Gowanus Urban Industrial district considered for preservation since before the Toll Brothers knocked down the Blades-Forman Lumber Company warehouse at the end of 2nd street near the canal (which should of been landmarked) back in December 2007.

Contrary to what many developers say, there are many beautiful buildings in the Gowanus which exude their own unique industrial revolution era charm. The type of charm which has vanished from other parts of Brooklyn and other parts of the city and needs to stay. The Gowanus district spans from Butler up to Hamilton Avenue and is bordered by Hoyt and 4th Avenues. It really is quite larger than most people think. Since 4th Avenue has been partially destroyed and marred by some pretty fugly condo buildings it is a bit of a relief that an agency in NYC actually cares about maintaining what is so special about the Gowanus corridor.

The Gowanus has been chosen along with 5 other neighborhoods in the five boroughs by the New York Historic District Council as part of a program called "Six to Celebrate". The other neighborhoods chosen are Bedford-Stuyvesant,Jackson Heights, The Bowery, Mt. Morris Park and Inwood.

Here are the details from the New York Historic Distict Council's website.

"The six, chosen from applications submitted by community organizations, were selected on the basis of the architectural and historic merit of the area, the level of threat to the neighborhood, strength and willingness of the local advocates, and potential for HDC’s preservation support to be meaningful. Throughout 2011, its 40th anniversary year, HDC will work with these neighborhood partners to set and reach preservation goals through strategic planning, advocacy, outreach, programs and publicity.

“Neighborhoods throughout New York are fighting an unseen struggle to determine their own futures. By bringing these locally-driven neighborhood preservation efforts into the spotlight, HDC hopes to focus New Yorkers’ attention on the very real threats that historic communities throughout the city are facing from indiscriminate and inappropriate development.” said Simeon Bankoff, HDC’s Executive Director. “As the first list of its kind in New York, the Six to Celebrate will help raise awareness of local efforts to save neighborhoods on a citywide level.”

Read more at the Historic District Council's website here.

Coney Island Eulogy?

After the end of a wonderful summer at Coney Island it is easy to forget the battles between the historic preservationists and the big buck developers. The dreary weather has suddenly brought it all back into play.

Faber's Fascination on Surf Avenue finished out the summer forever this year. Housed in one of the oldest, if not the oldest building in the Coney Island Amusement area, I have learned via the Coney Island watchdog blog Amusing the Zillion that the building has had water pouring off the second floor of Henderson's Hotel which shares the structure since yesterday and owners Thor Equaities hadn't bothered to send someone over until about 36 hours later to look at it even though they had been notified. The situation is dangerous and the building could collapse. A.T.Z is calling this "neglect in progress" and has said 'The Henderson Building has already suffered so much damage from the “pre demolition,” it’s like watching an old person being slowly tortured to death. Save Coney Island, which has proposed re-purposing the building, might as well go ahead and start planning a New Orleans style funeral for the Henderson Music Hall right now. Read the whole story with a video of the situation here.



In the meantime, check out this video made by Coney Island native and friend Justin Wishnik, which features Faber's Fascination and is sadly called Coney Island Eulogy.

Is the First Brooklyn Dodger Stadium Being Torn Down for a Parking Lot?

I was dismayed to see that a section of Washington Park, the original home of the Brooklyn Dodgers located at 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street has been demolished. This is the site of one of the oldest baseball stadiums in America, the Dodger's played there before moving to Ebbett's Field. It opened in 1890 and closed in 1914. George Washington camped out at that site during the Battle of Brooklyn and the stadium was named in his honor. The building is now owned by Con Edison and word on the street is that it is going to be turned into a parking lot. I blogged about this back in December and my "distraught friend" who alerted me to the goings on at the site has spoken to various NY preservation agencies. They say that they have spoken to the NYC landmarks commission and that they said that it "was really not worthy of saving" and that the NY Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation said it is "just a remnant". Aren't remnants things that need preserving? What's wrong with preserving a MAJOR remnant of baseball history? Why does it need to be turned into a PARKING LOT of all things?!This is what the now partially demolished side of the building looked like before the deed was done, along the Third Avenue side. You can see by the shape of the bricked in windows that it was a stadium at one time.This side of the stadium was the left field side.This is what it looks like now. Anyway just putting it out there. I would love it if there was a way to stop it from turning into another parking lot. Not for nothing but just who needs to park there anyway? Last time I checked there was (and always is) plenty of parking on 3rd Street between 3rd Avenue and the bridge.

DUMBO! Get Ready to Fight! The Toll Brothers are trying to move in...

I rarely look to the the press for local news but this time I can't help myself.The Troll Brothers are now looking to annoy the people of DUMBO now with another unneccesary condo. Toll Brother V.P David Von Sprecklesen is all hot and bothered about clogging the open sky with another Toll Brothers montrosity. He says and I quote from The Brooklyn Paper article:“It’s a big vacant site — people would like to see some activity there,”. “Our goal is to have the whole process finished by April, and start building shortly thereafter.” He also mentioned that if there were no landsmarks commision they would just build over 12 stories. Hello! David! This site is located between two very important NYC bridges. This man just is crazy to build near the water no matter what!This is what they built in Williamsburg..BARF!
*Photocredit: Curbed

People of DUMBO get ready to rally!!!!!

I hope the neighborhood of DUMBO proves your assumptions wrong as far as what "people would like to see". Just give it up. Please. The condos in Brooklyn are festering and empty. Why are you so intent in littering the landscape?

Click here for over 50 F.I.B posts about the Toll Brothers and the Gowanus.

Duffield St. Underground Railroad House Saved!

I am so relieved that the city has not decided to spit in faces of African-Americans and destroy the (227) Duffield Street Underground Railroad house in downtown Brooklyn in order to put up an underground parking lot. Just the IDEA that this was such a struggle to overturn is disgusting but it happened, so I suppose we should all be grateful.

Read more details at The Duffield St. blog.

C.G Landmarking Meeting Tonight.

Just passing along this information from the people at C.O.R.D.....

Looks like Art Dog has been busy at the 360 Smith Street wall again....

By the way: What's new at 360 Smith Street?

WE AT CORD Blog (Carroll Gardens Organization to Respectfully Develop)STILL DO NOT KNOW!

Hint: Try asking Councilman DeBlasio for a "progress" report re:

1 "wide street" legislation???
2 subway plaza ruling???
3 our rezoning request???
4 whatever happened to the resolution on moratorium???

One thing we do know: at least there's a LANDMARKING meeting
tomorrow!!
Hurrah!!

Where and when:
November 19
6:30 - 8:30 PM PS 58 Auditorium
Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association (CGNA) is sponsoring a panel


Check out Katia's Pardon Me For Asking Blog for some visual explanations of what the neighb wants stopped.